Read-only Administration

A Read-only Site Administrator can inspect the administrative information a Site Administrator can see without receiving the Site Administrator's authority to change it. The role exists for help-desk staff, auditors, and other trusted people who need to understand site configuration and activity without operating the site themselves.

Administrative Visibility

Read-only administration provides broad visibility across the site. It includes users and groups, site settings, workflow configuration, logs, reports, and existing Share Links. The role's purpose is to make that information available for troubleshooting, review, and oversight. It is not limited to information about the user's own folders or work.

Treat the role as access to administrative information, including sensitive information contained in those records. Preventing changes does not make the information less confidential. Assign the role only to someone trusted to see the site's administration, and use ordinary folder permissions when the person only needs access to selected files.

Separate File Permissions and Other Roles

Read-only administration and file access are separate permissions. The role alone does not grant access to every file or folder. Existing folder permissions still determine which file contents the user may read or change.

Permissions from other roles also continue to apply. For example, a Read-only Administrator who also has Folder Admin permission can manage the supported settings of that folder. A user with Share permission can create their own Share Links while their read-only administrative role lets them view existing links across the site. The label describes the administrative permission being added; it does not remove other permissions the account already holds.

Child Sites

A parent-site user or group can receive Read-only Administrator access to a selected Child Site. That grant provides administrative visibility on that Child Site without making the user a Parent Site Administrator. File permissions remain separate there as well.

Administrative Permission Levels covers assignment and the related roles. Full Parent Site Administrator authority is different: it includes management of every Child Site and cannot be reduced through Child Site configuration.