# Controlling panel access

Learn how to control who can see and use a panel in Participant Kit.

Source: https://participantkit.com/help/courses/admin/controlling-panel-access

Use this when you want to decide who on your team can see a panel and the people on it.

Two settings decide this, and they work together:

- **Access**, on each panel, decides whether the panel is open to your panel roles or restricted to a list of people
- **Researchers can view panels**, in Organisation settings, decides whether everyone else can look at open panels, read-only

## Who can use this

Organisation admins, and anyone with the panel manager role who has access to the panel.

## 1. Choose the panel's access

Open your panel and click **Panel access** in the sidebar. Under **Access**, choose **Open** or **Restricted**:

- **Open**: admins, panel managers and panel coordinators can use this panel
- **Restricted**: only the people you add can use it. Admins always keep access. Everyone else, including panel managers, loses access until you add them

Click **Save access**.

![The Panel access page set to Open, listing who has access by role](https://participantkit.com/assets/images/help/access/access-open.png)

## 2. Give people access to a restricted panel

Set **Access** to **Restricted** and the page changes. It swaps **Who has access** for **People with access**, which starts empty: "You have not given anyone access yet. Only organisation admins can see this panel."

Click **Give someone access**. Find the person with **Find user**, then click **Add to panel** next to their name. You add one person at a time.

![The Panel access page set to Restricted, with an empty People with access list](https://participantkit.com/assets/images/help/access/access-restricted.png)

## What "Who has access" tells you

On an open panel, **Who has access** lists each role and who holds it, so you can see the effect of your choice rather than work it out.

**View only** shows whether the organisation setting is on. If it's off, it says so, with a link to turn it on.

**Add to studies** is worth reading too. Anyone in your organisation can add people from an open panel to a study, even if they can't open the panel to look at it. So a researcher can recruit from your panel without browsing your panellists.

## Letting everyone see your open panels

**Researchers can view panels** is off to begin with, so people without a panel role can't look at your panels at all.

Turn it on in **Organisation settings**, under **Panels**, and everyone in your organisation can see open panels and their panellists, read-only. Restricted panels stay limited to the people you add.

## Panel roles

Panel manager and panel coordinator are roles you give someone on the **Manage team** page, from their profile, not from the panel:

- **Panel managers** can fully manage all panels and panellists
- **Panel coordinators** can manage panellists, but not create or delete panels

See [Roles and permissions](https://participantkit.com/help/courses/admin/roles-and-permissions).

## Key takeaways

💡 **Remember:** Two settings decide who sees a panel. The panel's own **Access**, and **Researchers can view panels** for everyone without a panel role.

🧪 **Try:** Open **Panel access** on a panel and read **Who has access**. It tells you the effect of your settings without you having to work it out.

⚠️ **Watch for:** Restricted panels drop panel managers too. Only admins keep access automatically.

⚡ **Quick tip:** Someone can add people from an open panel to a study without being able to view the panel, so you can keep panellists private and still let your team recruit.