Arketa has several built-in roles plus the ability to create custom roles. This guide helps you pick the right one for your situation and troubleshoot common access problems — without granting more access than each staff member needs.
Adding team members and creating custom roles requires a Studio-tier plan. See Roles and permissions for the full breakdown of what each built-in role can access.
Which role should I use?
Use this table to match your situation to the right role before adding a team member.
Situation | Recommended role | Why |
Regular instructor who teaches classes and manages their own schedule | Instructor / Front Desk | Can view and manage the schedule, check in clients, and handle POS — without access to financial reports or business settings |
Substitute or guest instructor covering a single class or short stint | Guest | Minimal access: can view their own schedule and manage their own reservations only. No financial or client data access. |
Front desk or reception staff who check clients in and process payments | Front Desk | Full POS and client check-in access, limited reporting, no access to business settings or marketing |
Staff member who needs access to specific features only (e.g. videos but not client data, or sub requests but not POS) | Custom role | Build a role with only the permissions they need using Setup > Team > Roles & Permissions |
Contractor or trade staff who need limited, specific access but don't fit the standard role labels | Custom role | The role label (e.g. 'Instructor', 'Manager') only controls the display name — what they can actually access is entirely determined by the permissions you assign. Create a custom role named for their function and select only the permissions they need. |
Setting up a regular instructor
Go to Setup > Team
Click Add New and fill in their name, email, and profile details
Click the Permissions tab on their profile
Select Instructor / Front Desk from the role dropdown (or a custom role if you've created one)
Click Save Changes
Have the instructor log in — they'll see only the areas their role allows
Giving a guest or substitute instructor temporary access
For a substitute covering a class or a guest instructor visiting for a short period, the Guest role keeps their access minimal and safe.
Add them as a team member under Setup > Team
On their Permissions tab, select Guest
Assign them to the class(es) they're covering from the Schedule
Once their engagement ends, remove them from Setup > Team by clicking the three dots next to their name and selecting Delete
Guest role access: A Guest can view their own schedule and manage their own future reservations. They cannot access client data, POS, reports, or business settings. This makes it safe for short-term or external instructors.
Creating a custom role for specific access needs
If no built-in role matches what a staff member needs — for example, an instructor who should access sub requests and videos but not client profiles or POS — create a custom role.
Go to Setup > Team > Roles & Permissions > Add New
Name the role (e.g. 'Video Instructor', 'Trade Staff', 'Sub Coordinator')
Select only the permissions this role needs — refer to the Custom Permissions article for a full list of what each permission controls
Click Save
Apply the role to team members from their Permissions tab: Setup > Team > select the team member > Permissions > choose the custom role from the dropdown > Save Changes
The role name is just a label — it doesn't automatically grant any permissions. All access comes from the individual permissions you select, regardless of what the role is called.
Troubleshooting: Instructor sees nothing after logging in
If an instructor logs in and sees a blank dashboard or can't access their classes, work through these steps in order:
Check their role. Go to Setup > Team > select the instructor > Permissions tab. Confirm a role is assigned. If the role dropdown is blank, assign Instructor / Front Desk and save.
Confirm they are assigned to their classes. Go to the Schedule, open the class, and check the instructor field. If they're not listed, add them.
Ask them to log out and log back in. Permission changes take effect on the next login.
Check they are using the correct login. Instructors must log in with the email address on their team member profile, not a personal account or client account.
Have the logged in Instructor toggle to the studio/business account in the upper right corner by clicking on the icon and selecting the name of the business.
If the issue persists after the above steps, contact Arketa support.
Related articles
Roles and permissions — full breakdown of built-in role access levels
Custom Permissions — complete list of granular permissions available in custom roles
Adding Staff + Setting Permissions — how to add, edit, and remove team members