Core concepts — workspaces, users, and seats
Understand workspaces, seats, participants, roles, and plans so you can give people the right access.
Four ideas explain most access questions in ScatterSpoke: your workspace, your seat, your role, and your plan.
Workspace: where the work lives
Section titled “Workspace: where the work lives”A Workspace holds your surveys, retrospectives, feedback, people, and settings. It has its own plan and usage allowances.
Use the workspace switcher above the sidebar to move between workspaces. If a survey seems to be missing, check that you are in the workspace where it was created.
Seat Holder or Participant: how someone takes part
Section titled “Seat Holder or Participant: how someone takes part”| Seat Holder | Participant without a seat | |
|---|---|---|
| Enters the workspace | Yes | No |
| Builds surveys or reads results | If their role permits it | No |
| Answers a survey | Yes, through its participant link | Yes, through its participant link |
| Counts against workspace seats | Yes | No |
A person can be both. For example, a team lead can create a survey and also answer it.
A Participant may verify their email to answer a survey. That does not give them workspace access or turn them into a Seat Holder.
Seat Capacity: how many people can enter
Section titled “Seat Capacity: how many people can enter”Seat Capacity is the number of Seat Holders your workspace can have. Free includes one seat. Paid plans have their own seat ranges.
Inviting a Participant to become a Seat Holder is a Seat Conversion. It requires an available seat. Pending invitations reserve seats too, so check the available count in Settings → Users before inviting a group.
If a downgrade leaves the workspace Over Seat Capacity, existing Seat Holders keep access. New invitations and conversions stop until the workspace has room again.
See Invite users and seats for the steps.
Role: what someone can do
Section titled “Role: what someone can do”A role defines permissions. An Admin can manage workspace settings; a Member does everyday work. Team roles apply within a specific team.
A seat does not make someone an administrator. If a colleague can enter the workspace but cannot edit a setting, check Roles and permissions.
Plan: which features are available
Section titled “Plan: which features are available”Your plan controls features and allowances, such as custom branding, team capacity, and AI usage. Permissions and plan access are separate: granting a role does not unlock a paid feature.
You may see these terms in billing:
- Plan Tier: the plan the workspace purchased.
- Effective Tier: the capabilities currently available, taking the subscription’s status into account.
- Billing Entitlement: the feature access the workspace has right now.
If a paid feature stops working, check Settings → Billing for subscription or payment issues. See Plans at a glance to compare plans.
Example: a sprint health check
Section titled “Example: a sprint health check”Maya and Luis are Seat Holders who create and review a survey. Forty colleagues answer as Participants. Those responses do not require forty more seats.
Maya is an Admin and manages billing. Luis is a Member and works with feedback. Their workspace plan determines which survey and AI options either of them can use.