New focus areas editor permissions and access request for Focus

[#1]

More control over editing focus areas and requesting access to Focus

You now have the ability who makes edits your focus areas. The new editor permissions for focus areas gives focus area owners direct control of who can edit and follow their focus areas. With editor permissions, you get clearer ownership of focus areas, fewer accidental edits, and a more trust in the accuracy of your data within Focus.

Along with the focus area editor permissions, we’re launching a new request access experience. Focus area owners can easily request Focus app access and app permissions for focus area editors who don’t have the necessary permissions.

What’s new

Editor permissions for focus areas

You can now explicitly grant editor and follower access on individual focus areas using a new Share button on each focus area. 

When you open the Share experience on a focus area, you’ll see who currently has access and can control who can edit or follow that Focus area.

Focus area owners can:

• Add or remove editors (users) for their focus areas

• Add or remove followers for their focus areas

Editors can:

• Perform edit actions on that focus area (ex. update details, create updates or link work items), as allowed by their group permissions settings

Followers can:

• More easily track and stay informed about that Focus area’s activity

For all existing focus areas, owners will continue to have editor access automatically. Other users can be granted editor or follower access as needed.

View-only by default

Focus areas are now view-only unless a user is explicitly granted editor permissions. This helps prevent accidental edits and ensures that only trusted curators update them.

A familiar experience

The new Share modal follows familiar Atlassian experience that you know from Confluence and Goals, making it straightforward to find people and set editor access with confidence.

Ability to bulk-manage Focus area editors

We’re also giving you the ability to bulk-manage editor access across multiple focus areas using the import feature in the Focus administration. This lets Focus administrators add or remove editors across multiple Focus areas at once, simplifying editor access management as teams and organizations change.

Request access when editors can’t edit yet

Alongside object-level permissions, we’re introducing a new request access flow to help users get the right permissions when they’ve been granted editor access but don’t have the necessary permissions. If someone has been added as an editor for a focus area but doesn’t yet have the necessary app access or group permissions, focus area owners can request app access or edit permissions for users that don’t have the necessary permissions.

When it’s available

These capabilities will be general available on January 15, 2025.