Who can see what in a family album: the five roles explained

The moment you share a family album, a worry arrives. Will an uncle delete the wedding photographs by accident? Can a cousin you hardly know see everything? Can the person who only wanted to look at pictures start changing things?

The answer is to give each person a role. A role is a simple label that decides what someone may do. Give people the smallest role that lets them do what they need, and most of these worries go away.

This is how it works in a private family album, written so you can decide quickly.

First, the big picture: nobody sees it unless you invite them

A private family album is not a public page. Only people you invite can open it, and each person signs in with their own email address and a code sent to that address. There is no password to forget or to share around the family WhatsApp group. Search engines are asked to stay out of it.

So the real question is not "who can find it?" but "now that my relatives are in, what may each of them do?"

The five roles, in plain words

1. Viewer. Can look at the album and nothing else. Good for an elderly relative, a cousin abroad, or anyone who only wants to enjoy the photographs. They cannot add, change or delete anything.
2. Contributor. Can add photographs and write stories. Good for the relative who takes the most pictures at gatherings. They can delete only the photographs they added themselves.
3. Tribute editor. Can write stories and put together the tribute page for someone who has passed on. Good for the sibling or friend who has agreed to gather the family's words, without giving them the rest of the album to look after.
4. Manager. Can organise photographs, make categories, and invite other people. Good for the relative who is tidy and patient and will sort the albums by year and occasion.
5. Owner. Everything, including settings, the plan, and removing members. Usually the person who started the album.

Is it right to give everyone a role like Manager so that nobody has to wait for permission? Usually not. The smaller the role, the less can go wrong.

A simple way to choose

Ask one question about the person: what do I want them to do?

• "Just enjoy it." Viewer.
• "Send me their photographs from the wedding." Contributor.
• "Help us write about Mama." Tribute editor.
• "Sort out our 400 photographs and bring in the others." Manager.
• "Be my backup, in case something happens to me." A second Owner.

You can change anyone's role later, so you are not locked in. Start small and give more trust as it is earned.

Have two owners

This one is easy to miss. Renewal reminders go to every owner. If there is only one owner and they change their email address, lose their phone or become unwell, the family can be locked out of its own album.

Choose someone you trust completely, such as a spouse, a sister or an adult child, and make them an Owner too. Do it today, while everyone is well. There must always be at least one owner, and having two means the album always has somebody who can open it and keep it going.

Who can see which photograph

Roles decide what people can do. There is a second control for what people can see. When someone uploads a photograph, the person organising it can choose who may see it:

• Everyone in the album, which is the usual choice.
• Contributors and above, so Viewers and Tribute editors do not see it.
• Owners only.

Only owners and managers choose this. Anyone else's photographs are simply for everyone in the album. This is handy for a photograph that is fine for the family but not for the wider circle, or one you are not ready to share yet.

The most private pages

Some information is more sensitive than photographs. Two sections in a family album are shut by default, even to managers:

• Wishes & assets, where an owner can note things the family will need to know, such as where important papers are kept.
• Family health, a record of conditions that run in the family.

Only the owner, and the members the owner chooses by name, can see these. Being a Manager does not open them: someone chosen to sort photographs has not thereby been chosen to read a will. Only the owner can change what is written there.

If you keep anything like this, keep it in one place that you control rather than in a message that is forwarded around. For anything about wills or property, ask an advocate. A family album is a place to remember, not a legal document.

If someone loses their phone

Every device stays signed in for a while. If a phone is lost, any member can press Sign out on every device in the Members tab. Every phone and computer signed in as them is signed out, and they sign in again with their email as usual. A stranger holding the phone cannot get in again, because they would need a code sent to that person's email.

Questions people ask

Is there a limit on how many relatives I can invite? There is no limit on the number of people and no extra charge for each one.

Can I invite someone who does not use email? Each person signs in with an email address, so one relative may need help setting one up. A grandchild can do this in a couple of minutes, and it is a nice thing to do together.

Can a Viewer see my private photographs? Only the ones set to everyone. Photographs set to contributors or owners only stay hidden from them.

What to do this week

1. List the five relatives you most want in the album.
2. Write a role beside each name, starting small.
3. Choose your second Owner.
4. Invite them and tell them in a message what to expect: an email with a sign-in code.

That is a safe family album in about ten minutes.

Album is a private family album on your own web address, with these five roles built in so every relative gets exactly the access you choose; see a demonstration album.