How to create and manage Guest Users in Virola

Invite collaboration, keep control

With Virola, you can easily create guest user accounts to provide secure access for people outside your core team or organization. It's a perfect solution for the whole collaboration workflow - guests can join specific projects or discussions with limited access, without exposing your full organizational controls.

Why use guest accounts?

Guest accounts allow you to:

Collaborate with external users safely
Control access to confidential information
Assign and adjust permissions at any time
Keep ownership and security within your organization

Steps to set up a Guest User Account

We recommend following these steps to set up a guest account securely and correctly:

Create a new user account and assign a username and password.
Tip: Add the word "Guest" to the username to easily identify it as a guest account.
Add the guest user to the appropriate chat rooms.
Configure the guest account permissions.
Note: Virola does not assign the guest role automatically - you create the profile and disable any permissions your guest shouldn't have.
Only after you've configured the rooms and permissions for the guest, provide them with the login credentials.
The guest should install the Virola client and sign in using the credentials you provided.

Now, let's walk through the guest-user creation process step by step:

As an admin, go to Administration → Create new user
Create the guest's username and password, then click Create User (as an example, we created Jacob_Guest)
Next, you'll see a window with the guest's login info (Host, Port, Username and Password).
You can save the guest’s login credentials and share them later.
Tip: We recommend completing the full account setup first before providing the login details.
Now Click Create Chats to:
- To create new chats with your guest
- Or add them to existing chat rooms
Note: If you don't add the guest to any chat rooms, they will see a blank workspace after logging in.
You will be prompted to create a private and a group chat with your guest. You can check the boxes you need and proceed to the next step.

Once again, Virola will offer a link for a quick login so the person can sign in automatically.
However, for a guest account, we recommend saving this information and sharing it later - after you've finished configuring all the permissions.

Next, you can check the boxes to add your new user to existing group rooms. You can also skip this step and add them later.

Assigning Permissions to a Guest User

Now after your user has been added to the rooms, let's set up their permissions.

Go to Administration → Permissions. Let's go straight to the Individual tab, since we're interested in configuring permissions for a specific guest user.

Screenshot of 'Permissions' window, 'Individual' tab

We recommend first selecting "Configure global permissions for individual user". In the search field, enter the name of the guest user. In the window that opens, we suggest disabling the following permissions for them globally, as shown in the screenshot:

Screenshot of 'Permissions' window, 'Global' tab

Now let's go back to Individual tab and choose Configure permissions for an individual user in a specific group chat room

Search for the user's name and select the room where you want to configure their permissions.
In the window that opens, you can set specific restrictions for that user within the selected room.

We generally recommend disabling only the "Record meeting" permission here - although this is entirely up to you.

Screenshot of 'Permissions' window, 'Group Chats' tab

To configure permissions for a guest in a specific chat, first add them to that chat.

You can also configure permissions right from the chat. Just right-click the user's avatar and select Permissions.

Add the guest to the desired chat (Right-click the chat name → Add users)
Right-click the guest's avatar → Permissions
Apply the desired permissions in the right-hand column.

By the way, this screenshot shows how permission rules and restrictions can be inherited.

For example, if the option "Send files into the room" or "attach and delete files in own text messages" is disabled for everyone in this chat, our guest user will automatically inherit this restriction as well, since it's applied at the room level.

Screenshot of 'Permissions' window, 'Group Chats' tab with modified permissions

What you need to know about Virola Permissions

All permission settings are available in any subscription plan, both free and paid.
If a user participates in several group chats, you can configure unique permissions and restrictions for each one.
Each guest can have their own individual permission setup.
If you add a guest to specific chat rooms, their access will be limited strictly to those rooms - they won't be able to search for or view any other chats.
To prevent a guest from finding other users outside the room they've been added to, you need to forbid them from creating private and group chats.
On the Task Board and in the Meeting Calendar, they'll only see information related to the rooms they have access to.
We do not recommend using the self-registration link for guest users, as this method doesn't allow you to predefine their permissions.

It's better to create the guest account manually in advance according to your access rules.

How many guest users can you create?

Virola licenses are based on the number of online users. A guest account is considered the same as a regular user account. You can delete a guest account and create a new one, or rename it, change the password, and reuse it for another person.

To learn more about permissions in Virola, visit our User Manual

If you have any questions or need assistance, our team is always happy to help.