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Email Marketing Campaign Permissions: How Access & Locking Work

Getting started with row level access and locking on Email Marketing Campaigns

Written by Habib Ullah
Updated today

This article explains how permissions work in the Email Marketing Studio (EMS) campaign editor so you can safely collaborate while protecting brand and legal content.

Key Concepts

Rows vs. Modules

The EMS campaign editor is built on two core building blocks:

  • Row
    A full-width horizontal band you drag into the canvas. Rows control layout and structure (e.g., background, columns, padding).

  • Module (Content Block)
    An individual piece of content inside a row, such as:

    • Text block

    • Image block

    • Button

    • Social icons, etc.

Important:
Locks can be applied to both rows and modules, and the rules for each are slightly different.

Permission Types

There are four main permissions related to campaigns:

Permission

What it allows

Create campaigns

Create new campaigns (includes edit access for those campaigns)

Edit campaigns

Edit subject, list, and any unlocked content

Lock campaign rows

Lock/unlock rows and edit locked rows

Lock campaign modules

Lock/unlock modules and edit locked modules

Your exact capabilities in the editor depend on which combination of these permissions your role has.

Access Levels & Typical Use Cases

1. View Only (No Create/Edit Access)

If you don’t have permission to create or edit campaigns:

  • The editor opens in read-only/preview mode

  • All content appears locked

  • You cannot:

    • Edit content

    • Lock or unlock anything

    • Change settings or structure

Best for:

  • Legal/compliance reviewers

  • Stakeholders who only need to preview content

2. Edit Campaigns Only (No Lock Permissions)

If you can edit campaigns but don’t have any lock permissions:

  • You can:

    • Edit subject line, list, add attachment

    • Edit any unlocked rows/modules

  • You cannot:

    • Edit locked rows or modules

    • Lock or unlock anything

Best for:

  • Content editors who should work within guardrails set by admins

  • Teams that can adapt content but shouldn’t touch brand/legal sections

3. Create Campaigns

If you can create campaigns:

  • You automatically get edit access for those campaigns

  • You do not automatically get any locking/unlocking capabilities

What this means in practice:

  • You can:

    • Create a new campaign

    • Edit any unlocked content in that campaign

  • You cannot:

    • Change lock status of rows or modules (unless you also have lock permissions)

Lock Permissions & Roles

“Edit Locked Rows” Permission (Row Structure Only)

If you have edit locked rows (but not edit locked modules):

You can:

  • Change row settings:

    • Background color or image

    • Column layout/structure

    • Padding and spacing

  • Add new column layouts inside a row

  • Save the row as a reusable/saved row

You cannot:

  • Edit the content inside modules in that row (e.g., text, images)

  • Delete elements you have added

  • Duplicate or delete the entire row

“Edit Locked Modules” Permission (Content Only)

If you have edit locked modules:

You can:

  • Edit content inside a locked module:

    • Text

    • Images

    • Links, buttons, etc.

  • Lock and unlock individual modules

You cannot:

  • Change row-level settings (background, columns, padding, etc.)
    unless you also have the corresponding row permission.

How Template Locks Carry Over to Campaigns

Locks can be applied at the template level and will automatically carry into campaigns created from that template.

How it works

  1. An admin creates a template.

  2. The admin locks certain content (e.g., legal footer, brand header).

  3. A user with limited permissions creates a campaign from that template.

  4. The campaign inherits those locked elements exactly as configured in the template.

  5. The restricted user:

    • Cannot edit or unlock those locked sections.

    • Can edit only the areas left intentionally unlocked.

An admin with higher permissions can still open the campaign later and unlock or change those areas if needed.

Benefit:
Admins only need to set up locks once at the template level instead of managing locks in every individual campaign.

Quick Reference: What Each Role Can Do

The table below summarizes capabilities across different role types:

Action

Edit campaigns

Restricted

Edit locked modules

Edit locked rows

Lock Campaignmodules

Lock Campaign rows

Edit unlocked content

✅

✅

✅

✅

✅

✅

Edit locked module content

❌

❌

✅

❌

✅

✅

Lock/unlock modules

❌

❌

✅

❌

✅

✅

Edit locked row structure

❌

❌

❌

✅

❌

✅

Lock/unlock rows

❌

❌

❌

✅

❌

✅

Additional Notes & Gotchas

  • Templates vs. Campaigns

    • Template-level permissions are managed separately.

    • The permissions described here focus on campaigns, not template management.

  • View vs. Edit

    • Being able to view all campaigns does not automatically mean you can edit them.

    • Edit and lock permissions are controlled separately from view access.

  • Permission Changes May Need a Refresh

    • If an admin updates your permissions while you’re working, you may need to refresh your session (log out/in or refresh the app) for changes to take effect.

  • Underlying Editor Behavior

    • Some behaviors (especially around what can/can’t be deleted or edited when rows are locked) come from the BeeFree editor and are not customizable.

Related Articles
How to Create an Email Campaign
Adding a 'View in a Browser' Link to Your Email Campaigns
How to Download Nexl Engage Campaign HTML and PDF
Managing Rows and Columns
Nexl Updates - April 2026
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