Inside a location, an HQ Owner or Admin can work. An HQ Viewer can only look. This article covers what a viewer can still do, and how a location's audit log shows actions that came from HQ. For how HQ roles reach locations at all, see How HQ members work inside every location.
What an HQ Viewer can see
HQ viewers can see every store in the network, read-only. That's true in a franchise network too. A viewer can switch into any active location and look around. That includes customer contact details and financial reports. Nothing else about the location is opened up for changes.
What an HQ Viewer can't do
Anything that saves a change is refused. The message is: "HQ viewers have view-only access to shops. Ask an HQ owner or admin to make this change."
Personal actions that still work
A few actions only touch the viewer's own data, so they are allowed:
- Mark SalesThumb news posts as read, one or all.
- Change their own SalesThumb news email choice.
- Mark a Team Hub channel as read.
- Save, edit and delete their own private saved list views. A saved view shared with the team is still refused.
- Sign their device out of push notifications.
Other personal settings stay blocked for a viewer inside a location. Examples are notification preferences, registering a device for push notifications, acknowledging HQ announcements, and marking Inbox conversations read.
The HQ tag in the audit log
When an HQ Owner or Admin changes something inside a location, the location's audit log shows the actor as HQ, with no name or email. The rest of the entry, what was changed and when, is kept. The location can tell that HQ acted, but not which person. SalesThumb still keeps a record of which person did it.
To see it, open Settings in the location, click Audit & activity, and stay on the Activity audit tab. This page is for the location's owners, admins and managers, so an HQ Viewer can't open it. Actions done by someone on the location's own team still show that person's name.
The tag has gaps. The Activity log tab, the business-event feed, doesn't carry it: some of its entries show the HQ person's name instead of HQ. A few background records may not carry it either.
Frequently asked questions
Q: Can an HQ Viewer edit anything inside a location?
A: No. Changes are refused with the message that HQ viewers have view-only access to shops. A few personal actions, like marking news read, still work.
Q: Can an HQ Viewer see customer phone numbers and emails?
A: Yes. Customer contact details and financial reports are open to viewers, read-only.
Q: Can an HQ Viewer save a list view?
A: Yes, a private one that only they see. A saved view shared with the team is refused.
Q: Will a location's owner see which HQ person made a change?
A: No. The Activity audit tab shows the actor as HQ, without a name or email.
Q: Does every record in a location's logs carry the HQ tag?
A: No. The Activity audit tab does. The Activity log tab may show the HQ person's name instead, and a few background records may not carry the tag.