Guardian Permissions Reference

When you assign a Guardian to a message, you choose exactly what they are – and are not – allowed to do. Permissions are set per Guardian, per message – so you can have the same Guardian with different powers across different messages.

This article is a complete reference for every Guardian permission in MessageFuture.

The Four Permissions

1. Can Trigger Delivery

Allows the Guardian to manually send the message to all recipients. This is the core function of a Guardian on a Timeless message – without it, the message can never be delivered.

When a Guardian triggers delivery:
– The message is sent immediately to all recipients by email and push notification
– The message status changes to delivered
– All other Guardians assigned to the same message receive a notification that delivery was triggered
– You (the message owner) receive a delivery confirmation

Note: This permission is not applicable to date-scheduled messages, which are delivered automatically on their set date.

2. Can Edit Recipients

Allows the Guardian to add or remove recipients on the message on your behalf.

This is useful when:
– A recipient’s contact details have changed and need to be updated
– A recipient has passed away or is no longer an appropriate recipient
– You want your Guardian to be able to add a new person to the delivery list if circumstances change

When a Guardian edits recipients, you and all other Guardians on the message receive a notification of the change.

3. Can Update Delivery Date

Allows the Guardian to change the scheduled delivery date or to convert a Timeless message to a date-scheduled message (and vice versa).

This is useful when:
– Your circumstances have changed and the original delivery date is no longer right
– A Guardian wants to reschedule delivery to a more appropriate moment
– You want a Guardian to have the flexibility to decide both whether and when to deliver

When a Guardian updates the delivery date, a new schedule-confirmation notification is sent to you and all other Guardians.

4. Can View Message Content

Allows the Guardian to read the full body of your message.

By default, Guardians cannot read your message – they only know that a message exists and that they are responsible for it. Enable this permission only if you want your Guardian to be able to read what you’ve written before delivery.

Privacy guidance: This permission is entirely optional and most users leave it off. The typical Guardian role does not require reading the message content. Only enable it if you have a specific reason, such as wanting a Guardian to verify the content is still appropriate before triggering delivery.

Permissions Summary Table

Changing Permissions on an Existing Message

You can update a Guardian’s permissions on a message at any time – even after the message has been finalised.

1. Open the message from Dashboard → Messages
2. Scroll to the Guardians section
3. Find the Guardian whose permissions you want to change
4. Toggle the relevant permissions on or off
5. Save the changes (these go through the standard Confirm Update flow)

Guardian Notifications When Actions Are Taken

Whenever any Guardian performs an action on a shared message, all other Guardians assigned to that message are notified by:

• An in-app bell notification
• An email notification (if their email is on file)

This ensures that no Guardian can act unilaterally without the others being aware.

Next Steps

• Revoking a Guardian →
• Assigning Guardians to a Timeless Message →
• Assigning Guardians to a Scheduled Message →