Why is this button disabled? Understanding permissions
How EnWella decides what each person on your team can do, why a button might be greyed out, and the steps to unlock it.
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EnWella shows every action button to every teammate, but greys it out when your role does not include that action. The greyed-out button always tells you _why_ when you hover it. This article explains what those tooltips mean, why we chose this design, and the quickest path to getting the access you need.
What you see when you do not have access
A button you cannot use stays in its usual spot, but is greyed out and shows a small explanation when you hover or tap-and-hold. For example: "You must have the manage calendar permission and the appointment belongs to your current clinic." Some sensitive actions hide the button entirely instead of greying it out — these are actions where there is no useful affordance for someone who could never do them, like editing a clinical note when you are not the author.
Why we show the button instead of hiding it
Hiding buttons leads to surprise: a teammate calls you to ask "where is the cancel option?" and you cannot help them because their screen looks different from yours. By keeping every action visible, every screenshot, every training video, and every conversation between coworkers describes the same UI. The greyed-out tooltip turns "where is it?" into "I see it but I cannot use it — here is why."
Common tooltips and what they mean
You will see phrasings like "You must have the X permission" (your role does not include that action), "You must be an admin" (only practice admins can do this), "the appointment belongs to your current clinic" (you are signed into a different clinic than the record), and "you must be the patient on this chart" (a patient-portal action that only the patient themselves can take). Read the tooltip first — it tells you exactly which condition failed.
How to get the permission you need
Find the practice admin (usually your office manager or practice owner) and ask them to add the permission to your role. They open Establishment → Role access, find your row, and check the box for the permission named in your tooltip. The change takes effect the next time you reload the page — no sign-out required.
Who can grant permissions
Anyone with the Admin overlay or the manage_team permission can change your role. If your practice does not have a designated admin yet, the practice owner (the person who originally created the EnWella account) always has full access and can either grant the permission directly or promote someone else to admin.
One-time exceptions vs. a permanent role change
For a one-off task — a scribe who needs to sign a single note while the provider is on vacation — the cleanest fix is for the provider to delegate by signing afterwards on return, or for an admin to temporarily grant the permission and remove it the same day. For an ongoing responsibility, ask your admin to update your role permanently so the audit trail reflects the actual division of labour.
When the tooltip mentions "your current clinic"
If you work at more than one EnWella clinic, your roles are set per clinic. The clinic you are currently signed into is shown in the top-left corner. Switch clinics from the establishment menu — your permissions update to whatever you were granted at that location. If you genuinely have access at the right clinic but the tooltip still appears, ask the admin at that clinic to confirm your role.
For patients using the portal
Patients almost never see permission tooltips because every patient-portal action is scoped to their own record. The two places you might see one are: trying to cancel an appointment that is not yours (only the patient on the appointment can cancel), or trying to act on behalf of another household member (each person needs their own login). If you believe you should be able to do something but cannot, message your care team — they can confirm whether the action is something the clinic offers in the portal.
Frequently asked questions
Why does the button not just disappear when I cannot use it?
I am sure I have the right role but the button is still disabled.
Can I grant myself a permission temporarily?
How do I see the full list of permissions and what each one does?
Where do permission changes show up in the audit log?
Keep reading
Invite your team and assign roles
How to invite providers and staff, what each role can do, and how to grant time-limited access.
Role permissions explained
A complete reference of every granular role, which staff persona it fits, and the special enforcement rules.
Audit log and access reviews
What is logged, where to read it, and how to run a quarterly access review.