TL;DR
Custom menu per role in Plutio lets workspace owners control which sidebar navigation items appear for each team role, so every user sees only the sections relevant to their job function instead of the full 15+ item menu.
Plutio includes a Main Menu configuration page in Settings where each role (Owner, Co-Owner, Team, Client, and any custom role) gets its own tab. Toggle individual sidebar items on or off: Tasks, Projects, Financials, Proposals, Contracts, Contacts, Calendar, Wiki, Inbox, Files, Forms, Scheduling, Dashboard, and more. A "Default" configuration applies to users without a specific role assignment. Over 60% of Plutio agencies with 3+ team members customize the sidebar per role within the first week, reducing onboarding questions and keeping each team member focused on their actual work.
Custom menu configuration comes with all Plutio plans starting at $19/month, with a 7-day free trial. Changes apply immediately when saved, and every team member with the updated role sees the new sidebar on their next page load.
What custom menu per role is
Custom menu per role is the ability to define which navigation items appear in the Plutio sidebar for each user role, creating a focused workspace experience where team members see only the tools they actually use.
In Plutio, the sidebar is the primary navigation element: Tasks, Projects, Financials, Proposals, Contracts, Contacts, Calendar, Wiki, Inbox, Files, Forms, Scheduling, and Dashboard all appear as sidebar items. By default, every team member sees all items their permissions allow. Custom menu per role adds a layer on top of permissions by controlling visibility in the navigation itself, so even if a role has permission to access a module, the sidebar item can be hidden to reduce visual noise.
Per-role menu tabs in Settings
The Main Menu page in Settings displays one tab for each role that exists in the workspace. Clicking a role tab shows all available sidebar items as toggle switches. Turn off Financials for the "Designer" role, and designers no longer see Financials in their sidebar. Turn off Proposals, Contracts, and Scheduling for the "Bookkeeper" role, and bookkeepers see only the sections relevant to financial work. Each toggle change saves immediately, and the affected users see the updated sidebar on their next page load without logging out or refreshing manually.
Default menu configuration
Plutio includes a "Default" menu configuration that applies to any user who hasn't been assigned a specific role or whose role doesn't have a custom menu set up. The Default tab in Main Menu Settings controls which sidebar items appear for these users. When a new team member joins before being assigned a role, the Default configuration determines their initial sidebar experience, so the workspace stays clean even before onboarding is complete. The practical result: new team members never see a cluttered sidebar full of modules they don't need, because either their assigned role or the Default configuration already filters the navigation down to what matters.
We have a designer, a bookkeeper, and two project managers. Each one logs into Plutio and sees a completely different sidebar. The designer has no idea we even have invoicing in here.
Why custom menu per role matters for teams
A sidebar with 15 navigation items creates cognitive load for team members who interact with 3 or 4 of them daily, and that load translates into slower task completion, more accidental navigation, and repeated questions about what each section does.
On a 6-person agency with designers, developers, a bookkeeper, and a project manager, each person uses a different subset of Plutio's features. Without menu customization, every team member sees the same full sidebar: Tasks, Projects, Financials, Proposals, Contracts, Contacts, Calendar, Wiki, Inbox, Files, Forms, Scheduling, and Dashboard. A designer clicking into Financials by mistake, then asking the owner what it is, takes 5 minutes of interruption. Multiply that across 4 team members over the first two weeks of onboarding, and 2 to 3 hours of the owner's time goes into explaining sections that aren't relevant to the person asking.
Project management tools like Monday.com and Asana show the same navigation structure to every user regardless of role. Monday.com lets admins control app visibility at the account level, but not per role, so hiding a feature hides it from everyone. Asana's sidebar customization is user-controlled (each person manages their own sidebar favorites), which means the agency owner has no control over what the team actually sees when they log in.
The most common onboarding failure isn't a missing feature but a cluttered interface that makes new team members feel lost before they start working, and menu customization per role eliminates that problem before it begins.
Plutio's per-role menu configuration puts the workspace owner in control of exactly which navigation items each role sees. A contractor's sidebar shows Tasks and Projects. A bookkeeper's sidebar shows Financials and Contacts. A project manager sees everything. Each configuration takes under 2 minutes to set up and applies to every current and future member assigned to that role.
How custom menu per role works in Plutio
Open Settings, go to Main Menu, select a role tab, toggle sidebar items on or off, and every team member with that role sees the updated navigation immediately.
Before starting, make sure the workspace has at least one custom role created in Settings under Permissions. The Main Menu page shows tabs only for roles that already exist.
Step by step
- Step 1: Go to Settings and select Main Menu from the sidebar. The page displays tabs for each role: Default, Owner, Co-Owner, Team, Client, and any custom roles created in Permissions.
- Step 2: Click the tab for the role to configure. The page shows all available sidebar items as individual toggle switches: Tasks, Projects, Financials, Proposals, Contracts, Contacts, Calendar, Wiki, Inbox, Files, Forms, Scheduling, Dashboard, and more.
- Step 3: Turn off sidebar items that aren't relevant to this role. For a "Designer" role, turn off Financials, Proposals, Contracts, and Scheduling. Leave Tasks, Projects, Files, and Calendar enabled.
- Step 4: Save the configuration. Every team member assigned to this role sees the updated sidebar on their next page load. No logout or manual refresh required.
- Step 5: Repeat for other roles. Configure the "Bookkeeper" role to show only Financials and Contacts. Configure the "Project Manager" role to show everything. Each role gets its own independent sidebar configuration.
Practical tip: configure the Default menu tab first, since new team members who join before being assigned a specific role will see the Default sidebar. Keep the Default configuration minimal (Tasks, Projects, Dashboard) so the workspace feels clean from the first login.
Who needs custom menu per role
Any freelancer or agency with two or more people in a workspace where different team members use different Plutio features benefits from custom menu configuration, but the value increases directly with team size and the number of modules in active use.
A freelance consultant working with a virtual assistant uses menu customization to give the VA a sidebar showing Tasks, Calendar, and Inbox while hiding Financials, Proposals, and Contracts entirely. The VA opens Plutio and sees three clean navigation items instead of 15, which means no confusion about what to click and zero chance of accidentally opening a client invoice. On a $75/hour billing rate, recovering even 15 minutes per week from reduced confusion saves $975 per year.
Agencies with 5 to 10 team members spanning design, development, project management, and finance roles use per-role menus to create distinct workspace experiences. A design agency running 8 active client projects might have 3 designers who only need Tasks, Projects, and Files; 1 bookkeeper who needs Financials and Contacts; and 2 project managers who need the full sidebar. Without per-role menus, all 6 people see the same 15-item navigation, and the owner spends the first week of every new hire explaining which sections to ignore.
Teams evaluating Monday.com alternatives or comparing Asana alternatives frequently cite navigation clutter as a reason for switching. Monday.com's sidebar shows every board and workspace to every member without role-based filtering. Asana lets individual users customize their own sidebar but gives admins no control over what the team sees by default. Plutio puts sidebar configuration in the workspace owner's hands, with per-role tabs that apply automatically to every team member in that role.
Freelancers using Plutio's team roles with 100+ granular permissions already control what each member can do. Custom menu per role adds the visual layer: controlling what each member sees in the sidebar navigation. Combined, these two features create a workspace where a contractor logs in and sees only Tasks and Projects, a bookkeeper sees only Financials, and a project manager sees the full suite. Bottom line: if different team members use different parts of Plutio, custom menu per role removes the sections they don't need and keeps the workspace focused on their actual job.
