This guide explains how "primary" project roles work in Drum and their impact on reports and the project dashboard.
What Are Primary Project Roles?
Primary project roles are the most important roles in your projects that you want to focus on for reporting and filtering. Instead of seeing all project roles in reports and filters, you can designate specific roles as "primary" to streamline your views and make them more relevant to your business.
For example, if you have roles like "Project Manager", "Project Director", "Designer", and "Admin Support", you might only mark "Project Manager" and "Project Director" as primary roles since these are the key roles you want to filter and report on regularly.
How to Set Up Primary Project Roles
Step 1: Navigate to Project Roles
Go to Settings in your Drum account
Click on Project Roles from the left sidebar
Step 2: Edit Existing Roles or Create New Ones
To edit an existing role: Click on the role name in the list
To create a new role: Click the Create button
Step 3: Mark Roles as Primary
In the role editing form, look for the "Primary role?" checkbox
Check this box to mark the role as primary
You'll see the helper text: "Only primary role allocations are shown in Drum reports"
Click Save Project Role
Step 4: Verify Primary Role Status
Return to the Project Roles list
You'll see a "Primary" column showing "Yes" or "No" for each role
All roles marked as "Yes" will appear in your reports and filters
Where Primary Roles Appear
Once you've set up primary roles, they will appear in several places throughout Drum:
1. Projects Dashboard
Filter Dropdowns: Instead of one generic "All Staff" filter, you'll see separate dropdown filters for each primary role (e.g., "All Project Managers", "All Designers")
Table Columns: Instead of one "Assigned" column, you'll see separate columns for each primary role showing which team members are assigned to each role on each project
Excel Exports: The exported Excel file will include separate columns for each primary role
2. Insights Reports
Primary roles appear in various Insights reports including:
Accounts Receivable: Separate columns for each primary role showing who's assigned to each role per project/invoice
Accounts Payable: Similar role-based filtering and display
Project Reports: Enhanced filtering and reporting by specific roles
3. Filtering and Searching
You can filter projects by who is assigned to specific primary roles
When multiple primary role filters are applied, projects must match ALL selected criteria (intersection logic)
Filters are preserved when exporting to Excel
Best Practices
Choose Your Primary Roles Carefully
Keep it simple: Don't mark every role as primary - this defeats the purpose
Focus on decision makers: Typically roles like "Project Manager", "Project Director", or "Account Manager" are good primary role candidates
Match your reporting needs: Choose roles that you regularly need to filter and report on
What Happens When You Change Primary Role Settings
Making a Role Primary
The role will immediately appear in all filters and reports
Existing project assignments for this role will start showing up in the relevant views
No data is lost - you're just changing what's displayed
Removing Primary Status
The role will disappear from filters and report columns
The role itself and all assignments remain intact - they just won't show in the focused views
You can always make the role primary again later
Troubleshooting
"I don't see any role filters on my Projects page"
Solution: Make sure you have at least one role marked as "Primary" in Settings → Project Roles. If no roles are marked as primary, the system falls back to showing generic "Assigned" filters and columns.
"My Excel export doesn't match what I see on screen"
Solution: Check that your filters are being applied correctly. The Excel export should include the same primary role columns and filtered data as the on-screen view.
"I can't see a role I just made primary"
Solution: Try refreshing your browser page. Changes to primary role status should appear immediately, but a refresh ensures you're seeing the latest configuration.
"My filters aren't working as expected"
Solution: Remember that when you select multiple role filters, the system shows projects where ALL criteria are met (not just any one of them). For example, if you filter for "John" as Project Manager AND "Sarah" as Designer, it will only show projects where John is the PM AND Sarah is the Designer on the same project.