--- title: "Editing the top-level circle" description: "The top-level circle is the one with no circle above it. It is the only circle whose edits apply the moment you save them, and editing it asks for decision-maker status on that circle rather than administrator rights." category: structure-governance section: chart-and-circles tags: [permissions] type: Tutorial lastUpdated: 2026-08-05 locale: en canonical: https://support.talkspirit.com/en/structure-governance/edit-the-top-level-circle --- # Editing the top-level circle ## Editing the top-level circle The top-level circle is the one with no circle above it, the circle every other circle and role sits inside. It is the only circle in Structure whose edits land straight away: change its name, purpose, domains or accountabilities, press **Save**, and the chart shows the new wording at once. Every other circle sends the same edit to its parent circle as a governance proposal, and this one has no parent to send it to. Older articles called it the general circle or the anchor circle. A new organisation starts with one named **Anchor Circle**, and renaming it is one of the things this article covers. ## Who can edit it In the interface, **Edit** appears on the top-level circle when you are a **decision maker of that circle itself**. Everywhere else in Structure, editing a circle asks for decision-maker status in its parent circle. On this one the rule points at the circle itself, because it is its own governance target. Being an organisation administrator is not enough on its own. An administrator who holds no decision-maker assignment on the top-level circle sees no **Edit** action there. That gate is wider than it sounds. Every member assigned to a circle counts as a decision maker of it until someone sets them as a non-decision maker, so anyone assigned to the top-level circle, directly or through a role in it, can usually edit it. > **Note:** The **Propose changes** control that appears when you hover **Purpose**, **Domains** or **Accountabilities** is shown to every reader, whether or not they can edit. On the top-level circle it opens the same dialog as **Edit**, keeping its old name. If you hold no decision-maker assignment there, saving is refused. ## Edit the top-level circle 1. Open the top-level circle from the chart, from the **Circles & roles** directory, or from a search result. 2. Click the three-dot **More actions** button in the page header, then **Edit**. ![The More actions menu open on the top-level circle page, showing Copy URL, Assign member, Add role, Add sub-circle, Edit and Settings, with the Edit item highlighted](/images/structure-governance/edit-the-top-level-circle/more-actions-edit.png) 3. Change the **Name**, **Purpose**, **Domains** and **Accountabilities**. Name is a single line and Purpose is a rich-text field. Domains and accountabilities are lists: use the **Add** control under each one to create an entry, so every domain and every accountability stands on its own. 4. Click **Save**. ![The Edit dialog on the top-level circle, titled Edit Alpine Tech, with Name, Purpose, Domains and Accountabilities fields and Cancel and Save in the footer](/images/structure-governance/edit-the-top-level-circle/edit-dialog.png) **Save** stays greyed out until you change something, and the **Name** field cannot be left empty. Once you save, a confirmation names the circle, and the chart, the directory and every breadcrumb pick up the new wording. No proposal is created, and there is nothing for anyone to adopt. You can tell the two routes apart from the dialog itself. On the top-level circle it is titled **Edit** followed by the circle's name and reads *Changes are applied immediately*. On every other circle it is titled **Propose changes to** the circle's name, carries an optional **Reason** field, and ends in **Submit for review** instead of **Save**. ## What this dialog does not cover - **The reason field is absent.** There is no proposal to carry it, so nothing records why you made the change beyond the entry in the circle's activity. - **Governance fields are absent too.** Custom fields your organisation has marked as governed are not routed by the direct save, so they cannot be changed from this dialog on the top-level circle. Their **Propose changes** control opens the dialog without them. - **Members** are managed on the **Members** tab, and **attachments** on the **Attachments** tab. Neither goes through this dialog. ## Two things the top-level circle cannot do - **It cannot be moved or deleted.** Both actions are proposed to a parent circle, and there is none, so its **More actions** menu offers neither. See [Deleting a role or a circle](/structure-governance/how-to-delete-a-role-or-a-circle). - **Renaming it does not rename your organisation.** The two names are independent. An administrator changes the organisation's name under **Administration**, in the **Organisation name** field. ## What's Next? - [Editing a role or a circle](/structure-governance/how-to-edit-a-role-or-a-circle) - [Circles in Talkspirit](/structure-governance/circle-overview) - [How do I configure circle settings for my organisation?](/structure-governance/how-to-configure-circle-settings-for-my-organization) - [How do I add a role or a circle?](/structure-governance/how-to-add-a-role-or-a-circle)