Page Restrictions
Overview
Page permissions are a way to restrict your content to specified users or groups, in addition to the space permissions. If you are looking for space permissions, please go to the /wiki/spaces/ITHELP/pages/159941421.
Space Permissions
In order for any page permissions to function, the user/group must have the corresponding space permission!
Identifying Page Restrictions
Page restrictions are noted by one of three different lock icons:
- Page is not restricted, and does not have any inherited view restrictions.
- Page is not restricted, however it contains inherited view restrictions.
- Page itself is restricted. May or may not contain inherited view restrictions.
Inherited View Restrictions
Although a page may not have any restrictions placed on it, it may have a parent page that is view restricted. View permissions cascade down. If a parent page is view restricted, then all of it's child pages will be viewable only by user/groups which are in the view permissions of the parent page. Even if a user/group is explicitly added to the child page permissions, but not the parent page which is view restricted, then they will still not be able to access the child page.
The page permissions dialogue will present if there are inherited view restrictions for the page. You can click on the inherited view permissions to see which pages it is inheriting from.
Page Permission Types
Answers contains three different page permission types. No Restrictions, Edit Restricted, and Viewing and Edit Restricted.
No Restrictions
If there are no restrictions set on a page and the parent page(s) do not have viewing restrictions applied, then the page will be viewable and editable by everyone, space permissions permitting.
Edit Restricted
When a page is set to have Edit Restrictions, everyone can still view the page, however only the specified users/groups will be able to edit the content. This is useful for a highly public page that you do not want anyone except you and/or another user/group editing the content of.
Creating Child Page Under Edit Restricted Page
If a user has the Create Page space permission, they will still be able to create child pages under a page that has the Edit Restricted page permission, even if they do not have the appropriate page permission.
Viewing and Edit Restricted
This is the most restrictive method for a page, only allowing users/groups in the page permissions to access the page and know it's existence. This is a two layer approach condensed into one. The first layer being who can only view and not edit, and the second layer who can view and edit.
If a user does not have view permissions on a page, that page and it's children will not display in the child pages macro nor the page tree in the sidebar. You may still place a link to a restricted page on an unrestricted page, which will still display to the the user even if they do not have appropriate permissions. It is best practice to place a notification next to the link that the linked page is restricted. Ex. /wiki/spaces/Demo/pages/2785677 LOGIN REQUIRED
Cascading View Restrictions
View restrictions cascade down to ALL of it's child pages and their child pages, whereas edit permissions do not. See the Inherited View Restrictions section for more information.
Accessing, Setting, and Removing Page Permissions
Why and When to Restrict Pages
Restrictions can be a very helpful tool, letting you designate who has access to your content. Restrictions can limit your page to be edited and/or viewed by a specific set of people, in addition to the page permissions. However, if you go too in depth with permissions, the content may not be accessible to everyone that should have access.
When it comes to edit permissions on a page, it is recommended to be fairly specific with your groups and users on who you'd like to edit and moderate your content. The more specific you are, the more control you have over the content that gets modified, as well as knowledge of who does the modifying. Too little restrictions in this area could allow for a multitude of unknown sources contributing to your content, which can be tricky to moderate.
For view permissions, it is a lot more loose than edit permissions. Your content is made to be shared and dispersed amongst a multitude of users. Restricting too much can prevent your audience as a whole from accessing your content. It is best practice to analyze the overall picture of who your audience for that particular piece of content is, then open it up to the broadest group or set of users you feel comfortable allowing.
Accessing Page Permissions
- Navigate to the page desired to have restrictions
- Click on the lock icon (note the Identifying Page Restrictions above for the different ways the lock icon appears) to the right of the page breadcrumbs
- The page permissions dialogue will be presented displaying the current page permission structure
Adding Page Permissions
- Navigate to the page permissions
Select the desired permission type you would like to apply to the page from the dropdown
Only one page permission type can be applied per page!
- If using Edit Restricted:
- Search for and select appropriate user/group
- Click Add
- Repeat steps 2a and 2b for all appropriate users/groups
- After all appropriate users/groups have been added, click Apply
- If using View and Edit Restricted:
- Search for and select appropriate user/group
- Select whether they can view or view and edit from the dropdown to the left of the Add button
- These can be quickly modified after the user is added by choosing a different option from the dropdown to the right of the user/group's name in the permission list
- Click Add
- Repeat steps 3a, 3b, and 3c for all appropriate users/groups
- After all appropriate users/groups have been added, click Apply
Before attempting to add a new user to a Page Restriction have the user log in to Answers. User profiles are only created when a user logs in for the first time. This action will initialize the user's Profile and make it visible in the user search function.
Removing Individual Page Permissions
- Navigate to the page permissions
- Locate the desired user/group to remove in the list presented in the page permission dialogue
- Select Remove to the right of their name
- Click Apply
Changing Page Permission Type
- Navigate to the page permissions
- Select the new permission type you would like to apply to the page from the dropdown below Restrictions
- If changing to a restricted page type (edit or view and edit), follow the steps in Adding Page Permissions. If completely un-restricting the page, continue to the next step.
- After the new permission type has been applied, click Apply