General / How To

Granting Access to Specific Folders for Users/Groups

Since Sites typically consist of multiple Folders, there may be scenarios where you're looking to 'hide' many of those from particular Users and/or Groups.

Take the following Folder structure into consideration:

<Base Folder of Site>
- FolderA
  - PageA
  - PageB
- FolderB
- FolderC

Now, consider a use case where you'd like to allow GroupA to only see FolderA (and not see FolderB or FolderC).

To do this, we must first ensure that GroupA has at least Read access to <Base Folder of Site>:

Navigate to <Base Folder of Site>
Click More -> Access
Verify that at least one of the following is true:
- The Access level for all users is set to at least Read
- GroupA has been granted explicit Read (or Write) access under the Grant access rights for specific users and/or groups section

This is what allows GroupA to see the root folder of the Site (which is necessary in order to be able to see anything underneath it).

Now, we need to configure the sub-Folders underneath <Base Folder of Site> so that nobody can see them by default.

Navigate to FolderA
Click More -> Access
Under Access level for all users, select None
Click Update
Repeat the steps above for FolderB and FolderC

At this point, we've revoked/removed the ability for anyone to see any of the Folders in the Site (aside from Users with an Administrator Role). Now, to allow GroupA to see FolderA:

Navigate to FolderA
Click More -> Access
Under the Grant access rights for specific users and/or groups field:
- In the Access level dropdown, select Read
- Click Choose Users and Groups, then select GroupA
- Click Update

Finally, while GroupA can now see FolderA, let's ensure that they can edit all of the Pages underneath that Folder:

Navigate to FolderA
Click More -> Access for Contents
Under Grant access rights for specific users and/or groups, click the link to Copy user and group access rights from current folder
At the very bottom of the screen, click the Access level dropdown shown next to GroupA and change it to Write
Click Merge Access Rights

Note: The steps in this article describe the most basic method for configuring Access Rights in such a way that assets can be hidden from Users/Groups who do not have explicit access granted to them. Depending on the existing Access Rights implementation in your Site(s), there may be certain challenges to overcome when you're looking to apply the strategy mentioned here. If you aren't quite sure how to accomplish what you're looking to do, feel free to reach out to our Support team with details on your setup and we'll be happy to provide recommendations as needed.

Tip: This walkthrough focuses on assigning access rights to a Group of Users as opposed to individual User accounts. While the same steps can be used to assign access rights to individual Users, it is always recommended to assign Group access wherever possible as this makes managing/maintaining the environment much simpler moving forward.