Anonymous access: permission hierarchy when applied to a space

Mark_772ykw

Hi,

I have some questions based around setting-up anonymous (public) access for spaces/pages within a large company network (behind firewall), as well as how it relates to page access downstream.

• I've seen Atlassian documentation that references both the terms 'site' and 'space' separately when addressing anonymous access.  Are these different? How?
• If a space is setup with 'view only' anonymous access, and I want to restrict a page downstream, will the anonymous setting override the page restriction?
• Can a page be setup with anonymous (public) access, within a space that is not setup for public access?
• Does the space have to be setup first, with pages being restricted individually?
• When working within a company network, setting-up public access will only give access to those within the firewall (in most cases), correct?  Not necessarily for users outside of my organization?

Server v6.10

Thanks, I know it's a mouthful, just trying to kill several birds with one stone here. 

 

Zak Laughton

Hi Mark!

I provided answers to your questions below, but I think this document will provide a lot of clarity in this area: Permissions and restrictions. This article covers the different permission methods in Confluence and how the interact.

 

"I've seen Atlassian documentation that references both the terms 'site' and 'space' separately when addressing anonymous access.  Are these different? How?"

Yes, these are different. Site refers to the entire site, while space refers to a single Confluence space. All pages in Confluence are held in Confluence spaces, which containers you can use to organize and restrict content. For more information, see Spaces.

 

"If a space is setup with 'view only' anonymous access, and I want to restrict a page downstream, will the anonymous setting override the page restriction?"

No. Page restrictions will further restrict the access set in the space permissions. If anonymous users have access to a space, they still will be unable to see a page if the restrictions prevent it.

"Can a page be setup with anonymous (public) access, within a space that is not setup for public access?"

No. In order to see a page, the user must first have permission to the space.

"Does the space have to be setup first, with pages being restricted individually?"

A space will have to be set up first, in the sense that all pages first need a space to be created inside of. By default, all pages will be created without restrictions, which you can then add to pages individually.

"When working within a company network, setting-up public access will only give access to those within the firewall (in most cases), correct?  Not necessarily for users outside of my organization?"

Correct. If your network only allows internal users to access Confluence, then only users on your network will be able to see it, even if you have anonymous access enabled.

I hope this helps!
– Zak