Time based user permission management on Confluence page

Question

Hello!

I use Confluence for our manufacturing procedures for making a product and Comala Document Management for approval loops.

I currently have page level permissions so nobody can edit specific documents unless approved through our internal processes but this is becoming overwhelming having to manually open then later re-restrict permissions for an ever increasing number of documents. Is there any way to have a time-based permission for specific users such that it will remove that person's access after some amount of time automatically? For example, we approve a change on a procedure, I grant permission to Joe to make it, then after 14 days, it automatically removes his permission to edit the document.

Another possible solution I thought of is to use a different space with space-level permissions to make editing impossible there. In this case, I'm not sure how to allow changes at all without copying and editing a new page - document revision history is important to conserve. Changes could be made offline then copied into the existing document by an admin, but that seems like another unstable situation.

Any help would be appreciated - thanks!

Jamie Esker _Appfire_ · Answer

Hi @gary_shea

I am a little late to this conversation. If you are still looking for a solution, Comala Publishing offers space-to-space publishing and integrates with Comala Document Management. You can create a space restricted to authorized users and sync it with your working space. CDM workflows can be configured to publish approved content to the restricted space automatically.

If you need help or would like a demo, you can contact our support team.

I hope this helps!

Jamie Esker, Product Marketing Manager

gary_shea · Answer

Hi Riley, thanks for the tips. I'm not aware of how to manage document permissions using Comala Document Management's workflows - would I need to go into the JSON to edit? I'm not seeing ways to do this from the workflow builder.

Think the point about space level permissions addresses part of the problem, however I would also like to make the permissions Comala workflow state dependent. I don't see how to tie Comala workflow state to document permissions currently, so any help/resources on that front would be appreciated.

Riley Venable · Answer

Hello! Based on the information provided, it appears that Confluence's native page-level permissions may not be the most efficient solution for your workflow. Have you considered using Comala Document Management's workflows to manage permissions and automate access control? Comala offers a time-based or duration-based approval loop that would allow you to automatically remove access to specific users after a set amount of time. Another option would be to create a separate space with space-level permissions and limited access, and use Comala workflows to manage approvals and revisions within that space. This way, you can ensure that revision history is maintained while also managing access control in a more streamlined manner. I hope this helps!