Best way to restrict a space to a few users

[Kathy Kurth]

We're running Confluence Server 6.5
I'm one of the Confluence admins

We have a group (Basic Access) that grants access to Confluence. Most everyone in the company is in that group and it gives them the basic user access to Confluence (adding/editing pages, attachments, blogs, and comments). Now, I need to restrict access for a single space to just a few users.

The way I see it, there are two ways of doing this.

Method 1:

1. Go to Space Tools > Permissions.
2. On the Permissions tab, remove the permissions for the Basic Access group.
3. Add the people who should have access in the Individual Users section. Give them the permissions they need.

Method 2:

1. Go the the home page for the space and open the restrictions dialog box (click the red lock icon).
2. Click the drop-down and select "Viewing and editing restricted." This removes the access for "Everyone" except for me.
3. Add each of the users who need access to this space, choosing "Can view and edit" for each of them.
4. Apply the changes.

Method 1 is granting (and removing) specific permissions. Method 2 is granting (and removing) access to the space with or without edit authority. What I need to know is what am I missing? Are there other differences between the two methods? Is one preferable over the other? Any insights into this would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Kathy

[Deleted user]

Hi @Kathy Kurth,

Not sure how many individual Users we are referring to here. With a small or big user base, it is recommended best practise to use groups over individual Users.

Weighing just the methods you detailed, first may be a little more cumbersome as we take each user and associate permissions to them, compared to the second approach.

Also, please understand that Space level permissions are enforced at a higher level and when we are considering the second approach, we are not really doing this at a space level but at a page level in which case the restrictions are inline with the Parent-child hierarchy of pages.

Have you thought about creating a new group that has all the Users having access to the space (which means this new group excludes Users restricted from accessing this space you are referring to) and using this group to have 'Can view and edit' when you take the second approach?

Thanks
Kalyani

[Kathy Kurth]

This is a special project that should only last around 6 months. The team has 7 people on it out of a total user base that's approaching 700. 

IT likes groups that are more long-term. They prefer not to create them for little one-off projects.

You've given me a lot to think about. Thank you for all the info.

Kathy