Access Controls (Page Access)

Access controls let you limit who can view your content.
UI of the Page Access controls within Drupal

By default, all published content is visible to anyone visiting the site, including guests and visitors who are not logged in. Use access controls to restrict viewing to specific users or groups.

Understanding access levels

Anonymous users are visitors to your site who are not logged in. They have no Drupal account.

Logged-in users are anyone with an active Drupal account, including staff, faculty, students, affiliates, retirees, and guest lecturers. If you want to include retired employees in your access list, select "Logged In Users" rather than individual roles.

Specific roles (Staff, Student, Faculty) let you refine access further. Learn more about how roles are defined on the Roles & Permissions page.

Specific users let you grant access to one or more individual people by name, even if their role alone would not normally have access.

Limit Access by Audience

The audience control is the quickest way to restrict who sees your content. You can check multiple boxes; anyone in any of the selected groups will be able to view the content.

To set audience access:

  1. From the content editing view, click to expand the "Page Access" section within the right-hand sidebar.
  2. Under "Limit Access by Audience," check the boxes for each group that should be able to view this content. You may select:
    • Logged In Users (all users with a Drupal account)
    • Staff
    • Student
    • Faculty
  3. If you check "Logged In Users," that overrides the other options—all logged-in users will see it regardless of their role.
  4. If you check specific roles (Staff, Student, Faculty) without checking "Logged In Users," only people in those roles will see the content.
  5. Save your changes.

Limit access by specific user

You can also give access to particular individuals. This is useful if you need to share a page with a guest lecturer, consultant, or someone outside the usual staff/faculty/student roles.

To add specific user access:

  1. On your content editing form, scroll to the "Page Access" section on the right side.
  2. Under "Limit Access by User," use the search field to find the person by name or email.
  3. Click to select them from the list. Their name will appear below the search field.
  4. To give access to more than one person, click "Add another item" and repeat.
  5. To remove a person, click the "Remove" button next to their name.
  6. Save your changes.