If an article or category has multiple reader group restrictions selected, how many of those groups does a reader need to belong to in order to view the content?
Reader group logic
All situations involving multiple reader groups are governed by a Reader group logic setting, which determines whether to treat multiple groups as an AND statement or as an OR statement.
The two Reader group logic settings are:
- Inclusive: Readers can view content when they belong to at least one designated group. Multiple groups are treated like an OR statement.
- Exclusive: Readers can view content when they belong to ALL groups. Multiple groups are treated like an AND statement.
View and update reader group logic
To view and update your knowledge base's reader group logic:
- Go to Security and access > Security settings.
- Locate the Reader group logic setting in the Reader options section.
- Select either Inclusive or Exclusive.
- Be sure to Save your changes.
When in doubt, use inclusive
Inclusive is the KnowledgeOwl default. If you're not sure which setting to use, stick with this setting.
Multiple groups reader logic
The information below varies based on whether you're using our 2026 new editor or old editor.
To figure out which instructions to follow:
- Open any article for editing.
- If the lefthand navigation is collapsed and there's a link near the top of the page to Switch to old editor, follow the New editor documentation.
- If the lefthand navigation is expanded and the top of the editor and the righthand column have a heavier grey background, follow the Old editor documentation.
Here are side-by-side examples of the new editor and the old editor:
Sample New editor
Sample Old editorTry out the new editor
We'd love your feedback on the new editor. To switch to the new editor, open any article for editing and select the Switch to new editor link at the top of the editor.
How new article editor handles multiple groups
In the new article editor, you might have multiple groups selected in the Read access section in three ways:
- Using the Limited to specific reader groups setting with multiple reader group checkboxes checked
- Using the All category reader groups when the category has multiple reader groups selected
- Using the Limited to specific category reader groups setting with multiple reader group checkboxes checked
In all three scenarios, the behavior depends entirely on your knowledge base's Reader group logic settings.
Inclusive logic for multiple groups
When Inclusive reader group logic is selected in Security and access > Security settings, readers can view content when they belong to at least one group in the list.
For example, let's say we have an article restricted to groups "Apples" and "Bananas". With Inclusive reader group logic, this basically means that readers must belong to the Apples group OR the Bananas group:
- Reader in Apples group only: Can access the article
- Reader in Bananas group only: Can access the article
- Reader in both Apples and Bananas groups: Can access the article
- Reader in the Pineapples group: Can't access the article
Exclusive logic for multiple groups
When Exclusive reader group logic is selected in Security and access > Security settings, readers must belong to all groups in the list.
For example, let's say we have an article restricted to groups "Apples" and "Bananas". With Exclusive reader group logic, this basically means that readers must belong to the Apples group AND the Bananas group:
- Reader in Apples group only: Can't access the article
- Reader in Bananas group only: Can't access the article
- Reader in both Apples and Bananas groups: Can access the article
- Reader in the Pineapples group: Can't access the article
How category editor and old article editor handle multiple groups
In the category editor and the old article editor, having multiple groups assigned to a category or article can get a bit complicated. We'll walk through each possible scenario below.
In the category editor and the old article editor, you might have multiple groups selected in one of three ways:
- Multiple groups displayed in the Inherited Reader Groups section.
- Multiple checkboxes selected in the Restrict Viewing to Reader Groups section.
- One or more groups in the Inherited Reader Groups AND the Add More Restrictions section.
Multiple groups in a single section
For the first two scenarios, where multiple groups are selected in either the Inherited Reader Groups section or the Restrict Viewing to Reader Groups section, the behavior depends entirely on your knowledge base's Reader group logic settings and is fairly straightforward:
Inclusive logic for multiple groups
When Inclusive reader group logic is selected in Security and access > Security settings, readers can see content when they belong to at least one group in the list.
For example, let's say we have an article restricted to groups "Apples" and "Bananas". With Inclusive reader group logic, this basically means that readers must belong to the Apples group OR the Bananas group:
- Reader in Apples group only: Can access the article
- Reader in Bananas group only: Can access the article
- Reader in both Apples and Bananas groups: Can access the article
- Reader in the Pineapples group: Can't access the article
Exclusive logic for multiple groups
When Exclusive reader group logic is selected in Security and access > Security settings, readers must belong to all groups in the list.
For example, let's say we have an article restricted to groups "Apples" and "Bananas". With Exclusive reader group logic, this basically means that readers must belong to the Apples group AND the Bananas group:
- Reader in Apples group only: Can't access the article
- Reader in Bananas group only: Can't access the article
- Reader in both Apples and Bananas groups: Can access the article
- Reader in the Pineapples group: Can't access the article
Groups in two sections
For the third scenario, in which the content has at least one group in the Inherited Reader Groups AND the Add More Restrictions section, the Inclusive/Exclusive reader group logic still applies within each of those sections, but the sections are treated as a combination: a reader must belong to at least one of the Inherited Reader Groups AND one of the Add More Restrictions groups.
For example, let's say an article has Inherited Reader Groups for the KO Authors Only group and has the Owlcademy MC Students group checked in the Add More Restrictions section:
In this case the reader group logic itself doesn't matter since there's only a single group in each list, so the access breaks down like this:
- Reader in KO Authors Only group only: Can't access the article
- Reader in Owlcademy MC Students group only: Can't access the article
- Reader in both KO Authors Only and Owlcademy MC Students groups: Can access the article
- Reader in KO Authors Only and Contractor groups: Can't access the article