Restrict content to logged in readers

You can restrict some content so that it is only visible to readers belonging to specific reader groups. To do so, create a reader group or groups, add readers to those groups, and then restrict the category or individual articles to that group. This page walks through how to restrict categories and articles to reader groups. Refer to Reader Groups overview if you're new to reader groups.

How restrictions work

Reader group restrictions can be set at the category and article level:

Category restrictions

Restrictions set in the Restrict Viewing to Reader Groups section are automatically inherited by all subcategories and articles in the category. Basically, this locks down all content in the category to the reader groups you select, without you having to do any additional work in the individual articles or subcategories!

A few things to keep in mind if you set reader group restrictions at the category level:

• Groups inherited from a category are identified in the Inherited Reader Groups section of the editor.
• By default, articles and subcategories are set to Use Inherited Only, which means they'll only use the groups they've inherited from the category.
• You can add additional groups to individual subcategories and articles by using the Add More Restrictions checkboxes within those pages.

Article restrictions

If an article is within a category that has no reader group restrictions, you can use the article's Restrict Viewing to Reader Groups section to show it only to specific groups. This approach allows you to restrict only specific articles within the category to reader groups.

If an article has inherited restrictions from its category, by default it is set to Use Inherited Only. But you may Add More Restrictions to require additional group membership to view the article. Add More Restrictions selections don't impact other articles or categories in any way.

Restrict access based on Reader Groups

1. If you don't have your reader groups set up, refer to Create a reader group for detailed instructions.
2. Create a new category or article or edit an existing one.
3. If the category or article has None selected in the Inherited Reader Groups section of the editor, use the checkboxes under Restrict Viewing to Reader Groups in the righthand column to set which groups can see this content.
4. If the category or article has groups listed in the Inherited Reader Groups section of the editor, use the checkboxes to Add More Restrictions to the the content. Readers will have to belong to at least one of these additional groups AND at least one of the inherited groups (possibly more, depending on your knowledge base reader logic; refer to Content with multiple reader groups for more info).
5. Be sure to Save your changes.

Test your settings

If this is your first time using reader groups or you're not entirely sure you set things up properly, you can always test to see what a reader in a given group will be able to access. Refer to Test reader group access for more detailed instructions.