Confluence user permissions

Overview

Space administrator permissions are required in the source and target space to configure publishing.

Confluence view and edit permissions in the source space and the target space are required to publish and sync a page. These permissions are required when

Adding a page restriction to a page in the source space or a page in the target space affects its ability to be published by anyone not included in the restriction.

Publishing in a space can be configured to use the Comala Publishing app add-on user permissions in the target space instead of the publishing user’s permissions. This allows pages to be published without needing specific user permissions in the target space.

Confluence permissions to configure publishing

Space administrator permission is required in the source and target space to set up and configure publishing.

Source space

In the publishing dashboard of the selected source space, a space administrator can:

  • use the publishing setup wizard to Configure Publishing in a space (space must not currently be in use as a source or target space)

cpc_publishingdashboard_extract_configurepublishing_initialsetupwizardoption.png

 

cpc_publishingdashboard_1_20_0.png
  • use the ellipsis menu option Clear Publishing configuration

For a space publishing action, the space administrator requires view and edit permission for all the pages in the source space and the target space. Page-level restrictions that do not include the space administrator may affect the ability to publish the page. The User permissions for publishing option can be set to use the app add-on user permissions in the target space when publishing instead of the space administrator user permissions.

Target space

Setting up linked spaces for publishing requires space administrator permission in the target space as well as the source space.

In the source space dashboard, when a space administrator chooses a target space where they do not have the necessary administrator permissions

  • a warning message confirms they do have enough permissions in the target space

  • the Next option is unavailable and greyed out

If the space administrator is changing the target space in an existing source space linked for publishing and does not have the necessary permissions in the new target space

  • selected target space is greyed out

  • a warning message is displayed confirming the user does not have enough permissions in the target space

If you select a target space where you don’t have space administrator permissions, all other publishing configuration options are greyed out and inactive.

When the permissions warning is displayed, you can refresh the dashboard to return the source space publishing configuration to the existing target space.

Confluence user permissions for publishing

A user publishing a page from the source space to the target space requires view and edit permission in both spaces. Page-level view or edit restrictions for the publishing user also affect publishing.

You need at least the following space permissions in the target space to publish a page:

  • View All

  • Add and Delete Pages

  • Add and Delete Attachments

If you want to restrict your users from editing pages in the target space, publishing can be configured to use the Comala Publishing add-on user target space permissions.

View and edit permissions are required

  • as a space administrator, publishing all the pages in the space using space publishing

Pages with view and edit restrictions for the user are not displayed in the publishing report:

User without edit permission on a source space page

If a user only has view permission for a page in the source space

  • the publishing status byline is not displayed

  • there is no access to the publishing dialog box on the page

  • the user cannot publish the page using single-page publishing

When a space administrator does not have edit permission on a source space page, the page is not included in a space publishing action

User without edit permission on a published page in the target space

When the target space page has a page-level edit restriction, in the source space, a user with edit permission on the source space page:

  • can view the publishing status byline

  • can open the publishing dialog box

However,

  • they cannot publish the page - the Publish button for single page publishing (if enabled in the space) is not displayed

  • the page is not included in a space publishing action by a space administrator when they do not have edit permission on the target space page.

As a space administrator, you can configure the User Permissions for Publishing setting in the source space to use the Comala Publishing for Confluence add-on user’s permissions in the target space. This allows pages to be published without needing specific user permissions in the target space. This setup is helpful for compliance needs, as it prevents users from editing published pages in the target space.

Publishing using the app add-on user permissions in the target space

Publishing in a space can be configured to use the Comala Publishing app add-on user permissions in the target space instead of the publishing user’s permissions. This allows pages to be published without needing specific user permissions in the target space.

By default, for a new space publishing configuration, the Comala Publishing for Confluence Cloud app add-on user permissions in the target space are used for publishing actions.

User permissions for publishing are set using a dropdown menu

  • user permissions of the app add-on user permissions

  • user permissions of the User who triggers the action

Removing user edit permissions in the target space can support compliance with published documents.

The Comala Publishing app add-on user is added to all the spaces in the Confluence Cloud site by default with the following permissions:

Publishing permission conflicts and errors

Error - user with ONLY VIEW permission in target space

A user is unable to publish a new page in the source space if they have

  • view and edit permission in the source space

  • but only view permission in the configured target space

Error - user without view or edit permission in target space

A user is unable to publish a new page in the source space if they have

  • view and edit permission in the source space

  • but no page permissions in the configured target space

Error - when permissions change on an existing published page in the target space

If a page has already been published and synced to the target space, subsequent publishing actions are affected if the page-level permissions change and cause a publishing conflict.

If the user publishing the page has view and edit permission on the source space but

  • only view permission on the target space

    • an error message is displayed when trying to publish a page

In some cases, the page can be published as a new page in the target space without an error, and the page name can be appended with a number in brackets

For example, when publishing a source space page, Project Teams with an existing target space page with added page restrictions that affect the publishing user

  • a duplicate target space is created and synced Project Teams (2)

  • subsequent publishing actions sync to this new page

The previously published page in the target space displays the last publishing status byline before the publishing conflict occurred and a View source link in the publishing popup. However, it is not synced for publishing.

One of the target space pages must be removed to prevent publishing conflicts:

  • if the original <Pagename> is removed, a subsequent publishing action removes the appended number brackets on the alternate <Pagename>(2) page

Publishing conflicts and errors can be generated when:

  • someone with no page restrictions for the original target space page publishes the source space page

  • removal of the page restrictions without removing the alternate page

You must remove one of these pages to solve this publishing conflict and clean up your target space.

 

You can resolve the publishing conflict by deleting one of the linked target space pages.

For example:

  • delete the original target space page

  • publish and sync the source page again

The target space page name is updated, and the appended (2) is removed.

See https://appfire.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/CPCL/pages/1163624974 for details on how to resolve this publishing conflict.