Confluence user permissions
- Robert Alexander Marshall
- Comala Publishing for Confluence Cloud
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
publishing a single page as a page editor
publishing all the pages in a space as a space administrator
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)
manage the publishing configuration for an existing source space
use the ellipsis menu option Clear Publishing configuration
publish all the pages in the space using Publish space
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 Select user performing publishing action 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 page editor publishing a single page using the publishing dialog box on a page
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 state 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 state 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. For new spaces, the app-add-on user is selected by default in the Select user performing publishing action setting.
This allows pages to be published without needing specific user permissions in the target space. The Comala Publishing for Confluence Cloud app add-on user permissions in the target space are used for publishing actions.
The Select user performing publishing action option is set using a dropdown menu.
Comala Publishing for Confluence Cloud app add-on user
User responsible for the action
Using the app add-on user for publishing lets you remove user edit permissions in the target space and 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 state 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 Errors publishing to a target space page with page restrictions for details on how to resolve this publishing conflict.