Author Access to Non-Visible "Hidden" Folders?

Question

Can authors directly open a folder they have read permissions to (as granted through the folder's containing folders), even if "hidden" in other folders in the CME?

To consolidate schemas into fewer publications while controlling their availability to different groups and/or publications, we can use subfolders and permissions.

In the following folder setup certain authors would have read on the Editorial Schemas folder.

• Building Blocks
  • Content
  • System
    • Schemas
    • Editorial Schemas (set to read for regular authors)
    • System Schemas

These authors only see the "Editorial" Schemas when creating components. If they have the links, they could directly open these schemas in read-only mode.

If the containing Schemas folder also has read, should these authors be able to directly open the folder in the CME?

Testing this, I get the following (on the folder's parent folder) and suspect each displayed folder is checked against permissions.

You do not have permission to perform this action.

Unable to get Title of Folder (tcm:5-14-2).

Background: I'm looking for a way to at show authors "hidden" items at in at least read-only mode and thought this might be a good use case for Bundles. I can let certain authors see the normally hidden subfolders in a Bundle, but they can't open them. Maybe a Custom Page or adding all the schemas to this Bundle would be better?

Answer 1

The access to items in a folder is controlled by either the folder itself, or by the folder it inherits from. If you have permissions set locally in a child folder that allow access, the user will be able to use those items, even if the settings on the parent folder would make it difficult for them to navigate there.

So it's quite common to have - as you say - a system folder that people can't see, which contains folders that they can read but effectively can't navigate to. You can even change the permissions yet again in a lower child folder, say, if you have some schemas that you don't want them to be able to see at all.

A folder is seen as just another item in the folder that contains it, so if you don't have read set in the parent, you won't be able to read the title of a child folder. (I think you won't even be able to list the contents of the child.)

Other means of navigation don't have the hierarchical restrictions that folders do, but the permissions set on the folders will be strictly evaluated. So if someone has access via a bundle, or search folder, a custom page, GUI extension, XPM? whatever, that doesn't rely on being able to read the parent, that should work fine.