RIT will permanently shut down the RIT Wiki (Confluence wiki) on February 2, 2024. Review the Wiki Shut Down Overview for information on alternative tools, exporting content from the wiki, and other FAQs.
Important Notes
Permissions can only be managed by a Space Admin
If you are not an admin on a wiki space, you will not be able to edit the Permissions.
Academic Technology Support can tell you who has admin permissions on a wiki space so you may reach out to them for assistance. Space admins agree to manage the permissions on their space and transfer admin responsibility appropriately. ATS will not make changes to permissions as we cannot verify the legitimacy of the requests or the security required for the information in that space.
RIT Accounts and Permissions
Users with an RIT Account must log in to the wiki at least once before they are available to be added to permissions
Users with RIT Accounts must log in to the wiki at least once before they will be available for a Space Admin to add them to permissions, restrictions, or groups.
Ask your user to go to http://wiki.rit.edu and use the Log In link found to the upper-right of the page. Once a user has logged for the first time, their RIT Computer Account will be imported and they can then be added by a Space Admin to permissions, restrictions, and groups.
If you requested a Course wiki space, special groups were added to the permissions on your wiki to grant access automatically to the instructors and students in the Registrar's records as they log in for the first time. This information is updated once each morning ~5:00am Eastern.
Permissions are cumulative
If a user is granted permissions Individually or by a Group they are a member of, they will have the greatest cumulative access of all of the permissions they are granted.
For example, if you grant an individual full access with all checkboxes and then they are a member of a Group that only has permission to View, that user still has full access to the wiki space.
Page Restrictions are not Permissions
A common mistake is a user who can edit pages on wiki space confusing Page Restrictions for Permissions.
Page Restrictions cannot grant access or grant privileges a user does not already have from the Permissions on the wiki space.
Think of your wiki as a house. Permissions are the key to getting into the house from the outside, they are the first level of security for the house. Restrictions are the key to individual rooms or sections of the house. You have to be able to get into the the wiki space/house with Permissions, before you even worry about the locks on rooms inside the house with Restrictions.
Generally you only need to use Restrictions if a page or a page and its children require a different set of security compared to the rest of the wiki space. For example, a wiki for a club may be set up in Permissions so all members can view and edit pages, but you might have a Leadership page with Restrictions on it so only members of the leadership team can view and edit that page and it's children.
- Vendor documentation on Page Restrictions: https://confluence.atlassian.com/conf613/page-restrictions-964960419.html
Inviting Guests without an RIT Account
Faculty and Staff can invite guests who do not have an RIT Computer Account to create an account on the RIT Wiki.
Once the user has created their account and given you their username, you will be able to add them to your wiki space following these steps below.
Accessing Permissions
A wiki space administrator can give users access to their wiki with the Permissions tool in the Space Admin / Space Tools.
How to access these tools depends on the theme your wiki space is using.
| Space Tools | Space Admin |
|---|---|
Make sure you are logged in to the RIT Wiki with the RIT account that has Space Admin access for the space you are working on. If your theme has the Confluence Sidebar enabled, you will see the Space Tools button at the very bottom of the page if you are an administrator of that wiki space. Clicking the Space Tools button will show a menu, select Permissions from the menu.
| Make sure you are logged in to the RIT Wiki with the RIT account that has Space Admin access for the space you are working on, If your theme has the Browse menu in the navigation bar, you will see a Space Admin link there if you are an administrator of that wiki space.
On the Space Administration screen, select Permissions in the sidebar.
|
If you are an Admin on a wiki space and you do not see Space Tools or the Browse > Space Admin option, your space may be using an out of date theme or has been customized by one of your space admins accidentally leaving off this access.
There is one last option to access the Space Tools.
- Click on Spaces on the top bar of the wiki and going to the Space Directory.
- If Spaces is not shown on your current page, click on the Confluence logo to go to the front page of the wiki where Spaces should always be available.
- If Spaces is not shown on your current page, click on the Confluence logo to go to the front page of the wiki where Spaces should always be available.
- Type the wiki name into the Filter field, but do not press Return, let the list filter by your entry.
- Click the 'i'
icon in the same row of the wiki space title to access the Space Details. - Then Click on the Permissions tab.
Granting Permissions
Individual Users
- Once you have accessed Permissions, click on Edit Permissions under Individual Users.
- Type the username of the person that you would like to add in the text field below your current user list, then click the Add button.
The username is not the email address, i.e. use abc4567 not abc4567@rit.edu.The user does not have to pop up in the quick search results under the field as you type to be found, please enter their username in the field and click Add once to see if they are still added.
The quick search results that pop up may not reflect new wiki users who logged in for the first just within the past few days.
If you don't know the username of the person that you are trying to add, you can click on the magnifying glass icon to search for them using their first or last name. Once you have found them in the list, click the check box next to their name and then click on Select User(s).
If the user you are trying to add with an RIT Account has never logged in to the wiki, they will not be found in any searches.
Users with an RIT Account must log in at least once before their account will be listed on the wiki, as stated at the start of this document.
Once your new user has been added, you can adjust their permissions by using the checkboxes for the available Permissions. For information regarding each option, please review the Permission Summary down below.
By default, all new users will only have "View" access.
Do not grant Admin access to a user unless you want them to have full control of the wiki space.You may then repeat the search to add additional users if you wish.
When you are done click the Save All button to save your changes.
Groups
Managing Permissions with Groups allows you to assign permissions to that group once, instead of managing individual users.
The wiki supports two different types of groups, RIT LDAP Groups and Wiki Groups created on the RIT Wiki, discussed below.
Granting Permissions to Groups is the same as Individual Users shown above, with the exception that you work under the Groups heading on the Permission page and that you search for the Group name instead of a username.
A group called confluence-administrators should always be listed under your groups with all permissions. This group is comprised of Academic Technology Support staff who can assist you in the event of a problem with your wiki. Please do not delete the confluence-administrators group or alter the permissions.
RIT LDAP Groups
RIT LDAP Groups are associated to RIT Accounts.
For LDAP Group to be available as a choice for Permissions on the RIT Wiki, a user with and RIT Account who is a member of that group must have logged in to the wiki at least once.
Users with that LDAP Group on their RIT Account will be added to that group or updated automatically each time they log in to the RIT Wiki. If a user is removed from an LDAP Group, they will automatically be removed from it on the RIT Wiki the next time they log in.
LDAP Groups can also be used as a mailing list in RIT Email.
The RIT LDAP Groups are managed by the ITS Service Desk ( https:// help.rit.edu ), Academic Technology Support does not have the access to assist you with the RIT LDAP Groups themselves. ITS may be able to set up users to allow them to manage the LDAP groups membership so you can manage it yourself.
Wiki Groups
Wiki specific groups can only be managed by Academic Technology Support. Unfortunately Space Admins cannot manage their own wiki groups.
Anonymous / Public access without a login
Granting Permissions to Anonymous /Public Users is the same as Individual Users shown above, with the exception that you work under the Anonymous Access heading.
Do not grant anonymous users more then View permission
Anonymous users should never be granted any permissions beyond View access.
Allowing further access could compromise the security of the RIT Wiki and opens up the wiki to spamming and inappropriate use of RIT resources.
This policy is governed by the RIT Code of Conduct for Computer and Network Use agreed to by all users with an RIT Computer Account and is included in the footer of every page of the RIT Wiki.
Permissions for anonymous users beyond viewing will be removed by wiki administrators without confirmation.
Anonymous access to course related spaces requires permission from all students before being enabled
When configuring permissions on a course-related Wiki space, instructors should not enable Anonymous access as this can be considered a Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) concern.
Per the U.S. Department of Education (http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html):
Generally, schools must have written permission from the parent or eligible student in order to release any information from a student's education record. ...
With Anonymous access enabled on a Wiki space, anyone may view any unrestricted pages and the history of those pages which discloses student names and enrollments associated to that course offering. Student names are listed by default as the creator and editor on pages, and named in the page history with each edit. Student names may also be listed in the content of a page, and even if removed they will remain in the history associated with that page.
We have administratively restricted Anonymous users access to the full user profile but that is the limit of restrictions that can be placed on that access globally.
Permissions Summary
The following permissions can be assigned in a space:
| Category | Permission |
|---|---|
| All | View gives you permission to access the content in this space, and see it in the space directory and other places like the dashboard. Delete own gives you permission to delete any pages, blogs, attachments and comments you've created in this space (regardless of whether other users have subsequently edited the content). |
| Pages | Add page gives you permission to create new pages and edit existing pages in this space (assuming the page is not restricted for editing). Delete page gives you permission to delete any page in the space. |
| Blog | Add blog gives you permission to create new blog posts and edit existing blog posts in this space (assuming the blog post is not restricted for editing). Delete page gives you permission to delete any blog post in the space. Delete permission is also required to move a page or blog to a different space. |
| Attachments | Add attachment gives you permission to upload (attach) files to pages and blog posts in this space. Delete attachment gives you permission to remove attached files from pages or blog posts in the space. People with only Add page or blog permissions can still insert existing attached files in the editor, and remove files from the editor, so they're not displayed on the page or blog post. They can't however upload a new file, a new version of the file, or delete the attached file itself. |
| Comments | Add comments gives you permission to add comments to a page, blog post or attached file. Delete comments gives you permission to delete any comment on a page, blog post or attached file. |
| Restrictions | Add restrictions gives you permission to apply page-level restrictions to a page or blog post. You can restrict a page for viewing, or just for editing. Delete restrictions gives you permission to remove restrictions from any page or blog post. |
| Delete mail gives you permission to delete mail items that have been archived in this space. This is not a commonly used feature. | |
| Space | Export space gives you permission to export all the contents of the space to PDF, HTML or XML. This is different to single page exports - anyone who can view a page can also export it. Admin gives you permission to access all space administration tools, including things like permissions, templates, look and feel, and the ability to delete the whole space. |
Editing Permissions
Editing access for a user or group is easy.
- Access the Permissions
- Use the checkboxes to make your edits
- Click Save All to complete your work.
Removing Users or Groups
Users or groups will be removed from Permissions when they do not have any Permissions checked and enabled.
- Access the Permissions
- Click Deselect All link by the user or group you wish to remove.
- Click Save All to complete your work. The users or groups will be removed from the page once saved.