Protected Documents

Protected Documents is a module that allows folders and files to be shown on your website. Folders can be protected at a group level which allows specific users to see only the folders their group has the right to view. The wholly protected documents folder structure can be displayed on a single page or individual folders inserted as needed into any web page. Each link to a document is generated for single use to ensure documents are protected.

It is necessary to protect and secure your website and files nowadays because there are hundreds of security risks from the internet. Using this module will help you keep your documents safe from hackers or online thieves. This module provides a complete solution to providing documents on your website and limiting access to authorised visitors.

Protected documents allow you to put all or part of a document's folder structure onto any page. The folders can then be secured for specific user groups, companies or company types.

Inserting Protected Documents

STEP-BY-STEP
  • 1
    Log in as an administrator and go to the page you want to insert your Protected Documents, and click the Edit icon on the right
    Learn how to log in here →
  • 2
    Click configure button to insert the curly bracket.
    Protected Documents
  • 3
    Search for Protected Documents
    Protected Documents
  • 4
    You have 2 options to select the detail to show the visitor
    • Protected Document Files: just see files in the folder, sub folders will disappear.
    • Protected Documents: see all files and subfolders.
    Protected Documents
  • 5
    Click on the folder to open the File Manager, and select the path which contains the documents to display
    Protected Documents
  • 6
    Navigate through the folders and choose the correct path, then click select
    Protected Documents
  • 7
    The folder path will be defined and added into the 'Path' field, click Insert at the bottom to finish inserting the Protected Documents curly bracket
    Protected Documents
  • 8
    The Protected Documents curly bracket is now inserted into the page content
    Protected Documents

Editing Protected Documents

STEP-BY-STEP
  • 1
    Log in as an administrator and go to the page where your Protected Documents are displayed
    Learn how to log in here →
  • 2
    Double-click on the Protected Documents curly bracket to edit
    Protected Documents
  • 3
    Right-click and select the Edit Curly Bracket option on a Curly Bracket
    Protected Documents
  • 4
    Click Update And Close the page and protected documents will appear as a folder tree on the page.
    Protected Documents

Making User Groups Protected Document Administrators

Make a New User Group

STEP-BY-STEP
  • 1
    Log in as an administrator and go to the Admin Dashboard.
    Learn how to log in here →
  • 2
    Click on User management -> User Groups.
    Protected Documents
  • 3
    Enter the Name and Description of the new group and click Save.
    Protected Documents
  • 4
    In admin / User Management / User Groups, find the user group you wish to make into a protected document admin
  • 5
    Click on the Edit Permission icon
    Protected Documents
  • 6
    The Edit Permission page will appear
  • 7
    Select Manage Protected Document Permissions
  • 8
    Click the Save button
    Protected Documents
  • 9
    After updating the group's permissions, all users of the group will have the ability to administer view rights for protected document folders.

Adding extra security using Session Variables and Conditional Expressions

STEP-BY-STEP
  • 1
    Log in as an administrator and go to the Admin Dashboard.
    Learn how to log in here →
  • 2
    To add extra security to your protected documents, with or without the User groups, you can use the Session Variables and Conditional Expressions. This setting may only work if the user is logged in or the session variables are set correctly.
    Protected Documents
    • Session Variables - these are pieces of information stored using the login credentials of the user i.e FirstName, LastName or Email etc.
    • Conditional Expression - the logic that will be used to show the Folder (Equal to/Not Equal to)
    • Folder Name - we will show the folder if it matches the Sessions value OR;
    • Set the value you want for the Session Variable selected.
       

    Note: An example configuration would be: I selected Session Variable as "FirstName" and Conditional Expression as "Equals", unchecked Folder Name and set the Value to "Test". The output should only allow users with Firstname = Test to see the folder.

Configuring File Extension Icons

File extensions are hidden on the protected documents interface (see image below) and icons are used to indicate different file types. Example SomeFile.docx will be displayed as SomeFile with a word document icon

  • Every effort has been made to ensure the common file extensions (doc, docx, xls, xlsx etc) are supported.
  • At times, new file extensions appear in the workplace or you may want to customise the icons used
STEP-BY-STEP
  • 1
    Log in as an administrator and go to the Admin Dashboard.
    Learn how to log in here →
  • 2
    In Admin, navigate to Configurations > Site Settings
  • 3
    Enter Document Type Mapping Setting and click search
  • 4
    Click on the edit icon
    Protected Documents
    Note: WebEd uses Font Awesome icons for documents, see the full list of available icons here
  • 5
    Just edit the CSS style on the document type to change the icon
  • 6
    The style mapping for document and class shows the correct icon for each document type configured
    (Here we are changing the icon for CSV files to be a Search Icon - CSS Class from fa fa-file to fa fa-search)

    Example: change the icon from icon file .csv to icon-search.
    Note: WebEd uses Font Awesome icons for documents, see the full list of available icons here
    Protected Documents
  • 7
    Click Save and refresh your page to see the updated document tree.
    Protected Documents
    Protected Documents
  • 8
    Click Save and refresh your page to see the updated document tree.
    Protected Documents

Defining the Protected Documents Start Folder

STEP-BY-STEP
  • 1
    If no StartFolder is defined in the curly bracket tag, the root of the ProtectedDocuments folder is used
  • 2
    Look at the image above and you can see the folder structure includes a path Folders/Images
  • 3
    Just replace the optional RelativePath setting with the location you wish to display, in this case, Folders/Images
    Protected Documents
  • 4
    Click the "Update And Close" button.
  • 5
    Now Folders/Images are shown as the root location for the protected documents on this page
    Protected Documents

Folder and Document Feedback

A key feature of protected documents is the ability for users to provide feedback. Information entered is stored against the item (folder or document) and the contact record allowing administrators to quickly respond to user feedback requests. When a user submits feedback, an email is sent to the email address in the Site Setting for DocumentFeedback.

STEP-BY-STEP
  • 1
    Users can mouse over folders or file
  • 2
    Icons will appear
    Protected Documents
  • 3
    The user clicks the feedback icon
  • 4
    Popup window appears
    Protected Documents
  • 5
    The user is prompted for feedback
  • 6
    The user responds to the captcha
  • 7
    Email is sent to email address in site settings
    • Email To is the value in Site Setting for DocumentFeedback
    • From Address will be the user's email address for ease of replies
    • The subject line will be the folder or document name
    • The email Body will be the user's comments along with the date and time of submission

Tracking Document Views

Protected Documents tracks the views of documents by users

STEP-BY-STEP
  • 1
    Icons show when a document is unread and read
  • 2
    This is done so users can quickly see documents they have not yet reviewed
  • 3
    Look at any file in a folder list and find a document unread
  • 4
    Open the document
  • 5
    Refresh the page and you will see the icon has changed to read
  • 6
    Sometimes users have previously read a document via some other source (email, web link etc)
  • 7
    Users can then indicate they have read this document previously by clicking the Read Icon
    Protected Documents

Securing Folders

STEP-BY-STEP
  • 1
    By default, folders are hidden, hence the name-protected documents
  • 2
    To make them viewable to certain users, you must enable view rights
  • 3
    You can enable view access based on the users
    • UserGroup
    • Company
    • Company Type
    Protected Documents

Viewing Protected Documents

Viewing Folders

STEP-BY-STEP
  • 1
    Mouse over on folder and file to see more details (icons) about the folder
    • Total number of Files - Folders (1): You can see the total number will be contained of documents files and folders.
    • The total number of Files Read - Not Read Yet (2): You can see files read or not read yet in this folder of this user.
    • The Lock icon (3): A lock icon will appear next to each folder. It will set limit view settings for a folder with permission.
    • The Feedback icon (4): Feedback on the folder or files.
    Protected Documents

Viewing Files

STEP-BY-STEP
  • 1
    Mouse over any Files
    • The Date/Time the file is last modified
    • The Read/Unread Icon shows the status or Read of Unread for this user
    • The File Feedback Icon allows the user to provide feedback on the protected document.
    Protected Documents

Viewing Protected Documents as a valid user group

STEP-BY-STEP
  • 1
    The user is part of the group Technical Staff
  • 2
    Protected Documents are viewable by group Technical Staff
  • 3
    The user navigates to a page containing a Protected Document
  • 4
    The folder structure is shown
    Protected Documents

Viewing Protected Documents as an invalid user group

STEP-BY-STEP
  • 1
    The user is part of the group Projects Staff
  • 2
    Protected Documents are viewable only by the group Technical Staff
  • 3
    The user navigates to a page containing Protected Documents
  • 4
    No Folders or files are visible (the user is not part of the group project Staff)
    Protected Documents

Setting View Rights for Protected Documents

From the web page

This can only be done if you are part of the group ProtectedDocumentAdmin or a full admin

STEP-BY-STEP
  • 1
    Log in as an administrator and go to the Admin Dashboard.
    Learn how to log in here →
  • 2
    Browse to any page containing protected documents
  • 3
    As a ProtectedDocumentAdmin, on mouse-over of a folder, the usual icons appear along with a Lock icon for managing access
    Protected Documents
  • 4
    Clicking the lock icon opens a new window to set view permissions for the folder.
    • Groups - the user group who can see these folders
    • Companies - the company name that can see these folders (Company Names are part of the user's contact record)
    • Company Types - company types who can view this folder
  • 5
    Start typing the name of the group, company or company type to enable view rights to those users.
    Protected Documents




From the Admin Module

STEP-BY-STEP
  • 1
    When you click on Protected Documents, all folders will be shown
  • 2
    Mouse over any folder to see the lock icon
  • 3
    Click the lock icon (as shown above in web page access) to set the view rights for a folder
    Protected Documents

Automated Publishing

Automated publishing refers to the process of scheduling and managing the automatic release of content on a website. It allows for content to be uploaded, formatted, and published at pre-set times, eliminating the need for manual intervention. This is particularly useful for maintaining a consistent content flow, such as for news updates, blog posts, or product listings.

Automated publishing tools often integrate with content management systems (CMS), offering features like custom scheduling, content tracking, and content approvals. This streamlines the workflow, ensures timely publication, and reduces human error.

  • The optional add-on module for protected documents can automate the publishing from your internal desktop or file server
  • Just save files to your local file share and then an automated process will push them to the website
  • The folder security on the website then limits visitor access to the secure folders
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