Private Client Areas

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Private Client Areas

A private client area is a page that only a specific user or group of users can access and a multi-user license is required. For example: you might want to provide a list of documents to clients, charge for access to an area, communicate confidentially with customers, etc. It is simple and should take only 5 to 10 minutes to set up.

This tutorial will follow steps to create a private client area for a gallery owner. We'll create a page, login accounts for each user and assign rights so regular website visitors don't see the link.

1. Create The Page

The first step is to log in and create a new page. A default page will work fine. Note that we should probably call it "Private Client Area". In this example, we'll assume that we have more than one customer that will come here for information. For the text on the page enter : "Your private information is displayed below. Click on the link to see more."

When you are done, click save.

2. Hide The Page

The next step is to hide the page from the public. Click on the Security button at the top. The first section lists "Inherited Rights" and probably shows "Administrators" with "True" for every right, and "Everyone" with just "List" and "View" rights. This means that regular web visitors can see a link to the page (list) and can view the page when they click on the link (view). Administrators can list, view, edit, delete, create new pages (add children), and make changes to the security (modify security).

Click "New" Under the Local Rights section. On the next page, click on "Everyone" to give the page its own "Everyone" settings and it will be added to the list. Change "List" and "View" rights both to "No" and click "Apply Changes". Regular website visitors can no longer see the page.

Next, click "New" again and add "Logged In Users" to the list. Set "View" and "Edit" rights to "Yes" and "Yes". Click "Apply Changes" and then "Close". Now the page is visible to users who enter a valid login and password.

3. Create User Accounts

Next, we'll create accounts for the clients to log in with. Click on the "Users" button on the left. Click on the "Create a New User" button and type in information for "Sam". We'll need to make up a login and password (for example: Sam and love4art). For now we can leave Home Dir and Group blank. Click "Save" and "Close" and follow the same process to create a new user named "Susan". Just give her a different login and password.

4. Create Client Pages

Go back to the private client area page and create new pages for Sam and Susan. Any page type will work fine. After you save Sam's page, click on "Security" and set the rights so "Logged In Users" has "No" and "No" for "List" and "View". Click "Apply Changes". Then give Sam "View" and "List" rights. Click "Apply Changes" and "Close". You should also set the rights for Susan's page so she has "List" and "View" and "Logged In Users" has nothing.

Now, if you visit the page as an Administrator, you see a list of client pages. If you login as a client, you only see a link to your private page. Be sure to login as each user to check your work and see how the page will appear to them. As a last step, email the login information to each client with instructions on how to visit their page. Your private client area is complete.

Advanced Tip - Home Directory
The user's "Home Dir" field determines what page they start on when they log in. We can set it so that each client automatically jumps to their private page. We need to note the address for the page we want to jump to. For example: navigate to the private client area page. Note the address is something like: https://www.invisiblegold.com/private/. We would set home dir to "/private/".

Advanced Tip - Show The Link
Another nice technique is to set the rights to the Private Client Area page so "Everyone" has "List" but not "View". This means that a regular website visitor will see the link to the Client Area section, but when they click on it, they will see a login page first.

Advanced Tip - Use Groups
You can use groups to assign rights to more than one user at a time. For example, we did all of our editing as an Administrator. Any member of the Administrator's group has the same rights. We could create a different group such as "Clients" with rights to view a collection of pages.

Advanced Tip - Give Users Edit Rights
As a final tip, note that you can also assign "Edit" rights so a client can edit their own page. This is useful for more collaborative situations. Different page templates allow you to create private discussion areas, lists of files to download, calendars and more.

Keywords:

Users, Groups, Security, Login, Registration

Private Client Areas

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