SharePoint 2007 – How to Manage Site Permissions

[Note: This post has been cross-posted from the SharePoint Guide web site]

The presentation below walks through how to manage permissions and control access to a SharePoint site. It assumes you are the owner of your own site, i.e. you have permission to change permissions:

Some additional notes and reminders:

• Always check with your IT department regarding the policy for managing SharePoint permissions. They may prefer to create directory groups for you that can then be added to SharePoint groups. This approach lets you decide what permissions each group is given without having to manage the user membership. It's also great if you use a distribution list (a type of directory group) to send out email to everyone, as the same group can be used for both activities. IT can't stop you applying your own permissions (short of not letting you be a site owner), but a good identity management system makes life easier for everyone.
• Do keep permissions as simple as possible. In most projects, I find people treat a lot of information as more sensitive than it really is. SharePoint is at its best when used for collaborative working. You can't collaborate when documents are kept secret. Be sure there is a good reason for locking down access.
• To quote a good book, Don't Panic! It's easy to reset permissions by simply re-inheriting from the parent site. If you lock yourself out of your own site, after laughing for a while, IT can sort it all out using the SharePoint system account. Not ideal and they won't thank you for the extra workload but all is not lost.

This is the first post in a series I’m creating from a training course I have delivered over the last three years for various clients. Aimed at business users rather than IT, the course is very much hands-on with just a few slides, going from the basics of what is SharePoint through to creating and managing your first site.

This series will be organised under a dedicated web page – The SharePoint 2007 Site Owners Handbook where you can also download a copy of the slides presented here.