NeatClubs supports the notion of "Member Types" and allows documents and images to be protected so that only certain types of members can see certain types of documents.
At this time individual members may only be assigned to one member type (however this is something that we may enhance in future)
In our experience, organizations may want to protect access to documents. There are multiple ways to achieve this in NeatClubs.COM described here:
Each of these three approaches are described below:
Creating menu items that require a login to view
The graphic below shows a common use vase for a protected menu item. In this example we want to link to a particular document that has permissions set so that it is only visible to certain types of members. When we click on the "competitive members only" menu option below, we want to be directed to a login screen, and then straight to the appropriate document. The steps for setting up this type of menu link are covered below.
1. Change the setup properties for the menu so that "Show Private Menu Options" is set to "Yes" as shown below. This setting changes the behaviour of menu items that link to documents or files in the document library so that they display always even though the web-site viewer will not normally have permissions to see them.
2. Next ensure that you have the document or file in your document library configured appropriate that you want to link to. You can learn more about uploading, creating and managing document properties here.You'll want to make sure that the document properties are set to make the document private. In our example, we set the document properties of the document we are linking to so that only competitive members and club executives can see the document (administrators can always see the document)
The relevant part of the document properties screen is shown below. Note that we are only going to allow Competitive athletes and club executives to see the content in this example
3. The next step is to configure the menu item to link to this document (remember the name of this document and the user document category that it resides in). Use the quick links or access the menu options under the system setup to configure a menu option. In our example we're using a side panel menu.
As we see below, we have created a link from the side panel menu option called "Competitive Members Only" to the document called "Competitive Members Document" in the document category called "Competitive Information". Note that these permissions must always be set to reflect who is allowed access to the document. With the mode of operation set as described in step 1 to display private documents, a padlock will be displayed reflecting the fact that this menu option links to private content.
After this you will need to save the menu settings and regenerate the menu or log out and login again to force the menu to be rebuilt.
4. Once completed, you can test this option by logging out of the web-site (so you see the site as a public visitor) and clicking on the new private side panel option shown below.
Once you click on competitive members, you should now see a login screen like the one below. After you log in you should be taken straight to the requested document (assuming you've logged in with sufficient permissions to see the document)
Your member type is always visible on the side panel (or on the top of the screen depending on your site setup) after you login.
Display additional private menus only after a member has logged in
This is a much simpler way of protecting access to documents. This example is the same as the one above except we leave the menu setup option "Show Private Menus Options" set to "No". This will mean that the menu items will not be visible under the user actually logs in.
Other than this different, the setup is otherwise identical. (note that a lock graphic will not appear on the web-site if you are using this mode.
1. The user will login as they normally do
2. The menu items will be visible only if the logged in user is an administrator or the menu entry properties are such that the user can view the menu item
3. For this approach, the menu may be linked to any type of entity supported by the menu system (documents, events, images, external web references etc.)
Create a "members only page" home page that links to additional resources.
Another very simple way to hide content from public visitors but make it available to your membership is to use a member specific home page.
There are normally two versions of the Home Page document in your document library. A "Public Home Page" and a "Members Home Page"
This setup option allows you to specify one home page to be used for the web-site for public visitors and another to be used for logged in users.
The members only home can in turn contain links to documents appropriate only for certain types of membership.
Although there is only one member home page, you can link to documents intended to be visible only to specific member classifications. If a user clicks on a document that they are not allowed to have access to based on their current member status, they will simply receive an error message telling them this.