SharePoint Permissions So Easy a Caveman Can Do It
Posted: December 28, 2012 Filed under: Permissions, SharePoint | Tags: Permission, Security 9 Comments
These drawings, found in a cave in Redmond, WA, date back to early 2001. The pictographs have stumped archeologists throughout the ages, until now.
Recent discoveries by a SharePoint addict reveal the true meaning of these images.
“It looks like the four building blocks of SharePoint permissions.” Take a look at the cave drawing again, this time with annotation.
But how do SharePoint Permissions work?
Here are the basic steps:
- Add users to the SharePoint group
- Give the group a permission level
- Grant the group access to somewhere
Of course if you are not satisfied with the permission levels or SharePoint groups that are available, given the correct rights, you can create your own groups and permission levels.
Although it is not considered a Best Practice, you could also give permissions directly to a user.
- Give the user a permission level
- Grant the user access to somewhere
Some of the drawings show another figure. This additional figure depicts secure Active Directory (AD) groups.
- Add AD groups to the SharePoint group
- Give the group a permission level
- Grant the group access to somewhere
Further interpretation of the drawings revealed another option
- Give the AD group a permission level
- Grant the AD group access to somewhere
Some archeologists were stunned that there was no pictograph for audiences, but then someone pointed out that SharePoint audiences are not part of permissions or security. SharePoint audiences are just a way to reduce noise on a page.
In our next session we will discuss the pros and cons using AD Groups and Users to manage SharePoint Permissions.
View and download the entire deck here.
Hey Tamara! 
Wonderful, Wonderful
Absolutely beautiful!
What I want to know is how you got such straight lines in your diagrams above. That’s difficult to do on stone walls. Very cool.
Years of training, Grasshopper. Focus. Or you can just spray paint the lines on the cave wall.
I wants me some more caveman masterpiece. Love it and will use it (with your permission) at work. We look forward to the next post on pros and cons.
Thanks for your comment on the SharePoint Permissions blog post. I hope to have the Pros and Cons post done by end of next week.
Thanks for reading and posting a comment.
[…] If you need an overview of SharePoint Permisisons check out SharePoint Permissions So Easy Even a Caveman Can Do It. […]
Hi, I attended the BestBuy teachout on Permissions and you had mentioned using a spreadsheet to manage them. You had mentioned if anyone was interested in using it as a sample you could provide it. I hate reinventing the wheel so thought I’d ask you to share. Thanks
Here is a link to an example of a Permissions Matrix spreadsheet. http://sdrv.ms/WlVcmw