ABAC: Create and restrict an event by audience

Overview

Audience Based Access Control (ABAC) provides the flexibility to enable highly targeted content, communications and access controls. 

In this article, we provide an overview on how you can create an event that utilizes ABAC to restrict that event to a specific audience. This capability empowers content creators to control content visibility by assigning relevant audiences.

Who is this for: App Managers, Site Owners, Site Managers, Site Content Managers, Any user who has access to create content in that site. 

Jump to a section: 

• Step 1: Setting up a site
• Step 2: Creating an event 
• Optional: Create an event & restrict your event to an audience 
• FAQ 
• Best Practices 

Event definition and usage

Events are one of the three types of site content, along with pages and albums. Events can be celebrations, meetings, anniversaries, and more.

When to restrict an event 

What does it mean to restrict an event? 

Restricting an event will ensure that only the selected audiences within a site have access to view that specific event. This means you can have events that are visible to everyone within your site, or you can have events visible to specific people/audiences within your site. 

If an event is not restricted

If an event is not restricted, it is accessible by the site audience:

• Public site: Everyone who can access the site
• Private site:  Everyone who is a member of the site 

Who can restrict an event: Any user who can create content will be able to restrict the access of an event:  

• App Managers, Site Owner, Site Managers, Site Content Managers 
• Standard users (if content submission enabled) 
• Feature owner/Admin/Manager of Manage site Access Control Group (if enabled) 

Audience definition and usage

Audiences are customizable groups of users based on attributes like role, location, or specific individuals. They can then be used to manage who has access to specific features and content. 

Step 1: Setting up a site

1. Check out this article for creating a site and defining visibility and subscriptions. 

Step 2: Creating an event 

1. Click + Create at the bottom left of your screen. 
2. Click Event. 
3. Select the site you would like to publish your event to.
4. Fill out the necessary fields:
   1. Start/end date and time
   2. Location
   3. Attendance (RSVP required or not)  
   4. Event description 
   5. Add relevant files, attachments, and organizers
   6. Add topics
   7. Publish from and publish until dates
   8. A custom event summary
5.  Click Publish. 

• To access this draft at a later time: 
  • Click the rocketship icon on your side navigation bar, titled Manage features.
  • Click the button titled Content.
  • Your drafted event will appear, and will be available to edit, delete, or publish.

Optional: Create an event & restrict your event to an audience

You can restrict your event by audience when creating a new event. 

1. Follow the same steps as above for creating a new event.
2. At the bottom of the event creation, toggle on Restrict who can see this event. 
3. Under the “Select audience” section, click Browse.
4. If you would like for this event to be visible to a selected audience:
   1. Browse through the available audiences.
   2. Select your preferred audience.
5. If you would like for this event to be visible to a sub-audience:
   1. Click on the + icon (Add sub-audience) in front of any audience.
   2. Enter the audience details.
   3. Click Create.
   4. Select the newly created sub-audience.
6. Once your audience selections are made, click Done.
7. Click Publish, or Save if not ready to publish yet.

FAQ 

Who can see restricted content or events?

Content will continue to reside within sites. However, content can now be restricted to a specific audience, making it visible only to that audience, with certain exceptions as follows

• Restricted content is always visible to the author in manage content screens and search results even if author is not part of the target audience of the content
• Restricted content is always visible to the users having manage sites permission i.e. Site managers, Site owners, Site content managers or Feature owner/Admin/Manager of Manage site ACG

Where can I manage restricted content or events?

Content that has restricted access will now be marked with a lock icon within the Manage content screens (accessible via Manage > Content or Manage site > Content). This update helps managers easily identify restricted content

Clicking on the lock icon displays what audience is that event restricted to

View all the restricted content in that site by using the “Restricted” filter on Manage content screen

How can I sync a restricted event to my calendar?

Events are synced to the integrated Google calendars. Check out this article for more details <https://help.simpplr.com/hc/en-us/articles/29792319407123-Event-syncing-with-Google-Calendar>

• If an event is restricted, it would be synced to calendars of only those users who are part of the audience. 
• If an event was already synced for everyone in the site, and is made restricted later, it would be removed from the calendars of the users who are no longer part of the restricted audience.

Are files within a restricted event automatically restricted as well?

File management is smarter and more consistent with content access rules. With restriction on events, files automatically align to the restriction status of the content they’re attached to, while still giving you flexibility to override in certain cases. Clear banners, toggles, and warnings ensure you always know the impact before making changes.

• Files attached to unrestricted content remain accessible to all site members
• Files attached to restricted content now inherit the same restrictions by default
• You can override file restrictions in certain cases, but we’ll guide you with clear banners and toggles so you understand the impact

To know how Content ABAC impacts the files, check out this detailed page <Link to files ABAC page>  here

Who gets notifications for a restricted event?

If an event is restricted, notification would be sent only to the users who are a part of the restricted audience. 

Who can search for a restricted event?

Only users in the restricted audience would be able to search and find the restricted event.

Best practices, recommendations, and pro tips

When creating your event:

• Add a related cover image to boost interest & engagement
• Add a clear, and engaging event description to boost employee interest
• Select a “Publish until” date that is the day after the date of your event to ensure the event is automatically removed from the site after it has ended

When selecting your preferred audience: 

• If you would like to target a smaller audience within your pre-existing audience, select the + button. Then, you may add a group or rule to create a sub-audience on the fly!
• Once within the sub-audience selection, if you click the number indicating how many people are within your audience, you can see the list of users within that audience

After making your audience selection: 

• You may double check the list of users who will have access to the event by clicking the 3 dots to the right of your user’s images

When publishing your event:

• Promote the event by adding it to your home carousel, adding it to your site carousel, or sending a notification to your users to boost engagement & attendance

Related articles 

• ABAC: Creating a site
• What are events?
• Events syncing flow