Blackboard

Solution:

Granting Permissions: After content is added to the Content Collection, permissions must be granted to make the content accessible to users and groups of users. Managing permissions on files and folders may be complicated since permissions behave both alone on single items and in combination with other permissions on folders. Users and user lists may be given different types of permissions to individual files and folders, ranging from read only access, to editing, managing and removing content.

Permissions enable users to read and perform actions on items and folders added to the Content Collection. Users must be granted permission to access content directly from the Content Collection and also through links in Courses and Portfolios.

The following points explain how permission are used throughout the Content Collection:

1. Types of Permissions: There are four types of permissions to select.
2. About Default Permissions: Some users have default permissions to specific folders. In this case, various permissions are automatically granted to specific folders.
3. Granting Permissions: Any user with Read and Manage permission on an item or folder may grant permissions to other users and user lists.
4. Receiving Permissions: Users and groups of users, may be granted one or more permissions.
5. Managing Permissions: User access to an item or folder is controlled through the Manage Permissions page.
6. Overwriting Permissions: Overwrite permissions are available to choose how the contents of a folder are affected when Permissions are edited.

Types of Permissions:

1. Read: Users have the ability to view items or folders.
2. Write: Users have the ability to make changes to items and folders.
3. Remove: Users have the ability to remove items from the folder or the folder itself.
4. Manage: Users have ability to control the properties and settings of items and folders.

When a user searches for files or folders, or attempts to manipulate files or folders (for example, using copy, move or remove), the user will only be able to view and alter content based on the existing permissions. For example, if a user searches for an item to which he or she does not have Read permission, the item will not appear in the Search Results.

About Default Permissions: Some users have default permissions to specific folders. In this case, various permissions are automatically granted to specific folders.

1. User folders: These folders appear under My Content in the Content Collection menu. A user has Read, Write, Manage, and Delete permissions to his or her user folder. The Administrator determines the availability of these folders on a system-wide basis.
2. Course folders: These folders appear under the Courses area on the Content Collection menu and are used to store content for specific Courses. Instructors, Teaching Assistants and Course Builders have Read, Write, Manage, and Delete permissions to the folders for their Courses. The Course folder is automatically created on the system the first time one of these users accesses the Content Collection. Other Course users (such as students) who are enrolled in a Course do not see this folder because it is intended to be a workspace for Course developers. students must be given Read permissions to a Course folder for it to be accessible to them. Organization User Folders function in the same way as Course folders.
3. Institution and Library Content folders: All users with system accounts have Read permission to these folders.
4. Course folders within eReserves: All users enrolled in a Course (All Course Users) have Read permissions to the specific Course folder in eReserves.

Granting Permissions: Any user with Read and Manage permission on an item or folder may grant permissions to other users and user lists.

Receiving Permissions: Users and groups of users, may be granted one or more permissions. For example, Read permission for an item may be granted to an entire Course list. The owner may grant additional permissions to single users within the Course list. Permissions may be edited for sub-folders and items within a folder.

Managing Permissions​: User access to an item or folder is controlled through the Manage Permissions page. Users can be granted permission individually, in groups, or by role.

Follow these steps to open the Manage Permissions page for an item or folder.

1. Navigate to the folder that contains the folder to be edited.
2. Select Permissions from the contextual menu for the folder.
3. Select the appropriate option from the action bar. Complete the page that follows and click Submit.

NOTE: When permissions are granted on a folder, they apply to all sub-folders and items within the folder.

Overwriting Permissions: Permissions granted to a folder may or may not affect items and sub-folders within the folder. An additional option, Overwrite, appears on the Permission pages for folders, allowing the user to choose how the contents of a folder are affected when Permissions are edited.
If the Overwrite option is selected, the current permissions for all items and sub-folders in the folder are removed. The permissions selected in the Permissions field are granted to these items and sub-folders. After editing permissions on a folder, the user may change the permissions on an item within the folder. These permissions will be overwritten if Overwrite is selected for the parent folder again.

If this option is not selected, the permissions selected in the Permissions field are granted to all items and sub folders, but existing permissions are not removed. For example, if an item already has Read permission, and only Write permission is selected on the Add Users page, the item will be granted Read and Write permission.