How Joomla ACL Works

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Written by: cayenneAdmin
Category: Joomla
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Joomla’s ACL system lets you control access to various parts of your websit

e, including:

  1. Content (Articles and Categories)
  2. Modules
  3. Menus
  4. Other components

This is achieved through User Groups, Viewing Access Levels, and Permissions. By using these elements, bloggers can determine who can view specific blogs or categories.

Steps to Restrict Access to Blogs and Categories

  1. Create User Groups:

    • Navigate to Users > User Groups in the Joomla administrator panel.
    • Add a new group for the audience you want to grant access to (e.g., "Premium Users," "Family Members").
    • Assign users to this group as needed.

  2. Create Viewing Access Levels:

    • Go to Users > Viewing Access Levels and create a new access level.
    • Assign the user groups that should have access to this level.
    • For example, create an access level called "Family Only" and assign the "Family Members" user group to it.

  3. Set Permissions for Categories:

    • Navigate to Content > Categories and select the category you want to restrict.
    • Under the Permissions tab, you can define what actions (e.g., view, edit, delete) each user group can perform.

  4. Restrict Access to Articles (Blogs):

    • For individual blogs, go to Content > Articles and open the article you want to restrict.
    • Set the Access Level of the article to the desired level (e.g., "Family Only").

  5. Menu Items and Modules:

    • To ensure restricted blogs are only visible to authorized users, set the Access Level of menu items or modules pointing to restricted categories or blogs.

Example Use Case

  • A blogger wants to restrict a "Family Stories" category to family members only:
    • Create a user group called "Family Members."
    • Create a viewing access level called "Family Only" and assign the "Family Members" group to it.
    • Set the category's access level to "Family Only."
    • Any blogs within this category inherit the restricted access level.

Flexibility of ACL

  • You can create multiple user groups and viewing levels for different audiences.
  • ACL also allows restrictions based on actions (e.g., who can edit or delete content).
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