For each page you add to your website, you can add a restriction to password protect its content. When a page restriction is applied, our system will require the visitor to be logged into the website. This way, our system can validate which pages that particular member has access to. The only page that cannot be restricted on your website is the homepage.
Note: Although restrictions may be added to pages, they cannot be applied to folders. To learn more about why folders may not be password protected, scroll to the bottom of this help article.
How to tell if a page is restricted
By default, when you add a page to your website, it will be unrestricted and visible to the public. The only exception to this would be the "Resident Directory" page type, which by default, will be restricted to all registered and approved members.
When a page is unrestricted, in the "Pages" section of the Admin Portal, the button under the "Restrictions" column will say "None." If a page has been restricted, there will be a green checkmark button under this column and on the website a padlock icon will display next to the page name on the website. These are both indicators that the page is restricted.
Types of restrictions
There are two types of restrictions you can place on a page; "Allowed" and "Exceptions." Those added under the "Allowed" section will show who can view the contents of that page, and those under the "Exceptions" section will be blocked from accessing the page.
Allowed
Under the "Allowed" section you will select who you would like to have access to that page. When selecting this, you can be as general as all "Registered and approved accounts" or as specific as a custom group, account type, or individual member.
For instance, you can restrict a page to only allow "Approved, active accounts." In this example, only those members with approved accounts on your website will be able to view that page. Or, by allowing a specific account type, such as "Homeowners," only accounts registered with the account type of "Homeowners" can access that page.
Exceptions
Before you can add an exception, you will need to select at least one option from the "Allowed' section. The "Exceptions" section should only be used to prevent an individual or group that is included in the "Allowed" section from accessing a page.
For example, if you allowed all "Approved, active accounts" to access a forum page but had one of those members abusing it, you could add that individual to the "Exceptions" section. This way, they would no longer have access to that page.
It's important to note that selections made to the "Exceptions" section will always overrule what is in the "Allowed" section. For instance, if you block the account type "Homeowners" from viewing a page but allow the group "Board Members," if any of the board members are homeowners they will be blocked from viewing that page.
Why can you not restrict folders?
Folders group together similar pages in the menu structure, but they themselves do not contain any content. Therefore, you cannot add restrictions to folders. However, you can restrict the individual pages you add inside a folder.
Learn how to add page restrictions here: How to add page restrictions.