About
When a channel's category entitlement option is set to 'private' in the Rich Media CMS, access is based on user permissions. There are four permission levels: Member, Contributor, Moderator, and Manager.
These permissions determine what users can do in the channel and with its content.
In Content Hubs, these roles also control which options users see, such as channel settings, the moderation panel, and the publish module.
Permission details
| Permission level | View content | Add content | Remove content | Approve content | Edit settings & permissions | Remove channel |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Member | ✔ | |||||
| Contributor | ✔ | ✔ | Owned content | |||
| Moderator | ✔ | ✔ | Owned content | ✔ | ||
| Manager | ✔ | ✔ | All content | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
"Not a member" status
Some users may be listed as "Not a member." This applies to channel subscribers - users who have signed up for email notifications but are not actual channel members.
If the channel is 'open', subscribers can still view content. However, they do not have permission to add, remove, or manage content.
Anonymous access
Anonymous access is not a channel permission level. When anonymous access is enabled, users who aren’t logged in can view channels configured for public access.
If an anonymous user selects an option that requires authentication or additional permissions, they’re prompted to log in.
Anonymous access is enabled by setting allowAnonymous to 'Yes' in the Auth module.
Managing user permissions
Channel managers can set and adjust user permissions in different ways:
- through the Rich Media CMS - see our article Add and edit category entitlements for details
- in bulk using a CSV file - see our article Category and channel end-user entitlements CSV - usage and schema description
- via Kaltura APIs
In Content Hubs, channel managers can add and assign roles to channel members.
User permission statuses
A user’s permission can have different statuses:
- Active - The user has access.
- Pending - Access is waiting for approval.
- Deactivated - Access has been removed but can be restored.
How permissions are updated
- Automatically - Set by an API or CSV file. These permissions may change when updated automatically.
- Manually - Set manually and won’t be changed by automatic updates.
Other permission settings
- Channel owner - A Manager can be assigned as the channel owner. Owners cannot be removed by other Managers.
- Default permission level - A default role can be set for all new users.
- Moderate content - Moderation can be enabled so content must be approved before being published.
