About
This article explains terminology used across the Video Portal and Kaltura platform.
Terminology
User ID - A unique identifier for a user in your organization’s system. The same ID is used in Kaltura to identify the user within a specific partner account.
Group ID - A unique identifier in your organization’s system that represents an organizational unit or an ad-hoc security group.
A user can belong to multiple groups and can have a different role in each group. Roles may or may not be stored in your organizational systems.
Video Portal gallery - An open, private, or restricted gallery in the Video Portal that a defined group of users can access. Galleries are created in the Kaltura Management Console (KMC) and reflect your site’s navigation structure.
Permissions can be assigned through:
- Group membership in your organization’s system
- Manual assignment by a category manager
Video Portal channel - An open, private, or restricted channel in the Video Portal that a defined group of users can access.
Permissions can be assigned through:
- Group membership in your organization’s system
- Manual assignment by a channel manager
A channel can be associated with one or more categories, based on the entitlements defined at the category level.
Kaltura user - A backend object that stores user information and is identified by the user ID.
Kaltura supports several user attributes. The following are recommended to support effective user management in the Video Portal and the KMC:
- First name
- Last name
- Screen name (defaults to full name)
Kaltura creates users automatically in several workflows. You can also create users manually from the KMC or using bulk upload.
Kaltura users include both KMC administrators and Video Portal end users. Only KMC administrators have the attribute that grants access to the KMC.
Kaltura category - A backend object used to manage media collections and user entitlements in the Video Portal. A category manages access and permissions for channels and categories in the Video Portal.
Kaltura category ID - A unique internal identifier for a Kaltura category object.
Kaltura category reference ID - An optional value that links a Kaltura category to an external identifier, such as a Group ID. Uniqueness is not enforced.
End-user entitlements - Permissions that define whether a user can access, contribute to, or manage a specific channel or category.
In the Kaltura backend, entitlements are stored in the categoryUser object, which manages the relationship between a user and a category.
Legacy Video Portal channel symbols and icons
The following icons apply only to the legacy Video Portal UI. If your site uses Theming, see the updated channel experience in the design system. Learn more in our article My Channels -Theming.
| Status Icon | Status | What it means |
|---|---|---|
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Open | Membership is open and non-members can view content and participate. |
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Shared Repository | Membership is by invitation only. Members can publish content from this channel to any other channel according to their entitlements. |
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Restricted | Non-members can view content, but users must be invited to participate. |
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Private | Membership is by invitation only and only members can view content and participate |
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Moderated | Media does not appear in channel until approved by channel manager. |
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Public | Anyone can view content (including anonymous not logged-in users). Only channel members can contribute content according to their publishing entitlements. |
These icons are fixed system indicators. You can’t customize them, change their style, or replace the icon that appears on a channel or media thumbnail.
