⚙️ Community Settings#
Overview#
A community admin is responsible for managing the settings that control visibility, membership, and access policies for a community.
Community settings define how a community appears to users, how members interact, and how content (records) is managed and reviewed.
The settings page can be accessed from:”https://
🧭 Community Settings Overview#
Each community has the following configuration sections: 1. Privileges 1. Community Visibility 2. Members Visibility 3. Restricted Records Policy 1. Submission Policy 4. Review Policy 5. Records Submission Policy
Priviledges#
🌍 Community Visibility#
Description#
Controls if the community is visible to everyone or only to members.
Configuration Options#
| Option | Description | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Public | Your community is publicly accessible and appears in search results. | Anyone can find and view the community page. |
| Restricted | Your community is only visible to users who have access (members or invited users). | Hidden from public search and listings. |
Example#
- Public: A project consortium community meant for open data sharing.
- Restricted: An internal research group or private organization.
👥 Members Visibility#
Description#
Controls whether the list of members (the “Members” tab) is visible to everyone or limited to members or admins.
Configuration Options#
| Option | Description | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Public Members | Members who have set their visibility to public are visible to anyone. Members with hidden visibility are only visible to other members. | Member list partially visible publicly. |
| Members Only | Members in your community are only visible to other members of the community. | No public exposure of member list. |
| Hidden Members | Members in your community are hidden; only community admins can view the members list. | Full privacy; admin-only visibility. |
Example#
- Public Members: Open research communities (e.g., “OpenEarthData”).
- Hidden Members: Private project groups with non-public membership.
🛡️ Restricted Records Policy#
Overview#
The Restricted Records Policy controls who can view restricted records and files within a community.
It allows community administrators to define the visibility rules for sensitive or embargoed content. When a record is marked as restricted, visibility depends on both:
- The community’s restricted policy (
record_restricted_policy), and - The user’s role within that community.
⚙️ Configuration Options#
Each community can be configured with one of the following policies:
| Policy | Value | Icon | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| All community members | open |
👥 users |
Community members, curators, managers, and admins can view restricted records and files. |
| Curators, managers, and admins only | restricted |
👤 user |
Only users with at least curator-level permissions and the record owner can view restricted records and files. |
🔐 How It Works#
When a record is published as restricted, the system evaluates all communities the record belongs to. The final visibility is determined by the most restrictive policy among those communities.
| Condition | Who Can View? | Example Scenario |
|---|---|---|
Community policy = open |
All community members and above | Regular members of the community can view the record and its files. |
Community policy = restricted |
Only curators, managers, admins, and the record owner | Regular members cannot view restricted records. |
| Record not in any community | Owner, curators, and admins | Standard restricted record behavior applies. |
👥 Access Matrix#
| User Role | Policy: open | Policy: restricted | Metadata Access | File Access | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anonymous | ❌ | ❌ | No | No | Hidden from public |
| Authenticated user (not member) | ❌ | ❌ | No | No | Hidden from outsiders |
| Community member | ✅ | ❌ | Depends on policy | Depends on policy | Open allows, restricted denies |
| Community curator / manager / admin | ✅ | ✅ | Yes | Yes | Curators always allowed |
| Record owner | ✅ | ✅ | Yes | Yes | Always allowed |
✅ Metadata Access: Controls visibility of title, authors, description, etc. ✅ File Access: Controls visibility and download of files.
Submission Policy#
📝 Review Policy#
Description#
The Review Policy controls who can publish records directly without review when submitting them to the community.
This setting defines the community’s internal publishing workflow — whether all submissions must be reviewed by curators, or if some users can publish immediately.
Configuration Options#
| Option | Description | Who Can Publish Without Review |
|---|---|---|
| All submissions require review | All submissions to the community must be reviewed by a curator or manager before publication. | None |
| Curators and above can publish directly | Submissions by curators, managers, and record owners can be published without review. All others require review. | Curators, managers, owners |
| Members can publish directly | Submissions by all community members can be published without review. | Members, curators, managers, owners |
| No review (open publishing) | Everyone can publish records to this community without review. | Everyone |
Example Scenarios#
| Community Type | Recommended Policy | Reasoning |
|---|---|---|
| Academic Journal | All submissions require review | Ensures editorial approval before publication. |
| Institutional Repository | Curators and above can publish directly | Trusted staff can publish immediately. |
| Collaborative Project | Members can publish directly | Allows all contributors to share quickly. |
| Public Data Hub | No review (open publishing) | Encourages open and rapid publishing. |
Technical Details#
Field:
"access.review_policy": "closed" | "curators" | "members" | "open"
📤 Records Submission Policy#
The Records Submission Policy controls who can submit records to a community for inclusion, review, and publication. It defines whether only members can contribute or if all authenticated users can submit records.
This setting ensures that the community maintains the right level of control over new submissions.
⚙️ Configuration Options#
| Option | Description | Who Can Submit |
|---|---|---|
| Open submission | All authenticated users can submit records to the community. If the community itself is restricted, then only members can submit. | All logged-in users (or members if community is restricted) |
| Members only | Only users who are members of the community can submit records to it. | Community members only |
🧠 Behavior Summary#
- When open submission is enabled:
- Any authenticated user can create and submit a record for inclusion.
- If the community is restricted, non-members are blocked automatically.
- When members only is enabled:
- Only users who belong to the community (with any role: member, curator, manager, or admin) can submit records.
💡 Example Scenarios#
| Community Type | Recommended Policy | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| 🌍 Public Repository | Open submission | Encourages broad participation and open contributions. |
| 🧪 Research Consortium | Members only | Ensures submissions are made only by authorized collaborators. |
| 🏛️ Institutional Collection | Members only | Maintains controlled and verified content submissions. |
| 💬 Community Portal | Open submission | Simplifies contribution workflows for open projects. |
Last update : 01.04.2026
Last review : 01.04.2026