Forum Discussion

RubyKapil2's avatar
RubyKapil2
Qrew Captain
7 years ago

Restrict Guest Users Access, especially to Save As feature

We have given view access to users that are part of client company but realize that they can Save As Spreadsheet and take all the data with them if they wanted. How do I prevent the Save As Spreadsheet. How can I give them total View only access so they cannot print or save reports that they are able to view.
Ask about Quickbase functionality
roles and permissions
  • EvanMartinez's avatar
    EvanMartinez
    Quickbase Staff
    7 years ago
    Hi Ruby, 

    It is possible to disable that option to save as spreadsheet for all non Admins in an application. This can be found by accessing the Application Settings and going into the App Settings header. Within that page you will find a section on Security options and specifically a checkbox for "Allow users who are not administrators to export data". When this is unchecked users who are not Admins will not get the option to save as spreadsheet. What can be confusing with that is if you are the Application Manager even if you test as that user or role you can still access Save as Spreadsheet as QB does recognize your Application Manager status. If you have another user test that role, or make use of a dummy user, you should see that the save as spreadsheet option does disappear for roles that do not have Admin permissions. I hope this information is helpful. 
  • RubyKapil2's avatar
    RubyKapil2
    Qrew Captain
    7 years ago
    Hi Evan, I did test the global feature of allow non admin to export data. So I'm wondering, I have a set of Standard set of users that enter data into my app and also save as spreadsheet. I have another set of Guest users that only need to see certain reports but should not be able to Save As. For my Standard set of users, could I give them some type of Admin-Jr role and use the global disable Save As feature to restrict the Guest users? But how do I set up the Admin-Jr role. I tried copying the Admin role, but it shows as Basic not as Admin. Not sure how to do this. I'm hoping I can scale back the Admin-Jr role to mimic the Standard user role I currently have. Thanks.
  • EvanMartinez's avatar
    EvanMartinez
    Quickbase Staff
    7 years ago
    Hi Ruby,

    To be counted as an Admin rule they have to have the permissions to edit the application structure checkbox checked. That is what differentiates an Admin and Basic role. Unfortunately, when that save as spreadsheet is disabled for non admins that option does get restricted. Your other users should still be able to use the Import/Export link, they just loose access to that more handy Save as Spreadsheet. The general principle being that users with those permissions could already take a screenshot or copy and paste the data directly from Quick Base so we usually take view permissions to be basic access permissions. 
  • RubyKapil2's avatar
    RubyKapil2
    Qrew Captain
    7 years ago
    Hi Evan,
    "Your other users should still be able to use the Import/Export link, they just loose access to that more handy Save as Spreadsheet"

    In response to above, this is what I tried -

    App Settings:  not checked
    Permissions: Edit App Structure: Not checked
    UI: Imp/Export: Not checked

    Yes Save as Spreadsheet is disabled (good), and Import/Export shows (ok), and Export is grayed out/disabled (doesn't work), and Import is Enabled (not good for my app).

    Any advice? 

    • EvanMartinez's avatar
      EvanMartinez
      Quickbase Staff
      7 years ago
      Hi Ruby,

      Yes that would be disabled if you used the option I mentioned to only allow Admins to export and didn't give them Permissions to Edit the App Structure. App Structure edit permissions are what differentiates a basic user from an Admin. With the check in the application settings to not allow non admins to export data that would disable all the export options for non admins but doesn't touch on import permissions.