Managing Access Settings for Folders and Galleries

While our Managing Folder Access article provides a comprehensive look at how to configure access settings for Folders and Galleries, this article is designed to offer practical use cases for each available setting. 

With Folder-level access control, you can manage how visitors are able to view and interact with your content by customizing Folder visibility and access requirements. This flexibility allows you to organize and present your work based on your intended audience, whether you need fully public galleries, private or hidden content, or folders that combine different access types.

From a higher up view, Folders can contain other Folders (called subfolders) or Galleries, can have custom cover images assigned to them, and have content-sorting controls built into them which allows the photographer to organize each Folder’s contents to their liking. These tools work together to give you control over both how your photos are accessed, and how they are displayed in a way that visually represents your brand or body of work.

Folder-level access control is managed from the Settings tab in the Folder’s edit view. To configure these settings:

1. Click on the Galleries icon on the left-hand side of your account pages.
2. Navigate to and select a Folder within your My Library panel on the left-hand side.
   
   
   
   
3. After opening the Folder’s Edit view, you will see three tabs across the top: Organize, Settings, and Design
4. Click the Settings tab to open the menu where the Access control options are located

Once you have navigated to the Settings menu for your Folder, you can configure the options as needed. Before proceeding, please review this article for more information on the different Access options available, how to change them, and how they work.

Common use case examples for individual access control settings:

1. Public Folder with Public Galleries
2. Public Folders with private Galleries (keyword)
3. Public Folders with hidden Galleries
4. Private Folders

Public Folder with public Galleries

When a folder is set to Public and contains Galleries that are also Public, both the Folder and the Galleries it contains are fully visible to all visitors without the need for password entry or any other additional permissions needing to be granted to the visitor first. This setup is ideal for photographers who may be looking to share content broadly and without restriction, allowing anyone with the link to view and explore all images or content contained within.

An example use case for a Public Folder with Public Galleries might be a photographer showcasing a portfolio or sample work for prospective clients. This setup enables visitors to navigate through different Galleries organized by theme or project—such as weddings, events, or commercial shoots—without any access barriers, creating an open and accessible experience for viewers. By making these Folders and Galleries public, the photographer can ensure easy access for anyone interested, whether their visitors find their website organically or are navigating directly to the Folder via a direct link.

This access setting also suits those looking to share public Galleries where privacy isn't a primary concern, such as Galleries for school events, community gatherings, or promotional photo sessions. Making the content openly accessible simplifies the viewer experience and maximizes engagement, ensuring that the folder and its contents are readily available to all.

Public Folders with private Galleries (Keyword)

Photographers can utilize mixed access control settings in combination with the Folder Search feature to allow for Public Folders to contain Galleries that are retrievable by specific keywords. From a higher up view, by setting up Folders this way, photographers can create a publicly accessible Folder and fill it with multiple restricted Galleries. Then, by enabling Folder Search at the Folder level and the individual Gallery level, they can make it so that a user can quickly locate their Gallery and gain access to it via a built-in search bar at the top of the page. Access will then be granted via the client’s Client Account e-mail and password. 

Another way to set this up would be to create a Public Folder, and create a Subfolder inside of it with its Access control set to Hidden. The photographer could then upload all of their Galleries to the Hidden Subfolder. Doing this would make it so that users can then navigate to the top-level Folder’s direct link, and be presented with a search bar with no Galleries visible otherwise. They could then use either the Gallery Title or keywords to locate their Galleries/Photos accordingly.

For example, a photographer covering an event such as a horse or car race could approach their Folder hierarchy in one of two ways:

1. “Open” Folder with Gallery-level restrictions: The photographer would create a public event Folder, upload individual Galleries for all of the participants and set their Access to Restricted, and then enable Folder search. Clients attending the event could then access their personal gallery by entering their Gallery title into the Folder's search bar to easily find them - all the while guaranteeing that their Galleries are secured and private at the same time.
   
   
2. “Open” Folder with hidden Galleries and Keyword retrieval: The photographer would create a public event Folder, and inside of it, create a Subfolder for the event with Access controls set to Hidden. They would then upload individual Galleries for all of the participants, and then enable Folder search. Clients attending the event could then access their personal gallery by navigating to the open Folder and entering their Gallery title into the Folder's search bar, but otherwise all of the Galleries contained in the folder would be hidden from normal view. Photographers can also leverage keywords here ahead of uploading Photos via editing their Photo metadata, and the keywords would then return results in the Folder search bar similar to the way that Gallery Titles would in the example above.

This setup is a perfect blend of Public and Private Access controls, ideal for photographers who want to present a cohesive folder to the public while maintaining discrete, private access to individual galleries and photos within. It combines visibility and selective accessibility, making it a versatile tool for managing a blend of public and private content in a streamlined, organized manner.

Public Folders with hidden Galleries

When a Folder is set to Public and contains galleries with mixed access settings, the Folder itself is visible and accessible to all visitors, while each Gallery contained within retains its own designated access restrictions. This means that while the Folder and its contents are organized in one place for ease of navigation, not all galleries within will necessarily be accessible without permissions or passwords, depending on the individual Gallery’s access settings.

In this setup, any Gallery within the top-level folder that is set to Public will be fully visible and accessible without restrictions. However, galleries marked as Password Protected will display a blurred thumbnail and require visitors to enter the correct password to view the contents. Similarly, galleries with Restricted access will show a blurred thumbnail but require users to log in to their Client Account (previously assigned to the gallery’s Client Role) for access. Finally, any galleries designated as Offline will remain private and entirely hidden from public view, visible only to the photographer.

This mixed-access approach is valuable for photographers that want to provide a general overview of available content while restricting access to certain Galleries based on privacy or client-specific needs. For example, a photographer with a public portfolio Folder could showcase select Galleries for general viewing (Public) while securing client-specific sessions (Password Protected or Restricted) that require additional permissions. This setup is also helpful for organizing both public projects and client-focused work in one Folder without exposing sensitive or private content to broader audiences.

This approach balances public accessibility and selective privacy, making it suitable for photographers who want to share highlights with the public while ensuring that private or client-specific Galleries remain secure and accessible only to authorized viewers. It provides a flexible, organized way to manage both public and restricted content within a single, cohesive structure.

Private Folders

There are two main access control options that allow for Private Folders to be set up — Password Protected and Hidden. 

When a Folder is set to Password Protected, visitors must enter the assigned password to access the Folder’s list of contents. This protection can act as a second layer of security by allowing the photographer to have a secured direct link to a specific Folder that they can share with clients or specific users instead of making the Folder publicly accessible on their website. 

A Hidden Folder, on the other hand, is completely inaccessible to anyone but the photographer. There is no option to share a direct link to a Hidden Folder, making it an ideal choice for highly sensitive content or works-in-progress that the photographer may need to organize but does not want to be discoverable by others. 

This dual approach offers flexibility for photographers who need varying levels of control over their folders. For example, a Password Protected Folder can be a great choice for client galleries where clients can view the folder with one password but access their personal gallery with another. This maintains privacy without limiting organizational clarity. Hidden Folders, meanwhile, are useful for photographers who want to keep certain projects private until they are ready for public release, or for internal organization of portfolios that are not client-facing.

With these options, Private Folders support customized access control across different scenarios, making it easy for photographers to tailor accessibility to meet both client needs and personal workflow requirements.