How should I set up my workspace security settings? Who can view this workspace? Anyone Only people I invite or approve Who can edit this workspace? Anyone with an account Only people I invite or approve  Accept the PBworks Terms of Service Changing your workspace security settings How can I remove private information on my workspace that you can find with Google? How do I know my workspace is secure? If some random person comes to my workspace won’t they also be able to access the workspace? Can you please explain how I stop people from stumbling upon our workspace?

 

How should I set up my workspace security settings?

After you've chosen your workspace's name, one of your first steps will be to set up the workspace security. Your screen will look something like this:

 

 

Who can view this workspace?

Anyone

Choose this option if you want the workspace to be available for reading by anyone on the Internet. This also means that your workspace can be found by search engines and displayed on search results.

Only people I invite or approve

This options means that users must be invited or approved for access before they are allowed to see any content on your workspace. Your workspace will not be displayed in search engine results.

 

Who can edit this workspace?

Anyone with an account

Select this option if you want to allow anyone with a PBworks Account to have editing rights on your workspace page. They will be given writer level permissions on the workspace.

Only people I invite or approve 

This option means that an administrator must invite a user to the workspace first.

 

Accept the PBworks Terms of Service

Before you can continue with your new workspace, please read our Terms of Service and make sure you fully understand them.

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Changing your workspace security settings

When you first set up your workspace, you're asked two questions about security, which manage the ways in which new users can view and edit pages.  You can adjust these settings in your workspace at any time by clicking on "Settings" in the upper right hand corner, and then "Workspace Security" on the left hand side.

 

 

Who can view this workspace?

 

 

 

Anyone

Choose this option if you want the workspace to be available for reading by anyone on the Internet. This also means that your workspace can be found by search engines and displayed on search results.  If you have this question set to "Anyone," then anyone will be able to read your content without logging in.

 

Only people I invite or approve

This options means that users must be invited or approved for access before they are allowed to see any content on your workspace. Your workspace will not be displayed in search engine results.

 

Who can edit this workspace?

 

 

Anyone with an account

Select this option if you want to allow anyone with a PBworks Account to have editing rights on your workspace page. They will be given Writer level permissions on the workspace.  Please be advised that it is very easy to set up a PBworks account, so only enable this option if you want the public to be able to add and edit pages.

 

Because all new users of the workspace are added as Writers, there is no danger of a user being added to the workspace and deleting all the content.  Only editors and administrators have the power to delete content on a workspace.

 

Only people I invite or approve

This option means that an Administrator of the workspace must add the user to the Users list first.  New users of the workspace will have to contact an Adminstrator to edit pages, and those users will have to be logged in if they want to edit.

 

 

Request Access

 

 

 

By default, this feature is turned on. When users come to a private workspace, or a public workspace with limited editing, they can request access to join your workspace. Workspace admins will receive a notification asking them to approve the request.

 

Reader Comments

 

 

By default on new workspaces, users with the reader permission level are allowed to leave comments on workspace pages. You can check the "Disable commenting for readers" checkbox to block readers of your workspace from making comments on your pages.

 

Only users with classroom accounts or PBworks accounts can make comments on your workspace page.

 

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How can I remove private information on my workspace that you can find with Google?

We recommend that you never post information on a public workspace that others might consider private. Good examples would be real names, street address, phone numbers or account passwords. Information on the internet doesn't always disappear after you remove it from your workspace. Google and other search engines often provide their users with old copies of website called "cached" copies.

 

If you unintentionally put private information on your public PBworks site and you know that Google has a cached copy of it, you have a good chance of getting it removed. Go to 

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How do I know my workspace is secure?

 To be sure your workspace is private:

 

1. Click on the "Settings" link in the upper right corner of your workspace. Only workspace owners and Administrators have access to the settings, so if you don't see this link, you're not the owner or Administrator, or you're not properly logged in.

    

    

2. Click on Workspace Security, on the left hand side, under Access Controls.

   

    

3. On the Workspace Security page, you'll see two questions, which answer who can view and who can edit the workspace.  The level of public access depends on the answers to these questions.  To change the answers to these questions, choose the other choice, and then click the Save button on the Workspace Security page.

    

4. 	If "Anyone" is set to view the workspace, then any internet user will be able to view the content on your pages without logging in.   Furthermore, if this setting is set to anyone, then your workspace will be visible to search engines like Google and Yahoo!.
   	If "Anyone with an account" is set to edit the workspace, then anyone, once they sign up for a PBworks account, will be able to create and edit pages on your workspace.     Since PBworks accounts are free, only enable this option if you would like the public to edit your pages without approval from any adminstrator.

 

 

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If some random person comes to my workspace won’t they also be able to access the workspace?

We assure you that nobody but you, or someone you have invited, can edit your private workspace, except in one case which we'll discuss next.  

Caution: If you leave your computer unattended, anyone can use your PC and access your workspace. We recommend that you lock your PC when you are away from it. Most businesses also recommend this for anyone using their computers.

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Can you please explain how I stop people from stumbling upon our workspace? 

If your workspace is private, the only part of your workspace that anyone can possibly "stumble upon" is the log-in page. Anyone that has not been granted permission to view/edit your workspace will not be able to access your workspace's contents, unless you were to include PBworks account information (user name & password) in the workspace title or workspace description (which appear on the log-in page).