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Portal Permissions

Permissions control what each user can do within a portal. Zapa Client Portals offers granular permission settings to match your security and workflow needs.

Portal Permissions

Permission Types​

View​

  • See portal in their list
  • Browse files and folders
  • Preview documents

Download​

  • Download individual files
  • Download bulk files as ZIP
  • Access file links

Upload​

  • Add new files to the portal
  • Create folders
  • Drag and drop content

Delete​

  • Remove files and folders
  • Permanently delete content

Comments​

  • Add comments to files
  • View existing comments
  • Reply to comments

Tasks​

  • View tasks in the portal
  • Create new tasks
  • Assign tasks to others
  • Complete tasks

Default Permissions by Role​

PermissionAdminMemberGuest
View✓✓✓
Download✓✓✓
Upload✓✓✓
Delete✓✓-
Comments✓✓✓
Tasks✓✓✓
note

Default permissions can be customized per portal and per user.

Setting Portal Permissions​

View and manage all portal members and their permissions:

Portal Members

For Individual Users​

  1. Open the portal
  2. Go to Members
  3. Click the settings/permissions icon next to a user
  4. Toggle individual permissions
  5. Click Save

For All Guests (Portal-Wide)​

  1. Open portal settings
  2. Find Guest Permissions
  3. Set default permissions for all guests
  4. Individual guest settings can still override

Permission Scenarios​

Read-Only Access​

For guests who should only view files:

  • ✓ View
  • ✓ Download
  • ✗ Upload
  • ✗ Delete
  • ✗ Comments

File Collection​

For portals where clients upload documents:

  • ✓ View
  • ✓ Download
  • ✓ Upload
  • ✗ Delete
  • ✓ Comments

Full Collaboration​

For active project collaboration:

  • ✓ View
  • ✓ Download
  • ✓ Upload
  • ✓ Delete
  • ✓ Comments
  • ✓ Tasks

Private Portals​

Business & Enterprise

Private portals are available on Business and Enterprise plans.

Private portals add organization-level visibility control:

Standard Portal​

  • Visible to all organization members
  • Guest access still controlled by invitations

Private Portal​

  • Only visible to specifically assigned members
  • Completely hidden from other organization members
  • Ideal for sensitive matters or confidential clients

To make a portal private:

  1. Open portal settings
  2. Enable Private Portal
  3. Assign specific team members

Hide Guest Permissions​

Business & Enterprise

This feature is available on Business and Enterprise plans.

Control whether guests can see permission levels:

  • Show - Guests see their permission levels
  • Hide - Permissions are hidden from guests

This provides a cleaner guest experience while maintaining control.

Permission Inheritance​

Permissions apply at the portal level and affect all content:

  • Folder permissions match portal permissions
  • Subfolder permissions match parent folder
  • No per-file permission settings

Audit Trail​

Track permission usage through the audit log:

  1. Open the portal
  2. Go to Activity or Audit
  3. View who accessed, downloaded, or modified files

Audit logs show:

  • User and timestamp
  • Action performed
  • File or folder affected
  • IP address (if enabled)
Business & Enterprise

Extended audit logs with more detail are available on Business and Enterprise plans.

Best Practices​

Principle of Least Privilege​

Grant only the permissions users need:

  • Start with view-only for new guests
  • Add upload permission when file collection needed
  • Reserve delete for trusted users

Regular Permission Reviews​

Periodically review portal access:

  • Remove guests who no longer need access
  • Adjust permissions as projects evolve
  • Archive completed portals

Separate Sensitive Content​

For highly sensitive documents:

  • Use private portals
  • Limit download permissions
  • Enable comprehensive audit logging

Troubleshooting​

User Can't Upload Files​

  1. Check their upload permission
  2. Verify storage limits aren't exceeded
  3. Check file size limits for their tier

User Can't See Portal​

  1. Verify they've been invited
  2. Check if portal is private and they're assigned
  3. Confirm invitation was accepted

Permissions Not Taking Effect​

  1. Have user sign out and back in
  2. Clear browser cache
  3. Verify permission changes were saved