When you give someone access to a workspace, they automatically get access to everything inside it — languages, categories, and articles. This automatic flow of permissions is called inheritance, and it helps you avoid assigning access manually at every level.
However, if you want to restrict access to a specific section, you can use Block inheritance. Once enabled, the automatic access from the parent level stops at that point, and only the users or readers you manually add will be able to view that content. This works like locking a room inside a building — even if someone can enter the building, they still need a separate key to access that particular room.
When to use Block inheritance
Use Block inheritance when a specific section of your content needs tighter or different access than the rest.
Common situations:
- An internal category (like "Security Runbooks") lives inside a workspace the whole team can access, but only the security team should see it.
- A section visible to readers is confidential to one customer group, even though the parent category is open to all readers.
- You want to clean up accumulated permissions and start fresh with a specific list.
If none of these apply, leave inheritance on. Blocking it adds complexity and makes permissions harder to manage over time.
How Block inheritance works
Blocking inheritance works top-down. When you block at a higher level, everything below it is blocked too. The full chain in Document360 is:
Project → Workspace → Language → Category → Subcategory / Article
A block placed at any level cascades to every level below it.
| If you block at... | This also gets blocked |
|---|---|
| Workspace | All languages, categories, and articles inside it |
| Language | All categories and articles inside that language |
| Category | All subcategories and articles inside it |
| Article | Only that article |
Example: If you block inheritance at the Workspace level, no inherited user or reader can access any language, category, or article inside that workspace unless you explicitly add them back.
NOTE
This is important to understand before you turn on the toggle, because the effect is immediate and broad.
Block inheritance works separately for Users and Readers
Blocking inheritance for your users has no effect on your readers. Blocking it for your readers has no effect on your users. They are fully independent — changing one never changes the other.
- Blocking for Users (Portal access): Controls who on your team can access and manage content in the portal. When you block, only the users you manually add retain access.
- Blocking for Readers (Knowledge base site): Controls who can read your published knowledge base. When you block, only the readers or reader groups you explicitly add will see that content on the site.
Articles in this section
| Article | Description |
|---|---|
| Block user and user group access inheritance | Block and allow inheritance for users and user groups at workspace/language and category/article level |
| Block reader and reader group access inheritance | Block and allow inheritance for readers and reader groups at workspace/language and category/article level |
FAQ
What happens to inherited users when I block?
All users who previously had inherited access will immediately lose access to that content and everything under it. They will no longer see it in the portal or on the site unless you add them explicitly.
If you later add new users at the parent level, they also will not automatically get access to the blocked section. You must add them explicitly.
Is the user performing the action automatically selected when blocking inheritance?
Yes, the user performing the action will be automatically selected and cannot be removed.
Can I still add new users after blocking inheritance?
Yes. Blocking inheritance only removes inherited access. You can manually add any user, user group, reader, or reader group at any time after blocking.
Does blocking at one level affect content above it?
No. Blocking only affects the selected level and everything below it. Content at the same level or above is not affected.