The Public Content Access feature introduces a library‑level mechanism in iManage Control Center designed to give administrators precise control over which users may view content marked with an access level of Public or View. This feature addresses the need to limit exposure of public content to specific users within specific libraries, a scenario previously unsupported due to the lack of a library‑level permission model.

Previously, limiting public content access relied on the external user setting, a global designation that lacked library-level flexibility and wasn't designed for access control. Now, we're introducing the Allow public content access privilege, which lets administrators precisely customize which users can access Public or View content in specific libraries. The external user setting remains in the system, but only as an informational indicator.

The new privilege is managed at the library level and appears on the Roles page in iManage Control Center. When the privilege is enabled for a role, users assigned to the role can search for and view items whose default access is Public or View—including folders, tabs, workspaces, and documents. When the privilege is disabled, the user experience is the same as for a traditional external user: Public items aren't visible or discoverable unless document-level access is explicitly granted through the access control list (ACL).

What changes with this update

Until now, the external user designation had two functions: Identifying users outside the firm and restricting their access to public content. Going forward, these responsibilities will be split. The external user flag will serve solely as an identifier, while access to public content will be governed by a new role-level privilege: Allow Public Content Access.

Before this update:

  • Public content access was controlled at the global level—external users were denied access and internal users were allowed access, with no granular override.

  • There was no library-level, role-based control over public content.

  • Document-level security was relied on too heavily.

After this update:

  • A new Allow Public Content Access privilege on each role controls access.

  • The external user flag remains as a visual indicator only.

  • Access can be configured independently per library.

  • Internal users can be restricted in specific libraries where needed.

With this update, the following are possible:

  • Customize default public access per library: As an admin, you control who can access public content within each library. For example, you can prevent non-legal users from viewing the legal library's public content by disabling the Allow Public Content Access privilege for their role.

  • Library-level control over public content access: A single user can have different levels of access to public content across different libraries, without changing their global user type.

What’s preserved after this update

The rollout was designed to be non-disruptive. For all users without mismatched role assignments, the following remains unchanged:

  • Internal users continue to be allowed public content access by default (optimistic access).

  • External users continue to be denied public content access by default (pessimistic access).

  • Users explicitly granted access through a Security panel ACL (access control list) retain that access to workspaces, matters, folders, or documents, regardless of role.

  • All existing integrations—including walls, migration tooling, and directory sync—continue to work. The external user property isn't removed from the API.

  • An audit trail of role changes will be provided for users in mismatched roles.

Requirements

To perform the rollout process for a library, the user must be assigned to the NRTADMIN group for the library. For more information, refer to the NRTADMIN Group section in iManage Control Center help.

The Public Content Access feature is supported on iManage Work at cloudimanage.com. It's unavailable for iManage Work at imanage.work.

Documentation

This section describes the Control Center tool that you’ll use to configure your libraries for the new privilege.