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Contribute and directory services
Microsoft Active Directory and LDAP are protocols for accessing information directories. In the
case of directory services, a directory is like a phone book and not like a directory (folder) on your
computer. When connecting to an LDAP or Active Directory server, Contribute adheres to any
file/folder permissions set by the directory service. Contribute permissions are stored in an XML
file, at the root of your website, that contains specific controls for the Contribute editing
environment.
These Contribute permissions are layered on top of the directory service or the network/server
permissions and are applied globally. They are not assigned on a per-user basis; they are simply
groups of settings that Contribute reads when first connecting to a website. Contribute then
conforms to these settings during the editing process. Contribute administrators can specify
access to certain folders for different user groups.
In addition to working within the permissions set by your Active Directory or LDAP services, you
can integrate Contribute with your directory services by using the User Directory component of
Contribute Publishing Services (CPS). The User Directory is an application server you install that
lets you centrally manage users.
To learn more about Contribute user management models, and integrating Contribute with your
organization's directory services, see
User management models
User management lets you add and remove user access to websites and create user roles that
restrict editing privileges within a site. User management also provides a mechanism that lets users
easily connect to a website. Contribute has two user management models, manual site
connections, and sites managed using the Publishing Services User Directory service.
Manual connections
their own connections, either by entering connection information in the Connection Wizard or
by importing a connection key file that you give them.
This user model works best for smaller workgroups and organizations. It allows you to quickly set
up Contribute, create a connection to your website, define the necessary user roles, generate
connection information for the website connection/user role, and send it to users in the form of a
connection key file.
Contribute Publishing Services
Active Directory services, giving you the ability to add and remove user access to a website and
modify user roles without having to resend connection key files to users. You can also create a file-
based database, using an XML file to manually enter user names and passwords.
CPS is intended for larger organizations that have several Contribute users to manage. Publishing
Services lets you add and remove users from websites and roles without having to resend
connection information. When you create a connection to a website that uses Publishing Services,
you simply add users to a list that grants access to a given website and user role. When the user
access the website, the Publishing Services server prompts them for a user name and password.
After entering their user name and password, they are granted access to the website and the role
you've assigned to them.
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Deploying Contribute to Departments and Enterprises
"User management models" on page
let you communicate connection information to users, who then create
lets you integrate Contribute with your organization's LDAP or
16.
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