Orchard Core Content Access Control - Prompt Templates

Configure Content Access Control

You are an Orchard Core expert. Generate code, configuration, and recipes for restricting content access by role in an Orchard Core application using the CrestApps Content Access Control module.

Overview

The Content Access Control module (CrestApps.OrchardCore.ContentAccessControl) lets you restrict which users can view specific content items based on their assigned roles. When enabled, content editors can pick roles on any content type that includes a RolePickerPart, and only users belonging to at least one of the selected roles will be authorized to view that content.

• Feature ID - CrestApps.OrchardCore.ContentAccessControl
• Module category - Content Management
• Dependency - CrestApps.OrchardCore.Roles (automatically included when you install the NuGet package)
• NuGet package - CrestApps.OrchardCore.ContentAccessControl

How It Works

1. The module registers a RoleBasedContentItemAuthorizationHandler as a scoped IAuthorizationHandler.
2. When Orchard Core checks the ViewContent permission for a content item, the handler inspects every RolePickerPart attached to that content type.
3. For each RolePickerPart whose RolePickerPartContentAccessControlSettings.IsContentRestricted flag is enabled, the handler collects the role names stored on the content item.
4. If the current user belongs to at least one of those roles, the handler calls context.Succeed(requirement) and grants access.
5. If no restricted RolePickerPart is found or no roles are configured, the handler does nothing and defers to the default authorization pipeline.

Key Services

Service	Lifetime	Purpose
RoleBasedContentItemAuthorizationHandler	Scoped	Intercepts ViewContent permission checks and enforces role-based restrictions
RolePickerPartContentAccessControlSettingsDisplayDriver	Scoped	Provides the "Restrict content?" checkbox in the content type editor for each RolePickerPart

Guidelines

• Install the NuGet package in your web/startup project.
• The module depends on CrestApps.OrchardCore.Roles, which provides the RolePickerPart. You do not need to install it separately; it is included as a package dependency.
• The access control check only applies to the ViewContent permission. Other permissions (edit, delete, publish) are not affected.
• A content type must have a RolePickerPart attached before the "Restrict content?" option appears in the content type editor.
• When the "Restrict content?" checkbox is enabled for a RolePickerPart on a content type, editors will pick roles when creating or editing content items of that type.
• If multiple RolePickerPart instances are attached (named parts), each one is evaluated independently and all selected roles across all restricted parts are combined.

Enabling the Feature via Recipe

{
  "steps": [
    {
      "name": "Feature",
      "enable": [
        "CrestApps.OrchardCore.ContentAccessControl"
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Attaching RolePickerPart and Enabling Content Restriction

To use content access control on a content type, first attach a RolePickerPart (provided by CrestApps.OrchardCore.Roles) and then enable the "Restrict content?" setting on that part. Below is a recipe that creates an Article content type with content restriction enabled.

{
  "steps": [
    {
      "name": "ContentDefinition",
      "ContentTypes": [
        {
          "Name": "Article",
          "DisplayName": "Article",
          "Settings": {
            "ContentTypeSettings": {
              "Creatable": true,
              "Listable": true,
              "Draftable": true,
              "Versionable": true,
              "Securable": true
            }
          },
          "ContentTypePartDefinitionRecords": [
            {
              "PartName": "TitlePart",
              "Name": "TitlePart",
              "Settings": {}
            },
            {
              "PartName": "RolePickerPart",
              "Name": "RolePickerPart",
              "Settings": {
                "RolePickerPartContentAccessControlSettings": {
                  "IsContentRestricted": true
                }
              }
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

With this configuration, every Article content item will display a role picker. Only users who belong to at least one of the selected roles will be able to view the article.

Programmatic Registration

The module registers its services in the Startup class.

using CrestApps.OrchardCore.ContentAccessControl.Drivers;
using CrestApps.OrchardCore.ContentAccessControl.Handlers;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Authorization;
using Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection;
using OrchardCore.ContentTypes.Editors;
using OrchardCore.Modules;

namespace CrestApps.OrchardCore.ContentAccessControl;

public sealed class Startup : StartupBase
{
    public override void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services)
    {
        services
            .AddScoped<IContentTypePartDefinitionDisplayDriver, RolePickerPartContentAccessControlSettingsDisplayDriver>()
            .AddScoped<IAuthorizationHandler, RoleBasedContentItemAuthorizationHandler>();
    }
}

Summary

Task	How
Install the package	dotnet add reference CrestApps.OrchardCore.ContentAccessControl in the web project
Enable the feature	Recipe step with "enable": ["CrestApps.OrchardCore.ContentAccessControl"]
Attach role picker to a content type	Add RolePickerPart via content type editor or recipe
Turn on restriction	Check "Restrict content?" in the RolePickerPart settings or set IsContentRestricted to true in the recipe
Assign roles to a content item	Edit the content item and select roles in the role picker field