Page Audience

Last modified: 4/9/2026

Page Audience

The Audience setting controls which roles can view a page. It is optional — leaving all roles unchecked means global access policies apply.

Roles

RoleDescription
adminFull system access to all features
user-adminCan manage users — create, edit, deactivate, delete
editorCan create, edit, delete, and rename pages
contributorCan create and edit pages
readerRead-only access to content
memberCommunity member — same read access as reader
anonymousPublic access without authentication

How It Works

Per-Action Access (access field)

For more granular control, use the access frontmatter field instead of audience. It accepts an object keyed by action name, each with an array of principals:

access:
  view:
    - reader
    - editor
  edit:
    - editor

audience is a shorthand for access.view only.

The private Flag

If a page is marked Private, the page is stored in a separate per-creator location and the Audience field is bypassed entirely. Access is restricted to:

Creator vs Author: access uses the page's creator as recorded in the page index, not the author frontmatter field. If the author field differs from the actual creator, the author field is ignored for access control purposes.

Applying the private Flag

Check the Private checkbox on the page's Edit form (or on the Create New Page form for new pages), or set it directly in frontmatter:

private: true

The private frontmatter field is the canonical signal. Earlier versions of GeoHazardWatch stored privacy as a user-keywords: [private] entry; that mechanism was removed in v3.7.0 and all pages have been migrated.

Private vs Audience

FeatureAudience fieldPrivate flag
Where configuredaudience: frontmatter / Edit formprivate: frontmatter / Private checkbox
Who can viewAny roles or usernames listedAdmin + creator only
Storage locationNormal page storeSeparate per-creator private location
Bypasses AudienceYes — Audience setting is ignored

The Private flag takes precedence. If a page has both an Audience setting and private: true, the Audience setting is ignored. See Page Private for the full description, precedence rules, and what Private does not do.

More Information

See also: Page Private, Author Lock, Editing a Page