Atlas Extranet Features

Atlas can be used as an Extranet, allowing for externally shared secure workspaces for sharing content with external parties. There are a number of differences for external users, but the instructions below will need to be followed to ensure the correct behavior.

Pre-requisites

There are some pre-requisites which need to be completed to allow for the permissions management of External Users - please see and action points mentioned in this article, explained below. This includes:

• Creation of an 'All External Users' Dynamic security group in Azure Entra ID
• Giving external users permissions to the App Catalog so that they can view the Atlas web part packages
  • Please note that the site sharing settings for the App Catalog site needs to be at least 'Existing Guests'. If it is set to 'Only People in your Organization' the external users will not be able to see the web part packages.
• Give External Users permissions to the Atlas Configuration Site using the 'All External Users' Group mentioned in the first point above.

Please also note that any workspace to be used by external users will need the appropriate sharing settings applied to either the workspace or that workspace's source workspace template for use in ConneX Studio. Same steps as the App Catalog instructions linked above.

To ensure the Atlas Extranet functionalities are applied appropriately, please see notes below.

Elements hidden from external users

• The "My Preferences" section in the Atlas menu is no longer shown to all external/guest users. Instead it will only be shown to those added to the "Atlas External Trusted Users" security group.
• The Feedback button in the footer is no longer shown to any external/guest users.
• The Header logo can now have a different URL for external/guest users so they can have a different homepage. By default no URL is set so external/guest users won't have a link behind the Atlas logo to access the homepage and will navigate using the Global Navigation only.

Additional controls in ConneX

When creating a workspace from ConneX, you will now have the option to apply controls for locking down the Atlas Global Taxonomy in your workspace from the ConneX provisioning form. This is useful if for example you have used the Entity field to tag client names - you may need an external workspace to collaborate with one of your clients, and you cannot let them see your entire client list.

You can make this decision immediately after choosing your workspace template:

If you choose Yes, all metadata fields for the workspace will be limited to a single value in order to restrict the metadata that will be visible in this workspace. This means you need to choose the default values for each field carefully as it will be applied to all content in the workspace and cannot be changed.

If you choose No, metadata restrictions will not be applied and users will be able to see and use all metadata tags.

If you do not see this option when provisioning a new workspace in ConneX, you will need to ensure that this setting is switched ON from inside Atlas Tenant Properties. The property is called Atlas.ShowExtranet and you will need a SharePoint or 365/Tenant Administrator to switch this tenant property on.

Alternate Atlas Home Logo & Logo URL for external users

It is possible to create an alternate Home page for Atlas for use by External Users. 

The Tenant Property Atlas.AlternateLandingPage.Url value can be changed to an external user landing page. This can be any page within any workspaces, but please ensure the permissions are dynamic and appropriate so that all external users can access this. If this is not set-up, external users will receive an error when clicking the Home Atlas logo - as they will not have permissions to access your 'internal' homepage.

You will need a SharePoint or 365/Tenant Administrator to switch this tenant property on.

To alter the home logo for external users, please go to the Atlas Configuration site > Atlas Assets > Images (/sites/atlasconfiguration/AtlasAssets/images) and upload a new logo for External Users. It functions in the same way as the internal logo - so any file with the name GuestsLogo will be used automatically by the platform.

And although not essential, you can do the same with the GuestsBanner as well, for a different menu look and feel that matches the extranet branding.

External User view

Internal User view