zulip/templates/zerver/help/stream-permissions.md

# Stream privacy settings

Streams are similar to chatrooms, IRC channels, or email lists in that they
determine who receives a message. There are three types of streams in Zulip.

* **Public**: Members can join and view the complete message history.
  Guest users interact with public streams as though they were a
  private stream with shared history.

* **Private, shared history**: You must be added by a member of the
  stream. The complete message history is available as soon as you are
  added.

* **Private, protected history**: You must be added by a member of the
  stream. You only have access to the messages that are sent after you are added.

## Privacy model for private streams

At a high level:

* Organization owners and administrators can see and modify most
  aspects of a private stream, including the membership and estimated
  traffic. Owners and administrators generally cannot see private
  stream messages or do things that would give them access to private
  stream messages, like adding new subscribers or changing the stream
  privacy settings.

* [Organization members](/help/roles-and-permissions) cannot easily
  see which private streams exist, or interact with them in any way
  until they are added.  Given a stream name, they can figure out
  whether a stream with that name exists, but cannot see any other
  details about the stream.

* From the perspective of a guest, all streams are private streams,
  and they additionally can't add other members to the streams they
  are subscribed to.

There are two situations in which an organization owner or
administrator can access private stream messages:

* Via some types of [data export](/help/export-your-organization).

* Owners and administrators can change the ownership of a bot. If a
  bot is subscribed to a private stream, then an administrator can get
  access to that stream by taking control of the bot, though the
  access will be limited to what the bot can do. (E.g. incoming
  webhook bots cannot read messages.)

## Detailed permissions

### Public streams

|                       | Owners and admins | Members   | Guests
|---                    |---                |---        |---
| View stream name      | &#10004;          | &#10004;  | &#9726;
| Join                  | &#10004;          | &#10004;  |
| Unsubscribe           | &#9726;           | &#9726;   | &#9726;
| Add others            | &#10004;          | &#10004;  |
| See subscriber list   | &#10004;          | &#10004;  | &#9726;
| See full history      | &#10004;          | &#10004;  | &#9726;
| See estimated traffic | &#10004;          | &#10004;  | &#9726;
| Post                  | &#10004;          | &#10038;  | &#10038;
| Change the privacy    | &#10004;          |           |
| Rename                | &#10004;          |           |
| Edit the description  | &#10004;          |           |
| Remove others         | &#10004;          |           |
| Delete                | &#10004;          |           |

&#10004; Always

&#9726; &nbsp; If subscribed to the stream

&#10038; [Configurable](/help/stream-sending-policy).  Owners,
Administrators, and Members can, by default, post to any public
stream, and Guests can only post to public streams if they are
subscribed.

### Private streams


|                       | Owners and admins | Members   | Guests
|---                    |---                |---        |---
| View stream name      | &#10004;          | &#9726;   | &#9726;
| Join                  |                   |           |
| Unsubscribe           | &#9726;           | &#9726;   | &#9726;
| Add others            | &#9726;           | &#9726;   |
| See subscriber list   | &#10004;          | &#9726;   | &#9726;
| See full history      | &#10038;          | &#10038;  | &#10038;
| See estimated traffic | &#10004;          | &#9726;   | &#9726;
| Post                  | &#9726;           | &#10038;  | &#10038;
| Change the privacy    | &#9726;           |           |
| Rename                | &#10004;          |           |
| Edit the description  | &#10004;          |           |
| Remove others         | &#10004;          |           |
| Delete                | &#10004;          |           |

&#10004; Always

&#9726; &nbsp; If subscribed to the stream

&#10038; [Configurable](/help/stream-sending-policy), but at minimum
must be subscribed to the stream.

## Related articles

* [Roles and permissions](/help/roles-and-permissions)
* [Stream sending policy](/help/stream-sending-policy)
user docs: Add doc for stream privacy settings. 2018-05-22 19:34:42 +02:00			`# Stream privacy settings`

user docs: Explain streams are similar to channels in stream-permissions. 2018-07-27 03:49:26 +02:00			`Streams are similar to chatrooms, IRC channels, or email lists in that they`
			`determine who receives a message. There are three types of streams in Zulip.`
user docs: Add doc for stream privacy settings. 2018-05-22 19:34:42 +02:00
help: Clarify documentation on guest users and streams. This tries to make it more immediately clear facts like that guests cannot see public streams. 2021-04-09 17:48:18 +02:00			`* Public: Members can join and view the complete message history.`
			`Guest users interact with public streams as though they were a`
			`private stream with shared history.`
user docs: Add doc for stream privacy settings. 2018-05-22 19:34:42 +02:00
help: Clarify documentation on guest users and streams. This tries to make it more immediately clear facts like that guests cannot see public streams. 2021-04-09 17:48:18 +02:00			`* Private, shared history: You must be added by a member of the`
			`stream. The complete message history is available as soon as you are`
			`added.`
user docs: Add doc for stream privacy settings. 2018-05-22 19:34:42 +02:00
			`* Private, protected history: You must be added by a member of the`
			`stream. You only have access to the messages that are sent after you are added.`

			`## Privacy model for private streams`

			`At a high level:`

help: Add basic documentation of organization owners. 2020-06-10 22:42:20 +02:00			`* Organization owners and administrators can see and modify most`
			`aspects of a private stream, including the membership and estimated`
			`traffic. Owners and administrators generally cannot see private`
			`stream messages or do things that would give them access to private`
			`stream messages, like adding new subscribers or changing the stream`
			`privacy settings.`

			`* [Organization members](/help/roles-and-permissions) cannot easily`
			`see which private streams exist, or interact with them in any way`
			`until they are added. Given a stream name, they can figure out`
			`whether a stream with that name exists, but cannot see any other`
user docs: Add doc for stream privacy settings. 2018-05-22 19:34:42 +02:00			`details about the stream.`

help: Clarify documentation on guest users and streams. This tries to make it more immediately clear facts like that guests cannot see public streams. 2021-04-09 17:48:18 +02:00			`* From the perspective of a guest, all streams are private streams,`
			`and they additionally can't add other members to the streams they`
			`are subscribed to.`
user docs: Update docs to reflect new guests feature. 2018-10-30 06:40:33 +01:00
help: Add basic documentation of organization owners. 2020-06-10 22:42:20 +02:00			`There are two situations in which an organization owner or`
			`administrator can access private stream messages:`
user docs: Update stream-permissions to note message access via bots. 2018-10-20 00:33:09 +02:00
			`* Via some types of [data export](/help/export-your-organization).`

help: Add basic documentation of organization owners. 2020-06-10 22:42:20 +02:00			`* Owners and administrators can change the ownership of a bot. If a`
			`bot is subscribed to a private stream, then an administrator can get`
			`access to that stream by taking control of the bot, though the`
			`access will be limited to what the bot can do. (E.g. incoming`
			`webhook bots cannot read messages.)`
user docs: Update stream-permissions to note message access via bots. 2018-10-20 00:33:09 +02:00
user docs: Add doc for stream privacy settings. 2018-05-22 19:34:42 +02:00			`## Detailed permissions`

			`### Public streams`

help: Add basic documentation of organization owners. 2020-06-10 22:42:20 +02:00			`\| \| Owners and admins \| Members \| Guests`
			`\|--- \|--- \|--- \|---`
help: Clarify documentation on guest users and streams. This tries to make it more immediately clear facts like that guests cannot see public streams. 2021-04-09 17:48:18 +02:00			`\| View stream name \| ✔ \| ✔ \| ◾`
help: Add basic documentation of organization owners. 2020-06-10 22:42:20 +02:00			`\| Join \| ✔ \| ✔ \|`
			`\| Unsubscribe \| ◾ \| ◾ \| ◾`
			`\| Add others \| ✔ \| ✔ \|`
			`\| See subscriber list \| ✔ \| ✔ \| ◾`
			`\| See full history \| ✔ \| ✔ \| ◾`
			`\| See estimated traffic \| ✔ \| ✔ \| ◾`
			`\| Post \| ✔ \| ✶ \| ✶`
			`\| Change the privacy \| ✔ \| \|`
			`\| Rename \| ✔ \| \|`
			`\| Edit the description \| ✔ \| \|`
			`\| Remove others \| ✔ \| \|`
			`\| Delete \| ✔ \| \|`
help: Reorganize stream-permissions table. 2019-03-02 01:02:16 +01:00
			`✔ Always`

			`◾   If subscribed to the stream`

help: Add basic documentation of organization owners. 2020-06-10 22:42:20 +02:00			`✶ [Configurable](/help/stream-sending-policy). Owners,`
			`Administrators, and Members can, by default, post to any public`
			`stream, and Guests can only post to public streams if they are`
			`subscribed.`
user docs: Document admin-only posting in stream-permissions.md. 2018-05-31 22:25:52 +02:00
user docs: Add doc for stream privacy settings. 2018-05-22 19:34:42 +02:00			`### Private streams`


help: Add basic documentation of organization owners. 2020-06-10 22:42:20 +02:00			`\| \| Owners and admins \| Members \| Guests`
			`\|--- \|--- \|--- \|---`
help: Clarify documentation on guest users and streams. This tries to make it more immediately clear facts like that guests cannot see public streams. 2021-04-09 17:48:18 +02:00			`\| View stream name \| ✔ \| ◾ \| ◾`
help: Add basic documentation of organization owners. 2020-06-10 22:42:20 +02:00			`\| Join \| \| \|`
			`\| Unsubscribe \| ◾ \| ◾ \| ◾`
			`\| Add others \| ◾ \| ◾ \|`
			`\| See subscriber list \| ✔ \| ◾ \| ◾`
			`\| See full history \| ✶ \| ✶ \| ✶`
			`\| See estimated traffic \| ✔ \| ◾ \| ◾`
			`\| Post \| ◾ \| ✶ \| ✶`
			`\| Change the privacy \| ◾ \| \|`
			`\| Rename \| ✔ \| \|`
			`\| Edit the description \| ✔ \| \|`
			`\| Remove others \| ✔ \| \|`
			`\| Delete \| ✔ \| \|`
user docs: Update docs to reflect new guests feature. 2018-10-30 06:40:33 +01:00
help: Reorganize stream-permissions table. 2019-03-02 01:02:16 +01:00			`✔ Always`
user docs: Document admin-only posting in stream-permissions.md. 2018-05-31 22:25:52 +02:00
help: Reorganize stream-permissions table. 2019-03-02 01:02:16 +01:00			`◾   If subscribed to the stream`
user docs: Add doc for stream privacy settings. 2018-05-22 19:34:42 +02:00
settings: Migrate to stream_post_policy structure. This commit includes a new `stream_post_policy` setting, by replacing the `is_announcement_only` field from the Stream model, which is done by mirroring the structure of the existing `create_stream_policy`. It includes the necessary schema and database migrations to migrate the is_announcement_only boolean field to stream_post_policy, a smallPositiveInteger field similar to many other settings. This change is done to allow organization administrators to restrict new members from creating and posting to a stream. However, this does not affect admins who are new members. With many tweaks by tabbott to documentation under /help, etc. Fixes #13616. 2020-02-04 21:50:55 +01:00			`✶ [Configurable](/help/stream-sending-policy), but at minimum`
			`must be subscribed to the stream.`
docs: Inter-link documentation mentioning guests. Make it easier to understand what guests are allowed to do, and how to make them, by cross-linking the documentation which mentions them. 2020-05-22 02:04:34 +02:00
			`## Related articles`

			`* [Roles and permissions](/help/roles-and-permissions)`
			`* [Stream sending policy](/help/stream-sending-policy)`