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StationOne Documentation

Library Visibility and Access

Every article and folder in the Library has a visibility setting that controls who can read it. Visibility can be set independently on folders and on individual articles.

Visibility options

Section titled “Visibility options”

Users Only

Section titled “Users Only”

The article or folder is visible only to logged-in brigade members (anyone with a StationOne account in your unit). This is the default setting.

Use this for internal documents, operational SOPs, meeting minutes, and anything that should remain within the brigade.

Public Portal

Section titled “Public Portal”

The article or folder is visible on the public Station Portal to anyone with the portal link — no login required.

Use this for documents you want community members or external visitors to access, such as hazmat response notices, public safety information, or community announcements.

Restricted

Section titled “Restricted”

The article or folder is only visible to members who belong to specific User Groups or hold specific Appointment Types.

Use this for sensitive documents such as financial records, officer briefings, disciplinary procedures, or anything that should only go to a subset of your brigade.

Setting restricted access

Section titled “Setting restricted access”

When you select Restricted visibility, a panel appears to choose which groups or appointment types should have access.

User Groups

Section titled “User Groups”

Custom Groups (sometimes called User Groups) are manually managed groups you define in brigade settings. Select one or more groups — members of any selected group can see the article.

Appointment Types

Section titled “Appointment Types”

Appointment Types are roles assigned to members (e.g. Captain, Treasurer, OHS Officer). Select one or more appointment types — members currently holding any of those appointments can see the article.

No groups or appointment types defined

Section titled “No groups or appointment types defined”

If your brigade hasn’t set up any Custom Groups or Appointment Types, the restricted panel will say so. You’ll need to set those up in brigade settings before restricted visibility is useful.

Folder vs. article visibility

Section titled “Folder vs. article visibility”

Visibility can be set on both folders and individual articles. They work independently:

  • A folder set to Users Only can contain an article set to Public Portal — the article is visible publicly, but the folder itself is not listed on the portal
  • A folder set to Public Portal can contain a Users Only article — the folder appears publicly but that article is hidden on the portal
  • When you select a folder while creating an article, the folder’s visibility is pre-filled as a default. You can always change it.

This means you can have a “SOPs” folder that is Users Only, with most articles as Users Only, but one or two articles set to Public Portal for community access.

Sharing with child units

Section titled “Sharing with child units”

If your unit has child units (e.g. you are a District unit with Brigade children), you can share a folder or article with those units using the Share with child units option.

When enabled:

  • Child unit members can read the article or browse the folder and its contents
  • Child units cannot edit or delete the content — it is read-only
  • Shared content appears in the child unit’s Library sidebar under a section showing your unit’s name

This is useful for:

  • Distributing district-wide SOPs to all brigades
  • Sharing common reference documents without duplicating them
  • Region or group admins providing guidance to all units below them

Station Portal public library

Section titled “Station Portal public library”

The Station Portal can display your brigade’s public library articles — those set to Public Portal visibility — to anyone with your station portal link.

Enable the library on the Station Portal

Section titled “Enable the library on the Station Portal”
  1. Navigate to Brigade Settings
  2. Open Station Portal settings
  3. Enable Show Library on Station Portal

Once enabled, visitors to your Station Portal can browse and read any published articles with Public Portal visibility.

Section titled “Direct links to public articles”

When an article is published, set to Public Portal, and the Station Portal library is enabled, a green Public link bar appears at the top of the article in the admin view. This shows the direct public URL — copy it to share the article with anyone, even if they don’t know your portal address.

Section titled “Related guides”