Secure Media Files

You can secure media files in your Govstack CMS to prevent content protected by your members section from being accidentally displayed to the public.

Documents and image files stored in the media tab could have their URLs exposed to the public even if they are displayed only on member's pages. This might happen due to an erroneous link on a public page, a screen shot that shows more than it should, or links from emails or other unsecured communications.

You need to have access to the 'Media' tab in the Govstack CMS back office to create secured media files.

Create a secured file

To create a secured file in your Govstack CMS, you need to:

1. Select the 'Media' tab from the Govstack main menu
2. Navigate to your target file and open it for editing
3. Select the 'Security' tab below the file name field
4. Set the 'Protected Media' toggle to 'Yes'
5. Select 'Save'

Secured files will not display on or link from unsecured pages.

You may notice that secured images do not preview in the back office. To correct this, log into the members section on the front end of the website. You should then be able to see and interact with all secured files. 

Create a secured folder

To create a secured folder in your Govstack CMS, you need to:

1. Select the 'Media' tab from the Govstack main menu
2. Navigate to your target folder and select it
3. Select the 'Content' tab to the right of the file name field
4. Select the 'Security' tab
5. Set the 'Protected Media' toggle to 'Yes'
6. Select 'Save'

Files in secured folders will not display on or link from unsecured pages.

Securing sub-folders

Securing a folder will protect only the files stored in that folder. The secured setting does not extend to child folders or the files inside them. To secure all media in a file tree make sure to secure both the parent and child folders, or secure the files individually.

Pro tips

Secured media files will not display to site visitors that are not also logged into the members section of the site, preventing sensitive or confidential information from being exposed.

Do not use secured media files on pages outside of the members section. Secure documents linked from unsecured pages will result in a 404 error, and image files will appear broken on the public page.