SharePoint User Permissions

When SharePoint is installed, by default it will create a set of Permissions, which can be viewed by “Central Administration” => “Application Management” => “Manage WebApplications” => Highlight the WebApplication => Click on “User Permission”.



To secure the contents at various levels within SharePoint sites, it is these permissions that has to be enabled by the administrators. Each permission has a level of it’s own which can be; List, Site or Personal.

These Permissions are grouped/combined to create the Permission Levels. 

List level Permissions…

Permission	Description	Type	Permission Level
Manage Lists	Create and delete lists, add or remove columns in a list, and add or remove public views of a list.	List	Full Control, Design, Manage Hierarchy
Override Check Out	Discard or check in a document that is checked out to another user.	List	Full Control, Design, Approve, Manage Hierarchy
Add Items	Add items to lists, and add documents to document libraries.	List	Full Control, Design, Contribute, Approve, Manage Hierarchy
Edit Items	Edit items in lists, edit documents in document libraries, and customize Web Part pages in document libraries.	List	Full Control, Design, Contribute, Approve, Manage Hierarchy
Delete Items	Delete items from a list, and documents from a document library.	List	Full Control, Design, Contribute, Approve, Manage Hierarchy
View Items	View items in lists, and documents in document libraries.	List	Full Control, Design, Contribute, Read, Approve, Manage Hierarchy, Restricted Read
Approve Items	Approve a minor version of a list item or document.	List	Full Control, Design, Approve
Open Items	View the source of documents with server-side file handlers.	List	Full Control, Design, Contribute, Read, Approve, Manage Hierarchy, Restricted Read
View Versions	View past versions of a list item or document	List	Full Control, Design, Contribute, Read, Approve, Manage Hierarchy
Delete Versions	Delete past versions of a list item or document.	List	Full Control, Design, Contribute, Approve, Manage Hierarchy
Create Alerts	Create alerts	List	Full Control, Design, Contribute, Read, Approve, Manage Hierarchy
View Application Pages	View forms, views, and application pages; enumerate lists.	List	Full Control, Design, Contribute, Read, Approve, Manage Hierarchy

Site level Permissions…

Permission	Description	Type	Permission Level
Manage Permissions	Create and change permission levels on the website and assign permissions to users and groups.	Site	Full Control, Manage Hierarchy
View Web Analytics Data	View reports on website usage.	Site	Full Control, Manage Hierarchy
Create Subsites	Create subsites such as Team sites, Meeting Workspace sites, and Document Workspace sites.	Site	Full Control, Manage Hierarchy
Manage Web Site	Grant the ability to perform all administrative tasks for the website, as well as manage content.	Site	Full Control, Manage Hierarchy
Add and Customize Pages	Add, change, or delete HTML pages or Web Part pages, and edit the website using a Microsoft SharePoint Foundation compatible editor.	Site	Full Control, Design, Manage Hierarchy
Apply Themes and Borders	Apply a theme or borders to the entire website	Site	Full Control, Design
Apply Style Sheets	Apply a style sheet (.CSS file) to the website.	Site	Full Control, Design
Create Groups	Create a group of users that can be used anywhere within the site collection.	Site	Full Control
Browse Directories	Enumerate files and folders in a website using SharePoint Designer and WebDAV interfaces.	Site	Full Control, Design, Contribute, Approve, Manage Hierarchy
Use Self- Service Site Creation	Create a website using Self- Service Site Creation	Site	Read, Contribute, Design, Full Control
View Pages	View pages in a website.	Site	Full Control, Design, Contribute, Read, Approve, Manage Hierarchy, Restricted Read
Enumerate Permissions	Enumerate permissions on the website, list, folder, document, or list item.	Site	Full Control, Manage Hierarchy
Browse User Information	View information about users of the website.	Site	Full Control, Design, Contribute, Read, Limited Access, Approve, Manage Hierarchy
Manage Alerts	Manage alerts for all users of the website.	Site	Full Control, Manage Hierarchy
Use Remote Interfaces	Use SOAP, Web DAV, the Client Object Model, or SharePoint Designer interfaces to access the website.	Site	Full Control, Design, Contribute, Read, Approve, Manage Hierarch
Use Client Integration Features	Use features that launch client applications. Without this permission, users must work on documents locally and upload their changes.	Site	Full Control, Design, Contribute, Read, Limited Access, Approve, Manage Hierarchy
Open	Allow users to open a website, list, or folder in order to access items inside that container.	Site	Full Control, Design, Contribute, Read, Limited Access, Approve, Manage Hierarchy, Restricted Read
Edit Personal User Information	Allow a user to change his own user information, such as adding a picture.	Site	Full Control, Design, Contribute, Approve, Manage Hierarchy

Personal level Permissions…

Permission	Description	Type	Permission Level
Manage Personal Views	Manage Personal Views	Personal	Full Control, Design, Contribute, Approve, Manage Hierarchy
Add/Remove Personal Views	Add or remove personal Web Parts on a Web Part page.	Personal	Full Control, Design, Contribute, Approve, Manage Hierarchy
Update Personal Web Parts	Update Web Parts to display personalized information	Personal	Full Control, Design, Contribute, Approve, Manage Hierarchy

A blog post on Permission levels soon to be released.