Access in Slate falls into three categories:

• User Permissions: What can a user do?

• Population Permissions: To whom can it be done?

• Realms: To which objects (something made with a Slate tool, like a mailing) can it be done?\

What is a realm in Slate?

When you grant a user a permission, you grant them access to some tool or area in Slate: grant someone the Deliver permission, and they can select Deliver from the main navigation (but that’s about it); grant them the Deliver (edit all users) permission, and now they can view and edit all of the mailings in Deliver.

But what if you want the user to access only certain mailings, not all of them? Realms let you grant access to only those objects contained in that realm. In our Deliver example, the user with Deliver (edit all users) could see all mailings except the mailings in realms to which they don’t have access.

If we create a realm called My Department, and we place a new mailing in that realm, our users wouldn’t see it without also being granted access to this My Department realm:

Assign a query to a realm to compartmentalize who can build, run, and edit it without affecting queries in other realms. What a user can do is controlled by a user permission, but realms allow their impact to be limited to only appropriate objects.

Similarly, forms, events, and Scheduler slots can be placed in realms to define who can access, build, or edit these objects without affecting the resources in other realms.

⭐ Best practice

Objects not assigned to a realm are visible to all users; avoid confusion by assigning all objects to a realm.

Creating a realm

To create a new realm:

1. Go to Database → Security Dashboard.

2. Under Roles & Permissions, select Realms.

3. Select New Realm.

4. Configure the following settings:

   • Status: Set the status to Active for realms that are currently being used.

   • Name: Enter a computer-friendly name.

     • 🔔 Important! No special characters (ampersands &, apostrophes ', quotation marks “, or slashes /).

     • This name is only visible administratively.

     • The name may be changed if necessary, even if objects already exists for the realm.

   • Export Key: Export keys can be used in exports to external systems, including an SIS.

5. Select Save.

Granting a user access to a realm

To grant a user access to a realm:

1. Go to Database → Security Dashboard.

2. Select Active Users.

3. Select Edit User, or create a new user account.

4. Select the Realms tab.

5. Select Insert Realm.

6. Select a realm from the Realm list.

7. Select Save.

Repeat to add the user to additional realms.

Access all realms as an administrator

Some users might have administrator access, but only to specific realms. Administrators must either select the specific realms that these users should have, or else grant them the All Realms exclusive permission:

1. Go to Database → Security Dashboard.

2. Select Active Users.

3. Select the appropriate User and select Edit User.

4. Select Roles.

5. Grant the All Realms exclusive permission.

If it is not necessary for an administrative user to access all realms, but only to specific realms, follow the steps in granting access to realm.