Addressing Sharepoint List Permission Limitations For Customizations

SharePoint’s permission inheritance model enables easy collaboration, but can limit customization options for power users. Breaking inheritance has downsides too. This article examines strategies to customize SharePoint lists without compromising permissions.

The Core Issue with SharePoint Permissions

SharePoint’s permission hierarchy propagates access rules from parent sites down to subsites, libraries, folders, lists, list items and documents. This facilitates access management, but customizations applied at one permission level propagate down the hierarchy.

For example, custom views or columns created for a list will appear to all users with access. If different audiences need different views, customizations may be constrained.

The common solution is to break permission inheritance and manage access separately. However, this fragments permissions, limiting collaboration and access oversight. It also multiplying administration effort.

Customizing Lists Without Breaking Permissions

Innovative approaches can customize SharePoint list experiences without breaking inheritance.

Using Client-Side Rendering for Custom Views

Client-side rendering via JavaScript allows modifying list presentation and behavior in the browser only. This does not affect inherited permissions or what other users see.

Sample implementations include React and Angular apps using SharePoint’s REST API. These retrieve list data and display customized and filtered views for specific audiences as needed.

Fetching List Data Through the REST API

SharePoint’s REST API can retrieve list data in reusable formats like JSON. Client-side code can parse this to display customized views as shown above.

Since this doesn’t change list structures, permissions remain intact. Simultaneously, list data powers customized experiences matching specific preferences.

Updating List Items with App-Only Permissions

Custom client-side interfaces can let users update SharePoint list items. To restrict permissions, apps use token authentication with app-only scopes.

This approach avoids opening full API access associated with user permissions. The app simply has defined privileges to update list data.

Recommended Approaches for Advanced Scenarios

More complex needs bring additional options without disrupting collaboration.

Create Separate Lists for Different Audiences

For broadly divergent customizations, create distinct lists with tailored views, columns, and permissions. Hide lists from audiences with access overlap to maintain a segmented experience.

This scales management overhead, but fulfills nuanced customization needs when essential. Audience-aligned content strategies facilitate personalized productivity.

Use Out-of-the-Box Views with Power BI Integration

SharePoint view filtering lets sites have public views while users also access private views.

Power BI integration can then overlay visualizations atop standard list views. This empowers data analysis without impacting list security or structures.

Build Custom Web Parts to Customize Views

For private view control, web parts developed with SharePoint Framework offer localized UX customization at the web part level instead of the list.

Insert these components across sites as needed without remodeling underlying permissions or content.

Example Code for Client-Side Rendering

Modern JavaScript frameworks streamline client-side SharePoint customization.

Sample React App with SP REST API Calls

This example React app uses the React Framework to connect to SharePoint’s REST API and displays custom filtered views of list data for in-browser rendering.

Key capabilities:

• Authenticates via OAuth and SharePoint app scopes
• Gets list data from /_api/web/lists REST endpoints
• Maps returned JSON objects to React components
• Renders components with customized filters and styling
• Enables in-line editing with separate update requests

By handling rendering and state management in React, the app creates personalized views without changing list structures or permissions in SharePoint.

Key Sections Highlighted and Explained

The code walkthrough examines key methods:

• getListData – queries SP REST API endpoints
• componentDidMount – populates state data on initial render
• displayItems – maps JSON to React components
• updateItem – sends edit requests back to SharePoint

This implementation separates API data retrieval from view rendering to enable specialized experiences.

Additional Resources

For more on advanced permission strategies:

Microsoft Guidance on Permission Management

Microsoft reference articles on planning and configuring SharePoint permissions for customization scenarios.

Community Posts on Advanced Permission Strategies

Experts share innovative approaches to balance customization and collaboration through permissions.