How access and privacy work
Visualbook can lock the whole manual, a single page or a single downloadable file. This page is the map: what you can lock, how visitors verify, and which guide to follow next.
What you can lock
You set a lock right on the thing you want to hide. Each level has its own fields and works independently.
- The whole manual – a gate in front of the entire site. Set it in Settings → Access Protection. Guide: Lock the whole manual.
- A single page – locks the page and every page below it, such as a whole page group or a brand. Set it on the page's Password tab. Guide: Lock a single page.
- A file or a link – the page stays public; verification is only needed to download the file or open the link. Set it next to the file or button in a section. Guide: Lock downloadable files.
How visitors verify
- Password – one shared password for everyone you give it to. It must be at least 12 characters long. Details: Password access.
- Email and allowed domains – you enter company domains such as
company.com. A visitor types their email and receives a six-digit verification code. Public mailbox domains likegmail.comcannot be allowed. Details: Email access and company domains.
The password field and the domains field are independent on every level. Whatever you leave empty is not offered to visitors. If you fill in both, visitors choose. If both are empty, nothing is locked.
Which lock to choose
| Situation | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| The manual is for employees only | Lock the whole manual by email with your company domain, such as company.com. Nobody needs a password. |
| An agency or a print shop needs access too | Add a password next to the domains. People with a gmail.com address or another public mailbox cannot verify by email. |
| The manual is public except for one part | Lock just that page, for example “Presentation templates”. |
| The logo page is public, the print files are not | Lock just the downloadable file. |
| A page should stay open, just not on Google | Do not lock it – exclude it from indexing instead. See SEO and link preview. |
Where to set a lock and how long it lasts
| What you lock | Where to set it | Password | Email code | If you set both | How long access lasts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The whole manual | Settings → Access Protection | yes | yes | email comes first, visitors can switch to the password | 2 hours in that browser |
| A page and the pages below it | the page's Password tab | yes | yes | the password comes first, visitors can switch to email | about two weeks in that browser |
| A file or a link | next to the file or button in a section | yes | yes | visitors choose in the dialog | one download or one opening |
What visitors, search engines and AI see
| Who or what | Whole manual locked | Page locked | File locked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Visitor without verification | only a sign-in screen with the brand description | the page card with a lock icon, the content only after unlocking | sees the button, gets the file only after verifying |
| Editor signed in to the panel | the whole manual, no verification | unlocks it like any visitor | verifies like any visitor |
| Search inside the manual | works only after unlocking | files of the locked page are not in the results | locked files are not in the results |
| Google and other search engines | robots.txt blocks the whole site, sitemap.xml is empty | the page is left out of sitemap.xml | the file address is encrypted inside the link |
| Online static export | the lock is not carried over, the export is public | the password works, a page locked only by email domains becomes public | the password works, email verification does not |
| Offline export | everything unlocked | everything unlocked | everything unlocked |
| Public MCP server and public AI export | the public MCP server switches off | the page and everything below it are left out | the file is not in the archive |
| Your AI agent through the AI connector | works with your account's rights and sees locked content too | same as you in the panel | same as you in the panel |
For more on search, exports and AI, see Locked content, search and AI.
Several locks at once
If the whole manual is locked and one page is locked as well, visitors pass both gates – first the manual, then the page. Each level can have a different password and different domains.
File lock or page lock?
Files on a locked page or in a locked manual are never served without verification, not even through a direct address.