APAN Pending Members Feature
Introduction
While using standard SharePoint, if a site owner allows access requests, an unauthorized user fills in a
single box to request access. A notification email is sent to the site owner, with the contents of the text
box. When the site owner clicks on the Approve link in the email, the requester is given access to the
group, but is not added to any permission group. The decision by the site owner to grant access is
limited to the brief, if any message that the requester provides.
The APAN Pending Members feature improves the request process for the site owner and the requester.
The APAN Pending Members feature uses a SharePoint list named Pending Members. When an
unauthorized user requests access, the request form contains all of the customized items, added by the
site owner. Additionally, site owners can easily add approved user to particular permission groups.
Activate the feature
The APAN Pending Members feature must be activated by a user (usually the site owner) with Full
Control of the site. This feature is activated by the following steps:
1. Click on Site Actions and choose Site Settings
2. Click on Manage site features in the Site Actions section.
3. Click on Activate button for the APAN Pending Members Feature
Pending Members Requirements
Activation of the Pending Members features creates special permissions for this list. Because you want
APAN users to complete a request form, NT AUTHORITY\authenticated users group has Pending
Members permission to write to the list. They cannot edit or read the list items. Turing on the feature
gives Full Control of the list to your site’s Owners group.
As of May 2015, Pending Members feature requires that there be an Owners group and a Members
group at the site level with a name that matches the site name. For example, if your site name is
Exercise EF 2015, you must have Exercise EF 2015 Owners and Exercise EF 2015 Members at the site
level. If you change the name of the site or the name of your owners group, Pending Members will not
function!
Customize the Pending Members List
When the feature is activated, unauthorized users will be prompted to complete a request form, as
usual. Site owners are encouraged to use the Pending Members feature to improve the evaluation
process for granting access to their site. Site owners can customize their request forms by adding
columns to the Pending Members list.
Managing Member Requests
A link to the Pending Members list is in the left side navigation bar. Click on the link to open the list.
Access requests for your site can be managed through the Pending Members list. The list includes a
Status field, which has values of Approved, Denied, and Pending. There is a view for each Status. The
default view is Pending. The picture below shows all of the views that are created when the feature is
activated.
Click on the box to the left of each line to indicate which requests you want to approve or deny. You can
approve or reject multiple member requests at the same time. You cannot do both. After you approve
users, you will be asked to assign them to a permission group such as Our Site Members. If you want to
work with all of the requests at once, click on the box next to the word Title at the top of the list. You
can choose multiple lines by clicking on the box to the left of each line. See picture below.
After you indicate the requests that you want to Approve or Deny, click on the APAN tab above the
ribbon. This will activate the first two items in the ribbon.
Managing Members – Accept
Follow the steps listed above to indicate the member(s) that you want to approve. Click on the Approve
Pending Member(s) icon to grant access to your site. A popup window lets you select which group to
assign the newly approved users. The drop-down menu includes all of the permission groups for your
site. Remember, all of the selected people have to be granted the same access. After you make your
Group selection, click the ADD button.
A brief message is displayed in the upper right to indicated that the members have been approved, and
the screen refreshes. The line(s) are removed because their Status has changed to Approved.
An email notification of the approval is automatically sent to the requester(s). See sample below.
Managing Members – Deny
Follow the steps listed above in the Managing Members Requests section to indicate the member(s)
that you want to deny access. Click on the Deny Pending Member(s) icon to reject the request access to
your site. A brief message is displayed in the upper right to indicated that the members have been
denied access, and the screen refreshes. The line(s) are removed because their Status has changed to
Denied.
A rejection email notification is automatically sent to the requester(s). See sample below.
Added benefits
A customized Pending Members list opens the possibility of creating a roster list, database, or a list of
attendees to a conference. If you are requesting information that you don’t want to share with all
members of your group, it is suggested that you export the list, using the Approved view to an Excel
spreadsheet. Delete the columns that you don’t want people have, such as flight information, and
import the spreadsheet as a new list in your site.
You can add as many columns to the Pending Members list as you need. You can change the list
whenever you want. You can make items mandatory or optional.