Part 2 - Enabling Anonymous Access

Earlier, I wrote a about how to implement forms authentication for a SharePoint 2007 Beta2 site. Typically, you would probably not want to apply authentication to the entire web site. You may want, for example, to allow anonymous users to view the home page.

Here's how to turn on anonymous access:

1.Enable anonymous access on the top-level web site:
a. Select Start > SharePoint 3.0 Central Administration
b. Click Application Management
c. In the "Application Security" section, click Authentication Providers.
d. Select the web application to work on.
e. Click ASpNetSqlMembershipProvider
f. Check the Enable Anonymous Access checkbox.
g. Click Save

2. Enable anonymous access at the site level
a. Navigate to the web site. You will be prompted for a user id and password. Login as the adminstrator.
b. Goto Site Actions> Site Settings > Modify All Site Settings
c. In the Users and Permissions column, choose Advanced Permissions.
d. From the menu, choose Settings > Anonymous Access




e. You could choose to allow guest users to view only lists or the entire web site. Choose to enable anonymous access on the entire web site.



3. Delete the authentication cookie
a. Select Tools > Internet Options
b. Click Delete Cookies

And the next time you open your page, you won't have to login to view the front page. To prevent anonymous users from viewing sub sites, repeat step 2 for each sub site but choose "Nothing" instead.