Create a Policy and Assign it to a Group of Users

Requirements

To create and modify Policies, your GoGuardian Admin account must have Full Access or Filter and Monitor permissions and appropriate OU access in order to assign the policies. Users with Monitor Only permissions will be unable to modify or assign policies. 

Create and Name a Policy 

Create a new policy by clicking the Create Policy button in the top right corner in the Filtering Section, under Configuration. Enter a descriptive name, then click Create. 

Edit the Policy 

Once a policy is created, navigate to the Custom Policies tab, under My Policies and click the pencil icon to edit the policy. Give the policy a description and select a color from the policy color drop-down, which will help identify the policy in other parts of the interface.

Adding Filtering Rules (Block or Allow)

Adding filtering rules to each section is easy, simply type or paste a URL into the field, then select Block or Allow. The process is identical for Websites, Youtube, and Apps & Extensions. 

Importing CSV of URLs

Importing a CSV with URLs you would like to allow or block is another way to add multiple website URLs at once. By clicking the triple-dot icon at the top-right corner of the Policy and then clicking Import CSV of URLs you can add your CSV (Note: Adding a CSV with URLs will not overwrite any previous entries to your Policy. It will only add the URLs from your CSV to any blocks or allowances that are already there).  

Block or Allow Websites

In the Website URLs section, content can be blocked by domain, subdomain, webpage, or with *wildcards* using Block rules. Websites blocked by specific block rules, selected categories, or Restrictive Mode can be overridden by adding Allow rules. (see examples above)

Block Websites by Category

Block whole categories of websites by selecting categories or sub-categories. Category blocks can be overridden by adding Allow Rules in the Website URLs section. To see if a website belongs to a category, type or paste the URL into the Check a URL search bar at the top of the category page. Exceptions can be made for sites that belong to a selected category by adding an Allow rule to the Website URLs section within the same policy.

Configure the Youtube Filter 

Entire Youtube channels can be blocked or allowed by typing or pasting the channel's URL. For example, to allow Khan Academy, add https://www.youtube.com/khanacademy to the "Enter a YouTube Channel" field in the YouTube section of your policy, under the Channels tab.

Individual Videos can be blocked or allowed by typing or copy/pasting the video's URL from the address bar into the "Enter a YouTube Video URL" field in the Videos tab, then selecting the desired rule. Shortened video links generated by the "Share" button in YouTube are not supported. 

Supported URL: www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKIT1hrH040  (URL found in the address bar)
Unsupported URL: https://youtu.be/gKIT1hrH040 (shortened "Share" URL)

Videos can be blocked by Keywords using the Keywords tab. Any video that contains any of the defined keywords in the title will be blocked. This can be overridden using the Videos or Channels tab. 

Videos can also be blocked by Category. Under the Categories tab, select which categories should be blocked. Category blocks can be overridden using the Videos or Channels tabs. 

There are a few additional options that can be quickly toggled:

• Age Restriction blocks YouTube videos labeled by Youtube as mature content suitable for ages 18+.
• Enabling Block Sidebar will hide the Related Videos sidebar to the right of all videos.
• Enabling Block Comments will hide the comments section of all videos. 
• Enabling Restrictive Mode will block all videos unless specifically marked as allowed within the Channels or Videos tabs in the Youtube section. 

Manage Chrome Apps & Extensions

Chrome Apps and Extensions, available on the Chrome Web Store, can be easily managed in the Apps & Extensions section. Simply enter or copy/paste an App's ID or Chrome Web Store URL into the field in the Apps & Extensions section to block or allow the app/extension. 

Google Admin Console has its own app management settings, which are honored before GoGuardian's policies. If any apps are blocked by Google Admin Console settings, GoGuardian Policies will not override them if marked as allowed. Similarly, if an app is force-installed via Google Admin Console, GoGuardian will not block the app.

Restrictive mode 

The Website URLs, YouTube, and Apps & Extensions sections each have a toggle switch that activates Restrictive Mode for that section. When Restrictive Mode is enabled, all content of that type will be blocked unless an allow rule is specifically added to that policy section. 

Assign the policy to an OU containing User Accounts

To assign a policy to a group of users, visit the Custom Policies tab and find the desired OU. In the example above, we are assigning New Policy to the High School OU. Click the Assign Policy button next to the OU and find the policy, then click Assign. The policy will then be linked to that OU and all sub-OUs beneath that OU. Policies will always cascade from OUs to the sub-OUs within it. 

Policies are only effective when assigned to OUs containing user accounts. Policies assigned to OUs that only contain Chromebooks will have no effect. 

Policies can be unassigned by finding the OU at which it was assigned, clicking the Assign Policy button to the right of the policy icon, then clicking the Unassign button to the right of the previously assigned policy, or by clicking the X on the policy chip.