Safe Doc Configuration

This article is written for G Suite for Education (GSFE) Admins. Note Safe Doc configuration is not supported for personal gmail accounts.

At out of the box, Safe Doc eliminates these kids-inappropriate features in GSFE,

• the image searching feature
• the video searching feature
• the Explore feature
• the Dictionary feature
• the link preview feature
• the middle finger emoji
• games in google search, e.g. Snake
• the Poop sticker in Hangouts

But every chef has their own taste. With that in mind, Safe Doc supports policy configurations to customize which G Suite features to block. To get a better understanding how policy works, take a look at Google's how-to Configuring Apps and Extensions by Policy.

Policy Configuration Format

As you just discovered from the Google article, the policy formats depend on the platform. I only explain the format for Chrome OS because students commonly use Chromebooks in school.

In a nutshell, the configuration is a human-readable JSON file. A sample policy for Safe Doc is like

{
  "SafeDocLicenseKey": {
    "Value": "12345678-9012-3456-7890-1234567890"
  },
  "EnableExplore": {
    "Value": true
  },
  "EnableDictionary": {
    "Value": false
  },
  "EnableVideoSearch": {
    "Value": true
  },
  "EnableImageSearch": {
    "Value": false
  },
  "BlockAddVideo": {
    "Value": false
  },
  "BlockEmojis": {
    "Value": ["🖕"]
  },
  "BlockDocLinkPreview": {
    "Value": true
  },
  "BlockDriveSharedLinks": {
    "Value": {
      "Blacklist": [
        "1TTdYiQ_TgOlpNr-zyT8OpFLbwPmz0-g9XymYql5l1ZA",
        "*@*",
        "/*/*"
      ],
      "BlacklistExceptions": [
        "114xLJiJZ8OwXJ41sYyKdycT8Hy0ccbIgPVPG-n_6tew",
        "*@school.us"
      ],
      "DelegateAdminEmail": "d.admin@test.xfanatical.com"
    }
  },
  "BlockWebPublish": {
    "Value": true
  },
  "BlockGoogleSearchGames": {
    "Value": true
  }
}

The definition of each policy can be found in Safe Doc Policy List below.

Editing a policy value is simple. Check the data type of the policy.

• If it's a Boolean, the value is either true or false.
• If it's a String, the value is a text like "this is a text".
• If it's a Number, type a number.
• If it's an Array (or List), then the value is like ["a", "b", "c"].
• If it's an Object (or Group), then enclose policy elements with a pair of braces { part1: true, part2: false }. An Object is like a folder in your computer containing more files.

But be ware of typos, a redundant comma or missing curly bracket will break the policy configuration.

Apply New Policy Configuration

First of all, test your policy configuration in an isolated Organizational Unit (OU) to see if the user experience is what you wanted.

When you're ready to deploy the policy configuration, follow these steps

1. Log into Admin Console.
2. Go to Devices > Chrome management > Apps & extensions.
3. Select your student OU with Safe Doc installed.
4. Click Safe Doc app.
5. In this Policy for extensions of right panel, copy and paste your tested policy configuration.
6. If everything is correct, click Save to take effect. Then Safe Doc in your students' Chromebooks will be automatically reconfigured.

Safe Doc Policy List

SafeDocLicenseKey

EnableExplore

EnableDictionary

EnableVideoSearch

EnableImageSearch

BlockAddVideo

BlockEmojis

BlockDocLinkPreview

BlockDriveSharedLinks

          
{
  "Blacklist": [],
  "BlacklistExceptions": [],
  "DelegateAdminEmail": ""
}
          
        

          
{
  "Blacklist": [
    "1TTdYiJ_TgOlpNr-zYT8OpELbwPmz0-g1XymYql5l1ZA",
    "*@*",
    "/Students/Element School/Grade 4",
    "/Students/Element School/Grade 5",
    "/Staff/*"
  ],
  "BlacklistExceptions": [
    "*@your.district.k12.us",
    "*@brother.district.k12.us",
    "*@nonprofit.org",
    "the.science.guy@gmail.com",
    "/Staff/Teachers"
  ],
  "DelegateAdminEmail": "d.admin@your.district.k12.us"
}
          
        

BlockWebPublish

BlockGoogleSearchGames

BlockClassroomUnenroll

BlockStickers

BlockMeetCaptions

NewTabPageUrl

BlockMeetRecord

BlockMeetPresent

BlockMeetAddPeople

BlockComment

BlockInFileChat

BlockMeetChat

BlockSendFeedback

BlockClassroomPeopleInfo

BlockAddImageByUrl

BlockEmailAsAttachment

BlockMeetJoinOrStartButton

Description	This policy removes the Join or start a meeting or Use a meeting code button in Google Meet home page. It forces students joins internal meetings. The blocking is ON if this policy is set to true.
Data type	Boolean
Default	false
Support since	Version 1.14.4

ScheduleRefreshChromeTabs

BlockGmailChat

BlockEditorTemplates

BlockDriveShare

EnableMeetMuteAll

BlockSendForms

BlockSheetFunctions

BlockDriveGridView

Description	Remove the Grid View and file previews in Google Drive This policy is intended to block file preview thumbnails in Google Drive as bad file preview thumbnails are visible enough to disturb students. This policy has 3 functions, 1. Enforce List view. Google Drive will be always in List view. 2. Grid View button removed. 3. Remove those large preview thumbnails. A typical place is the My Drive > Quick Access. This feature is OFF by default.
Data type	Boolean
Default	false
Support since	Version 1.19.5

Takeaway

Configuration is an important characteristic of software. Luckily Google provided this option to remote configure the behavior of Safe Doc. If you encountered issues with the configurations, please leave a comment, email us at support@xfanatical.com or ask on Safe Doc community.