From time to time you may encounter that a user on a publishing site is denied access to creating pages, even if the Create Page link in the Site Actions menu hasn’t been security trimmed.

This is probably due to the user not having read access to the the master page gallery.

Solution

To remedy the problem, go to Site Actions > Site Settings > Modify All Site Settings > Master Page and Page Layouts. This takes you to the master page gallery.

Now go to Settings > Document Library Settings > Permissions for this Document Library and give the user (or the group he belongs to) read permission.

If you are using the publishing features of SharePoint on an internet-facing portal, you probably need to enable anonymous access.

It’s a quick two-step process:

A. Edit Authentication Providers

1. Go to Central Administration and then Application Management.
2. Under SharePoint Web Application Management click Web application list.
3. Select the web application on which you want to enable anonymous access.
4. Under Application Security select Authentication providers.
5. Click the zone you want edit (probably Default).
6. Check the box Enable anonymous access and click Save:

   

B. Enable Anonymous Access at Site Collection Level

1. Go back to your site and go to Site Settings – at site collection level.
2. Under Users and Permissions click Advanced permissions.
3. In the Settings drop-down menu select Anonymous Access.
4. Click Entire Web site (or whatever applies to your setup) and click OK:

   

Remember, hardening your internet-facing MOSS installation is essential to shield your portal against intruders.