# evoYTAccess or hand-made visibility rules

> Two ways to show YOOtheme builder blocks only to certain users, dates or devices: evoYTAccess or hand-made rules using modules, CSS or code.

# evoYTAccess or hand-made visibility rules

## When each approach fits

**Hand-made rules** (modules with an access level, page variants, conditions in templates, CSS classes) fit when you only need one or two fixed conditions, or when your case falls outside the standard ones and you would rather write the exact code you need. They add no extension to the site.

**evoYTAccess** fits when the conditions recur across the site, are maintained by whoever designs in the builder, and you do not want each one to be a different snippet of code. The **Acceso** tab is on every builder node and combines rules for user, language, date and time, device, category and menu.

## Comparison

| Criterion | evoYTAccess | Hand-made rules |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Getting started | Install the plugin and the tab appears in the builder. | Each rule is written and tested; the effort depends on its complexity. |
| Data stored | Conditions are saved as properties of the node itself, in the layout. It stores no visitor data. | Depends on where you put the logic: in the layout, in modules or in templates. |
| Where it is decided | On the server: a node that does not qualify never reaches the HTML. | If hidden with CSS, the content is still in the HTML. If decided on the server, same as the other approach. |
| Combining rules | All or any, show or hide, from the interface. | Whatever you write. This gives the most flexibility, in exchange for maintaining it yourself. |
| Maintenance | Plugin updates with the licence. Conditions are visible and editable in the builder. | Rules have to be maintained and documented; whoever inherits the site has to find them. |
| Control | Limited to the rules it offers. | Total: any condition you can program. |
| Licence cost | One-off payment with 12 months of updates; see [pricing](https://evoaddons.com/en/pricing). | No licence; the cost is the time of whoever builds and maintains it. |
| Limits | See below. | Those of whatever each rule supports. |

## What evoYTAccess does not do

- It does not protect confidential content. The plain-text copy of the layout that YOOtheme stores in the article, used by search, RSS and the API, includes every node.
- With Joomla's page cache, the date, time, device, menu and category rules are cached for guests.
- It has no rules for IP, geolocation, URL, browser or operating system.
- It cannot negate a single rule: show or hide applies to the set as a whole.
- It does not use dynamic-content values as rule parameters.
- The category rule looks at the page, not at each item in a list.
- An iPad running iPadOS counts as desktop.
- It only works with the YOOtheme Pro builder on Joomla.

More detail: [evoYTAccess page](https://evoaddons.com/en/products/evoytaccess), [reference](https://evoaddons.com/en/documentation/evoytaccess-reference) and the [conditional block use case](https://evoaddons.com/en/use-cases/conditional-content).

## Related products

- [evoYTAccess](https://evoaddons.com/en/products/evoytaccess)

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https://evoaddons.com/en/comparisons/access