Access Denied use case example

Here is an excellent use case that will undoubtedly surprise you in how frequently this help item will be seen by your end users. Scenario: As Site Collection Admins, we have access to pretty much everywhere. We often forget that most of our users don't have the same permission level and will often come across an access denied message like this one:

Do you or your administrators actively monitor access requests? Do you even have people assigned to receive these messages? Do you have users in the queue who have been there from months, maybe even years? Avoid end user frustration by allowing them to be proactive and show them a resource that lists all the site owners so that they can reach out directly and request access. Here is how you can do that.

1. Create a help item (can be a banner, Rich HTML, or walkthrough) that will auto show an any access denied page (access denied pages will have a URL syntax like this: https://<domain name>.sharepoint.com/sites/<site name>/_layouts/15/AccessDenied.aspx)
2. Create a message that says something like "Sorry you couldn't get in. Click here to search for the owner of this site and reach out to them directly for access." Include a link that opens a SharePoint list (or whatever tool you use to keep track of site owners) that the user can search to find the owner.
3. Configure the help item to auto show on load with a large number such as 1-1000.
4. Configure a URL filter to only show the help item when the URL contains "AccessDenied.aspx"