Today I noticed yet another weird thing with SharePoint Portal Server 2003. I had added a web part to a page and added some target audiences. Saved it, and discovered some time later that everyone else in the organization could see the web part. Not good. I was looking trough all kinds of settings for an hour, before finding the answer in a KB article called:
After you specify a target audience for a Web Part, users who are not members of the audience can unexpectedly view the Web Part in SharePoint Portal Server 2003, found at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;896948
CAUSE
This issue occurs if you click to clear the Allow Close check box when you add the Web Part to the Web page. The Allow Close setting specifies whether the Web Part can be removed from the Web Part Page. When you click to clear the Allow Close check box, the Web Part cannot be removed from the Web Part Page.
WORKAROUND
To work around this issue, configure the Web Part so that it can be removed from the Web Part Page. To do this, follow these steps:
- Under Actions on the Web page that contains the Web Part that you want to modify, click Edit Page.
- Click the arrow in the Web Part, and then click Modify Shared Web Part.
- In the WebPartName pane, expand Advanced.
- Click to select the Allow Close check box, and then click OK.
So I checked the Allow Close box, saved and tested and my web part was gone. I guess it technically makes sense, but it's still a rather weird "feature".