INTRODUCTION

I have this scenario: In SharePoint 2010 or 2013 you can create a field/column which type is “Managed Metadata”. You can then attach it to a publishing page or list item.

What’s strange is, when you’re logged in as a Site Collection Administrator you can add, edit, delete list item or page fine. However, when you’re logged in as a Contributor, you can save the page/item but when you try to view or re-edit it, the Managed Metadata field is empty. Log back in using Site Collection Administrator and you can see that the field has been correctly populated. So the data is saved correctly by a Contributor except he can’t see it upon viewing or re-editing the item.

RESOLUTION

The problem is, there is a hidden list that is created in your site collection and used by the Managed Metadata Service which you need to give explicit access to. The location of this list is at http://yoursitecollection/Lists/TaxonomyHiddenList/AllItems.aspx. Open that list using  Site Collection Administrator then go to List Permission.

In my case I only see 2 users added: Local System (full control) and NT Authority\Authenticated Users (read) which now explains to me why Contributors wouldn’t have view/edit access.

To resolve my problem I simply clicked “Inherit Permissions”. That way this list is also inheriting the site permission.

Alternatively, you can also add individual/group who needs to have edit access to your Managed Metadata field.

Hope this helps,

Tommy