ok, i tried the auth.add_permission(group_id=2, name="read", table_name="news") line and just stuck it under db.py. i still can't get a True out of the has_permission('read') or has_permission(2, 'read') or has_permission(group_id=2, name='read'), nothing.
your second suggestion gets me thinking. can i add a field under the news table, field named say "security", and add the value "restricted" to certain records that i don't want guests seeing. is there a way to decorate or automatically have web2py filter out the restricted rows, compile and display only the unrestricted rows? interesting suggestion. but i still can't get a True out of has_permission. that one first. thanx again. lucas