User Access and Permissions
Simple:Press has an extremely sophisticated, yet easy to work with, user access control system that enables you to create a forum that anyone can visit and post to right through to a completely private forum for invited individuals only. Or – of course – a mix of the two.
This system is controlled through the combination of User Groups and Permissions.
Usergroups
You may have as many Usergroups as you wish but there must be at least one. When you create a new forum, your Usergroups are listed in the forum creation form and you will need to assign to each Usergroup a set of Permissions.
One important thing to consider is that you do not have to assign the same set of Permissions to the same Usergroup in all of your forums.
Permission Sets
Like Usergroups, you may define as many Permission Sets as you need but there must always be one. Permission Sets control what a user can and can not do within the forum – such as view a forum, post to a forum, upload images or use private messaging.
Through Permission Sets you can control what members of a Usergroup can do in any forum to which they are assigned.
What Does This Mean?
Let’s construct a very simple example.
Let us assume you want to create three Usergroups:
- The first will be for ‘Guests’ or non-registered users who you wish to have access to a couple of forums that are open and public.
- You also need a Usergroup for ‘Members’ who will have access to more forums and will be able to perform more actions.
- Finally, you have a more private forum open to ‘Special Members’ and they too will require their own Usergroup.
You will also now need the appropriate Permission Sets:
- Users in the ‘Guest’ group are to be granted ‘Limited Access’ to the forums they can see. For forums they can NOT see, they will be granted ‘No Access’.
- Users in the ‘Members’ group can perform more actions then ‘Guests’ so will be granted ‘Standard Access’ to the forums they can see but, again, ‘No Access’ to the forums they can not.
- And your ‘Special Members’ will be granted ‘Standard Access’ to all forums.
Using the above, simplistic example, your forums could be defined as follows:
| Forum | Forum Type | User Group/Permission Sets |
|---|---|---|
| Forum 1 | Open/Public Forum with Guest Posting | Guests/Limited Access Ordinary Members/Standard Access Special Members/Standard Access |
| Forum 2 | Public Forum with No Guest Posting | Guests/No Access Ordinary Members/Standard Access Special Members/Standard Access |
| Forum 3 | Public Forum with Limited Access | Guests/No Access Ordinary Members/Limited Access Special Members/Standard Access |
| Forum 4 | Private Forum for Special Members only | Guests/No Access Ordinary Members/No Access Special Members/Standard Access |
In this way it is possible to create a complex series of relationships for the most demanding situations. It is just as easy to create very simplistic relationships for more open and public forums.