1 Topic by ethos

  • Registered: 2006-06-14
  • Posts: 20

Topic: Moderator Access...

I have a question about moderators.

I have about 12 different forums, representing bands and artists. I have been assigning the artists on the record label as moderators for each forum with which they are associated.

Today, I found out an interesting thing. An artist in Band A, having moderator acess to Forum A was allowed to create a topic in Forum B, despite the fact that he is not a moderator in Forum B, and that only moderators should be able to post topics in Forum B.

Essentially the forum permission controls and moderator controls don't work together. A user that has moderation rights in one forum is essentially a moderator everywhere, they just don't have the controls to perform special moderator actions on forums that they don't have access to.

That doesn't seem like the way things should be.

Is there any modification that fixes this, or any plans for this to be fixed in future versions?

Thanks for your help.

  • Smartys
  • Former PunBB Developer
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  • Registered: 2004-04-30
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Re: Moderator Access...

They're all part of the moderator group, which has posting rights? Then of course they're able to post
You'll have something more like what you want in 1.3, when multiple groups may have moderator rights

3 Reply by ethos

  • Registered: 2006-06-14
  • Posts: 20

Re: Moderator Access...

Smartys, but having forum-specific groups, IMO would be easier. If I can say that SoandSo is a member of the moderator group for Forum A, Forum B and Forum C, but not for the rest of the forums, that would be a LOT more flexible than having to say SoandSo is in Moderator Group X which has rights to FORUM A, FORUM B and FORUM C. Or even worse, SoandSo is a member of Moderator Group A, Moderator Group B and Moderator Group C, which have rights for Forum A, Forum B and Forum C respectively.

It just seems to be that there should be "global moderators" which would behave like what exists now, and local moderators, who are only considered a moderator for the forums that they are designating as one in.

  • Smartys
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Re: Moderator Access...

Err, I think you misunderstand how the group system works
You create a group. You set up permissions for members of that group in terms of posting, etc. Those permissions apply to everyone in that group
The moderator group is special in that you can not have moderator powers without being in it. Thus, by joining it you get whatever forum permissions are assigned to the moderator group in addition to whatever moderation-specifc powers you get assigned per-forum.

In 1.3, you can mark multiple groups as being moderator groups. Thus, you can put User X in a group with permissions to read Forums X, Y, and Z and permission to post and moderate in Z.

The moderator powers aren't seperate from the group powers

5 Reply by ethos

  • Registered: 2006-06-14
  • Posts: 20

Re: Moderator Access...

Smartys, I get how it works, I just don't think that the way it works is the best way for it to work. I'm using PunBB to help manage content for a record label. Each forum in PunBB is associated with an artist. I've made each Artist a moderator. Now here's where trouble steps in. There is a group called In Visible Silence, one of their members, Valtiel also does solo projects. In the way that you describe above, the groups would be bands/artists. I can assign everyone to be in a moderator group specific to their forum, but what about Valtiel. I can create a forum for him, but I have to either give the other members of In Visible Silence access to his forum, or put him in his own exclusive group. Not cool.

Using my idea, things would work a lot smoothly. I make every user that is an artist a moderator (or a special moderator group called "Artists"), then I can choose to associate the "Artist" group classification to specific bands or artists for each user. In this instance, rather than making Valtiel his own special Solo Artist + In Visible Silence group, he would simply be an artist within the context of Valtiel and In Visible Silence, but not in the context of Seeking Pandora (another group on our label).

  • Smartys
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Re: Moderator Access...

The only issue with your idea is that a user can't be in multiple groups. Thus, in this situation
User A
- Moderator in Forum 1
- Moderator in Forum 2
User B
- Moderator in Forum 2

what would happen? Would B not be able to post in Forum 1? What if I wanted B to post, but not to moderate?

Your way may work great for your forum specifically, but it doesn't work for forums at large. There are cases where you want a moderator to be able to post and moderate and there are cases when you just want them to be able to post. Multiple moderator groups allows you to have that flexibility.

7 Reply by ethos

  • Registered: 2006-06-14
  • Posts: 20

Re: Moderator Access...

Your example only further illustrates my point. Permissions is a big issue.

I would recommend two levels of moderator. A normal moderator would be able to moderate the forums the administrator selected for him, and would appear as a moderator in other forums, exactly the way your system works now. A special moderator would appear as a user to every forum except the ones that he/she has access to. That would allow for tighter control in some circumstances and broader control in others.

  • Smartys
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Re: Moderator Access...

So, 2 group levels

A normal moderator would be able to moderate the forums the administrator selected for him, and would appear as a moderator in other forums, exactly the way your system works now

If you mean they appear as a moderator in terms of a custom tag or something, yes

A special moderator would appear as a user to every forum except the ones that he/she has access to

I assume by access you mean moderator. That requires multiple usergroups, since you would have to define a "regular" and a "moderator" level for the user.

Why is having multiple moderator groups unacceptable? It allows you to do whatever you want (other than have a custom tag change depending on the forum the person posts in). In your case, each artist/band would have their own group based on the basic members which allows them to read all forums and post only in specific ones. They would also be given moderator access on specific ones.

9 Reply by ethos

  • Registered: 2006-06-14
  • Posts: 20

Re: Moderator Access...

Because, as I've said, some users would have to either be in two groups at once, or be in a special group that blended priveleges of two seperate groups. The first choice would be acceptable, but the second one would drastically reduce the usability of the groups for other purposes.