Features / Usability

> > Hello,
> >
> > Well, I'm brand new to the world of TikiWiki and I kind of like what I see so far. I have 1.8.6 installed and running in a test environment on my (hosted, shared) web server. Everything SEEMS to be running fine.
> >
> > However, what I would like to do is to use group rights to limit what users can see of the various, installed modules. Hmmm, let me be a bit more clear about this. I want all users to be able to access all modules, but only for their "groups".
>
> "Modules" are actually the boxes in the side columns. I believe it's "Features" that you are talking about. Not to be pedantic, but just so we're clear on the subject.

Ok, I think I understand.
>
> > Here is an example of what I am trying to do. Let's say I have 4 "groups" of people, Groups A, B, C, and D. I want each group to be able to access THEIR wiki, forums, blogs, etc., but not the other groups' information.
>
> See the permission doc page. Generally speaking, permissions are either global (group A can't read/post in forums, for example) or specific to an object, such as a wiki page (this wiki page can be viewed only by group A). So when you say "their wiki," what will be possible is limiting access to specific wiki pages. Assinging viewability/editability is done on a page-by-page basis or for a wiki structure, so this is what determines "their wiki." Individual blogs, forums, galleries, etc. can be given access perms on a group-by-group basis. As far as I know, permissions can't yet be granted on the basis of category, though.

If I understand what you are saying, I would have to set permissions on a page by page basis for wiki pages. This would be very cumbersome, especially since each group might have a large number of pages.

However, you mentioned something about a "wiki structure". How does this work?

Also, I have been unable to figure out how to assign forum permissions by group without assigning each permission individually. For example, if I want to assign Group A to Group A's forums, I hsve to go to the forums page and assign each permission (seven of them), one at a time, for each forum. Again, this is a pretty cumbersome process.

As an FYI, what are the differences between a category and structure and section? I have to admit that I find this rather confusing.

> > This would mean that, using the same URL, members of each group would login and then would see only THEIR group's information and the "global" group's information. For example, member 1 of Group A would login and see the Wiki, forums, blogs, etc. of Group A and for all users (the "general/global" group of users), but not those of Groups B, C, and D.
>
> This is how things work with Tiki, although I'm not sure if 1.8.6 still shows items in lists (such as forum lists, wiki page lists, etc.) regardless of the users' permissions. In 1.9.2, users only see listed the objects they can actually access.

I think I understand, but could you perhaps give me an example of how this would be done? Also, do you know if there are any plans to put these options as check boxes.

I have to admit that I may be a bit spoiled phpBB's permissions system. With it, I only had to add users to groups and then assign forums to groups. It is pretty simple this way. Is there an equivalent method with tikiwiki?

> > I would also like to be able to set up one member to be able to access more than one group, if they happened to have membership in both.
>
> This is possible. A user can be a member of several groups and can so has access according to the perms set for each of the groups.

> > Is this possible? If so, can someone explain how to do it because I do not see how?
>
> Global perms are set on the Admin Groups page, and perms for Tiki objects are set individually in their pages (le., at the "perms" link at the bottom of each wiki page, in the action icons column of list pages for forums, galleries, blogs, etc. If you've made some groups and "test users", test their access rights; they should function the way you are wanting.

I'm not sure I follow this, but I will play around with it a bit more.

> > FWIW, I already have phpBB set up so that it can do this (forums only). Before a user logs in, they only see the general forum. When a user logs in, they only see the general forum and the forum(s) for the group(s) to which they belong. I would like to duplicate this functionality.
>
> Tiki users can access only the items they have permission for but, as I said, I'm not sure if the listings respect this in 1.8.6. You might have to install a more recent version for perm-aware lists. But as far as actually being unable to access other groups' items, this is already functional in 1.8.6.

I have installed 1.9.2 and will see how it works.

Also, is the only way to create a new wiki page is to edit an existing page and then either rename the page or use the double parentheses page naming covention? It is not especially intuitive compared to clicking a "create" button.

One final question. How can I create a link between two previously un-linked wiki pages?

I'm sorry for all the rank newbie questions, but tikiwiki appears to be the solution to many problems I have if I can just get a handle on how it works.

Thanks for your help!

Scott

> Since you now have 1.9.2, you might experiment with permissions by category as a way to get around having to set permissions on a per-object basis. I'm still getting acquainted with permissions by category tools, but they seem to open up whole new vistas on the permissions scene. Go Admin > Categories and you should see the permissions editing key icon beside each category. See generally, Categories Details at doc.tikiwiki.org, subtopic Permissions.

As far as I know, the perms associated with Categories are for viewing the category itself in listings, etc., not the items within the category. Categories are not meant to be a mechanism for assigning viewing permissions of other Tiki objects, AFAIK. I tried to do this (with 1.9.0 or so, as I recall), and it didn't work consistently (although there was some effect, it seems).

> This allows you to assign viewing and editing rights to permission groups by Tiki category. A Tiki category can include objects of multiple types, e.g., wiki page, forum, etc. So, e.g., only people with group A permissions can view/edit forums and pages assigned to Category "Rockers & Stalkers." Category permissions can also be set to apply selected permissions to all child categories of a category. So it requires far less burdensome permissions management than per-page permissions.

Have you set up a Tiki site where perms are assigned this way, and the perms work correctly?

> I have not yet experimented to see what happens when a user holds multiple group permissions that both allow and do not allow access by category and that subject does not seem to be covered yet in the documentation.

This is one reason why perms by category wouldn't work for many Tiki sites. For this to work, categories would have to be redefined in a segmented way to follow group-perm requirements, and further segmented to comply with multi-group users' perms. This would make categories rather useless for their original purpose. I think the idea of perm sets that sylvie mentioned will be better, since that won't affect Categories.

-- Gary