Recently a question was asked about FlowerChat's Usergroup system:
I thought this would be a good opportunity to give a little insight into how things function around here.
What is a Usergroup?
Not to be confused with Social Groups, Usergroups define a set of permissions governing what areas and features of the site a member can access - and what level of access they have. There are two types of Usergroups: the default group you are placed in ex: Registered, Paid Member, Administrator, Moderator) and groups you can join (ex: Political Masochists, Florist 2.0 Beta). Some of the optional groups, like the Florist 2.0 beta testing group, are moderated so access must be approved.
How many Usergroups are there?
FlowerChat has employed up to 27 different usergroups at different times. The most common ones include:
To that list we've added:
How to the permissions work?
FlowerChat is a combination of native vBulletin features and over 100 hacks, modules, add-ons and plugins. Most of these features have their own permission settings tied into the Usergroup system.
In some cases, the features are controlled through a central listing for the usergroup. In other cases we have to go into the settings for the individual add-on to set the usergroup permissions. Each usergroup has over 200 permission options, not counting the settings controlled within each add-on.
Some basic permission examples include the ability to see individual forums and threads, created threads, posting replies, using attachments, private messages, signatures and customizing profiles.
Each forum also has its own list of 24 permission settings.
Trivia: 11 usergroups x 200+ settings x ~55 active forums x 24 settings per forum = ~2,904,000 possible permission combinations (not counting the add-ons that have additional controls within their settings)
Where it gets really interesting (as the FlashChat folks found out last night) is when you start mixing and matching usergroup permissions. A FlowerChat Member could potentially be a paid subscriber who has opted into the political group and is a Florist 2.0 client. That means the system has to evaluate their permissions and access based on a combination of 3+ usergroups. That's the problem we ran into last night, which I believe has since been rectified.
Whew - I think that about covers it! Got any questions for us? I'd love to hear them.
I thought this would be a good opportunity to give a little insight into how things function around here.
What is a Usergroup?
Not to be confused with Social Groups, Usergroups define a set of permissions governing what areas and features of the site a member can access - and what level of access they have. There are two types of Usergroups: the default group you are placed in ex: Registered, Paid Member, Administrator, Moderator) and groups you can join (ex: Political Masochists, Florist 2.0 Beta). Some of the optional groups, like the Florist 2.0 beta testing group, are moderated so access must be approved.
How many Usergroups are there?
FlowerChat has employed up to 27 different usergroups at different times. The most common ones include:
- Unregistered (Guests who are not logged in)
- Awaiting Email Confirmation (registered but email not confirmed)
- Registered (basic category for new registrants)
- Banned
- Moderators (Elevated privileges in certain forums)
- Administrators (Full access to all features all the time)
To that list we've added:
- Full Members (those who were voted in under the old system)
- Paid Members (who have an active subscription)
- Florist 2.0 Members (access to F20 Support)
- F20 Beta
- Account Closed (inactive accounts that may be reopened in the future)
How to the permissions work?
FlowerChat is a combination of native vBulletin features and over 100 hacks, modules, add-ons and plugins. Most of these features have their own permission settings tied into the Usergroup system.
In some cases, the features are controlled through a central listing for the usergroup. In other cases we have to go into the settings for the individual add-on to set the usergroup permissions. Each usergroup has over 200 permission options, not counting the settings controlled within each add-on.
Some basic permission examples include the ability to see individual forums and threads, created threads, posting replies, using attachments, private messages, signatures and customizing profiles.
Each forum also has its own list of 24 permission settings.
Trivia: 11 usergroups x 200+ settings x ~55 active forums x 24 settings per forum = ~2,904,000 possible permission combinations (not counting the add-ons that have additional controls within their settings)
Where it gets really interesting (as the FlashChat folks found out last night) is when you start mixing and matching usergroup permissions. A FlowerChat Member could potentially be a paid subscriber who has opted into the political group and is a Florist 2.0 client. That means the system has to evaluate their permissions and access based on a combination of 3+ usergroups. That's the problem we ran into last night, which I believe has since been rectified.
Whew - I think that about covers it! Got any questions for us? I'd love to hear them.
