What members are allowed to see and do: Difference between revisions From Online Manual

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m (moved Introduction to profiles and permissions to What members are allowed to see and do: It is not 100% about profiles and permissions)
(emphasis on things admins want to do rather than on terms they might be unfamiliar with. Is this more friendly than my first attempt was?)
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Profiles and permissions -- what does it mean?  There is some overlap between profiles and permissions.  There are things that SEEM like permissions that are not in permissions. And there are things that some might think seem like profiles, but aren'tOnce you get friendly with these terms, you'll understand much better how to control what members of your forum can and cannot do on your forum.
There are a bunch of different types of things [[Member|member]]s can be allowed to see and do on the [[Forum|forum]], and a few different places that these different things are handled. Most of the things that members can do are handled by allowing [[Membergroup|membergroup]]s, while a few of these things can be applied to individual members, regardless of which membergroups they belong toIf you are not familiar with any of the terms in this paragraph, please read about them now.


==Profiles==
* Almost everything members can do on forum boards, topics, posts is set through board permission profiles. 
There are two types of profiles -- member profiles and board permission profiles.
* Except that permission to view a board is set from modify boards. 
* Permission to do things that are not related to boards, topics, posts  (calendar, etc) are set in "General Permissions".
* All of these permissions are set for membergroups, rather than for individual users.
* You can give an individual users the ability to control who can join a membergroup in
* You can give an individual user the ability to act as a moderator for a single board from modify boards


* '''Member Profile''' -- Describe individual members. When you click on your "Profile" link, or click on a member's username to see their "Profile", you are looking at the [[Profile|member profile]].  This is a list of information about the user's account settings, forum profile, some settings choices the user has made, and links to things like posts, stats, and even a link to send a user a message.
==What is a Board Permission Profile==
* '''Board Permission Profile''' -- Or simply "Permission profile" for short. Describe which member groups can do what things on certain boards. Admin sees this list from [[Permissions#Edit_Profiles|PermissionAdministration Center » Permissions » Edit Profiles]].  This is a list of things called "Board Permission Profiles". Each Board Permission Profile is a list, for every member group on the forum, which things (start topics, reply to topics, edit own posts, delete own replies, etc) each member group can do in that board permission profileThese board permission profiles only have effect when they are applied to a board.  These board permission profiles have a similar function to the local board permissions of SMF 1.x.  Several boards can use the same board permission profile, so in SMF 1.x terms, each board permission profile is really a kind of "reusable local board permission". But that is a hopelessly awkward phrase, so the developers came up with term "board permission profile" for all of our convenience. For more about default board permissions and board permission profiles, please read [[All about permission profiles]].
A board permission profile is usually referred to as a [[[[Permissions#Edit_Profiles|permission profile]] and, sometimes, just as a profile. It is used by the admin to control what different membergroups (and, therefore, the members in those groups) can see and do.  A board permission profile is completely different from the [[Profile|member profile]]. A member profile is also usually just called a profile, which can be confusing if you aren't clear on which type of profile is meant.


==Permissions==
Each Board Permission Profile is a list, for every member group on the forum, which things (start topics, reply to topics, edit own posts, delete own replies, etc) each member group can do in that board permission profileThese board permission profiles only have effect when they are applied to a board.
There are two basic types of permissions -- permissions to do everything that is not board-related, and board-related permissions.  The ability to view a board, interestingly enough, is not a permission at all.
* '''General Permissions''' -- describe, in general, what members of each membergroup area allowed to do on the forumThe permission set here include all sorts of permissions for things that are NOT boards.  They also include all the permissions for the '''Default''' Board Permission Profile.
* '''Board Permission Profile''' -- See above. Note also that '''Default''' is a board permission profile, and can be edited from [[Permissions#Edit_Profiles|PermissionAdministration Center » Permissions » Edit Profiles]].


* '''Permission Profile''' -- Admin sees this from Administration Center » Permissions » General Permissions
Board Permission Profiles are only found in SMF versions 2.0 onwards. For more about default board permissions and board permission profiles, please read [[All about permission profiles]].


==Other things that seem like profiles, but are not called that in SMF==
 
'''Edit Member Groups''' -- [[Membergroups#Edit_Membergroups|Administration Center » Membergroups ]] is a list of membergroups.  When you click on the group name, you see a list of information about the membergroup, as well as a list of all members.  When you click on the modify link, you see additional information and settings for this membergroup.  If a list of information and settings about an individual is a member profile, and if a list of information and settings about board permissions is called a board permission profile, why is this list of information and settings about a membergroup not called a membergroup profile? Perhaps some SMF users already feel that there are already one too many things calling themselves "profiles", and using the "profile" term yet again would only be more confusing.  So we will just call this "modify membergroups" and leave it at that.
==What about board permissions in older versions of SMF==
In SMF 1.0.x and SMF 1.1.x,  there was a default set of board permissions set in "General Permissions". This is similar to the way the default board permission profile is set in SMF 2.0.  For individual boards, SMF 1.X admins could set "local permissions" for each board.  This was similar to having a separate board permission profile for each board.
 
 
==Why the big change in SMF 2.0==
Creating board permission profiles allowed admins to reuse "local board permissions" on several different boards.  So in SMF 1.x terms, each board permission profile in SMF 2.x is really a kind of "reusable local board permission". But that is a hopelessly awkward phrase, so the SMF 2.0 developers came up with term "board permission profile" for all of our convenience.
 
==Who can manage membergroup members==
This is done in '''Edit Member Groups''' At [[Membergroups#Edit_Membergroups|Administration Center » Membergroups ]], which  is a list of membergroups.  Click on the group name, to see a list of information about the membergroup, as well as a list of all members.  Click on the '''modify''' link, to see additional information and settings for this membergroup.  Enter the member names you want to manage membergroup members.
 
If a list of information and settings about an individual is a member profile, and if a list of information and settings about board permissions is called a board permission profile, why is this list of information and settings about a membergroup not called a membergroup profile? Perhaps some SMF users already feel that there are already one too many things calling themselves "profiles", and using the "profile" term yet again would only be more confusing.  So we will just call this "modify membergroups" and leave it at that.


==Other things that seem like permissions, but are not==
==Other things that seem like permissions, but are not==

Revision as of 20:03, 11 January 2014

There are a bunch of different types of things members can be allowed to see and do on the forum, and a few different places that these different things are handled. Most of the things that members can do are handled by allowing membergroups, while a few of these things can be applied to individual members, regardless of which membergroups they belong to. If you are not familiar with any of the terms in this paragraph, please read about them now.

  • Almost everything members can do on forum boards, topics, posts is set through board permission profiles.
  • Except that permission to view a board is set from modify boards.
  • Permission to do things that are not related to boards, topics, posts (calendar, etc) are set in "General Permissions".
  • All of these permissions are set for membergroups, rather than for individual users.
  • You can give an individual users the ability to control who can join a membergroup in
  • You can give an individual user the ability to act as a moderator for a single board from modify boards

What is a Board Permission Profile

A board permission profile is usually referred to as a [[permission profile and, sometimes, just as a profile. It is used by the admin to control what different membergroups (and, therefore, the members in those groups) can see and do. A board permission profile is completely different from the member profile. A member profile is also usually just called a profile, which can be confusing if you aren't clear on which type of profile is meant.

Each Board Permission Profile is a list, for every member group on the forum, which things (start topics, reply to topics, edit own posts, delete own replies, etc) each member group can do in that board permission profile. These board permission profiles only have effect when they are applied to a board.

Board Permission Profiles are only found in SMF versions 2.0 onwards. For more about default board permissions and board permission profiles, please read All about permission profiles.


What about board permissions in older versions of SMF

In SMF 1.0.x and SMF 1.1.x, there was a default set of board permissions set in "General Permissions". This is similar to the way the default board permission profile is set in SMF 2.0. For individual boards, SMF 1.X admins could set "local permissions" for each board. This was similar to having a separate board permission profile for each board.


Why the big change in SMF 2.0

Creating board permission profiles allowed admins to reuse "local board permissions" on several different boards. So in SMF 1.x terms, each board permission profile in SMF 2.x is really a kind of "reusable local board permission". But that is a hopelessly awkward phrase, so the SMF 2.0 developers came up with term "board permission profile" for all of our convenience.

Who can manage membergroup members

This is done in Edit Member Groups At Administration Center » Membergroups , which is a list of membergroups. Click on the group name, to see a list of information about the membergroup, as well as a list of all members. Click on the modify link, to see additional information and settings for this membergroup. Enter the member names you want to manage membergroup members.

If a list of information and settings about an individual is a member profile, and if a list of information and settings about board permissions is called a board permission profile, why is this list of information and settings about a membergroup not called a membergroup profile? Perhaps some SMF users already feel that there are already one too many things calling themselves "profiles", and using the "profile" term yet again would only be more confusing. So we will just call this "modify membergroups" and leave it at that.

Other things that seem like permissions, but are not

Who is allowed to see this board -- In SMF, the ability to see a board is not handled with permissions. To see which membergroups are allowed to view a board, check Administration Center » Boards » Modify Boards and click the "modify" link on the same line as the board name. To see which boards a given membergroup is allowed to view, check Administration Center » Membergroups » Edit Membergroups, choose the "modify" link on the same line as the membergroup name, and click the [Show boards] link.



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