GotDrupal.com | Drupal Tutorial Site - permissions

How To: Enhance Drupal's user access, features & control

Matt Petrowsky — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 00:57:45 +0000

Drupal is all about two things, content and management. Ok, so that was a cheesy one about Drupal being a CMS. But,the biggest advantage Drupal has, as I see it, over many other CMS's is both its flexibility and the number of contributions made to extend what it can do. Quite literly, there are new modules every week (RSS feed) which make Drupal do things you probably want it to do.

Herein lies the problem. Knowing what modules do, which ones to use and how to find them. If your goal is simply to allow other users to contribute content to your site with a degree of control over who can contribute, how they contribute and what the process is, then this video will get you started.

Using the Modr8 module [issues] - [usage], you can add moderation of content to your site. When allowing users to contribute, you can clean things up by using the Vertical Tabs module [issues] - [usage], which makes the node edit form much more clean. Finally, when it comes to allowing some users the ability to publish, without moderation, using the Override Node Options module [issues] - [usage], you can provide users with control over the node options of Published, Promoted or Sticky and allow for the Authored On and Authored By to be controlled per role.

As Drupal has proven time-and-time-again, there's very little you can't accomplish. All you need to do is either find the module or build it.

How To: Manage Drupal Permissions More Easily

Matt Petrowsky — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 19:12:30 +0000

One of the most time-consuming tasks for any new Drupal site is setting up and testing what users can and can't do. This is the realm of user permissions and role permissions. I'm guessing you've visited the checkbox maze - as I like to call it.

One of the most frustrating aspects of Drupal's Permissions screen is this; with any number of roles beyond a few, and with a large collection of modules, the task of permissions management becomes quite hazardous. The potential for "accidentally" checking one little box which gives the wrong role the wrong access and allows the wrong user to do the wrong things, it's no wonder managing Drupal permissions can become unnerving.

Enter my solution to this problem. A collection of modules which extend the level of control, make it easier to focus on the permissions that matter (relative to what you're setting up at the time), and remove the visual clutter from this extensive web page.

Here are the modules I cover in this video.

Filter Permissions module [issues] - [usage]
Better Permissions module [issues] - [usage]
Permissions Lock module [issues] - [usage]

Here are some other modules, which I didn't review in the video, that deal with permissions. They seem to provide even more control over who can do what on your Drupal site.

User Permissions [issues] - [usage]
Node permissions grid module [issues] - [usage]
Site Configuration Permissions module [issues] - [usage]
Permissions API module(for developers) [issues] - [usage]
Profile permission module [issues] - [usage]

If you've got other suggestions or ideas about making it easier to manage Drupal permissions then leave a comment below!

GotDrupal.com | Drupal Tutorial Site - permissions

How To: Enhance Drupal's user access, features & control

How To: Manage Drupal Permissions More Easily

Basics: Understanding Drupal's Permissions