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!
Hell yeah. This is really simplifying and streamlining the permissions page. The joke is: the filter permissions module has obviously been around for a while - and I did not notice. How could I, within the seven seas of modules?
I guess this will be a great improvement especially on bigger sites, and I am perfectly sure Sites like the New York Oberserver have similar solutions (may it be custom or not) in place. Cause the outcome of someone accidentally having too much rights could be disastrous - having an article on the front page that really oughta not be there.
I love the fact that Acqia brings onto Drupal a bit what I would call a "how a regular business user sees Drupal" kind of perspective. Cause things like this are neither hard to do nor far fetched. They just come from the thought: "why is this so complex, let's cut it down."
More of this, rock on, Matt!
Added to DrupalSightings.com
Hi Matt -
Just a thank you for your super informative "better permissions management through applied Drupal modules" video!
Great delivery on a topic and solution to a problem that is clearly in need of addressing, hopefully in Drupal 7.
Thanks again!
Best,
Doug
Thanks for the exposure on the filter permissions module and the shout out. One note about the Checkfox plugin is that you'll want to highlight the targeted checkboxes, instead of just the left side of the row. So the shortcoming you mentioned about not being able to check/uncheck the final row can be solved by clicking and dragging from the top left of the checkbox grid to the bottom right of the checkboxes.
Hello Matt,
Thanks so much for making such great videos. The content has been amazing and super helpful.
I was curious about which screencast software you are using for the Mac?
Best,
Scott Blackburn
... and if you really want more details, then you can follow this link about my video workflow.
Watched your video and dig the modules you've displayed. I plan in using them shortly.
One quick note about the last section of the video regarding the firefox addin and what you were highlighting for selection to Check/UnCheck.
I believe it was not activating those boxes because the entire row was not selected, just the first field for the name. The others added the check as expected because the rows were fully selected.
Cheers
Great stuff
ORA
im only missing one thing i think in all of it ?
that would be content type permissions (for comments etc)
so far if and when setting permissions to comment can only be done per role
not per content type so its still all or nothing
so its still not really possible to let anonymous users for example only comment on one content type only and not let them do much or nothing else
but besides that it all looks great
Great work Matt, this is really helpfull and a need to know for other drupal users.
Greetz,
Robin
http://drupal.org/project/permission_select
Thanks a lot Matt, a really nice and clean video!
Helped me out big time.
With regards,
Paul
Stream BV
http://www.streamconsulting.nl
Any content in drupal, has Author.
But Permissions just allows to set to Roles - View any, and View Own (the same to Edit).
Can I do something, to allow user X to edit user Y content?