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Section Index

Access Control Administration

This module allows you to control the ability of users to access certain areas of your website.

By clicking on "Access Control" in "Admin Suite" you will be taken to the page shown below.

Protected Areas

The idea behind this window is to specify which areas of the site you want to restrict access to. Once something is protected, only a user group that has explicit privileges to that area can access it. There are three levels of protection for each area. The first is full area protection, which protects all the information within that area. This can be done from this page by clicking on the darkened checkmark . If the checkmark is already green, then that area is already protected. If the x-mark is red then the area is currently unprotected. By clicking on a darkened x-mark,  you can change an area from protected to unprotected.

In addition to this across the board style protection, you can also protect specific pages or specific categories. To select a specific page to protect, click on the "Protect Specific Pages" link that corresponds to the area in which the page exists. This will take you to the window shown below.

From this window we have capabilities similar to the first protection window, except here we are dealing with specific pages. The checkmark is for setting protected and the x-mark is for setting unprotected. To determine what a page is currently set to, look for the highlighted checkmark or x-mark.

If you click on "Protected Areas" in the top left of your window, you will be taken back to the previous page where you can select "Protect Specific Categories" for a module that contains categories. This link will take you to the window shown below.

From this window, we have similar capabilities to the first and second protection windows, except here we are dealing with specific categories. The checkmark is for setting protected and the x-mark is for setting unprotected. To determine what a page is currently set to, look for the highlighted checkmark or x-mark.

Once you are finished setting which areas, pages and categories you want to protect, you can click on "Access Control" in the top left of the window and this will take you back to the main Access Control Module page.

Member Levels

The idea behind this window is to create new member levels. These member levels are groups to which users belong that give them access to explicitly defined protected areas. To create a new member level, type in the name of the group in the "Member Level Name" text field and then type a short description of this group in the "Member Level Description" text field. When you are happy with your name and description click on the "Add Member Level" button.

Once your member level has been created you can edit its properties by clicking on its "Edit" button to the far right. This will take you to a window like the one shown below.

This window will list all the modules with any protections, protected pages and protected categories. In this example we are running a system where the only thing protected is the "Test protected custom page" page contained in the "Custom Pages" module. The x-mark is highlighted red, which means that this Member Level, "ADO Test", does not have permission to access this protected area. To give this Member Level access to that page you would click on the darkened checkmark . Conversely if the checkmark had been highlighted green, this would indicate that this Member Level did have permission to access this protected page. In this case we would click on the darkened x-mark to remove access permission.

Once you are finished changing permissions for this Member Level, you can click on "Access Control" in the top left (or "Member Levels" if you still want to work with them) which will take you back to the main access control module window.

Members List

The idea behind this window is to assign each member to one or more Member Levels (though a member can belong to none at all). The first option in this window is the "Per Page" pull-down list. This list lets you specify the number of members (in multiples of 5 or all) that are displayed on each page. At the bottom of the window there is a pull-down list that allows you to jump to a certain page of the Member Listing.

In order to change the Member Levels that a member belongs to, just click on the "Edit" button to the far right. This will direct you to the window shown below.

This window shows some general information about the member as well as which Member Levels that he/she belongs to. This information is displayed by listing all the Member Levels with a symbol to the left of each of them. If an x-mark appears then this member does not belong to that particular Member Level. Conversely, if a checkmark appears then he/she does belong to that Member Level. If you would like to change this member's status,  simply click on the symbol and it will change from an x-mark to a checkmark or vice versa.

Once you have finished changing the Member Levels of this member, you can either click on "Member List" to edit more members or click on "Access Control" to return to the main access control module window (both links are at the upper left of your screen).

Access Configuration

This window allows you to change the Member Levels that all new members will belong to automatically. To the left of each Member Level is a check box. If the check box is empty, then new members are not automatically part of this Member Group. Conversely, if the box is checked, then new members will belong to this particular Member Group by default. To change any of these attributes, simply click on the appropriate check box to check or uncheck it.

When you are done changing the Auto Member Level Assignments, do not forget to click "Submit"!!!!!

From here, you can either click on "Access Control" to return to the Access Control Menu or on "Admin Suite" to return to the main administration suite menu.