I Don't Understand: (Backend Users, Permissions, Generally MODx Revolution)

I feel like no matter how much I read, I get no closer to understanding MODx Revolution. There are no good all inclusive tutorials out there that explain the terms and functions of MODx Rev in non-MODx form and vocabulary for people who don’t understand the concepts. I am new to CMS technology and to MODx. So, this is an inexperienced user telling you my honest opinion: "MODx is really frustrating me, I can’t find any resources that answer my questions, the best I get is ’ask a question at a time on the forums and you’ll get an answer’".

None of that is anger, just wanted to let whoever may want to know what a non-experienced user feels like when first looking at MODx. Now that that is out of the way, on to the questions. (Thanks so much ahead for taking interest and trying to help me.)

I am using MODx Revolution 2.0.4-pl2. I have successfully translated the home page of my website into a MODx template, and then proceeded to create a resource page out of that. I think it’s pretty cool because my home page uses a lot of stuff: I am using and external CSS document, a JavaScript content slider, and a JavaScript lightbox, which I successfully translated over to MODx and it all still works after spending bit of time working out the kinks in communication between the different JavaScript documents and the MODx CMS stuff.

Currently I am using the initial Administrator backend account, but I will need to create a few other backend accounts that enable non-tech savvy users to login to the backend and simply enter content, upload pictures, ect. How do I setup user groups and roles and access policies? It seems like these would be redundant settings, but apparently user groups and roles are different things, and access policies do different things that either user groups or roles. Could someone explain these?

Thanks again,
Tanner

Hi Tanner,
I understand your frustration, I know it is difficult getting used to a new terminology and to the CMS world itself, expecially without tutorials. When I read documentation (in general) usually I think "all right, and now?", probably I am the kind of guy that understand only when he sees a step by step tutorial.

MODx Revolution was released few months ago, so probably there are not so many tutorials available, but people are writing them and there will be more in the future. There is also a book for Revolution which hasn’t been finished (http://modxcms.com/forums/index.php?topic=52975.0) .

Said this, have you tried to follow the tutorial of Coding Pad and the permissions article by Bob Ray?
http://codingpad.maryspad.com/
http://bobsguides.com/revolution-permissions.html

Hope this help you and sorry about my english

Here’s a video by Shaun McCormick that should give you a good foundation on Revolution security:

http://vimeo.com/13856994

2.0.5 will bring some additional improvements to getting clarity with this subject as well.

I’d just like to add my own support for tjhearne’s position on Modx Rev, which more or less precisely echoes where I am with it at the moment. I’m a designer not a programmer and it’s clear that Modx is a programmer’s tool first and foremost. Looking from the outside in, it seems that Modx is a function-driven undertaking in as much as it appears to be written as an exercise in solving a number of related problems, albeit with less clear vision about what the end result is or who it is aimed at. What is manifestly of less interest to the developers (it seems to me) is its usability and concern for the needs of non-specialist end-users who are unlikely to be programmers in the majority of cases. And by end users I mean designers and those charged with maintaining content.

I’m emphatically not whingeing here, dear developers, I’m full of admiration for your efforts, but having read Bob’s 12 page article (as printed) on permissions (opening sentence of which reads, with admirable candour, "Permissions can be a confusing issue in Modx Revolution.")I can’t help thinking that someone got a bit carried away here, and this overkill-as-default is a characteristic that is common to much of Modx. While it is great that such a complex level of user/permission/security/access granularity is possible, isn’t the simple reality that most sites simply don’t need such hideous complexity? For most occasions, all that is required is a simple means by which users can be created and assigned roles that can loosely be described super admins, admins, editors or contributors. Then, if the need for greater complexity has to be accomodated, then one can dig deeper into the gubbins of the system to create more arcane settings as an option. Instead, what we have is the situation in which to create a simple single user then we need recourse to fully engage at a detailed level with settings for Roles,Users, Resource Groups, Contexts, Access Policies, ACL and Authority Numbers (I may have missed something out). And all that, according to Bob, could still find you scratching your head as things fail to work if you’ve not noticed (!) that allow_root is set to "No."

Permissions? Simples

I note Ryan’s comment about things getting clearer in 2.05. I’m actually on 2.06, would you please point me to documentation that pertains to this newfound clarity.

Many thanks all.

To end with special mention and thanks to Bob, einsteinsboi and all the other sources of tutorials mentioned - all of which I’ve consulted, some of which are only slightly relevant to Revo, though I particularly look forward to eisteinboi’s forthcoming tutorials as she has a lovely light style.

I hear you. We all wrestled with permissions. They have gotten a lot simpler with the advent of policy templates and the extra standard policies.

The complexity is there because *many* users couldn’t set up permissions the way they wanted to in MODx Evolution. MODx Revolution is also scalable for very large corporate and educational web sites, where there are hundreds of finely tuned, granular permission settings for many different kinds of users.

If you need that, you’ll get over the hump in understanding permissions sooner than you think. If your needs are simple, however, you can usually explain what you want here on the forums and someone will explain how to do it. In fact, there’s a good chance that what you want is here somewhere already in a post (if you can find it).

Welcome to MODx.

I’ve been using Evo for years, and I have to say I spent half a day goggling permissions when I tried to hide documents from a manager user. Most of the confusion is born out of the big change between evo and revo.

Although some of the terminology is the same, the actions are certainly not.
I used to create a document group to put all my "developer" docs with snippets.
I’d then create a new user group for the client, ensuring that this user did not have access to "developer"

I’ve been trying to do the above for hours yet in revo with no luck. I seem to be able to hide everything but the stuff I want

Try to look the Permission Cheatsheet 1.1

Quote from: goldsky at Jan 06, 2011, 09:06 AM

Try to look the Permission Cheatsheet 1.1

How do I hide all resources in the manager from an Editor user, except one (or two or 3)
My approach, was....and still would be:
Stick resources in group, ensure guy above is not in group -> done.
This approach is failing in Revo, cheat sheets, bob’s guides and 20 forum posts later.
It’s obviously something small i am missing (I hope).

’Except’ means different User Group.
Resource visibility depends on the connection between the UG and RG (Resource Group).

When a RG is applied to a resource, then anonymous access will be denied.
So all access SHOULD BE given.

Roles is more about the user’s action permission.