Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Hop To
#248423 02/15/2012 4:09 PM
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 386
B
enthusiast
enthusiast
B Offline
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 386
Hi. I love this forum. Given I am an admin for ours, I have a lot of questions.

OK, at our forum for electronic medical records, I am the admin. This is based on the fact that I have around six times as many posts as the nearest person, and I have used the EMR since its inception over ten years ago.

For the longest time, I was the admin, we had a global mod who had been on the board for six years, whom I appointed and a mod who had been on five years. All very active and very knowledgeable. Each of us had different permissions, and everything was dandy.

Then one day the owner who is the all powerful admin made a different support tech from his company moderators but only for certain forums. Permissions were changed in the CP so they basically had as many perissions as I, the admin. OK, so now we go to three mods to seven.

A new mod was made for a forum that promoted groups in each part of the country. Around eight in all. Then, she made each person who oversees the groups a moderator for that thread. Some of these mods joined the board a month ago and have one post.

So, now we have 15 moderators. The Who's Online is basically red, blue and green all the time.

My questions are:

1. Do the moderators only have authority in the thread they are connected to?
2. In general, should the admin be aware of when these mods are added? In other words, would a new mod be added witout SD's knowledge?
3. I know the mods have been given extended powers (I don't like using the word but you know what I mean), but should a mod be able to make another mod or get to the Edit User screen?

Also, in the forum for user groups, there may be threads for Florida, Southeats, Northeast, Chicago, etc. Each of these areas had a person heading it up. (the mods I spoke of). Why do they need to be mods? How does that help them?

All in all, is this generally how a board works?


UBB version 7.5.8
php version 5.4.22
MySQL version 5.5.36-cll
Bert #248424 02/15/2012 4:28 PM
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 6,560
Likes: 78
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 6,560
Likes: 78
Wow a lot of questions.
Let me see if I can answer them all.
1. Global mod is just that they have permission to all forums.
2. A regular moderator is assigned to a specific forum or forums.
3. The moderators (global and normal moderator) each have a group they are assigned to.
So one or both groups could have been assigned full permission to the control panel.

So a moderator or global moderator can't creat another mod or admin unless they are given permissions to the control panel.

Even with all that the main admin can't be changed by anyone.
Nor can any class of moderator upgrade themselves to a admin.
Unless they have cp acsess and then they have limited powers.

That is about as detailed as I can get without dealing with each item one at a time.


Blue Man Group
There is no such thing as stupid questions. Just stupid answers
Bert #248425 02/15/2012 4:56 PM
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 81
M
member
member
M Offline
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 81
Quote
All in all, is this generally how a board works?

Not sure of what you are really asking here. wink

How a board works is largely up to how the owner wants it to.

If you are asking about the convoluted setup of Moderators and permissions, then the answer is that most forum software attempts to provide enough flexibility to meet whatever the owner needs/wants. What the owner does is up to them within the limits of the software's functionality.

In any software environment, permission sets are strange animals with a mind of their own. The law of unintended consequences can jump right up and take a large chunk out of your backside in a hurry. For security's sake (not to mention major embarrassment), you should ALWAYS test your permissions setup in a test environment to be sure it works as intended.

If your question is more wondering "is this normal?", my guess is that it is not very. To suddenly start promoting seemingly random members to Moderator status is not what I'd call a good move. It has a strong potential to cause discord among the members. Especially if you get some joker who is just chomping at the bit to flex his/her new-found e-muscles. The chance of this grows exponentially with each new moderator. Especially when they ASK to be one.

Mike L #248428 02/15/2012 5:13 PM
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 6,560
Likes: 78
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 6,560
Likes: 78
Mike, you are correct on your statement.
But I think Bert is just trying to understand how the permissions/group settings all work with ubb.
So I answered as best I can without posting a novel.


Blue Man Group
There is no such thing as stupid questions. Just stupid answers
Bert #248429 02/15/2012 5:19 PM
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 81
M
member
member
M Offline
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 81
Yep. That is why I did not touch the specific questions. You had already provided very good concise answers to them.

I was only speculating that there might have been a hidden question is there somewhere and answered that one. grin

Bert #248430 02/15/2012 5:22 PM
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 6,560
Likes: 78
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 6,560
Likes: 78
Oh yeah. There probably is some answer to the reason that only the admin knows for sure.


Blue Man Group
There is no such thing as stupid questions. Just stupid answers
Bert #248432 02/15/2012 5:47 PM
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 386
B
enthusiast
enthusiast
B Offline
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 386
Thanks guys. Yeah both are good answers.

Six months ago, there were the three mods:

Me (admin) a GM and a mod. They each had certain permissions. For instance, I could do nearly anything. The global mod could edit all posts, move threads, etc. The mod could do various things the global moderator could do but had little access to the CP. So, it made sense. Three mods with increasing permissions.

We were like this for months. Then added three moderators. But, he also went to the CP and under every setting where I would have 1 so I could do something the others couldn't, he changed ALL of them to 1s except for users. So now we had three mods, and the only thing different from me to the normal mods, was I was in red.

Originally Posted by Mike
If your question is more wondering "is this normal?", my guess is that it is not very. To suddenly start promoting seemingly random members to Moderator status is not what I'd call a good move. It has a strong potential to cause discord among the members. Especially if you get some joker who is just chomping at the bit to flex his/her new-found e-muscles. The chance of this grows exponentially with each new moderator. Especially when they ASK to be one.

This was my basic question, and I feel the same way. I would guess that if Ruben made me a modertor or global moder and suddenly my name was blue or green in the Who's Online, some users on here wouldn't be very happy.

I'm sorry my question wasn't clear.

Can a moderator for a certain forum make a moderator for that forum only? And can a moderator for a forum only do things for that forum? Sounds like a dumb question.

I REALLY appreciate your time.



UBB version 7.5.8
php version 5.4.22
MySQL version 5.5.36-cll
Bert #248433 02/15/2012 6:00 PM
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 6,560
Likes: 78
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 6,560
Likes: 78
Can a moderator for a certain forum make a moderator for that forum only? And can a moderator for a forum only do things for that forum? Sounds like a dumb question.

Normally no.
The default color for a admin is red but somebody could change your color to red. Meaning a person with cp access.

A moderator normally is just that, they moderate a forum they are assigned to and can't assign someone else as a moderator.
There are some permission settings but basically they can approve/move/edit posts.
To go beyond that then they would be assigned cp access. And like I said before. even still there permissions are limited unless they are placed in the admin group. And still they don't have all the powers that a super admin has.


Blue Man Group
There is no such thing as stupid questions. Just stupid answers
Bert #248434 02/15/2012 6:03 PM
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 386
B
enthusiast
enthusiast
B Offline
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 386
Thanks Ruben. Where did you get your signature from?


UBB version 7.5.8
php version 5.4.22
MySQL version 5.5.36-cll
Bert #248435 02/15/2012 6:12 PM
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 6,560
Likes: 78
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 6,560
Likes: 78
Huh? Signature is just some text I added in my profile.

But anyway here as a global mod I could change your name color and could ban you or add, delete you from some but not all groups.
But I can't make you a mod or admin.
Nor can I change your permissions to other forums.
But if somebody like SD or Brooks made me a admin I could.


Blue Man Group
There is no such thing as stupid questions. Just stupid answers
Bert #248436 02/15/2012 8:03 PM
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 386
B
enthusiast
enthusiast
B Offline
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 386
Thanks. That helps. I know I have a signature as well that I made in my profile.

But, your signature is:

Blue Man Group

which is unique. So I wondered why you chose it. I saw the Blue Man Group in Boston some time ago.


UBB version 7.5.8
php version 5.4.22
MySQL version 5.5.36-cll
Bert #248438 02/15/2012 8:56 PM
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 386
B
enthusiast
enthusiast
B Offline
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 386
So, my only other question (I think) is I see a place in the CP site settings -> Can See Extra User Info.

Is that the setting which if set only to admin, a global mod or mod would not be able to edit a user and make them a mod? If not, where would that be.

Thanks.


UBB version 7.5.8
php version 5.4.22
MySQL version 5.5.36-cll
Bert #248439 02/16/2012 12:49 AM
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 16,292
Likes: 116
UBB.threads Developer
UBB.threads Developer
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 16,292
Likes: 116
That option is for allowing mods to see user ip addresses.

As for Ruben's title, we (the global mods) where sitting around one night trying to think of something catchy and went with that lol.


I am a Web Development Contractor, I do not work for UBBCentral. I have provided free User to User Support since the beginning of these support forums.
Do you need Forum Install or Upgrade Services?
Forums: A Gardeners Forum, Scouters World
UBB.threads: UBBWiki, UBB Styles, UBB.Sitemaps
Longtime Supporter & Resident Post-A-Holic
VNC Web Services: Code Modifications, Upgrades, Styling, Coding Services, Disaster Recovery, and more!
Bert #248442 02/16/2012 11:37 AM
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 386
B
enthusiast
enthusiast
B Offline
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 386
Hi Gizmo,

The main reason I asked was my ex-girlfriend took me to the BMG in Boston for our first date. Well, she wasn't my ex then.

It's funny, because Ruben is so smart and literal on here that he took my question to be how to make the signature, lol.

Thanks for the answer. I guess I am trying to find the setting where I can keep mods from editing users. Should I do that with global mods as well.

I really, really apologize for all the questions. I was just made an admin by the owner -- I think appropriately -- but never got the tutorial.

Why is it that when I go to the control panel and pick the UBB boards, it comes here? Is this the only board for UBB questions?

Also, sorry, if my questions should be separated into different threads.


UBB version 7.5.8
php version 5.4.22
MySQL version 5.5.36-cll
Bert #248443 02/16/2012 12:45 PM
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 514
addict
addict
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 514
For the most part, yes. Unless you are putting a support ticket in.

As for permissions... My board is set up that mods can not edit user info.... Admins all have that priv by default, but you would have to edit the Mod's permissions (or make sure they have not been changed) to "unable to edit users".

Click on Control Panel (CP) and click on Group Management. Look to the right of the screen you will see edit settings for Forum, Site, and CP.

Under CP permissions set Can Edit Users to 0. This will effectively stop mods from being able to edit users.

If you want to do the same for global mods, then edit global mods group the same way.

MAKE Sure you save any edits ... lol


Hope this was the answer you originally was looking for.

Dunny

Last edited by Dunny; 02/16/2012 12:46 PM. Reason: added save info.
Bert #248444 02/16/2012 2:30 PM
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 81
M
member
member
M Offline
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 81
While you are considering appropriate permissions for Mods, I suggest that you leave the "Can See Extra User Info" option set to 0.

As Gizmo stated, that setting, if set to 1, will allow mods to see a member's IP address. No reason for mods to have that info as it allows them to know a person's location at least to the city/town level and in some cases will allow them to know the member's employer. I consider a person's IP to be personally identifiable information and keep it off limits to mods.

The other thing you mentioned is that some of the mods seem to of been granted CP access. I'd not do that unless I knew the mod very well and trusted them. If you do not know their real name and home phone number, you don't know them well enough. wink

Spend some time and go through ALL the permission setting areas in your CP and give thought to what they all mean. Be sure to read the descriptions at the top of the pages. The things like...

Quote
All fields require a numeric value. Enter 0 to disable and 1 to enable, unless otherwise specified. If a user belongs to multiple groups, a (up pointing triangle) indicates the user will get the highest permission, a (down pointing triangle) indicates they will get the lowest.

Do not worry about asking all the questions. None of them are dumb and getting help with the product is the purpose of these forums. People here are rather helpful.

Bert #248445 02/16/2012 2:35 PM
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 386
B
enthusiast
enthusiast
B Offline
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 386
Thanks Mike and Dunny,

Yes, Dunny, that was a big answer.

I lied about that being my last question, but thanks for reassuring me it is OK to ask.

In the same window, it says "Has full access to the CP." That seems to indicate there is a setting that allows some mods to have restricted access to the CP. Which to be honest, doesn't seem to make a lot of sense.

Thanks.


UBB version 7.5.8
php version 5.4.22
MySQL version 5.5.36-cll
Bert #248447 02/16/2012 5:10 PM
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 514
addict
addict
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 514
Well the CP is much more than just membership/registration/forum settings.

It has mysql server info as well as options to run sql queries..which if done inappropriately can bork your boards badly. Also I wouldn't want to give full CP access to anyone other than admins (and then ONLY PEOPLE I WOULD TRUST WITHOUT PREJUDICE) because giving them that also allows them to prune posts/users etc. Like Mike pointed out.... I wouldn't give CP access to anyone. The reason for limited access would be if the in-line moderation links did not work and a mod really needed to move/edit a post and couldn't using in-line moderation.

Again, I have never seen a problem where a mod would need CP access to keep track of their assigned forums. This said, I guess it would depend on the size of your board as well.

Dunny

Bert #248451 02/16/2012 11:09 PM
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 16,292
Likes: 116
UBB.threads Developer
UBB.threads Developer
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 16,292
Likes: 116
Originally Posted by Bert
Hi Gizmo,
Well hi there yourself tongue

Originally Posted by Bert
The main reason I asked was my ex-girlfriend took me to the BMG in Boston for our first date. Well, she wasn't my ex then.
Mmm, sounds like a fun time actually, I've seen little shots of their shows on TV and it really looks quite great.

Originally Posted by Bert
It's funny, because Ruben is so smart and literal on here that he took my question to be how to make the signature, lol.
Yeah, us GM's kind of take everything seriously, I was pretty sure one was going to answer it tongue.

Originally Posted by Bert
Thanks for the answer. I guess I am trying to find the setting where I can keep mods from editing users. Should I do that with global mods as well.
The setting "Can edit users" in cp permissions will allow or disallow this. It's a group setting; personally i'd only ever allow admins or GM's access to edit users; mods generally wouldn't need to do such a thing unless you're plagued with spam.

Originally Posted by Bert
I really, really apologize for all the questions. I was just made an admin by the owner -- I think appropriately -- but never got the tutorial.
That's why we're here, don't sweat. We made the wiki since there was no official documentation.

Originally Posted by Bert
Why is it that when I go to the control panel and pick the UBB boards, it comes here? Is this the only board for UBB questions?
Well, this is the "official" user to user discussion forum for the UBB.


I am a Web Development Contractor, I do not work for UBBCentral. I have provided free User to User Support since the beginning of these support forums.
Do you need Forum Install or Upgrade Services?
Forums: A Gardeners Forum, Scouters World
UBB.threads: UBBWiki, UBB Styles, UBB.Sitemaps
Longtime Supporter & Resident Post-A-Holic
VNC Web Services: Code Modifications, Upgrades, Styling, Coding Services, Disaster Recovery, and more!
Bert #248453 02/16/2012 11:12 PM
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 386
B
enthusiast
enthusiast
B Offline
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 386
Thanks Gizmo. That was a very helpful post.


UBB version 7.5.8
php version 5.4.22
MySQL version 5.5.36-cll

Link Copied to Clipboard
ShoutChat
Comment Guidelines: Do post respectful and insightful comments. Don't flame, hate, spam.
Recent Topics
spam issues
by ECNet - 03/19/2024 11:45 PM
Looking for a forum
by azr - 03/15/2024 11:26 PM
Editing Links in Post
by Outdoorking - 03/15/2024 9:31 AM
Question on barkrowler and the like
by Mors - 02/29/2024 6:51 PM
Member Permissions Help
by domspeak - 02/27/2024 6:31 PM
Who's Online Now
1 members (rootman), 641 guests, and 112 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Random Gallery Image
Latest Gallery Images
Los Angeles
Los Angeles
by isaac, August 6
3D Creations
3D Creations
by JAISP, December 30
Artistic structures
Artistic structures
by isaac, August 29
Stones
Stones
by isaac, August 19
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 8.0.0
(Preview build 20230217)