Hello,

I know this hasn't been asked about specifically in this thread, but I thought that if anyone is dealing with the management of new users in a site that has strict group membership rules, then you might benefit from a module we have made called Registration Codes, or from a similar module called Registration Keys. These modules let you create a code that is associated with certain groups in your system and then new users can enter that code when they create their account and they will automatically be made members of the groups you specified.

You can find out more about our Registration Codes module here:

https://xoops.org/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=23504&forum=14

The Registration Keys module is available in the Downloads section:

https://xoops.org/modules/mydownloads/singlefile.php?cid=24&lid=581

Happy XOOPSING,

--Julian

Thank you for all the comments!

tjnemez, I'm not sure what's up there. I downloaded the zip file again just now to double check and it contains all the files, with their correct paths. If you're still having trouble with this, click on my username and send me a PM.

RE: XOOPS 2.0.7.1...

Registration Codes is totally compatible with 2.0.7.1, no patches or changes required.

RE: Registration Keys...

I'll make a few comments that might help people see where there are some differences. I do not mean any of these comments in any way to be a dig at the other module or its author, I'm just trying to illuminate where there are some differences. I think having a choice of modules is good for the XOOPS community, especially when the modules offer different approaches which I think these two clearly do, so people will be able to use what suits their system the best.

Also, I haven't installed Reg Keys or used it myself, so I'm only speaking from having read the install instructions and the write up on the download page, and having looked at the downloaded files.

It looks to me that the biggest difference between the two modules, from a sys admin perspective, is that Reg Keys is a tightly integrated system module that makes changes to eight core files in a few different places.

Whereas our Registration Codes module is not a system module, and it makes changes to two core files (/register.php and /include/registerform.php).

So if you want something that doesn't alter your XOOPS installation that much, then ours might be the one to go with. If you want something integrated tightly with the core, Reg Keys is probably better.

It seems that Reg Keys was built originally for 2.0.6RC (according to the readme), and at least one of the files it altered is not actually present in 2.0.7 (/registration.php), so that might complicate upgrading or installing it from scratch in 2.0.7 or higher (though I suspect register.php in 2.0.7 is very similar to registration.php in 2.0.6).

Also, our module has a permission system, with which you can control which groups are allowed to create codes for membership in which other groups (so the webmaster doesn't have to do all the code issuing, you could let people in one of your groups issue codes that allowed new users to have membership in only that same group). I'm not sure if Reg Keys has that feature, but it's not mentioned in the readme.

Thanks for reading! Happy XOOPSING,

--Julian

Well I guess I should have posted asking if there was anything similar before doing dev work. Thanks for the tip, I will check out that other module.

I searched this site and the Sourceforge list of XOOPS modules, and the web for any sign of a similar module and couldn't find any. XOOPS desperately needs a centralized, regularly updated, module list. There's incredible potential for XOOPS outside of the hobby/fansite niche where it seems to be dominating for now. XOOPS could be the killer CMS/Portal system for the small business/not-for-profit sector, but without serious support resources like a comprehensive module list, it will never happen. Someone please tell me that modules.xoops.org is going to fulfill this need?

--Julian

I should mention that this module was built on XOOPS 2.0.7. There are two core files that it provides replacement versions for (register.php and registerform.php, both used for processing new user registrations). Those replacement versions are built from the 2.0.7 versions of those files. If you are using a previous version of XOOPS, and it uses different versions of those files from the 2.0.7 ones, then e-mail me (address in the readme) and I can make files that will work with your XOOPS.

--Julian

UPDATED to version 1.1!! - September 1 2004

==================

Hello,

I would like to announce a new module that integrates with the user registration system, and allows you to pre-assign group membership to users. You can download it here:

http://www.freeformsolutions.ca/reg_codes_1.1.zip (installation instructions in the readme)

Why would you want to pre-assign group memberships to new users?

Imagine you have a lot of prospective new users that you know are all going to sign up for your site in the near future. Imagine also that you have many different groups of users in your site, not just Registered, Anonymous and Webmasters. That's a common situation if you're using XOOPS for an intranet-style purpose.

With the way XOOPS works by default, you would have to have each user create their own account and then you would have to assign the group memberships for every user account that had been created. If you've got 100, or even a dozen accounts that you need to do this for, it would be either a pain or practically mind-numbing.

Enter 'Registration Codes', the module that can save your day. : )

Suppose you've got a group in your XOOPS site called "New York Volunteers" and you've got 50 volunteers in the New York area that need to create accounts for your fabulous site. With the 'Registration Codes' module you can make a code that is associated with the New York Volunteers group. Then you pass that code on to your 50 volunteers by e-mail, phone, at a training session, or however else works best for you, and then when the volunteers go through the registration process to create their accounts, they just include the registration code you provided and they will automatically be made a member of the New York Volunteers group.

You can associate more than one group with a code. You can specify an expiry date after which a code no longer works, and you can specify a maximum number of uses after which a code no longer works (maybe you set your New York Volunteers code to 50 uses, so after all those people have registered, no one else can come across the code by accident and register and get access to your sensitive data).

You can also delete codes you've created, or if you have module administration rights, you can delete any code made by anyone.

Through the administration screen you can control which groups have permission to create registration codes for which other groups (ie: you probably don't want the Registered User group having the ability to create registration codes that give new users membership in the Webmasters group!).

Big thanks go out to Tom Hill and his Xoopermod for making it really easy to get this module off the ground. : )

You can download 'Registration Codes' here:

http://www.freeformsolutions.ca/reg_codes_1.1.zip (installation instructions in the readme)

(I would like to recommend that the Core Dev Team consider adding some kind of functionality such as this to XOOPS 2.2, if the development timeline allows it. Without robust user management features like this, XOOPS is very difficult to use in a business style setting with many different user groups. The ability to apply permissions changes to multiple groups at once would be a similar improvement that we would like to see.)

================

**About Freeform Solutions**

Freeform Solutions is a not-for-profit IT company based in Toronto, Canada, and dedicated to helping other not-for-profit organizations make effective use of technology. We have extensive experience in web development, and have identified XOOPS as our platform of choice for meeting the web portal and intranet needs of our clients.

Well, it might be a little bit of an exageration to call this a review, and I'm sure I'm not saying anything that hasn't been said before, but: WF-Downloads rocks!

I have been evaluating a number of different XOOPS modules (and building one too) for meeting the specialized needs of a client, and WF-Downloads is the first module of any kind (not just download modules) that I have looked at that is full featured enough not to need any tweaking to meet our needs.

That is really impressive. To put it another way, this module is truly professional grade, commercial quality software, right out of the box.

One of the biggest features that makes it that way, I think, is the complete group permission system. This is a must for any module that strives to be used in an "enterprise" environment. There has to be a way for different groups to have their own access permissions specified to the content in the module. (The only shortcoming I've noticed so far in the WF-Downloads permission system is that when users upload a file, they are allowed to categorize it in a category which they don't have view permission for. I would suggest restricting the category list on the user upload page to only the categories the user is allowed to view, so that private categories that are supposed to be unknown to other users remain unknown.)

The recommend link, plus the ratings options, plus the very complete set of metadata that you can record for each file, also go a long way to making this module stand out.

Helpful and non-cryptic install instructions are also a big plus. (Though a nitpick: I would have appreciated a note explaining what the changes are in the xoops.js file that you have to use -- I did a diff on the wf version of that and the existing verion in my XOOPS installation, and I probably would have done a diff anyway even if the install instructions had said what the differences were, but it would be just a nice extra touch for users who aren't able to easily do a diff if they were told what the changes are and why they're necessary).

Anyway, all in all, I just wanted to say I'm impressed and kudos to the WF-Project Team, you deserve it.

--Julian

Hello, this is a great, great feature! I have used it to very easily add several permissions to a module I'm working on.

I have a question/request about access to the forms created by XoopsGroupPermForm.

I would like it to work like this:

1. a user is a member of a group that has module admin rights for the module where I have used this form.
2. that user logs in, goes to the admin menu, all they get is the admin section for the module their group has admin rights for.
3. that user goes into the admin section for the module, and goes to the permission form XoopsGroupPermForm creates.
4. user happily updates form and changes permissions, because after all, their group has module administrator rights.

What seems to happen is this:
1, 2, and 3 happen okay, but for 4...
user clicks on the submit button in the group permission form and they are told they don't have permission to access that area! But they are a module administrator!!

Why this seems to be happening, I think, is that the user needs to be a member of a group that has *at least one* system admin right. It can be smilies, it doesn't have to be anything fancy like modules, or blocks, or groups. As long as they have any system admin right, then forms made by XoopsGroupPermForm can be updated by them.

But if they don't have any system administrator rights, then they can't update the form.

Please modify XoopsGroupPermForm so that users can complete forms it creates as long as they are module admins for the module the form is in.

Thanks a million, XOOPS is great!

--Julian

I'm very glad to hear this is going to come. I'd strongly suggest that every field in the profile, except perhaps username and password of course, be optional. To customize our sites properly, we would want to get rid of just about all the current profile fields, since, for example, instant messaging IDs aren't relevant within our company. Herko, can you fill us in on the direction this implementation is going, or point us to a discussion or document where it is outlined?

Thanks very much,

--Julian

Hello,

I was just wondering if someone could confirm for me that there is no single location on the web where all XOOPS modules are listed?

http://dev.xoops.org/ doesn't seem to be a complete listing at all, but I gather that's because it's fairly new and people are still signing on and listing themselves.

The downloads section of www.xoops.org seems fairly complete, but it's organized alphabetically which is pretty useless, frankly, at least for browsing. Great if you already know the module you are looking for.

But the thing is, I don't know the modules I'm looking for. I'm trying to get a handle on what the most useful, key modules are. I gather the WF modules are well liked and used. And No-ah and the Xoopermod look to be excellent tools for module developers.

I recall that the visual introduction to XOOPS includes some info on popular modules, so I'm going to look at that again.

If someone can reply with other good listings of useful and important and popular modules, I'd be very thankful.

Here's some big areas I'm interested in, and some modules I know of, but I'd love to know more:

Database Queries and Reports:
-???
(I really really need a module that will let users generate ad hoc reports against information in the XOOPS database, primarily information that has been entered through other modules, such as a hypothetical activity log form. Reports need to allow for queries against specific criteria, ie: records where age>20, and must also be able to provide summary information about fields, such as averages, totals, counts, and percentage distribution of each unique entry in a field.)

Photo Galleries:
-xcGallery
-xoopsgallery

Form creation:
-Formulaire

Module creation tools:
-Noah
-xoopermod

Downloads:
-built in download tool
-WF-downloads

Bulletin Boards/Forums:
-built in forum tool
-newBB (is this the built in tool?)

General Page Creation:
-WF-Channel

Custom menus:
-???
-in my XOOPS novice-hood, perhaps I'm just unaware of a way to do this in the XOOPS core?

Thanks for reading and for any advice,

--Julian

Quote:

Yes, with version 2.8 of formulaire I have always had this problem. I tried installing it twice and had the same problem both times. It was on top of a fresh install of XOOPS 2.0.7.

Version 2.6 of formulaire seems to work fine (details in original post).

Thanks very much,

--Julian