Hey everyone!
You might remember about a year ago I created and released regkeys version 1.0. Well I finally have gotten around to working on the module again. Sorry for the long delay.
I have read every post and comment about the first version of regkeys and tried to use all of it in building this new version. I have made general improvements to the code while maintaining the solid work that the original release was. I know it was a bit of a pain to install but I think you all got the hang of it. I'm sorry for any confusion. I think the new instructions are much simpler this time around.
So let me say that this is a Release Candidate. That means that while I feel it is very stable, I can't be sure how all of you will work with it, so until we all agree its perfect, lets not consider it a final release.
If you'd like to download the new version you can find it at:
http://dev.juex.net/regkeys-2.0RC1.zipSo whats new in version 2.0? Well theres one big feature! I'll call it the XOOPS Groups Hierarchy System (XGHS for short). XGHS allows you to set permissions over groups who have access to create registration keys. In 1.x it was possible to give a non-webmaster group access to registration keys, but doing so would allow them the ability to create a key that could register into a webmaster group or some other group and i'm sure we can all agree thats a big no no. Now, any group that is given access to registration keys by default can only create keys for the group(s) they are members of. If keys exist that allow registration into any other group, they will not display on their screen. The new Group Permissions menu allows you to designate and redefine what groups each group has control over.
To better help you all understand what I mean by this, lets imagine the following example.
Software Solutions is a company that is creating a support website using XOOPS 2.0. The owners of the website want to create a group for their Tech Support consultants that will give them certain access privelages to the site, but obviously not complete access. By using Registration Keys, the webmasters can designate a registration code the consultants will use that will automatically place them Tech Support group as well as the Employee group, since they are employees.
To do this the webmaster will go into to Registration Keys menu and create a key having selected the Tech Support group and the Employee group as the groups the code applies to. Being a member of the employee group wil give them basic employee access rights to the website, but also give them specialized tech support privelages as well. Then the webmaster will hand out this code to the consultants.
Now Software Solutions decides to do a study on a specific product and would like to give a specific group of customers access to content on their website. The tech support dept will be in charge of these special customers.
To do this the webmaster will go into the Group Permissions menu and create a new entry for the Tech Support group that gives them group control over the Special Customers group. Since only the Customers group is defined in the permissions entry, Tech Support will not be able to create keys for their own tech support group, but they will be able to create keys for Special Customers.
Well I hope all that makes sense to you. Please try out the new version and let me know of any bugs and problems. I really hope you all like the new version. If you are updating from 1.x, upload all the files into your XOOPS root and use the appropriate MySQL update file. So if you've got 1.0.1, use the mysql_update_1.0.1_to_2.0.txt file and so on.
Enjoy!!
caskater
