Hidden categories?
keltwookie
New
Hello all
I got a little problem on my forums:
Some categories are supposed hidden to guests and members (yes, I checked twice), but as soon I sign out (as admin), the said categories are shown on the main page.
Is there a way (anything) to fix this, please?
Thanks by advance
Best Answers
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R_J
Admin
Please make sure your users only have one role. There might be inconsistencies if they have more than one.
7 -
keltwookie
New
Okay
The problem seems coming from the default roles assigned to each (Dashboard/Roles & Permissions), maybe because of the custom roles I added.
So, the solution, in my case was to remove all default roles except for Guests, Unconfirmed and Applicants.
Now it works perfectly
0 -
R_J
Admin
Those are two different things. Mute/Hide categories is a feature that allows users to filter boring categories and only read interesting things
What you are talking about is the "normal" category view permission system, based on user roles. That is for sure still available in future Vanilla versions!
5
Answers
Check the permissions for Guests and Members.
Go to Dashboard -> Users, Roles & Permissions -> Edit Guest or Member
Untick "View" in the category you want to hide.
Thanks
But that's what I did of course, and that's why I find this strange.
Please make sure your users only have one role. There might be inconsistencies if they have more than one.
@R_J
Ah, very good to know, and maybe here's the reason. Indeed, some users have more than one.
Many thanks, I check this immediately.
Fixed
Once again, many thanks
Can you elaborate on what inconsistencies (beyond the OP's issue) might occur?
Any thoughts on why, when editing a user, it is possible to "Check all roles that apply to this user:"?
Really sorry but one problem remains:
All members roles works correctly except guests which can see anything they want.
Any solution?
Okay
The problem seems coming from the default roles assigned to each (Dashboard/Roles & Permissions), maybe because of the custom roles I added.
So, the solution, in my case was to remove all default roles except for Guests, Unconfirmed and Applicants.
Now it works perfectly
You can read about my concerns here: https://github.com/vanilla/vanilla/issues/5465
I haven't tested it but I assume that the role with the lowest ID is used for category view permissions.
Is your question why it is possible to check more than one role when multiple roles might cause problems? I can see two possible reasons for this:
1. Maybe that permission problem is a real problem and it needs to be fixed
2. It may cause problems but it must not
The problems that I found where only connected to category view permissions. The roles can be used for other permissions, too and I don't think there is a problem with those checks. But I really haven't tested that.
It might be worth a little bit more testing with the Vanilla Beta, especially since Vanilla 2.4 changed the permission somehow: https://open.vanillaforums.com/discussion/33066/preview-release-2-4-beta
"Replace "Hide Category" with "Mute Category" option (that only hides from Recent Discussions)."
This feature was essential in my case, so I got now 2solutions:
Sad...really
Are you sure you have understood it correctly?
Until 2.3 users could hide categories and a hidden category could easily be forgotten.
Starting from 2.4 that feature is replaced by "muting" a discussion. The effect for the category module in the panel and the recent discussion list is exactly the same.
Go and try it out here! This forum already uses this feature. Take a look at the cog wheels on the categories page, mute a category and see if you can live with the new way to hide discussions from the recent discussions list: https://open.vanillaforums.com/categories
Well, stop me if I'm wrong, but yes, it seems that I well understood, so: Muting a category hide it from the recent discussions, okay, but it is apparently still reachable by clicking on « categories ».
Some explanations:
What I want is that the hidden sections of my forums can't be reachable by unauthorized members
Those are two different things. Mute/Hide categories is a feature that allows users to filter boring categories and only read interesting things
What you are talking about is the "normal" category view permission system, based on user roles. That is for sure still available in future Vanilla versions!
Alriiiight (deep breath) !
So yes, I did not well understood... And really sorry for my false worries (huh...right word?)
Thanks for the issue link. Maybe it's a 2.4b thing.
I'm not trying to create mutually exclusive sets of categories and then trying to assign roles such that both sets are available. But I have setup a role (let's call it DinnerRole) that allows access to one category and assigned it along with 'member' to a user. It works the way I expected - users without DinnerRole cannot see the category. I'm using v2.3 which maybe accounts for it working.
Yes, my question was why allow more than one role if that might cause problems. Your first reason was the conclusion I jumped to. But I may not understand all I know.