Custom field Permissions

Alpha1

Well-known member
If custom fields would have user permissions and criteria then these would become much more flexible.
This is especially useful with the new custom fields in XF2 which are available in any content type.

You could for example set up fields that only staff can see.
Or fields that only members with an account upgrade can use. (usergroup)
Or fields that only display if the poster has an account upgrade. (usergroup)
 
Upvote 36
You could for example set up fields that only staff can see.
Because the permissions are missing I have to delete the "real name" custom field when migrating. This was obligatory at my vB installation and for privacy reasons only visible for admins. Now either everybody or nobody would see it - but it should be visible only to staff members ... :(
 
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Because the permissions are missing I have to delete the "real name" custom field when migrating. This was obligatory at my vB installation and for privacy reasons only visible for admins. Now either everybody or nobody would see it - but it should be visible only to staff members ... :(

Turn off "Viewable on profile pages" and "Viewable in message user info" in custom field options and it will never be shown to other members who can't view it in admin area (even moderators who have "Edit basic user profiles" options won't see it).

I use this for options I give to premium members to turn off various features such as adverts or certain sidebar widgets.

Turn off "User editable" and the user won't even see it. I use this for API related fields I need to associate with a user programmatically which they don't need to see or edit.

Not disagreeing that permissions for custom fields would still be useful though.
 
Or fields that only members with an account upgrade can use. (usergroup)
Or fields that only display if the poster has an account upgrade. (usergroup)

I have fields like this now - I show them anyway (because I can't hide them) and mention in the description that these are only effective if they have an upgraded account - kind of like an upsell.

Whether or not the user can access them or change them is kind of irrelevant - all that does is update their profile in the database. What's more important is what happens to the data when displayed publicly - and that can easily be controlled using template edits or modifications to modify behaviour based on permissions.

So my "Show banner adverts" checkbox in user profiles does nothing for non-upgraded members (ie they still see adverts), but upgraded members can choose to check that box to have banner adverts shown (which is useful if they're a business member who has paid for advertising on the site and they want to check their ads!). Similarly, I have another option allowing upgraded members to hide the twitter widget in the sidebar. The logic is all in the templates when the forum sidebar is displayed.

But again, I agree that it would be cleaner to be able to hide the fields from users in certain circumstances when they aren't applicable, so I'm not disagreeing with this suggestion - just pointing out how you can achieve most of what you need without explicit permissions.
 
That offers some of the functionality requested: viewing and input permissions for profile. No display permissions and no other content types.
 
Does it allow you to display a field to the reader if the profile owner is in a certain usergroup?
This would allow you to provide this field only on profiles of members who purchase an account upgrade or belong to a certain group.
 
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