Difference between forum moderator and setting a user to moderating group?

[ix2013]

I don't really understand the difference. Can anyone explain? Thanks.

 

[Mike]

Defining a moderator gives them a special role that can give them access to certain things (such as the reported items or more directly making them "staff"). The group is something that you would add to moderators to say that they have the "role" of a moderator and from there, you could define additional permissions for them (such as to access your staff forum).

 

[Moddis]

What is the best practice when setting up a forum moderator? Is it a good idea to have a moderator usergroup with the base permissions I would want all mods to have and just check the extra mod specific permissions for each mod? I'm just am not sure if I create a mod for a specific forum and add him to a usergroup that has access to modify and edit anyone's post, will they be able to do that anywhere on the forum or in the specific thread I made them a moderator of?

Also, What if I don't make them a moderator but just add someone to a usergroup that has moderator permissions?

 

[Paul B]

What is the best practice when setting up a forum moderator? Is it a good idea to have a moderator usergroup with the base permissions I would want all mods to have and just check the extra mod specific permissions for each mod?

Yes, that's how I do it as it allows you to assign different permissions to each moderator, should you so wish.

It also works with content moderators, who you may want to be able to check IP addresses in all forums, but only moderate posts in their own areas.

Also, What if I don't make them a moderator but just add someone to a usergroup that has moderator permissions?

Doing that won't make them a moderator, it will just give them some permissions.
Certain functionality won't be available - the report centre for example.

 

[Moddis]

Sorry, it is still a little unclear to me.

So if I make a someone a moderator for Forum A and add them to a usergroup that has permission to modify anyones posts, will they also be able to modify anyones posts in Forum B?

Doing that won't make them a moderator, it will just give them some permissions.
Certain functionality won't be available - the report centre for example.

And if I don't make them a moderator and just add them to a specific usergroup that has access to modify all posts, that affects the entire forum right?

 

[Paul B]

Just assign them as a forum moderator and set the permissions while doing so.

 

[Moddis]

Gotcha.. So usergroups should not be used when creating forum mods unless I want them to have those permissions for ALL the forum sections and not just assigned ones.

 

[Martok]

Gotcha.. So usergroups should not be used when creating forum mods unless I want them to have those permissions for ALL the forum sections and not just assigned ones.

That depends on your exact setup. If you just want someone to be a moderator of a single forum (or maybe a couple) then add them as a forum moderator as Brogan suggests (you can add them twice for two different forums if required). However, if you want them to moderate several forums and only have a few that you don't want them to moderate, it's probably easier to make them a super moderator and then add them to a moderator usergroup which has all of the moderator permissions you want them to have. Then in the few forums you don't want them to moderate in, you can revoke these permissions.

 

[Moddis]

That depends on your exact setup. If you just want someone to be a moderator of a single forum (or maybe a couple) then add them as a forum moderator as Brogan suggests (you can add them twice for two different forums if required). However, if you want them to moderate several forums and only have a few that you don't want them to moderate, it's probably easier to make them a super moderator and then add them to a moderator usergroup which has all of the moderator permissions you want them to have. Then in the few forums you don't want them to moderate in, you can revoke these permissions.

Oh this is awesome! I didn't know I can revoke base on specific forum. Will definitely save me a LOT of time and trouble.

 

[Martok]

Oh this is awesome! I didn't know I can revoke base on specific forum. Will definitely save me a LOT of time and trouble.

Indeed you can.

If you've not read it already, you'll find Jake Bunce's Understanding Permissions useful, as well as Brogan's Implementing permissions across multiple user groups.

 

[psTubble27]

Defining a moderator gives them a special role that can give them access to certain things (such as the reported items or more directly making them "staff"). The group is something that you would add to moderators to say that they have the "role" of a moderator and from there, you could define additional permissions for them (such as to access your staff forum).

So these might be the steps to correctly set up a moderator in the classic sense:
1) give them the moderator 'status'
2) assign them to the moderator group
3) (Optional) give them other special permissions if you feel necessary

Right?


On further thought, maybe the usergroups should be renamed to something more intuitive. So instead of "moderator" it might be called "moderator permissions". The user would be shown that assigning the group to a user won't make him a moderator, per se, just give the 'moderator permissions'. Etc.