Fixed Guests can't attach files

[frm]

Affected version

XF 2.3

I never got an answer to this, as to whether it was a bug or by design.

XF 2.3 Thread 'Guests can't post attachments?'

Sep 1, 2024

Is this by design or a bug?

Settings for unregistered:


They can post alright. Just where the CAPTCHA is, is where the attachment box should be, and it's not.






Were guests never able to post attachments despite the permissions given?

• frm
• Replies: 0
• Forum: XenForo questions and support

However, I would be intrigued as to the reasoning behind this if it's "as designed" and not a bug since Xenforo makes use of guests being able to upload files in their contact form.



I understand these are two completely different systems; though, some forum admins run "ticket" systems on their forums too.

Can you really have it both ways?

 

[Arnox]

Yeah, that doesn't work for me either.

 

[Suzanne O]

Why would you want guests posting on your site in the first place?

Make them sign up with an account.

 

[frm]

Yeah, that doesn't work for me either.

It's because it's a "bug" or "by design", but no devs have even replied as to which it is since I pointed it out over 2 weeks ago.

They can say it's by design, but they use it in their contact form, so they know there's a need for it. However, they can say it's a bug, but then if that were so, they should wipe all "bug" permissions that are by design from view, as in, you can't see those permissions for that group to even set. Otherwise, it leads me to believe that you can set that permission and it work as intended, like setting "Yes" to "Upload attachments to posts" and it does what it says it's going to do, no matter what group it's in; either it's a bug or "by design", but if it's "by design", remove it from the permission list for that group.

 

[M@rc]

Some permissions aren't available to guests. This is one of them from what I remember.

You'd be better off upvoting this suggestion:

K

Thread 'Flag Loggedin-only permissions'

Nov 9, 2023

XenForo treats logged out visitors ("Guests") and logged in but unconfirmed visitors ("Members") somewhat equal - they both get their permissions from usergroup Unregistered / Unconfirmed.

So when editing this usergroup there are many permissions like

• Use push notifiations
• Upload an avatar
• Upload a profile banner
• ...

that can (currently) only be applied to Members - they have no effect on Guests.

While it may be "logical" that some permissions can't be applied to guests, in some cases this is not so obvious and may cause confusion.

My suggestion is to...

• Kirby
• Replies: 1
• Forum: XenForo suggestions

• 

If you want an official answer, you can always submit a ticket for one of the staff members to confirm.

 

[frm]

You'd be better off upvoting this suggestion:

K

Thread 'Flag Loggedin-only permissions'

Nov 9, 2023

XenForo treats logged out visitors ("Guests") and logged in but unconfirmed visitors ("Members") somewhat equal - they both get their permissions from usergroup Unregistered / Unconfirmed.

So when editing this usergroup there are many permissions like

• Use push notifiations
• Upload an avatar
• Upload a profile banner
• ...

that can (currently) only be applied to Members - they have no effect on Guests.

While it may be "logical" that some permissions can't be applied to guests, in some cases this is not so obvious and may cause confusion.

My suggestion is to...

• Kirby
• Replies: 1
• Forum: XenForo suggestions

• 

Upvoted.

Still unsure how this can pass as not a bug when Xenforo uses it on their own system though (again, I understand the account area and contact form is separate from the forum, but it sets some sort of precedence that Xenforo has the ability, especially with the permissions listed).

 

[Arnox]

Upvoted.

Still unsure how this can pass as not a bug when Xenforo uses it on their own system though (again, I understand the account area and contact form is separate from the forum, but it sets some sort of precedence that Xenforo has the ability, especially with the permissions listed).

What I'm guessing is that with attachments uploaded in the Contact area for XF forums, there's no current way to manage them, hence, attachments in the Contact area are disabled. With that said though, it is a little weird that one cannot control whether guests can attach anything to posts on the forums.

 

[Jeremy P]

They can say it's by design,

It is.

However, they can say it's a bug, but then if that were so, they should wipe all "bug" permissions that are by design from view, as in, you can't see those permissions for that group to even set.

The group is also used for unconfirmed users (or if you're doing something especially weird you can even explicitly set it on a user as a primary or secondary group). I can appreciate that it may be unclear what guests will never be able to do though, whether that's uploading files or reacting to posts.

 

[XF Bug Bot]

Thank you for reporting this issue, it has now been resolved. We are aiming to include any changes that have been made in a future XF release (2.3.4).

Change log:

Add a note about some permissions not being applicable to guests

There may be a delay before changes are rolled out to the XenForo Community.

 

[frm]

@Jeremy P
I can appreciate the note

Note that these permissions apply to both guests and unconfirmed members, and that guests may be prevented from taking certain actions regardless of the permissions set here.

But there is still a UX issue here in that we don't know which ones these apply to. There should be a (?) tooltip next to permissions that they don't apply to, and a way for third-party developers to set a flag on their custom permissions that they don't apply to.

Otherwise, we're still going in blindly with trial and error to determine which ones apply and which ones don't. This was a half-measure to take, in my humble opinion.

When the bug bot mentioned a note, I was expecting text below the permission Not applicable for unregistered (or another phrase or tooltip) at least on the unregistered group permissions page, not a note that we already learned from this report that some aren't applicable.