PostNuke

The changes that you need to make are:

1. Register the module with the security system.

This requires to you modify the Version.php file and add a line describing the rules. For the Stats module, I added

$modversion['securityschema'] = array('Stats::' => '::');

Stats is there or it isn't. I'm not stopping certain functions although you could.

2. Modify the module's index.php file to make the security check. This takes the form of

if (!authorised(0, 'Stats::', '::', ACCESS_READ)) {
include 'header.php';
echo _VIEWSTATSNOAUTH;
include 'footer.php';
return;
}

You might need to move the header.php and footer.php includes around depending on what else is in the file. This code snippet is placed towards the top of the file before any other output is produced. Note the format matches what we just put into the Version.php file. It also includes a new language define. In this case _VIEWSTATSNOAUTH.

3. Add the error message to the modules local language files. In lang/eng/global.php add

define("_VIEWSTATSNOAUTH", "You are not authorised to view stastics.");

4. Create a permission restriction for whatever groups are necessary. In my case, I set

Unregistered | Stats:: | :: | None

5. Modify the menu and other links to hide the link from site.

The menu can be done through the permissions system by adding Stats to the entry already there.

The partnership will allow easy integration of OSI Codes' PHP Live! software with the PostNuke CMS. In turn, PostNuke will begin using the PHP Live! system on the site http://www.postnuke.com/. Additionally, the partnership will allow PostNuke users to simply plug-in PHP Live! directly to their PostNuke system and use the software free of charge through a web service residing on http://www.LivePeople.info/ . Free usage of PHP Live! is limited to users of PostNuke only.

PHP Live! is a web-based live customer support chat system which allows to provide support from any computer, anywhere. Usability of a website using PHP Live! and support structures will benefit and lead to reduced support efforts in the long run (since support will be optimized as so-called canned messages and actions are created, support staff will have much less typing to do and website visitors will find the information they need much faster). [See a list of PHP Live! features as an attachment]

Due to the popularity of the feature-rich CMS PostNuke and the live support software of OSI Codes a win-win situation not only for both partners, but also for the users of open source software and visitors of websites using the software comes into being. While PHP Live! is not distributed with PostNuke, only the module for easy integration with PHP Live! is shipped with PostNuke. The actual service will be provided by http://www.livepeople.info/. PostNuke users will get a service for free that starts at $300 monthly at comparable competitors.

John Cox John.Cox@postnuke.com
Sascha Endlicher Sascha.Endlicher@livepeople.info


[Attachment: List of PHP Live! Features]

Text Chat - Web site visitors simply click a button to instantly join a text chat with the website staff. No Java or additional software needed. Support staff can handle multiple requests. Support staff may also be assigned to multiple departments which could reflect possible overlap of positions / activities.

Push Pages - Instantly send visitors directly to the pages they're looking for.

Real Time Traffic Monitoring - Operators have the ability to see visitors from where they enter the chat, track what pages they visit, which time zone they are in and further information of the client side software.

Custom Buttons - Websites may have customized buttons that match their corporate identity. Online/Offline icons are available too, so if no staff members are present, an appropriate icon will appear and users will be prompted to leave a message.

Pull - Proactively offer users help with the click of a button.

Departments - Divide staff into departments allowing calls to be routed to the most appropriate person.

Advanced Call Routing / Load Balancing - Calls are intelligently routed based on department, status and call volume allowing staff to be used as efficiently as possible. Also, request polling from operator to operator is available: if one operator does not pickup, it will poll to the next automatically.

Canned Text Messages - Save time and ensure consistency by storing common responses for fast access.

Transfer - Operators can transfer a customer to any other operator logged onto the system.

Chat Transcripts - Review the transcripts of any chat that takes place on site online 24 hours a day to check for consistency and quality. Transcripts may also be searched. Further on, there are daily request and chat reports.

Stats - View advanced statistics information about both customers and operators.

Hyperlinks - Include click-able links to more information in text chats.

Images - Use images in text chats to show users screen shots.

Canned actions - Include HTML elements (i.e. hyperlinks and images) and formatting in text chats.

Sound Request Alert: Support staff may hear a sound alert when a user requests help.

E-Mail Signature - Allow visitor fast access to staff by adding buttons to html-email signatures

First of all I made a new Main Menu (in one language, not All) without displaying the Modules and I named it "Main Menu". If you name it differently, you have to name it the same in the "instance", too (see below).

Next thing I did was:

- make some hyperlinks viewable to the admin only. The only thing I had to do was modify (Administration Menu - Permissions - Group - View Permissions) the "instance" of the second default group permission (All groups || Menublock:: || Main Menu:Administration: || None) from instance:
Main Menu:Administration:
to instance:
Main Menu:(Administration|Forum|Members List|Sections|Stats|Top):

This way only the Administrator saw the hyperlinks to Administration, Forum, Members List, Sections, Stats, and Top, the way I wanted it.

- secondly I wanted registered users to see some extra hyperlinks so I modified (Administration Menu - Permissions - Group - View Permissions) the "instance" of the fourth default group permission (Unregistered || Menublock:: || Main Menu:(My Account|Logout): || None) from instance:
Main Menu:(My Account|Logout):
to instance:
Main Menu:(My Account|Logout|Search|Submit News):

This way only the Administrator saw the hyperlinks to Administration, Forum, Members List, Sections, Stats, and Top, the way I wanted it.


So far, so good. However, making a hyperlink invisible doesn't mean it's inaccessible! For example: if you are not an admin, the Members List hyperlink will not be visible to you in the Main Menu(in the above example) but if you know the URL to the Members List (http://www.anysite.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Members_List&file=index), you could see it even as an unregistered user!

So I went on to try to make the Members List inaccessible to everyone except to Admins(s). I didn't succeed yet. Maybe someone can help? I tried the following permission:

- All groups || Modules:Members List: || .* || None

and put it in third position (from top) but that didn't work. I also tried:

- All groups || Members List:: || .* || None

but that didn't work either... If someone could help me out here, I'd be happy to document it and make it available to the community.

Something that kept me wondering, too, is that when I log into my PN 0.7* site, I cannot vote in my poll. When I log in, I can vote. Obviously this has something to do with permissions but nowhere in the default installation is there any permission that has a "Poll::" component in it!? Why's that?


Furthermore I have some suggestions:

1. Is it just me or is permissions difficult? There's just not a whole lot of examples on Permissions either, is there? First place I looked is in the Online manual (included in PN :-) which is quite good and technical, on docs.postnuke.com and in Permissions for Newbies (thanks to mrherald) but I still couldn't find what I was looking for.

2. Could more groups be included in a default PN installation? Perhaps 5 (or so) levels could be created from Visitor (unregistered), to Junior Member (registered), to Senior Member to Admin? (Just an example.) The only thing absolute beginners would have to do is add users to the correct group, they would not have to worry about (1) creating permissions and (2) having them in the correct order. Titus proposed something similar like that here.

3. Could some of the developpers perhaps include more examples in the Online Manual?

4. Could you setup a forum dedicated to Permissions or a FAQ (Post - Nuke Permissions) or both? I would be happy to add some questions and replies to that FAQ once I get the hang of it!

Reginald.

Footnote: 1

Can you please compile a seperate release of the latest postnuke version set up with the directory structure and sql in place for people that want to take advantage of this feature.

This way we can use it as an example to go by.

I as well as many others that have left posts in the forums and in the irc chat room can not completely figure out what we are to do to make this happen.

I think since the developer of this feature knows what he/she is doing that them creating a distribution that is specific to multisites functionality is the best and easiest solution.

I don't think I am alone in this and hope you will seriously consider this as a viable solution.

I think this will also cut down on the support time that it takes to field and answer all the questions concerning multisites. So in the long run the developers can continue working on their present projects rather than having to take time away from them to answer all our questions.

It seems that the only person that really knows what is going on with the multisite feature is the developer/creator of this feature.

The multisite feature is a really great idea I only wish I fully understood what to do to get it working.

Thanks for any assistance and I really appreciate all the great work that the developers are doing.

Richard Wing

Here's what I have observed. Agree or disagree as you wish. Please don't flame me (I'm human too!).

0) There is a level or resentment/hostility within the O/S community towards organisations which are interested in 'commercialising' the purity of O/S.

1) Certain Open Source (O/S) projects are outstanding in the level of commitment and contribution and development from a wide range of parties (amateurs, hobbyists, enthusiasts, commercial interests, community groups etc.). PN is certainly a remarkable 'upgrade' from the closed PHP-Nuke circuit, has suceeded in delivering a teriffic rewrite and code cleanup, great new features and a new version every 12 weeks or so with lots of improvements - it is going places and in the right direction.

2) There is not widespread adoption or support of Open Source products in a corporate/commercial environment. To a substantial extent there is ignorance of the existance of quality software other than through traditional vendors of proprietary solutions. How do you submit a Tender Document or RFP to the Open Source community?

3) The GPL's protection of 'without warranty' is appropriate to enable the development and use of O/S applications [in the public domain] while ensuring that there are no warranties expresssed or implied on the part of the authors. WYSIWYG! This is not an acceptable level of 'support' for a business critical application and is what scares most corporates away from even investigating the O/S route. In reality there is not much better 'protection' afforded by proprietary vendors/licenses but they are used to those and do not look as deeply as they should. At the end of the day they think, regardless of the legal protection of a license, "I paid the guy to do X, he didn't, get him in and whip his ass". As a paying consumer you have independent rights to protect your investment - the absense of contract or payment means you take what you get and shut up if you are not happy.

4) Because it is 'public' and 'open to anybody' to adopt/present Open Source solutions and because the 'barriers to entry' are so low (free) - anybody can set up shop and 'sell' O/S products and support. This is fine, but the lack of viable commercial model (i.e. revenue stream) on the part of many sole-traders/consultants is not reassuring the commercial world as to the practicality of considering O/S - this is the so-called 'Geek Factor'. The 'Geek Factor' is the most difficult marketing message for commercial proponents of O/S to counteract. Wear a wolly jumper, work from home, grow a beard, write O/S, sell mugs and caps on your website so that you can buy pizza and beer. Suits like to deal with other suits, in person, eye-to-eye.

5) No large corporate would consider adopting an Open Source product unless (a) there was a team [not an individual] of developers/support people in house with the skills OR (b) there was an external software house with the skills and a team [not an individual].

6) Free software is only value for money in the up-front licensing sense. The "cost of ownership" models (service, maintenance, adaptation) which apply to proprietary software still are the same if a corporation is adopting an Open Source product to use.

What we (proponents of O/S philosophy) need to make clear is that ...

=================

1) We are going to make money selling and supporting this. If we don't make money we won't be in business for long and the support will cease. Problem. The profit motive is a compelling case.

2) We have a team of developers/support personnel. The one-man-band is not viable for 'critical' applications. Most corporates regard the website as critical and also any services which are web-based. You have to be able to provide a credible SLA (service level agreement) and have the capacity and depth to meet the commitments.

3) There is no "Mickey Mouse" pass-off of responsibility (as defined in the GPL). In the GPL you take the software 'without warranty' etc.. A business will need better than that if it is to depend on the applications. This is the most essential clause in the GPL (to protect an author from any form of liability or responsibility). I know that most 'proprietary' product License Agreements actually make the same pass-off of liability/responsibility but they are not as blatant and people/organisations feel that there is some leverage with a vendor who is getting paid for software to ensure that it meets the documented functionality.

4) They are going either (a) to save money or (b) get better systems/service i.e. value by going down the proposed O/S route. The initial 'savings' are only valid if the total cost of ownership (TCO) shows savings.

5) No medium-large company will want to adopt a system if it contains a single critical point of failure. While the co-operative model may be 'nice' it breaks down if I can't sue a vendor of substance if they mess up. This is why it is difficult, even with small companies, to be successful at outsourcing software development or support if you are a 1-man-band. The exception is where there are clearly defined projects which can be outsourced and where there is the in-house team to take over at completion/delivery.

6) There are other benefits to O/S software which are somewhat more intangible but of value - especially the availability of the source code so that the traditional 'golden handcuffs' syndrome with proprietary vendors is not a factor.

Conclusion:
What is really boils down to, I believe, is that the real assessment of whether a solution is a GOOD SOLUTION is more dependant on the party proposing than the software itself. I (personally) sold accounting systems for years with lots of happy clients. Other resellers of the same product had lots of unhappy clients. Same product, different service, different customer experience.

My favourite line.. "Good, quick and cheap; which 2 do you want?". Quality, Responsivness and Cost are intrinsically linked in the real world.

Here's what we (Experience IT) would like to achieve:-

===============

1) To be able to tap into the expertise in the general community with parties who do not wish to have 'customers' only projects that pay fairly from time to time.
2) Be able to call on some of the core development team (email or otherwise) for that special level of support (from time to time) as might be required (and pay for the service).
3) Be able to work with specialists in areas (e.g. theme designers/graphics artists) who would be prepared to accept a brief and agree a fair price for the work.
4) Have a means to 'give-back' either through donation, revenue share, code share, hosting or other tangible form of support to the community which created such wonderful products.

Would i need to convert the code, or could anything similar be adapted from current pn releases?????

Footnote: 1

Footnote: 1