ACL in Joomla 1.6 at #jd11nl

Sander  Potjer  Webdesigntwi$er:  @sanderpotjerweb:  www.sanderpotjer.nl

Joomla! 1.6 ACLSander Potjer

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

About me

• Co-founder of JoomlaCommunity.eu

• Organizer Joomla!Days Netherlands

• Organizer Joomla! User Groups in The Netherlands

• Company: Sander Potjer Webdesign

• Yireo/Jira ICT

• Student Architecture

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

It took a while...

• http://www.slideshare.net/JohanJanssens/drupalcon-2005-joomla-drupal-and-you-presentation

DrupalCon, October 2005Johan Janssens

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

• ACL = Access Control List

• Access to parts of the website– e.g. menu / module visibility– “view” action

• User actions on objects– e.g. create / edit / delete article

ACL?!

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

• 7 fixed Groups– Public, Registered, Author, Editor,

Publisher, Manager, Administrator and Super-Administrator

– Hierarchical structure

• User can be assigned to one group

• Unlimited Groups– user-defined– not hierarchical

• User can be assigned to multiple groups

ACL in Joomla! 1.5 & 1.6 (Access)

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

• 3 fixed Access Levels– Public, Registered and Special

• Fixed relation between Groups and Access Levels

• Unlimited Access Levels– user-defined

• Any combination of Groups can be assigned to any Access Level

ACL in Joomla! 1.5 & 1.6 (Access)

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

ACL in Joomla! 1.5 & 1.6 (Actions)

• Fixed Actions per group– Create / edit / delete /

admin access / etc.

• Permission scope for entire site– Same permission for all objects

• Permission inheritance not applicable

• http://brian.teeman.net/joomla-gps/joomla-15-acl-explained.html

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

ACL in Joomla! 1.5 & 1.6 (Actions)

• http://brian.teeman.net/joomla-gps/joomla-15-acl-explained.html

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

• Fixed Actions per group– Create / edit / delete /

admin access / etc.

• Permission scope for entire site– Same permission for all objects

• Permission inheritance not applicable

• User defined Actions per group

– Create / edit / delete / admin access / etc.

• Permission scope at multiple levels

– Site, Component, Category, Object

• Permission can be inherited

– from parent Groups and parent Categories

ACL in Joomla! 1.5 & 1.6 (Actions)

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

Joomla! 1.6 ACL Overview

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

Joomla 1.6 ACL Overview

• http://community.joomla.org/blogs/community/1252-16-acl.html

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

Joomla 1.6 ACL Overview

• http://community.joomla.org/blogs/community/1252-16-acl.html

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

Joomla 1.6 ACL: User• Guest is also a

user

• Users can be assigned to one or several groups

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

Joomla 1.6 ACL Overview

• http://community.joomla.org/blogs/community/1252-16-acl.html

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

Joomla 1.6 ACL: Permissions• Assigned to group (not to a user!)

• 9 Actions– Site Login– Admin Login– Super Admin– Access Component– Create– Delete– Edit– Edit State– Edit Own

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

Joomla 1.6 ACL Overview

• http://community.joomla.org/blogs/community/1252-16-acl.html

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

Joomla 1.6 ACL: Groups

• Users with same permissions

• User can be in multiple groups

• Inherit permissions from parent groups

• Unlimited (sub-)groups

• Keep it simple! Only use nested groups if needed

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

Joomla 1.6 ACL Overview

• http://community.joomla.org/blogs/community/1252-16-acl.html

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

Joomla 1.6 ACL: Access Level

• Which group can view what (article, menu, module, etc.)

• Permissions are not inherited between Access Levels

• Even Super Users can not view content onfrontend

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

Joomla 1.6 ACL Overview

• http://community.joomla.org/blogs/community/1252-16-acl.html

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

Permissions

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

How Permissions work

• 4 possible permission settings

– Not Set

– Inherited

– Allowed

– Denied

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

How Permissions work• Not set

– ‘soft’ deny– can be overridden by ‘Allowed’ or ‘Denied’

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

How Permissions work• Inherited

– value from a parent permission level– value from a parent user group– can be overridden by ‘Allowed’ or ‘Denied’

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

How Permissions work• Allowed

– action for current permission level and lower levels– action for current user group and child groups– can be overridden by ‘Denied’

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

How Permissions work• Denied

– action for current permission level and lower levels– action for current user group and child groups– can’t be overridden at all– always win!

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

Permission Hierarchy Levels

• Level 1: Global configuration – default permissions settings for actions for a group

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

Permissions: Global Configuration (Level 1)

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

Permission Hierarchy Levels

• Level 1: Global configuration – default permissions settings for actions for a group

• Level 2: Component Options – can override the permissions of Level 1

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

Permissions: Component Options (Level 2)

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

Permissions: Component Options (Level 2)

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

Permission Hierarchy Levels

• Level 1: Global configuration – default permissions settings for actions for a group

• Level 2: Component Options – can override the permissions of Level 1

• Level 3: Category – can override the permissions of Level 1 & Level 2– available for components with categories (Articles, Banners, etc...)

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

Permissions: Category (Level 3)

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

Permissions: Category (Level 3)

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

Permission Hierarchy Levels

• Level 1: Global configuration – default permissions settings for actions for a group

• Level 2: Component Options – can override the permissions of Level 1

• Level 3: Category – can override the permissions of Level 1 & Level 2– available for components with categories (Articles, Banners, etc...)

• Level 4: Item – can override the permissions of Level 1 & Level 2 & Level 3– only available for articles in Joomla 1.6 core

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

Permissions: Item (Level 4)

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

Permissions: Item (Level 4)

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

Permission Hierarchy Levels• Level 1: Global configuration

– default permissions settings for actions for a group

• Level 2: Component Options – can override the permissions of Level 1

• Level 3: Category – can override the permissions of Level 1 & Level 2– available for components with categories (Articles, Banners, etc...)

• Level 4: Item – can override the permissions of Level 1 & Level 2 & Level 3– only available for articles in Joomla 1.6 core

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

Permission Hierarchy Levels• Level 1: Global configuration

– default permissions settings for actions for a group

• Level 2: Component Options – can override the permissions of Level 1

• Level 3: Category – can override the permissions of Level 1 & Level 2– available for components with categories (Articles, Banners, etc...)

• Level 4: Item – can override the permissions of Level 1 & Level 2 & Level 3– only available for articles in Joomla 1.6 core

• Override permissions of higher levels only works if permission setting is not ‘Denied’!

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

Inheriting example for ‘Create’ action

• http://www.theartofjoomla.com/home/5-commentary/84-introducing-the-new-permissions-in-joomla-16.html

Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

Level 4

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

• http://www.theartofjoomla.com/home/5-commentary/84-introducing-the-new-permissions-in-joomla-16.html

Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

Level 4

Inheriting example for ‘Create’ action

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

• http://www.theartofjoomla.com/home/5-commentary/84-introducing-the-new-permissions-in-joomla-16.html

Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

Level 4

Inheriting example for ‘Create’ action

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

• http://www.theartofjoomla.com/home/5-commentary/84-introducing-the-new-permissions-in-joomla-16.html

Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

Level 4

Inheriting example for ‘Create’ action

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

• http://www.theartofjoomla.com/home/5-commentary/84-introducing-the-new-permissions-in-joomla-16.html

Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

Level 4

Inheriting example for ‘Create’ action

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

Available Permissions and Levelsfor a Group of Users

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

Action: Edit State

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

ACL Managerfor Joomla! 1.6

by Sander Potjer

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

ACL Manager for Joomla! 1.6

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

ACL Manager for Joomla! 1.6

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

ACL Manager for Joomla! 1.6

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

ACL Manager for Joomla! 1.6

www.aclmanager.net

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

Debug Permissions

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

Debug Permissions

• Turn on the ‘Debug System’ in the Global Configuration

• Go to ‘User Manager’ or ‘Groups’

• Click on ‘Debug Permission Report’ next to the User or User Group

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

Debug Permissions

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

• Disadvantage: need to turn ‘Debug System’

Debug Permissions

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

Plan your ACL implementation

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

Describe the problem

• Most of the website is public available, specific content only for a group of users (e.g. teachers & students)

• A teacher can see content specifically for teachers, all student content and all public content

• Students can see content specifically for students and all public content

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

Viewing or action problem?

• Define the problem, is it a viewing problem or action problem (create/delete/edit/etc..)? Or both?

• Viewing: define the Viewing Access Levels

• Access: define the permissions for the actions

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

Think ahead! Maintenance?

• Structure your content properly to handle the permissions

• Make usage of parent categories with nested categories with same permissions

• No need to set permissions per article

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

Some Notes

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

User in multiple groups

• Class 1– Allowed on edit ‘Class 1’ category– Denied on edit ‘Class 2’ category

• Class 2– Allowed on edit ‘Class 2’ category– Denied on edit ‘Class 1’ category

• User in Class 1 & Class 2 group– Denied on edit ‘Class 1’ category– Denied on edit ‘Class 1’ category– Denied always win– Solution: don’t use denied (soft deny)

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

What if I locked myself out? :-)

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

What if I locked myself out? :-)• No need to access your database

• Open your configuration.php and add:– public $root_user = 'username';

• You can login again and perform all actions

• Great for playing around with the new ACL

• Don’t forget to remove the $root_user line!

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

Practical ACL Tips

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

ACL Tips

• Write down your ACL requirements for a website before implementing

• Joomla 1.5 User Groups are for backward compatibility in Joomla 1.6, you may remove them!

• Use multi-nested Groups only if needed / know what you are doing(so inheriting value only between levels, not groups as well)

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

ACL Tips

• Assign User Group with backend access to a Viewing Access Level

• Keep flexible for lower permission levels/groups: Avoid the ‘Denied’ permission setting as long as possible

• Idea: Make a Group for each Action so you can assign actions directly to a user

Joomla! 1.6 ACL

Resources• http://www.yireo.com/tutorials/joomla/joomla-administration/402-joomla-16-

acls-1-marketing-group• http://community.joomla.org/blogs/community/1252-16-acl.html• http://docs.joomla.org/ACL_Tutorial_for_Joomla_1.6• http://docs.joomla.org/Access_Control_System_In_Joomla_1.6• http://www.theartofjoomla.com/home/5-commentary/84-introducing-the-new-

permissions-in-joomla-16.html• http://www.theartofjoomla.com/home/38-talks/101-the-joomla-16-video-

access-controls.html• http://www.aclmanager.net