6 moderators... admins - 17 days without any support - Permissions

6 moderators, I don’t know how many admins.
17 days without any support is a bit sad and disappointing.

It seems like the admins and moderators here are very shy.
I will not mention the developers because they are very busy, sensitive, and fragile people.

Don’t be like that. There’s no reason.
Be more open, you are very valuable, but the current state is not very user-friendly.

Lack of communication with the user - this is something that kills every project.
I am writing this as a user.

To be clear, I have no intention of offending any of you.

I’m just trying to understand how the permissions system should work, because the documentation for this is very poor and scattered all over the site, not to mention it’s outdated, and some links go nowhere or in the wrong places.

I tried to contact you privately: @EvanCooper 17 days ago, @Myq 2 weeks ago - no response, I don’t want to judge it, but it’s unprofessional to say the least.

Nevertheless,
I managed to find (thanks to the archeo* Wayback Machine) a few missing elements that are on the page, but for some incomprehensible reason not connected into one meaningful whole.

The methodology described by @Myq is useful - it works, but… see below

if you are trying to set up a workflow see here

These are the most valuable links (the latter is outdated as far as UI is concerned)
That’s all you need to know - the rest either leads to a 404 or adds nothing that is obvious

(the movie Writer/Editor workflow for large teams better not watch, it will mess with your head)

Still, important things are missing.

  • For example, adding to the archive - that is, where exactly? where is this archive?
  • What about the request to delete the page? How do I know which page the writer wants to delete? The previous version clearly indicated this, so why not now?
  • How to enable messaging between team members?

3 in one.

What works:

The notification system itself within the basic workflow works, but it probably leaves a lot to be desired
That’s all that works.


End story.

This is working badly or not working at all:

  • For example, the approval system – you can write and write - I do it below

There are only three states, what can go wrong?

  • Review - how does it work / what is it for? It seems like nothing, because what is a review when you can’t add comments or remarks?

  • Deny - when we do not allow changes, how to inform the writer that he has to correct something, the rejection does not bring anything except that it is rejected, should we call him or write why we rejected his work?

  • Aprove - this is the worst - when we approve it, why does it automatically publish the page? The fact that this is how it works can be found very deeply hidden in the editor section - why isn’t it mentioned earlier? This is quite important information because approval leads to immediate publication, bypassing schedule or other modes.

Surprised? Me too.

  • Communication between people involved in the content creation process writer/editor is terrible and with many writers/editors it is even more so (here the free @JohntheFish block can come in handy - Editor Comment - I still check this block on several installations, because I noticed some inconvenience - I will contact you, @JohntheFish, when I confirm it)

ATTENTION!
Sharing the sitemap with authors/editors allows them to change it, i.e. move pages to other places, even with restrictions.


I could be wrong of course, but it’s based on the provided documentation and experiments with the settings. So if there are things that Concrete CMS doesn’t agree with, I’d love to hear them and see how to do it right. This will be valuable knowledge for all of us.

I think this forum thread is perfect to clear our doubts and then complete the documentation.

ps. Version 8 probably had a better-structured information architecture when it comes to documentation, your UX “designer” should see that. Put him on Hotjat, for example.

pps. recently there have been a lot of articles about how easy it is to manage teamwork in Concrete CMS, I would love to pass it on, but for now, it’s just an “Easter” empty shell.

Let’s clear up some misunderstanding of the role of a moderators and administrators

The role of a moderator is to moderate. Not to answer. Within these forums that mainly involves removing spam. The role of an administrator is to administer the technical running of the forums. Both roles are not to answer questions.

Administrators are all staff at Portland Labs. Some moderators are staff from Portland Labs. Others are just user’s of the forums who over time have done a lot to help and so the folks at Portland have assigned them moderator capabilities.

Most folks here like to be helpful. If a question remains unanswered, it is usually because those who have read it do not know the answer. Sometimes it is because the question is not clear, in which case the usual response is to ask for clarification. Sometime it is because the scope of the question is just too big.

Sometimes it is because it takes time for an answer. Sometimes it is because a question has dropped off the top of the list, so a weekly ‘bump’ can bring it back to attention.

Portland Labs has a policy of checking for unanswered questions every week or so and filling in the gaps where time permits. But that is not moderation or administration.

Very occasionally a question is unanswered because it is just plain lazy along the lines that “I can’t be bothered to do my homework, so someone here can do it for me”. Very occasionally, its because a question is asked in a belligerent way or the user asking has built a reputation for shooting the messenger, so those in the know have learned not to get drawn in. “Don’t feed the troll”.

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@ampersand Yes, just to underscore what @JohntheFish is saying here - We administrate and moderate, and I will generally go through and look at posts as time permits and see if I can help with 0 reply posts and make sure conversations are being conducted in a manner that adheres to the code of conduct, which I recommend everyone review to get reacquainted with the expectations for posting on the forums, particularly item #4.

We do not individually respond to DM’s requesting calls, just to be clear. It’s not a matter of professionalism, we just don’t have the resources to respond to every user who would like a call.

We always appreciate passionately engaged users, but do require folks to follow the code of conduct in posting.

So, the developers were warned many years ago about fragmenting the support away from these forums and onto Slack. There is STILL an ongoing discussion about how to re-invigorate the volunteer help in these forums. Personally, I have retired so I’m no longer up to speed but IMO, the lack of responses is directly tied to the failed migration away from these forums. My understanding is that the majority of the input given on the topic supported a return to these forums as a single authoritative source. How’s that comin’ along?

@mhawke Slack is dead and gone. These forums are now the place to be!

I try to answer as much as I can on the forum. Where stuff is beyond me I I don’t bother as it not my place.

Recently I have found chatGPT a great way of finding stuff out about the core and how to program certain things I am working on.

I also use this so useful
https://documentation.concrete5.org/api/

@JohntheFish
Thank you for your reply.
It brings a whole new light into what this forum is for and under what conditions it functions.

As I understand it, feedback can appear, but it doesn’t have to.

It’s a bit weird from a user’s point of view, but if you say so, and you’ve been here a long time, I assume you know better. Now at least I know where I stand. This is a clear and distinct point.

Yes, it’s true that many people here are helpful - I’ve never denied that.
Many do it completely selflessly out of the desire to help, although they did not commit themselves to it, as I can see above, apparently, the moderators and admins also do not obligate to. Now is clear.

A lack of knowledge on the question posed is like a logical explanation for the lack of an answer. I also understand the other reasons you cited.

I have a slightly different experience and looking at the statistics of views of other people’s posts (especially new users) with no response, I have the impression that it’s a bit different and I’m sure I’m not the only one who sees it. Which makes me think that this mechanism is failing.

Unless we accept the statement as above - the forum is not for this.

Thank you also for explaining Portland Labs’ screening policy.

I will ignore the rest.

Once again thank you and have a nice day.

@EvanCooper
Thank you for your input, it’s valuable, as always.
As I understand it, the principles described by John have now also been officially confirmed.

I didnt realise you do not respond to private messages - thanks for this information.
Can I ask two more questions?

  • How as a simple user can I get knowledge on how to use / configure Concrete CMS?
  • Do you provide some support in this case with SAAS?

When it comes to ethical and professional behavior on the forum (avoiding conflicts of interest in particular) - I agree with you 100%.

@mhawke @enlil , thanks for comment.

@TMDesigns
I know you help, many do and it is invaluable, thank you.

I am a regular user who would like to use the product out of the box - nothing more. Unfortunately, I don’t know how.


Once again, for the sake of clarity, I will write - it is not my intention to offend anyone, let alone enter into any personal disputes.

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