Users and Groups

At the heart of XOOPS main functions is a robust user management system. Going back to our mall metaphor, it’s like saying the XOOPS mall allows the mall administrator to present different visitors a different mall depending on who they are. A XOOPS administrator can build a site that offers nothing to some users, part of the content to other users, and all the content to still other users.

Since XOOPS was born out of systems designed to build online communities, its user functionalities reflect this past. XOOPS allows the site administrator to define as many groups of users as deemed necessary.

By default, XOOPS is configured with three groups of users: anonymous users, which have direct access to whatever the administrator configures as visible for them; registered users, which usually have access to more content once they log in the site; and webmasters, which have management roles over different parts of the site. The site’s administrator can give users of this group differential control over some of the modules. The site manager can search for users by different criteria, as well as send mail messages or private messages to groups or subgroups of users.

As to users, they have access to their profile, have some control over most of the information that will be visible to other users, and have also an inbox to receive private messages from the site administrator or from other users. They have besides control over what changes in the site will trigger personal notifications. And depending on the permissions set by the site manager, they can see content and participate in the site’s life by uploading content, writing stories or comments, rating content and in general giving their feedback to what they see on the site.

Summing this up, XOOPS gives the site manager a lot of control over how the site’s users are grouped, and also over what can specific groups see and do in specific areas of the site.