[2.3] Assign Namespaces to a Category

[mindeffects]

There are days in the life of a decent MODXpert, when he gets asked by a client to change some sort of "translation", "system setting" or whatever. That happens like every day. The usual response is (spoken out loud): "Sure, no thing." but honestly he/she thinks (silently): "C'mon, that's just SUCH a simple task that they should/could do themselves!". But clients cannot do this themselves because we don't dare to let them near "System Settings" or the "Lexicon(s)".

But what if Namespaces could be assigned to a Category? Wow, think of that: Clients changes those setting they are allowed to change, because they cannot break anything. They can now edit translations for those little asides headline you used in a carefully crafted chunk. Clients could change stuff just like they can change some of their user setting.

Just create a namespace e.g. "clientstuff" with an empty "core path" and an "assets path" pointing to "{assets_path}assets/clientstuff/" and a category "Client editable". Done. Now, when a client enters the "System Settings" he only sees the settings he is allowed to change. Same for the Lexicon: only the translations he should be able to do on his own are visible.

Yes, we all want that, right? Please comment and "vote" for this idea to become reality in MODX 2.3!

[exside]

Would be nice =), but probably quite a lot of work to make this work no?

[mindeffects]

Don't know, but I guess, it is "just" a check and a filter.
Ryan thinks it's a good thing, but more people have to "voice a need" for such a feature.

[dannevang]

+1 on that

[StevenMorgan]

+1 solid use case.

Don't care if it's 2.3 or a future release. Suggest Priority should be low and milestone changed as it missed the feature freeze deadline referenced on Roadmap.

[mindeffects]

I think that @rthrash just liked the idea, @StevenMorgan. After checking with "the guys" they will decide if and how it could be implemented. Should happen this week. Then the priority will get adjusted.

[StevenMorgan]

Great. Agreed it's a great idea - just needs a home in the "roadmap".

[Mark-H]

Aren't namespaces sort of categories already? Maybe I'm not fully understanding this one..

[mindeffects]

Well, @Mark-H, why did you write "ClientConfig"? ;-) Normally clients don't get access to the "system settings" where they could change some website-wide settings. They cannot be limited to a certain area, so they either see "everything" or "northing". Same is true for lexicons: All or none.

At this point the categories could kick in: You can limit user groups to access only certain elements (chunks, tvs etc.) belonging to a category. The same mechanism could be applied to "namespaces" to achieve a similar effect: You can allow some user to access a part of the system settings, where they find the stuff they are allowed to change.
Same with the lexicons. Clients could edit their translation themselves and would not have to bother the admin with things like "Could you please change 'Thanks!' into 'Thank you very much!'.

[StevenMorgan]

As I understand it this approach is frequently used with Element categories to provide access to certain Chunks, but hide tpl focussed Chunks for example.

[Mark-H]

Ah okay, so this is less about adding actual categories to namespaces, but more about being able of limiting what namespaces can be accessed in lexicon management and system settings. Gotcha.

In that case, I would say we don't need to add categories to elements, but add access controls (or perhaps an easier mechanism to control access) to namespaces.

[mindeffects]

Yes, @StevenMorgan, exactly. But now with "namespaces" to hide some of the dangerous stuff whilst keeping the harmless stuff available for some users.
The idea is not "100% pure" but I wanted to use functionalities that are already there – to minimise the coding work.
@Mark-H : If this would be possible with ACLs instead: perfect! Still, there must be a field in the namespace to define which ACLs have to be accessible. Right? Since many users are somehow "not so good friends" with the ACLs, this mechanism should be "easy to understand". ;-)

[theboxer]

@mindeffects I would prefer to add a tab to the User group panel (similar as context access, RG access), where you will be able to specify level (can see lexicons in that namespace, can see system settings in that namespace, etc.) for group & role to access the namespace

[mindeffects]

@theboxer : Well played. THAT would be the king's solution! I bow down before you, Sir! ;-)

[bequadrat]

Just needed exactly this feature for a multilingual website, and @mindeffects pointed me here. So +1 me on that :-)

[mindeffects]

Hi John ( @theboxer ),
another MODX user just asked how to give customers access to just one lexicon to enable them to edit their translations.
Do you have any insight views on this topic and your latest comment (issuecomment-45142354)?
Thanks
Oliver

[Mark-H]

This was resolved in #12354