Hi Abbas,
GauGau kindly directed me to the original thread on Moderator and then this. From your orignal post, you stated:
Here is the album moderators mod for cpg 1.4.x. Admin can assign moderator group for each album from album properties page.
Moderators can do following things
- Approve uploads in that album
- Edit/Delete pics from that album
- Reset views counter/comments for that album
Moderators cannot edit the album itself i.e. they cannot delete the albums or edit their name/description and such other things.
Abbas.
I was wondering, is it too late (or at least consider for the further development of this feature) to have the "approval" and "delete" as two independent potential permissions delegated to a moderator? And, maybe just like in the Config panel -- to let the Admin decide to assign one or both permissions to a moderator. [In fact, at some point as a later development of this feature -- and the other permissions you indicated -- to have them in a Config table format so that the Admin will have the option to decide what permissions to the delgate to a Moderator.
You stated: "Moderators
cannot edit the album itself i.e. they cannot delete the albums or edit their name/description and such other things." But, before this, you stated: "li]Edit/Delete pics from that album[/li][/list]"
If you analyze both statements more carefully --
without any other safeguards in place -- a Mderator can technically delete one file at a time (or just check every file in an album for deletion. Thus, while (s)hemay not be able to delete the Album itself, a disgruntled Moderator can leave the category members with an empty photo album.[ This observation is based from the CPG1.4.4 that I am using right now.]
While they did not explain the underlying reason for their preference, I will surmise that the above potenntial scenario or some other undesirable possibilities were the reasons why n3n stated:
...Also i dont want normal users (not in the moderator group) to be able to delete any pictures, even if they uploaded them. ...
Two other people -- sgt_goomba and kfc -- and if you include me; there are at least four (4) who prefer quite strongly that the
"delete" permissions be one function that must be retained by the Admin.Once deleted it cannot be restored -- unless there is a backup mechanism in place. A proposition that will yet require another mod.
As a diclosure, three (3) forum participants -- cerberus, DefenceTalk.com and tanfwc -- supported the "edit/delete" permissions for the Moderator, without explaining why they chose that. I may be incorrect in my deduction but maybe it was because
both permissions were lumped as if they were indivisible permissions when you stated:
"li]Edit/Delete pics from that album[/li][/list]"
I wonder if they will join our camp -- to decouple these two powers -- if they realize the potential disaster that can ensue from an abuse of the "delete" power.
I do not know how complicated and how much work it will require to script, but one alternatice possibility is to develop a mechanism for the Moderator
to recommend to Admin that certain photos be deleted and the Admin will have the final say.
The concept is much like the :approval queue, excep that the reverse, i,e,, "deletion " is the goal of the mechanism to be instituted. Such a mechanism will be a great help ffrom the Moderator and relieve a lot of the preliminary editorial functions that would have fto be done by the Admin.
There could also be a fail-safe automated mechanism so that the number of already approved photos will not go below a certain minimum threshold. [This could be included in the "Config" also.]
Moreover, if this option for a Moderator --
to recommend to Admin to delete photos is adopted-- there must be some defined general guidelines. [These guidelines will not require any scripting but included in the "Guidelines of the photo gallery website. Here are some example rules (that I will define in my website):
(1) Recommend deletions only if the set limit in the number of photos in a category is near the maximum or already exceeded.
(2) Public albums must be managed so that it must not become a quasi-persomal album. To elaborate using an extreme case: Contributor A has 98 photos and Contributor B has the other two (2) -- in a max of 100 allowed. Even if the quality of the photos of "
B" are not good as that of
A, the deletion must come from
A.
(3) In some applications -- like taxonomy of plans, animals, microorganisms -- again using a extreme example, if there are 98 photos of ducks, swans and geese vs 2 pedestrian photos of a mountain lion and a cheetah, the deletion must come from the fowls.
(4) etc.
I have observed situations, in forums for example, when the power of a Moderator has gone to an individual's head, and they abuse the exercise "to delete" postings. This can create tension that can destroy a "community spirit". Similar scenarios can happen in moderated photo albums. That can spell doom in sites where contributions pf photos are voluntary rather tha compensated.
In the end, the extreme situation conjured here can usually be avoided, if the Administrator makes prudent judgement in selecting people who will serve as Moderators.
Finally, when granting these permissions, we must remember that it is far easier for the Admin to reverse an "approval" action but how can you reverse the finality of a "delete" action -- if the software does not have a fail-safe mechanism in place?
cgc0202
Author
Topic: Moderators for Album pictures (Read 159534 times)