It is common for an online community to have sophisticated access models for their individual forums. In our case, we may end up creating a forum for the Executive Committee of the Board which can be used only by those members who are part of that committee. Separately, there might be a forum for the rest of the board to use for their communications.Security and access in our system is managed through the concept of a user “role” or group. When a user is created, they can be added to the appropriate roles to gain access to the appropriate set of forums. Additionally, access can be controlled on several levels for each forum or forum. Role access options that can be controlled are the ability to view, read, post, reply, vote, and attach files. Here is a breakdown of what those settings mean:
· View: User can see that the forum exists.
· Read: User can read the contents of the forum.
· Post: User can add new posts or conversations to the forum.
· Reply: User can reply to posts or conversations in the forum.
· Vote: User can create and participate in polls that are posted in the forum.
· Attach: User can add an attachment to their replies.
The Role structure we have implemented assumes a cascading set of access privileges based on the actual role that a user may have within the APA. For example, all members will have access to view, read, post, reply, vote, and attach to all General Member forums. Additionally they may be able to view and read all Assembly forums, but not post, reply, vote, or attach. Above the general member role, would be the Assembly role. Users in the assembly role will have full access to all member forums and additional access to Assembly specific forums. Here is the model we are currently using for cascading access:
· Public: This role is not used, but it is important to understand that all forums are closed to the public.
· Member: This is the lowest access role allowing users in that role to have full access to all general member forums in addition to the ability to view and read other forums where appropriate.
· Assembly: This is role will have all the access of the Member role and additional full access to general assembly forums.
· Assembly Committee Roles: These roles will allow users to have all the access of the Assembly role and add access to additional forums specific to the committee they may be a member of. ACOP is one of these roles.
· BoT: This role is intended for members of the Board of Trustees and will have full access to all assembly forums, member forums, and general BoT forums.
· BoT Executive Committee: Intended to be used by members of the Executive Committee of the Board, this role will have full access to all forums in the site.
· Staff: This role is intended to be used for the staff of the APA. Staff will have access to all member and assembly forums.
· Executive Staff: This role is for the APA’s executive team and will have access to all forums except the BoT Executive Council forum. The CEO / MDO will be also have access to this forum.
· Admin: This role is reserved for site administrators and will have full access to all forums. Access to this role is extremely limited.
Users can be members of multiple roles, allowing access any forum that requires their participation. There is no limit to the number of roles or the number of forums in the system. Primary Roles will be used to broadly categorize users based on their highest level of participation and will display a graphic badge next to posts indicating the primary role that the user is a member of.
William Bruce
Chief Information Officer
American Psychiatric Association