Community ACL

[karossii]

Hello, I am looking to add multiple types of membership and content access control to two joomla based websites I am designing... Can you verify for me if your plugin(s) will work for my needs?

• The first website is the simpler of the two, I only need two membership levels; the general public will have access to the basic site but not able to see the majority of the content. A registered member (paid membership) can see more content, both articles as well as menu items/modules. A 'VIP' member (higher costing paid membership) can see all content, again more articles as well as more menu items/modules. If possible, I would like to hide some of the lower level content from the higher levels, though not a requirement... as an example, the non member public will see an ad including prices for services/goods, and the paid members will see another ad with better prices; so I'd like to hide the 'public' ad from them, to prevent confusion. And the 'VIP' members will have a third ad with even lower prices, so I would prefer they not see the ad for the public or for the normal paid members... if this is not possible, I can just hope they will understand they will get the best prices from all of the ads they can see...
• The second website is much more involved; and complex.
     1. First, I need to have two categories of members, with two levels to each category. I want to have members of one category (let's call them "customers") have read-only access, and the articles/pages/modules they can view is dependent upon their level (free, paid, or VIP).
     2. The second category (let's call them "businesses") will first have a profile page of their own which can be viewed by others, and second will be able to create articles (effectively, live ads) which can be viewed by others.
           1. Depending upon their level (paid or VIP), they may have more features on their profile page, and they can post more articles and in more sections.
           2. No business should ever be able to edit any content posted by another business, but they should have the freedom to edit their own content.
     3. I would also like to have the ability for paid and VIP "customers" to rate the profiles of the "businesses" (such as 1-5 stars, etc.), and to somehow track which customers have rated which businesses.
     4. A reviews section would be another requirement, where paid and VIP customers can leave a comment about their experiences with businesses that they have interacted with.
     5. I need an integrated forum (either one of the forums which is truly integrated, or one which can be bridged) which allows all members of each category and level to interact with each other.

There's more to each of the websites, but I believe that would cover all membership and/or access control issues... so, will your plugin(s) do what I need?

Thanks!

[karossii]

:bump:

[Andy]

Sorry for the wait Karossii, we've just hired a new fellow to more closely watch these forums (me!).

The main purpose of Community ACL is to allow or disallow content based on predefined rights.  This can be components, articles, pages or modules.  That being said, the concept of your first website is possible though I would recommend downloading AEC as well to streamline your subscription services while using CACL to manage permissions.

Let's take a closer look at your second site:

The second website is much more involved; and complex.
  1. First, I need to have two categories of members, with two levels to each category. I want to have members of one category (let's call them "customers") have read-only access, and the articles/pages/modules they can view is dependent upon their level (free, paid, or VIP).

Use AEC for the paid portion of this.
 

2. The second category (let's call them "businesses") will first have a profile page of their own which can be viewed by others, and second will be able to create articles (effectively, live ads) which can be viewed by others.
        1. Depending upon their level (paid or VIP), they may have more features on their profile page, and they can post more articles and in more sections.

Based on permissions given in Community ACL they will be able to edit or add to specific sections.
       

2. No business should ever be able to edit any content posted by another business, but they should have the freedom to edit their own content.

The users only have access to what you give them based on the group that they fall in.
   

3. I would also like to have the ability for paid and VIP "customers" to rate the profiles of the "businesses" (such as 1-5 stars, etc.), and to somehow track which customers have rated which businesses.

You will need to build this tool. Not part of Community ACL package.
   

4. A reviews section would be another requirement, where paid and VIP customers can leave a comment about their experiences with businesses that they have interacted with.

You can use a tool like jomComment for something like this.
   

5. I need an integrated forum (either one of the forums which is truly integrated, or one which can be bridged) which allows all members of each category and level to interact with each other.

Take a look at Agora.

Let me know if you have any other questions.