Security levels and user roles

Each user account, on a zoglair domain, is assigned a security level (or sevel for short), ranging from 0 (zero) to 7 (seven). It is by design that a user with a higher sevel has all rights and privileges applied to users with lower sevels, plus some more. In other words, it is not possible for a user having a lower sevel to do something that another user - with a higher sevel - cannot.

Each sevel has a default mnemonic name that reflects its scope/role and makes it easier to remember. Those names, however, are changeable by the administrator (via the phrase table) and are not in any way used by the system, except for displaying purposes. Zoglair uses numbers internally and translates them into names during output.

• The lowest sevel (0) is assigned automatically to guests, that is, users who are not registered or logged in, including search engines.
• The highest sevel (7) is assigned automatically to whoever creates the domain.
• Anyone who uses the system's registration form, to join your community, is assigned the first sevel (1).
• All other sevels (2-6) are assigned explicitly by you.
• Sevels 1-3 are (conceptually) non-staff accounts, while sevels 4-6 are meant to be used by the domain's staff.

Here are all available sevels, in detail:

0 - Guest

Since guests do not have an actual account, this sevel translates to no sevel. Guests are not given any write privileges, whatsoever. They can only read whatever page has no sevel explicitly set by you.

1 - Registered

If you have setup your domain so that it accepts automatic user registrations, then each account created by the system is assigned this sevel. This is the minimum sevel that may have write privileges, depending on your setup. For example, if you are using a forum, then a registered user may create a topic or reply to one.

2 - User

This can be thought as a trusted or well known user that is awarded with elevated read/write privileges. It is up to you to decide when and if a registered account is promoted to a user one. For example, you may want to have a setup where sevel=1 account posts are moderated while sevel=2 are not.

3 - Member

This is the third and most elevated plain user (non-staff) sevel. You may want to assign this sevel to your subscribers, sponsors, VIP users or real members of a closed club community.

4 - Moderator

This is the first staff account and is meant to be used in forums. If you do not have any forums active in your domain, then the system does not make any use of it.

5 - Editor

An editor is a user who is allowed to edit any page of your site. It has full control of any function available through your site's frontend. You can think of an editor as an administrator without backend access.

6 - Administrator

This is the most powerful sevel across a domain. It has full backend access and can do anything the system provides.

7 - Webmaster

The webmaster is the one who installs/creates the domain. It may or may not be the same person as the domain's administrator but nevertheless he/she is the one who creates the first administrative account. Although technically possible, there is no sense in having more than one webmaster accounts per domain and in fact it is not recommended.

Super User

This is not a real sevel per se but a special instance of a webmaster. Specifically, it is the webmaster of the default domain (the very first domain in a zoglair installation). A super user is the only one who can install zoglair upgrades.

Since installing the default domain is actually the first step after installing zoglair itself, a super user is considered (by the system) as the one who has direct access to the server files.