A few days ago, the final version of Umbraco 18 was released! So it was time to update my Advanced Permissions package to support Umbraco 18.
This was not just a simple case of updating a few namespaces and dependencies and calling it done. The main new feature in Umbraco 18 was a perfect candidate for Advanced Permissions support, so that is exactly what I added!
What is new in Umbraco 18
The Umbraco 18 release is (and I quote) "a short and sweet release". The main attraction is the new Library section and the first version of reusable Elements.
Reusable Elements in the Library section are essentially Content nodes without rendering and routing. Other than that, they behave a lot like Content: you can create, delete, move them, and so on. That made them the perfect candidate for support in v18 of the Advanced Permissions package.
Besides Library support, the package also has a few other improvements and additions. Let's talk about them!
Library support!
The first obvious new feature is the Permissions Editor for the Library. Just like with Content, you can set permissions for a User Group using the same inheritance and scoping system as the Content Permissions Editor.
You'll notice that not every permission is applicable in every case, so N/A is displayed when a permission does not apply.
And just like with Content, the Library also has an Access Viewer where you can see the effective permissions for a User Group or an individual User.
I also added a Library Element Type Permissions Editor. Just like the Document Type Permissions Editor, you can set the insert options for Element Types for a specific User Group.
With this Permissions Editor, you can control whether a User Group can create instances of an Element Type. This acts as a filter on the "create" list in the Library. And when a User has multiple User Groups, the well-established resolver will determine the effective permissions.
Currently, because of a limitation in Umbraco, it is not yet possible to scope these permissions to a specific part of the Library tree like the Document Type Permissions Editor does.
And of course, the Element Type Permissions Editor also has an associated Access Viewer.
Redesign
Because of all these new Permissions Editors and Access Viewers, the menu became harder to read at a glance. So the main menu has been redesigned around the scope of the editor and viewer.
All editors and viewers in the menu are now called Permissions Editor and Access Viewer respectively. Their purpose is determined by the menu header they are under: Content, Document Type, Library, or Library Element Type.
In the screenshot, you'll also notice a slight redesign of the workspaces for the editors and viewers. They now look more Umbraco native and display a one-line description of what the editor or viewer is for. And when you have not selected anything yet, it will now display a much nicer view. This will also be ported back to the Umbraco 17 version.
To help or not to help
In the top-right corner of each editor or viewer, you'll also notice a "learn more" button. This button gives access to more detailed documentation. It describes what the editor or viewer is for, and it links to more generic documentation explaining the concepts.
Consider this a first version. It is already much better than nothing, but I think it can still be improved over time. This will also be ported back to the Umbraco 17 version.
Localization support!
And lastly, apart from the expanded documentation, Advanced Permissions now has localization for all languages that the Backoffice supports. Obviously, these translations are automatically generated because I am not fluent in 28 languages, so if you find an error, please let me know!
All in all, I think this is a very nice and complete release. I'm happy that Advanced Permissions can support new Umbraco features as soon as they come out.
You can find Advanced Permissions for Umbraco here:
NuGet:
https://www.nuget.org/packages/Umbraco.Community.AdvancedPermissions/
The Umbraco Marketplace:
https://marketplace.umbraco.com/package/umbraco.community.advancedpermissions
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