Question integrate/inherit cbSubs group publish rights into kunena

I would like some advice on the most viable method of integrating a restriction into the kunena forum.

My Objective
I want to allow all registered users of cbSubs to post threads in the kunena forum.

However, I want to allow only cbSubs Paid subscribers to be able to publish their posts imediately (without admin/mod review).

And I want to restrict cbSubs free registered users by requiring their forum posts to first be approved by an admin/mod before being published in the kunena forum.

My Question
what method is possible or more feasible In order to accomplish my objective?

Possible Methods

Method 1)
setup one forum section for free registered user posts and configure it to require mod approval before threads are published,
and another section for paid subscriber posts with no publishing restrictions (no admin/mod approval).

Method 2)***
From the 'Plans' administration panel of cbSubs, restrict publishing rights for free registered users so their kunena posts require mod approval before being published into kunena forum.

***Regarding method 2, I'm not sure if the cbSubs group level publishing rules that normally apply to articles can be integrated into kunena forum posts.

Should I deploy Method 1 or is there a more advanced way to require Mod approval for forum threads submitted by free registered users?


Please advise & suggest the best way to accomplish my objective.

Your help is much appreciated.



IMPORTANT NOTE regarding Kunena Administration Panel settings
FYI (my setup)

I was told by an admin from the Community Builder-cbSubs forum that the current version of kunena needs to develop user group levels in order for me to be able to accomplish my objective (inherit publish rights from cbSubs group levels)...

However... I noticed that the 'Kunena Configuration/Integration' has settings for 'Avatar Integration' and 'Profile Settings' which can be set to inherit from Community Builder.

I configured those settings to inherit CB profiles which raises the question:

Does this also inherit cbSubs group level rights?


Each forum sub section that is created has an 'Advanced Configuration' section with a setting called 'Review Posts'.
This can be set to 'Yes' so all posts require admin/moderator approval before being published or to 'No' so all post within the corresponding forum display immediately.

I could configure this setting accordingly in order to deploy Method 1.

Thank you for your questions.

Unfortunately I don't have any familiarity with cbSubs or how it operates. I would suggest that, as you have paid money to purchase this feature, you should seek the help of the folks at Joomlapolis .

From a Kunena perspective, you can define forums to be either "Review Posts = Yes" or "Review Posts = No"; one or the other. If you define a forum using "Review Posts = Yes" this affects users who do not have moderator privileges ("ordinary" users) differently from those who have moderator privileges (moderators and administrators). Messages posted by "ordinary users" into a "Review Posts = Yes" forum, will not appear until a moderator approves them. I'm sure you understand these distinctions, but I thought I should spell them out for others who may be interested in the discussion.

The distinction between ordinary users and moderators is defined by the Kunena User Administration facility. In the sense that you've written

I'm not sure if the cbSubs group level publishing rules that normally apply to articles can be integrated into kunena forum posts.

a user's ability to post to a forum is independent of the rights of the website administrator to review those messages before they appear on the discussion board.

Looking at the advice you were given by Joomlapolis.

I was told by an admin from the Community Builder-cbSubs forum that the current version of kunena needs to develop user group levels in order for me to be able to accomplish my objective (inherit publish rights from cbSubs group levels)...

It is fair to say that Kunena uses a rights identifier (based on the native Joomla types: author, editor, publisher, etc.) and it's also possible to extend the range of rights identifiers. In Jooma 1.6 (and Kunena 2.0) this concept will be further extended by the use of ACLs.

But a user's write permissions do not override the current "ordinary user"/moderator privilege permitting the non-scrutiny of posts. It's important that we clearly understand that there are two issues involved here.

Your "Method 1" could be accomplished if there were a way of assigning an ACL identifier for "paid subscribers" and, using that, grant those users access to a non-reviewed forum. "Paid subscribers" could be given unrestricted access to certain forums and other users would be locked out.

However, this still does not override the "Reviwed posts = Yes" settings that you may have applied on other forums. Under Kunena's current security model it is not possible for a class of "ordinary users" - those who have are "paid subscribers" - to inherit some of the rights of forum moderators to be able to directly post to the forum without having their messages reviewed.

Further, because the distinctions between ordinary users and moderators operate on a forum-by-forum basis, it is infeasible to implement your "global solution" method 2. What is really needed is another forum parameter - which does not yet exist - that says "Review posts = Yes if not a paid subscriber".

I hope this explanation clarifies the situation even if it doesn't solve your dilemma.

Thanks for your explanation.

For now, I think it's satisfactory (although not the optimal method) to use the 'Review Posts' Kunena setting and manually assign moderator status to cbSubs Paid Subscribers while assigning regular status to free registered users.

I would appreciate it if you'd post a notification, either in a new thread or by adding to this one, once Kunena develops a more comprehensive method to integrate with cbSubs ACL groups.

FYI:
The admin who goes by the name of 'nant' on the cbSubs forums, said:

"I have brought this thread to the attention of the Kunena developers (we are working on CB/Kunena integration) so they can keep in mind when they start implementing group features."

Thank you. The discussion you referred to is www.joomlapolis.com/component/option,com.../id,125316/catid,88/

Kunena currently lacks the ability to achieve what you would like to do. It is also not currently possible to selectively override the "review posts" process.

The development team is aware of this matter.

I am wondering there have been any new developments regarding this particular integration of Kunena forum permissions with CBsubs Plans.

I found what I think is a very similar integration of CBsubs with phpBB3 forum.
This thread from the joomlapolis forums is a tutorial to show admins how to make this modification and integrate user group/forum group permissions based on CBsubs Plans.

I'm including the link to this thread so somebody can peruse it and hopefully offer a comment on whether this is a viable solution as it relates to my objective of integrating my CBsubs & kunena forum.

I also hope somebody replies with an update on the progress (if any) of such an integration feature for the kunena forum.

www.joomlapolis.com/component/option,com.../id,104902/catid,90/

I continue to have kunena forum installed in my Community Builder/CBsubs joomla site and i like the user friendliness of kunena forum. However, I don't know how much longer i can afford to wait for a permissions integration solution and that is why I continue to search for a solution which lead me to the thread link (above).