[thelist] setting up users for Plone

[John DeStefano]

On Feb 11, 2008 9:29 PM, Bruce Gilbert <webguync at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Feb 11, 2008 12:58 PM, John DeStefano <john.destefano at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Hi Bruce,
> >
> > Two ways:
> > 1) through Plone's interface: in Site Setup, go to Users and Groups
> > and click Add New User.  Or go directly there with the URL /
> > prefs_users_overview
> > 2) through the ZMI interface: in acl_users, go to source_users and
> > click Add a user.  Or go directly there with the URL /acl_users/
> > source_users/manage_users
> > Note: if the username/password is going to be for Plone, and not for
> > its underlying Zope, I would recommend always using option 1) to do
> > this.
> >
>
> I set up the user name password in the plone controller as an
> emergency user, but when I login, I get an error. I didn't see where
> you could add a new user under the Plone interface. I only see a tab
> for users, but adding a new user isn't an option :-(

Sorry: what do you mean by "plone controller"?  The Zope Management
Interface (ZMI)? or the Site Setup panel within Plone?  or the zopectl
utility (command line)?  You usually create an "emergency user" from a
command line only when you have lost the "admin" password and can't
log into your site.

If you are logged into your Plone site as a user with "Manager"
privileges (essentially, an administrator), your Site Setup --> Users
and Groups panel should look something like this:
http://tinyurl.com/2c5ljw

Note the "Add New User" button.  If you don't see this, I would
suspect that you're either not logged in with Manager privileges, or
something is awry with your instance.

> Time    2008/02/11 21:20:41.902 US/Central
> User Name (User Id)     webguync (None)
> Request URL     http://localhost/front-page/document_view
> Exception Type  AttributeError
> Exception Value         portal_groups

Thanks for that, but without the rest of the error traceback, it's
hard to take a stab at the actual problem.  A wild guess would be that
you're trying to view something (the front page) without the
permission to do so, and that you've somehow changed permissions so
that the group you're in does not have the "view" permission.  But
again: that's just a guess.

> > > on a related not, does anyone have any thoughts on Plone as far as
> > > ease of use and the learning curve?
> >
> > Ease of use, for users, I assume?  It's nice for users once it has
> > been set up properly, but this takes a considerable amount of time,
> > effort, and knowledge on the part of the admin.  As far as
> > administration: it does some nice things out of the box, but if you
> > ever need it to do anything more, it can be nightmare-ish.  I've been
> > using and administering Plone sites for almost two years, and I've run
> > into quite a bit of difficulty.  Let me know if you need help.
>
> actually ease of use as far as administering and configuring and
> altering the templates, and modules.
>

As I hinted at earlier, Plone is not the simplest application for
administrators and developers.  If you know Python, then you've got a
leg up on scripting; if you happen to be familiar with Zope and its
templating languages (TAL, METAL, TALES), then customizing its
templates will be a breeze; if you don't, you may want to read up on
them.  If by "modules" you mean Plone's add-on and third-party
Products, they're relatively simple to install: extract them to the
proper directory (the "Products" directory within your instance),
restart your Zope process, and the Product should be available for
installation in your Plone's Add/Remove Products applet in your Site
Setup panel.

~John