- Hoje, 14:05
#148
Practical guide to applying Help Desk permissions
In phpBB, a role is a predefined set of permissions.
It is not applied automatically just because it appears in the list.
You must assign the role to a user or group and then save.
1. Recommended structure
For Help Desk, the safest structure is this:
Use this only for users who will configure the extension.
Path:
ACP → Permissions → Global administrative permissions → Groups’ permissions
How to do it:
Administrators will be able to access and configure the Help Desk ACP.
3. Apply the support team roles
These roles should preferably be applied to the Help Desk forums.
Path:
ACP → Permissions → Forum moderator permissions
How to do it:
This is where the forum roles for users who will open or follow tickets are applied.
Path:
ACP → Permissions → Forum permissions → Groups’ forum permissions
How to do it:
To keep things organized, the ideal setup is to create these groups:
The best way to validate the result is by using the Permission masks.
Path:
ACP → Permissions → Permission masks
Test at least:
Always test in a real Help Desk forum.
7. Ideal application order
Do it in this order:
If you have a forum called Support and another called Pre-sales, a good setup would be:
In phpBB, a role is a predefined set of permissions.
It is not applied automatically just because it appears in the list.
You must assign the role to a user or group and then save.
1. Recommended structure
For Help Desk, the safest structure is this:
- Extension administration → a_helpdesk_manage
- Support team → moderator roles:
- Help Desk Supervisor
- Help Desk Agent
- Help Desk Auditor
- End users / customers → forum roles:
- Help Desk Customer
- Help Desk Read Only
Use this only for users who will configure the extension.
Path:
ACP → Permissions → Global administrative permissions → Groups’ permissions
How to do it:
- Select the Administrators group
- Continue
- Look for the a_helpdesk_manage permission
- Set it to Yes
- Save
Administrators will be able to access and configure the Help Desk ACP.
3. Apply the support team roles
These roles should preferably be applied to the Help Desk forums.
Path:
ACP → Permissions → Forum moderator permissions
How to do it:
- Select the team group, for example:
- Help Desk Supervisors
- Help Desk Agents
- Help Desk Auditors
- Select the Help Desk forums
- Choose the corresponding role
- Save
- Help Desk Supervisor → coordinates the queue, assigns, and manages tickets
- Help Desk Agent → works on tickets day to day
- Help Desk Auditor → monitors the queue and reviews information
This is where the forum roles for users who will open or follow tickets are applied.
Path:
ACP → Permissions → Forum permissions → Groups’ forum permissions
How to do it:
- Select the group, for example Registered users
- Select the Help Desk forums
- Apply the role:
- Help Desk Customer → to open and view tickets
- Help Desk Read Only → for read-only access
- Save
To keep things organized, the ideal setup is to create these groups:
- Help Desk Supervisors
- Help Desk Agents
- Help Desk Auditors
- Administrators → a_helpdesk_manage
- Help Desk Supervisors → Help Desk Supervisor role
- Help Desk Agents → Help Desk Agent role
- Help Desk Auditors → Help Desk Auditor role
- Registered users → Help Desk Customer role
The best way to validate the result is by using the Permission masks.
Path:
ACP → Permissions → Permission masks
Test at least:
- an administrator
- a supervisor
- an agent
- an auditor
- a regular user
Always test in a real Help Desk forum.
7. Ideal application order
Do it in this order:
- Apply a_helpdesk_manage to the administrators group
- Apply the team moderator roles to the Help Desk forums
- Apply the end-user roles to the Help Desk forums
- Validate everything using permission masks
- Selecting the role and forgetting to save
- Applying a moderator role in the wrong place
- Applying a global permission when it should be forum-based
- Testing with a user outside the correct group
- Assuming that simply selecting the role already grants the permission
If you have a forum called Support and another called Pre-sales, a good setup would be:
- Administrators → a_helpdesk_manage
- Help Desk Supervisors → Help Desk Supervisor role in the Support and Pre-sales forums
- Help Desk Agents → Help Desk Agent role in the Support forum
- Help Desk Auditors → Help Desk Auditor role in the Support forum
- Registered users → Help Desk Customer role in the Support forum
- A role does not apply itself
- You must assign and save
- Help Desk administration uses a_helpdesk_manage
- The team uses moderator roles
- End users use forum roles
- The best final check is through permission masks


