OCS 2.1.2 Registration Questions

[RickMath]

I have two questions on managing registration. Please let me know if I need to post these in separate threads.

First, is there any way the registration enrollment can be assigned to a role other than the conference manager. We have about 80% of our attendees pay through paypal and others pay manually. Our proceedings editor and staff collect registration information manually in addtion to the paypal registrants. As I am the conference manager I do not want to give them conference manager access but would like them the be able to create registrations so we all can keep track of the status. I noticed somewhere that directors and track directors have access to the registration infomation. I do not want to give them access as a conference manger because they can have too much access to other parts of the system. If you could give me a location in the files to change the access of a director we might be able to modify the code. If not or too complicated then I will just have to do it.

Second question is with regard to registration options. These are just check boxes. Where could these be changed to indicate the number of each option to include (for example 2 tickets at $25). We have things like receptions and lunches where members sometimes want to buy extra tickets for more than one guest. I realize that this may require a change in the MySQL database and some of the code. If you could direct me to where the registraion form and the database are tied together, I can look at it.

Maybe these are beyond being able to be implemented. Please just let me know.

Thanks as always for your support. Also we are running OCS 2.1.2 and it runing well.

Rick

[jmacgreg]

Hi Rick,

First, is there any way the registration enrollment can be assigned to a role other than the conference manager. We have about 80% of our attendees pay through paypal and others pay manually. Our proceedings editor and staff collect registration information manually in addtion to the paypal registrants. As I am the conference manager I do not want to give them conference manager access but would like them the be able to create registrations so we all can keep track of the status. I noticed somewhere that directors and track directors have access to the registration infomation. I do not want to give them access as a conference manger because they can have too much access to other parts of the system. If you could give me a location in the files to change the access of a director we might be able to modify the code. If not or too complicated then I will just have to do it.

Not at the moment, no. There used to be a 'registration manager' role, but it was removed (http://pkp.sfu.ca/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=2660). At this point I think changing access would be nontrivial, especially since you're wandering into authorization territory. I did have a thought about allowing access to specific Conference Manager/Journal Manager components to Directors, which I've posted here: http://pkp.sfu.ca/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=4576. Keep in mind that that proposal is likely non-trivial and might be rightfully stomped on by the devs.

Second question is with regard to registration options. These are just check boxes. Where could these be changed to indicate the number of each option to include (for example 2 tickets at $25). We have things like receptions and lunches where members sometimes want to buy extra tickets for more than one guest. I realize that this may require a change in the MySQL database and some of the code. If you could direct me to where the registraion form and the database are tied together, I can look at it.

This is a good feature request; I've posted it here: http://pkp.sfu.ca/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=4575. Please feel free to CC yourself to that bug for future updates as well.

I can't point you to specific parts of the code for either of these issues, or even advise on how difficult either issue would be to solve, but I've asked a developer to take a look at the thread and get back to you with possible pointers.

Cheers,
James

[mcrider]

Hi Rick,

On the surface, allowing non-Conference managers access to the registration page wouldn't be that hard, but definitely requires some familiarity with the system and with PHP. You would need to
-Provide a link to the registration management page (use the same URL as on the CM's page) on the Track Director's home page (by editing the templates/trackDirector/index.tpl file)
-Add a validate function to pages/manager/RegistrationHandler.inc.php (currently it inherits this function from pages/manager/ManagerHandler.inc.php, you could copy that over to RegistrationHandler)
-Modify the validate function to allow TrackDirectors through (add a Validation::isTrackDirector() to the 'if' statement -- You can check for other roles by looking at the Validation class).
-Modify RegistrationHandler to use this new validate function in each function instead of parent::validate().

I have no idea if this actually work without a hitch, but it should

As for the extended registration options, that seems to be much less trivial, as it would involve some database reorganization in addition to the code and UI changes -- But it seems like a good enough feature to perhaps make it into a future version of OCS!

Cheers,
Matt

[RickMath]

James and Matt

Thanks so much for your responses. First, I think that the bug that James entered for multiple numbers of options would be great. I am sure that possibly others would find this useful. I will look forward to the progress on this.

Matt, I will look at the files that you referenced. Before changing anything I may need to consult with you on a few items. For now I have only one other question related to this. If I give a Director access to the registration page, can I block the ability to change the registration options, policies, etc. What I would like to do is just give someone the ability to create a new registration, enroll a user and record the user as paid. If not I can just give them a warning to not change anything else under severe penalties.

As always I really appreciate how accomodating the PKP support team and development team are in dealing with my questions.

Rick

[mcrider]

Hi Rick,

Yes, that should be doable, but might lead to a confusing interface -- e.g., you can add your customized validate function to the parts of RegistrationHandler that are relevant such as the registration, selectRegistrant, and createRegistration functions so that they will work with whichever roles are validated, and the other functions will fail validation and redirect somewhere else. The confusing part would be when for example a track director clicks on the 'registration options' link and is redirected somewhere else because they don't have privileges. A more complete solution would be to create a new set of templates that have only the required functionality, but that would be a good deal more effort -- A hacky way around this would be to put some logic in the templates that only displays links to the registration options, policies, etc. if the user is a conference manager.

Hope that helped instead of confused

Cheers,
Matt

[RickMath]

Bugs 4575 and 4576

Hi guys do you know if these have been resolved. I did not see anything in the bugs reports. Should I check the new version of OCS?

Don't know if these are important to anyone else.

Great job so far on 2.3

Rick

[jmacgreg]

Hi Rick,

Nope, no resolution on those two yet -- they'll be flagged as resolved when they are taken care of.

Cheers,
James

[jamief]

At this point I think changing access would be nontrivial, especially since you're wandering into authorization territory

This is one of the areas where my work in OCS/OJS - Joomla integration will probably assist me most. What I do is require all logins through Joomla, using a dual login component to create a simultaneous session in PKP.

From there what I do is remove all internal PKP menu links from the platform, replacing them with individual links generated through Joomla. As Joomla uses a wrapper function to call information, the PKP platform can be located "virtually" anywhere on the server, and the wrapper URL renders invisible the actual URL path to the PKP (OCS and OJS).

Now if I want a single person responsible for Registration, for example, I can create a single menu WRAPPER link to the registration page at OCS from Joomla for that person only when they log in. (Of course they have higher level access at the level of OCS, but they have really only have access to those pages I make available to them through a Joomla menu structure.)

In this way I am able to give discreet roles to generic conference organisers, fine tuning their access and their responsibilities as needed.

[AshleyMurphy]

Jamie how are you creating a single menu wrapper link? I like the system you've come up with and want to give it a go.

In regards to here I love to you might need.

[jamief]

Jamie how are you creating a single menu wrapper link? I like the system you've come up with and want to give it a go.

We achieve this with the following:

1. OCS installed and template hacked down to only the "content area"
2. A Joomla 1.5 installation.
3. A Jfusion component with a OCS/OJS custom plugin.
4. A ACL component (3rd Party)

All four work together. The OCS/OJS can be run outside of the Joomla installation.
1. We hack down the template so we only see the actually main content. This clears out all menus, headers, and footers, submenu's etc. that we want to run through the Joomla menu

2. Simple enough. A working Joomla with its own template and menu system, richer than the one that comes with OCS/OJS. We create menu modules for each set of conference organiser and journal editors.

3. The JFusion component means when a person logs into the joomla web, they are simultaneously logged into OCS and OJS and inherit the rights to view the content that they are set in those PKP platforms, although in Joomla they need only be "registered front end users". This again, allows us then to dedicate on a one by one basis, the items we want each person to have access to.

4. 3 is accomplished through an ACL component which allows us to assign Content, menus, and modules to policy users (admins, conference organisers, registered users, registration organisers, referrees, etc.

When anyone logs in, any number of preconfigured menu items can be made available for them in any module position, including content, downloads, forum access, calendar information, etc., to use to navigate equally through Joomla and PKP platforms.

All the PKP pages are culled through the Joomla WRAPPER FUNCTION which is standard in the menu area at the back end of Joomla.

What we get are two things:

A very flexible but complex system that takes a little getting used to at first.

Full integration of all the possibilities of Joomla blended seamlessly into all the possibilities of OCS. This allows us, for example, to ignore the hotel and accomodation section of OCS and run a standalone conference hotel reservation system using either a 3rd party component, or as is our preference, Virtue Mart in CATALOGUE mode to display all the hotel information with the necessary graphics and google maps.

[incognito]

Hi everybody!

Do you happen to know if there is any change brought to the addition of guests as part of the registration. This can be a very interesting feature.

Thanks for letting me know!

INCO.

[jmacgreg]

Hi Inco,

You may want to CC yourself to http://pkp.sfu.ca/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=4575 for any future updates on the guest registration addition. Any future work in that regard will be filed against that bug; if you CC yourself to the bug, you will receive an email notification when that work is filed.

Cheers,
James