This site is rarely updated. benbrophy.com is more up-to-date. - Ben
Access and User Groups in Stellar
Access issues are the thing we get the most questions about in Stellar. I'm thinking about making it more obvious in the user interface somehow.
I wonder if there is away to bring access up more easily, but I think figuring out how to grant access is fairly easy (if improved access is a priority for the next Stellar update, we can check with usability testing). It may be what is needed is away for people to request access.
Most of the reports we get are from people who say they are being denied access unfairly. There are students who aren't on the registrar's list. OCW, SMA or Library staff who are helping of a site. Instructors who want access to an earlier version of the class they are teaching. They have assumed that the developers control access, when really they ought contact the instructors or TAs. So perhaps we need a form they can fill out to request access right in the place where they get the bad news - the permission denied page.
Instructors could then be emailed, or be greeted with the request when they next visited the site. This might make life easier for everyone. People looking for sites won't waste time contacting support. Site owners don't need to find the right form - it's presented to them when they need it. And (this part really delights me) the support and development teams will explain access less often.
Update: I got some feedback from Keith at OCW. Based on his comments, and embroidering them with some new ideas of my own, I'll add a couple details to my plan.
The permissions denied page should only show the 'request acces' form to people who are part of the MIT community so instructors don't get bombarded with requests from the rest of the world.
The email instructors get will contain 3 links:
- Give [requester's name] guest access
- Give [requester's name] higher access
- Deny [requester's name] access
The first and last link would just check the certificate, do the job, and confirm. The middle link would give more options. That way the instructor can process the email in just a few seconds.