On the project page for the role delegation module it says:

Role Delegation supersedes the RoleAssign module.

Is this true?

If so this module should have its development status set to obsolete and the project page should refer people to that module instead of this one.
If this is not true an issue should be opened for the role delegation module to remove this text from the page.

Otherwise it is confusing for people who are looking for a module to use.

Comments

agileware’s picture

agileware commented
Priority: Normal » Critical

It looks like this module is not maintained anymore so changing to critical so the maintainers get notification of this.

Also, the maintenance status should be abandoned if that is the case.

salvis’s picture

salvis
he/his
commented
Priority: Critical » Normal

I have just received maintainership of RoleAssign and I will do a D7 port.

It's a great module for a small site with one or two webmasters. Role Delegation is way too complicated for that.

agileware’s picture

agileware commented

Is there a reason to put valuable time into this module when the role delegation module exists?
I have used the role delegation module many times and from the description of role assign it does exactly the same thing.

What is the difference in functionality between the two modules?

If they are similar it would probably be a better use of time to contribute to role delegation and abandon this one as easier for users and more time efficient for developers if there is not duplicate modules.

salvis’s picture

salvis
he/his
commented

Role Delegation is way too complicated for small sites.

I run several small sites with only one webmaster (one other user who can administer users). One of the sites has some thirty roles. All I want to do is to keep the webmaster from assigning certain roles that I'm reserving for myself. RoleAssign does this perfectly, and I don't want to put up with thirty additional permissions on the Permissions page.

salvis’s picture

salvis
he/his
commented
Version: master » 6.x-1.x-dev

It's funny, I just came accross #593002: Move more functionality to regular Permissions page here in the RoleAssign queue — I said the same thing already 21 months ago. Apparently, RD already existed back then, but we didn't know about it.

I don't think it would make sense to merge RA into RD, packing two completely different modes of operation into a single module.

RA allows me to do exactly what I want, no more and no less: withhold the 'administer permissions' permission to keep my webmasters from futzing with the Permissions page and create a few carefully-crafted roles that they may assign/remove.

That saves me from having to educate them about all the risks and benefits of each and every permission and from worrying that they might still mess up something (this is very nasty, because there's no audit trail and no notifications even for the most dangerous permissions!). That's exactly how it's supposed to work.

kingandy’s picture

kingandy
he/him
commented

Role Delegation no longer claims to supercede RA, and in fact notes it as a lighter alternative. Time to mark this issue Closed? (I'd say either "works as designed" or "cannot reproduce"...)

salvis’s picture

salvis
he/his
commented

I think we may as well keep it open.

Questions about merging or about the differences between the two modules will surely come up again...

dwightaspinwall’s picture

dwightaspinwall commented
Status: Active » Closed (works as designed)

IMO you've addressed the question of whether this module stands on its merits. If someone disagrees they can re-open this.

salvis’s picture

salvis
he/his
commented
Status: Closed (works as designed) » Active

Right.

I think we may as well keep it open.

Questions about merging or about the differences between the two modules will surely come up again...

discipolo’s picture

discipolo commented
Version: 6.x-1.x-dev » 7.x-1.x-dev
Component: Miscellaneous » Documentation
Issue summary: View changes

so if this module is still maintained for the 7.x branch, especially in light of reports like this https://www.drupal.org/node/2447723 i will go ahead and remove the misleading notice from the documentation page. https://www.drupal.org/node/86057

salvis’s picture

salvis
he/his
commented

Thank you, discipolo!

I wasn't aware of that documentation page...