Delegation of Authority

The authority_delegation module allows a user to assign his or her role(s) to other users. It is useful for helping ensure that a given role is covered when someone goes on vacation or is otherwise inaccessible.

To use this module, log in as a user with “administer site configuration” permission. Then browse to admin/settings/authority_delegation. You can use the form on this page to:

• Set which roles can be delegated. The “anonymous user” and “authenticated user” roles can never be delegated, but all others can. By default, a role cannot be delegated.
• Set characteristics of delegatable roles. You can specify the maximum duration for which a role can be delegated. This prevents your users from giving blanket permissions without a site administrator's say-so.
• Enable or disable user selectors (see below).

Once you have enabled a role, each user possessing that role will have an extra menu link titled “Delegate your authority”. Clicking that link directs the browser to a page with a form that:

• Lets the user enter a new delegation of authority. Each delegation of authority is characterized by three items: the user to whom it's delegated, the date on which it starts, and the date on which it ends. To create a new delegation requires providing at least the user and the ending date. If the start date isn't given, it defaults to today.
• Lists all current delegations of authority. The user may change a delegation's characteristics.

Delegations of authority are effected by this module's cron hook. In other words, this module won't work if your site doesn't run cron jobs.

User selection presents some interface issues. The best way to select a user depends on a site's characteristics. Two obvious selection criteria are a user's login name an a user's real name. Login names can be difficult to remember. Real names are not immediately accessible through Drupal.

This module implements user selection flexibly. Selectors are determined dynamically, and are accessed through hooks. The directory “selectors” contains all the selectors for a web site. It also has documentation on how to add new selectors.