Add workbench_access module to GovCMS8/9

[jibran]

https://www.drupal.org/project/workbench_access

What value does this module add to GovCMS?

The module provides hierarchical access control. Workbench Access creates editorial access controls based on hierarchies.

The module controls access to content editing. It does not provide any content filtering or access restrictions for users trying to view that content.

Please provide a brief outline of what this module does.

It is an extensible system that supports structures created by other Drupal modules e.g. menu, taxonomy, entity hierarchy and etc.

When creating and editing content, users will be asked to place the content in an editorial section. Other users within that section or its parents will be able to edit the content.

A user may be granted editorial rights to a section specific to their account or by their assigned role on the site. Content may only be placed in sections that the user has rights to.

Workbench Access requires that users have the ability to create, edit, or delete the content as appropriate. Workbench Access does not grant editorial privileges; it merely restricts the content that a user may act on.

Who does this module benefit:

• end users
• content editors
• site builders
• themers
• developers

How could you provide/replicate the functionality of this module using alternative methods, eg in your theme?

This functionality can't be recreated by writing custom code in the theme.

If this module styles or alters HTML or JavaScript output, can the functionality be provided via the theme? What alternatives have you considered.

No, this module doesn't provide any front-end functionality for the theme.

What is the maintenance and support status of the module. Describe the issue queue activity.

The module is actively maintained. As per d.o., 8,137 sites report using this module. There are only 8 active bugs in the issue queue at this moment and most of them in need review status.

What permissions are needed to utilise the module (and are any new permissions provided by the module)?

The module controls access to content so it comes with a few permissions to manage the access control. Please see workbench_access.permissions.yml for more info.

Does the module modify the database structure and/or store additional metadata on nodes or other entities? If so, why? What are the risks for future updates?

The module doesn't alter the schema for existing entities. It provides its own config and content entities.

Is the module designed to capture anonymous user data?

No.

Is the output of the module typically fully cacheable? Would the inclusion of this module potentially render pages uncacheable.

Yes, the output of the module is typically fully cacheable. There is a couple of open issue regarding drupal cacheability metadata but they are edge cases.

What is your assessment of the quality of this module, the contribution history of the module's maintainers, and the uptake of the module within the Drupal community?

agentrickard is the maintainer and he has been a community member for more than 16 years. He actively maintains the module.

Other than him larowlan is a long-time contributor to the modules as well. He is a Drupal core committer, the only one based in Australia, and a member of the Drupal security team.

Additional information

This module was already part of GovCMS 7. As per Pandaski, when GovCMS D8 removed workbench_moderation in favour of content_moderation the workbench_access was not considered for GovCMS8.

On https://www.govcms.gov.au/support/are-you-ready-drupal-9/transition-drupal-7-drupal-9 this module is listed in under review section.

Note: workbench_access can work without workbench_moderation and content_moderation.

[pameeela]

Big +1 to this, I couldn't believe that there wasn't already an issue for it. We have had this requirement a few times and although D8 had permission by term, this didn't work well at all, especially if content moderation was enabled, so we end up having to do permissions checks in the theme.

[pameeela]

Any word on this? Without this module the Entity Hierarchy Microsite module is not very useful because you can't control access per microsite.

[Els-SLHD]

Hiya @thisisalistairsaccount any chance this one could be expedited as the hard won Entity Module doesn't really operationally function without it? All fingers crossed!

[thisisalistairsaccount]

@jibran @pameeela @Els-SLHD this one is going to be harder to move on.

While Workbench Access offers up more control and possibly has a flow on impact for the use of Entity Reference Hierarchy, there's some concerns off the bat:

• There's no stable release for 9
• The last update was mid 2020
• There's numerous issues open and quite a few haven't been rolled into a release where they have been reviewed

We're going to need some more love at the module side of things at https://www.drupal.org/project/workbench_access before we could progress this as part of the GovCMS distribution.

[jibran]

Maybe @agentrickard can address some of the above concerns.

[thisisalistairsaccount]

Hi all, noting we've got a stable and D10 release for the module, we will investigate this internally for consideration.

[larowlan]

Hey 👋 Workbench Access maintainer here, also surprised this isn't already in GovCMS given it was foundational to aGov.
Happy to answer any remaining questions.

[larowlan]

FWIW the 2.x branch of the module is D10 compatible, has Drupal security coverage and has stable releases