The problem: You want the client to be able to make changes to module content, but you don’t want them to be able to ruin the carefully planned, approved and executed page hierarchy by moving, deleting or adding pages.

Luckily, with DotNetNuke, permissions are very granular. You can easily assign permissions at the module level so that your client can alter its content to his/her heart’s content and you don’t have to worry about getting an email one day, at 5:10pm, about how a bunch of sub pages have magically moved to the top-level navigation (this is coming from experience). Oops. It’s better to just keep page level permissions for yourself.

Hooray! You can give your client access to each individual module on your site.

Here’s the problem – your site has about 500 + pages and about 4000 + module instances, for example. Do you really want to take the time to assign the correct permissions to each module? Page and module permissions are a package deal in the Administrator role. It looks like there’s no easy way to excludes page level permissions from the Administrator role, at least in DotNetNuke version 05.05.01.

Good News: You’re not alone! A Google search reveals that other DotNetNuke developers are asking about a way to grant restricted Administrator rights. Bad News: There is no built-in way to do this in DotNetNuke version 05.05.01 and this feature is not promised in the near future.

You should search for a module at www.snowcovered.com. Perhaps there is a module out there that will help you grant admin rights to all site modules, separate from page rights.

That’s what I did. And yes, I found a module that claims to be a solution to this particular problem, but there was another issue;  the screenshots made the module look unorganized and over-complicated, much like the developer’s web site… If you’ve ever worked with DotNetNuke third-party modules you will know that they are varied like jelly beans; some are really good and others are booger flavored.

Temporary solution: For now, we’ll have to trust our client with administrative rights, but the good news is that I am working on finishing a Human Element module that will address this issue. Until then…

To all the DotNetNuke administrators out there, please remember the wise words of Peter Parker’s Grandpop, “with great power comes great responsibility”.