Invision Community 5: Editor Permissions and Custom Embeds

We recently announced the new Invision Community 5 editor which adds many new exciting features such as semantically correct header tags, custom boxes and more. As the new editor is a leap forward in technology, some legacy features had to be left behind. We received a lot of messages about these changes, and have created new tools based on that feedback to ensure you still have the tools you need.

The new features are based around restricting some high level editor functionality for specific member groups and enabling an easy way to add custom embeds.

Permission Levels

Invision Community 5 puts a lot of new tools in the editor, including header tags, boxes and positioning tools. These are useful features, but perhaps you do not want your members changing the semantic structure of the page by adding H1 tags. Or maybe you don't want them being able to add custom boxes with colors. Based on this feedback, we have introduced a permission levels system.

At the heart of the system lies three editor permission levels: Minimal, Standard and Advanced.

Specific editor features are assigned to one or more levels. For example, you may only want header tags and content boxes to be for the 'advanced' permission level which only administrators can use.

These permission levels are configurable via the Admin Control Panel.

When is Each Restriction Level Used?

Now that we have set up the permission levels, we need to apply them to member groups.

We do this by simplying heading over to the Member Groups section of the Admin Control Panel. In the "Content" section of that form, there are two new options:

1. Default Editor Restriction Level: This is the restriction level the group uses by default, for example in Forum Topics and Blog Posts.
2. Editor Restriction Level for Comments: This is the level used for Comments (including Topic Replies) throughout the Community.

When a member has multiple groups, they will use the most permissible editor setting out of all groups.

Custom Embeds

In response to news that the ability to toggle into 'source mode' and directly edit the underlying structure of the editor document was not implemented because editor technology has moved on, many people told us they used that feature to add custom iframes from specific services they use.

We understood the need for custom embeds, and we've added the option to create iframe elements with any whitelisted URL from a link.

Additionally, iframes created this way have configurable height and width so you can resize to your liking

This feature has two editor permissions: "Can Embed External Content," and "Can Convert Links to iframes".

Adding iframes into a post can potentially be a security issue, so strong controls are needed to ensure there isn't abuse of this system. The editor will only allow links to be converted to iframes if the domain has been whitelisted. The whitelist exists in the new tab, Admin Control Panel > System > Posting & Editor > Embeds. The feature can also be entirely disabled from here.

That wraps up this round of changes based on your comments. We hope that you enjoy this update to our Invision Community 5 editor and we always appreciate your feedback.