The difference between Story/Idea privacy and the Newsfeed Algorithm
- Matt Kepple
- Riya Bansal (Unlicensed)
Visibility
Visibility of a story
Story/Idea privacy determines who the Story or Idea is VISIBLE to.
Someone who is the author of a story can always see that Story
For someone who is not the author of the story, then unless that person is an Active Beneficiary, there are several attributes that govern who is allowed to see a story in the places where it naturally appears. They are:
Story Privacy
Beneficiary Detailed Privacy
If the signed-in-user (or signed-out website visitor) has No Access or Headline Access to a beneficiary tagged in that story, then they will be unable to see the story, regardless of what the story’s privacy setting is.
If the user is an Active Beneficiary and the story is about them and they are not the author of the story: then unless the Story Privacy is Everyone the only thing that governs whether they are allowed to see the story is the Share with the tagged beneficiary privacy setting on the story
If the user is an Active Beneficiary and the story is about another Project Active Beneficiary who wrote the story about themselves: then unless Story Privacy is Everyone the only thing that governs whether they are allowed to see the story is the Share with other Project Active Beneficiaries privacy setting on the story
Visibility of an Idea
Someone who is the owner of an Idea can always see that Idea.
For someone who is not the owner of an Idea, then unless that person is an Active Beneficiary, Idea Privacy is the the sole attribute that governs who is allowed to see an Idea in the places where it naturally appears.
If the signed-in-user is an Active Beneficiary and they are not the owner of the Idea, then unless the Idea Privacy is Everyone, then the only thing that governs whether they are allowed to see an Idea in the places that it naturally appears, is the Share with other Project Active Beneficiaries privacy setting on the idea.
Places where an Idea/Story will naturally appear
The places where a story or idea naturally appear are:
| A story | An idea |
|---|---|---|
Idea show page | No | Yes |
Story show page | Yes | No |
Project page | Yes | No |
Bundle page | Yes | No |
User Profile Page of the author of the idea or story | Yes | Yes |
Charity profile page | Yes | Yes (but only if the idea is owned by the charity) |
Beneficiary profile page | Yes (if the beneficiary is tagged in the story) | Yes (if it was the Active Beneficiary User who wrote the idea) |
Explore ideas page | No | Yes |
Ideas Popup on the Progress Board page | No | Yes |
Privacy options for an Idea/Story
Whenever an Idea or a Story is created, the author of the Idea or Story can set the privacy level. The options are:
Privacy level | Definition |
|---|---|
Only Me | This means that only the Author can see the Idea /Story in the places where it naturally appears |
Specific People Only | When this is chosen, a typehead search box appears where the author can select specific users who are allowed to see the Idea/Story |
Project Colleagues Only | This means that any user who is a Project Colleague of the author, is allowed to see the Idea or Story in the places where it naturally appears. A Project Colleague is anyone who is a: Project Observer/Reporter/Editor of a project that the user is a Project Observer/Reporter/Editor of |
Organisation Colleagues Only | This means that any user who is an Organisation Colleague of the author, is allowed to see the Idea or Story in the places where it naturally appears. An Organisation Colleague is anyone who fits into any of these categories:
|
Everyone | This means that anyone with the Idea show page url or the Story show page url can view the story or idea. It means that anyone who has permission to see the:
|
Places where an Idea /Story appears unnaturally
These are places where an Idea/story will only appear if Story/Idea privacy allows it to be seen by this user AND if the signed-in-user does a particular action to make them appear. That is why we say it appears unnaturally.
| A story | An Idea |
|---|---|---|
My Home newsfeed | Yes (if the signed-in-user is following the author) | Yes (if the signed-in-user is following the author) |
Newsfeed popup on the Progress Board | Yes (if the signed-in-user is following the author) | No |
My Tips Library | No | Yes (if the signed-in-user Likes the Idea or has created the Idea) |
Following the author of the content
If the signed-in-user follows the author then as long as the Privacy of the Idea/Story allows it, the signed-in-user will see the Idea/Story in the unnatural places, as shown in the table.
The https://github.com/MakerbleDev/makerble/issues/5277 github issue is the one that implemented this rule relating to the user having to follow an author in order to see their content on the My Home newsfeed or Newsffed popup of the Progress Board.