Admins should have full access to userpages

[Richard van Iwaarden]

See for more information this page: https://mahara.org/interaction/forum/topic.php?id=9170

We have IT administrators that have access to all data in any software/shared folder/mailbox etc. We have strong audits in place so these administrators only access this data if necessary to do their jobs (support, recover data, etc.)

Mahara is the only piece of software we have running that doesn't allow a full access admin. This results in access using the database of Mahara to fix issues or to use the 'log in as' button many times.

Students often contact support sending a link and screenshot that administrators can not access. It makes support difficult.

The topic linked above holds arguments for both sides. However, we think this should be a choice for Universities to make for themselves rather then Mahara forcing them a choice. A simple tick somewhere in site settings saying 'site administrators can access all pages' should do it. That way, everyone can make their own policy regarding this.

The downside now is that the IT department of the University says that Mahara is difficult and time consuming to support. Looking at the time spend on tickets, they are right. It takes for example a lot more time to support than Moodle.