Permission Model

ZViewer's permission system is divided into four roles, from highest to lowest: root (super admin), admin, user, and guest. The table below gives you a clear overview of what each role can and cannot do.

Four-Tier Role Comparison

Feature	root	admin	user	guest
Access admin panel	Yes	Yes	No	No
Approve user registrations	Yes	No	No	No
Change other users' roles	Yes	No	No	No
Delete any user	Yes	No	No	No
Delete any room	Yes	No	No	No
Create rooms	Yes	Yes	Depends on settings	No
Full control of own room	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Join rooms to watch	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Send comments and danmaku	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Modify system settings	Yes	No	No	No
Check and apply updates	Yes	Yes	No	No
Manage server files	Yes	No	No	No

Quick reference: root has all permissions; admin can manage rooms and updates but cannot manage users; user can watch and interact, and may be able to create rooms; guest can only watch and interact, and cannot create rooms.

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Registration and Approval Process

Three Registration Modes

Admins can choose the registration mode in the "Basic Settings" section of the admin panel:

Mode	Effect
Open Registration (open)	Anyone who registers is activated automatically and becomes a user role immediately
Approval Registration (approval)	After registration, the account enters a pending state and requires root approval before use
Registration Closed (closed)	The registration entry is disabled; new users cannot register

Registration Steps

1. Go to the homepage and click the "Register" button
2. Fill in your username and password, then submit
3. Depending on the registration mode:
   • Open mode: Registration activates immediately; you can log in directly
   • Approval mode: After registration, you will see a "Waiting for Approval" message; your role will be guest with limited functionality
   • Closed mode: The registration entry is not visible on the page

Approval Operations (root only)

1. Go to the admin panel -> "User Management" tab
2. Find users with the "Pending" status
3. Click the "Approve" button to upgrade the user to a full user role

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Guest Identity

Automatic Assignment

When you visit ZViewer without logging in, the system automatically assigns you a guest identity. You can use the service without registering.

What Guests Can Do

• Join existing rooms and watch videos
• Send comments and danmaku

What Guests Cannot Do

• Create rooms
• Access the admin panel
• Modify personal profile

Becoming a Full User

If you want more features, you can:

1. Click "Login/Register" on the page
2. Register a new account (if the registration mode is open, you become a user immediately)
3. After logging in, you will automatically gain more permissions

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Room Creation Permission

Admins can set who can create rooms in the "Basic Settings":

• Admin Only: Only root and admin roles can create rooms
• All Users: User role can also create rooms

Guests cannot create rooms under any circumstances.

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Authentication Mechanism Overview

ZViewer uses a dual-token mechanism to ensure security:

• Access Token: Short-lived (default 15 minutes), used to authenticate every request
• Refresh Token: Long-lived (default 7 days), used to automatically renew the access token after it expires

These tokens are stored in the browser via httpOnly Cookies, which regular JavaScript cannot read, effectively preventing XSS attacks from stealing tokens.

In short: you log in once, and the system remembers you for a period of time without requiring repeated password entry.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Cannot create rooms after registration

Possible reasons:

1. Your role is guest (pending approval or newly registered). Root needs to approve you in the admin panel to upgrade you to user
2. Room creation permission is set to "Admin Only" and you are a user role
3. The registration mode is "Open Registration" but the system did not activate correctly -- contact the administrator to check

How to make a user an admin?

Only root can promote other users to admin:

1. Go to the admin panel -> "User Management" tab
2. Find the user
3. Click "Change Role", select admin
4. Save

Forgot the root password?

If you lose access to the root account password, you can recover it using the following methods:

1. If you have command-line access to the server, run a reset script or modify the database directly
2. If environment variables or initial configuration were set during deployment, refer to the deployment documentation for the reset method
3. Contact the server administrator to modify the user password directly in the database (requires knowledge of database operations)