To date Pro_News has grown from an alternative to DragonflyCMS' News module with support for images and multiple Sections within the 1 module, to a power module which can allow you to store and display any type of general content, in any way that you want, way beyond simply News.

It has been possible to create and deploy complete websites developed almost entirely in Pro_News CM - with just the default DragonflyCMS modules such as Forums and Coppermine (Photo Gallery).

With Pro_News CM v4.0 there are 2 new capabilities which will increase the usability and applicability even further: Moderation by Moderators and Auto Approval options.

Moderation by Moderators
A Moderator Group - or groups - (of any name) can be assigned to off-load Pro_News Article Approval from the Administrator to those Moderator Groups. This means that day-to-day duties can be accomplished by others without having to give them full Administration access as previously. Further securing the module by keeping all of the Configuration options out of reach of the moderators.

Deploying the new included Pro_News Moderator block (for Moderator Groups ONLY), all Admins and Moderators will be able to see new Pending Articles waiting for Approval whenever they access the Pro_News module.

And if you make yourself a member of that Moderator group, you'll be able to complete those daily functions, such as checking for and approving new Articles, without needing to log on as an Administrator each time.

Auto Approval
For some applications, such as a collaborative website, you want everyone to publish new Articles in the same way that they make new Forums post - submit and see them immediately. Pro_News CM 4 will provide this new capability, while still maintaining the legacy method for most sites. Selecting Auto Approval will accomplish this. And the new Moderation function described above can then be used to moderate (eg. Un-Approve) and/or edit Articles in just the same way as Moderators do in Forums.

Availability
Pro_News CM 4.0 will be released in the next few weeks, in the meantime it is operating here at layingback.net.

The version number of Pro_News CM is being raised from 3 to 4 to signify the much wider range of uses now possible with these 2 new functions.