Enhance User Permissions & Add Billing Module

Hey guys! Let's dive into a crucial project update focusing on enhancing user permissions and integrating a brand-new billing module. This is super important for maintaining data integrity and providing a more professional experience for our users. So, buckle up, and let's get started!

1. Understanding the Current Situation

Currently, all logged-in users have administrative access, which includes the ability to delete critical data such as clients and payments. This poses a significant risk of accidental data loss or potential misuse of privileges. Imagine a scenario where a user mistakenly deletes a client's payment history – that's a headache we definitely want to avoid, right? Moreover, we need to introduce a billing module to generate and print invoices for our clients, which is a feature they've been asking for. This enhancement will streamline our financial processes and provide a better service overall. Therefore, addressing these issues is paramount to ensuring the security and efficiency of our application.

2. Defining the Objectives

Our primary objectives are twofold: first, to restrict administrative rights to only those who truly need them, and second, to seamlessly integrate a billing module that makes invoice generation a breeze. Let's break down each objective into actionable items.

2.1 Restricting Administrative Rights

• Objective: To ensure only admin roles can perform sensitive actions like deleting data.
• Goal: We need to revoke the delete permission from regular users. Only users with the admin role should be able to: Delete records (clients, payments, subscriptions, etc.) and Modify sensitive statuses. Regular users should retain the ability to create and modify their own data, as well as view authorized information. Implementing this involves several steps, including creating a middleware to restrict routes, updating policies or gates to prevent non-admins from deleting data, and hiding “Delete” buttons in the user interface for regular users. These measures collectively aim to reduce the risk of accidental or malicious data loss.

2.2 Adding a Billing Module

• Objective: To create a Facture module linked to payments, allowing for easy invoice generation.
• Goal: Each invoice must include the client's name, amount paid, payment date, service or subscription details, and a unique invoice number. We'll need to add an “Imprimer la facture” button on the payment or client page, allowing users to generate a PDF containing all relevant data using a library like barryvdh/laravel-dompdf (if we're using Laravel). This module will not only enhance user experience by providing a clear record of transactions but also streamline our billing processes. By automating invoice generation, we reduce the potential for manual errors and ensure consistency in our financial documentation. This will make things easier for both us and our clients!

3. Technical Tasks Breakdown

Alright, let's get into the nitty-gritty of the technical tasks required to achieve our objectives. We'll break it down into two main sections:

3.1 Role Management

• [ ] Create an isAdmin middleware: This middleware will be responsible for restricting access to certain routes based on the user's role. It will act as a gatekeeper, ensuring that only users with the admin role can access sensitive functionalities.
• [ ] Update Policies or Gates: We need to modify our application's policies or gates to explicitly deny delete permissions to non-admin users. This will provide an additional layer of security, preventing unauthorized users from deleting data even if they bypass the middleware.
• [ ] Hide “Delete” buttons: The final step in role management is to hide the “Delete” buttons in the user interface for regular users. This will prevent them from even attempting to delete data, providing a seamless and intuitive user experience.

3.2 Billing Module Implementation

• [ ] Create a factures table: This table will store all the necessary information about each invoice, such as the client's name, invoice number, payment date, and amount paid. It will be linked to the paiements or clients tables to establish a clear relationship between invoices and payments/clients.
• [ ] Generate invoices automatically: After a payment is validated, an invoice should be automatically generated and stored in the factures table. This will ensure that invoices are created in a timely and efficient manner, without requiring manual intervention.
• [ ] Create a /factures/{id}/print route: This route will be used to print or download the invoice as a PDF. It will take the invoice ID as a parameter and generate a PDF containing all the relevant information.
• [ ] Create a facture.blade.php view: This view will define the layout and styling of the invoice. It should be designed to be both visually appealing and informative, providing all the necessary details in a clear and concise manner.
• [ ] Integrate barryvdh/laravel-dompdf: This library will be used to generate the PDF from the invoice data. It provides a simple and convenient way to create PDFs from HTML, making it easy to create professional-looking invoices.

4. Acceptance Criteria

To ensure we're on the right track, here are the acceptance criteria we need to meet:

• [ ] Non-admin users cannot delete data: This is the most critical criterion. We need to ensure that regular users are no longer able to delete any data in the application.
• [ ] Admin role retains all privileges: We need to verify that the admin role retains all of its existing privileges, including the ability to delete data and modify sensitive statuses.
• [ ] Downloadable/printable PDF invoices: A downloadable/printable PDF invoice must be available after payment. This invoice should include all the necessary information, such as the client's name, invoice number, payment date, and amount paid.
• [ ] Consistent UI: The interface must remain consistent with the existing design. We don't want to introduce any jarring changes that could confuse or frustrate users.

5. Project Details

• Priority: High – This project is crucial for maintaining data integrity and improving user experience.
• Assigned to: @your_username
• Deadline: To be defined – Let's discuss and set a realistic deadline.

6. Final Thoughts

By implementing these changes, we'll significantly improve the security and usability of our application. Restricting administrative rights will protect us from accidental data loss and potential misuse of privileges, while the billing module will streamline our financial processes and provide a better service for our clients. Let's work together to make this project a success!