Relatively full overview of what a group is, how they are nested, group types, etc
[FROM GROUP FEATURES (and rewritten)]
Groups also nest, meaning that a group can contain subgroups.
Groups are containers
A group is a logical container of members and applications as well as the data they produce. Note that:
- Applications across the site are similar in function (one group's blog works similarly to another group's blog).
- Application and membership data are organized by group, not by the site in most cases (i.e. the case of a joinless group (given more detail below).
To picture how Telligent Community's groups are structured, think of the people in your organization, then mentally organize them into functional groups and identify their communication needs. For example, you might have a Product Group in your organization that makes announcements (blogs); writes documentation (wikis); provides downloads (galleries); and field support requests (forums).
Group types
Groups also have types, which govern the way the group can behave regarding membership. The types include:
- Private Unlisted - Community members can't see this group's activity or users.
- Private Listed - Community members can see users and group activity, but can't participate in group activity.
- Public Closed - Community members can see group activity, but can't see the activity of group members.
- Public Open - Community members can see group members and activity.
- Joinless - Membership isn't tracked (that is, there are no members). Site-level roles control the group's permissions using site-level permissions. Joinless groups are managed by system administrators unless an administrator creates a special role for managing this group.
Membership types
Within a group container, there are three levels of membership: Group members (can create and view group content, view group members, and invite prospective members); Group managers (have the same permission as group members, but additionally can manage the group); and Group owners (have the same permissions a manager but also can control group settings, add new members, modify the group theme, create new applications, create new roles, and and modify role permissions.
Group creation
Group creation is contextual - meaning that you create a group in the context where it will reside (for example, creating a group in the site context using the Manage Group panel, accessed from the Pencil tool on the site home page). The following screen capture shows the contextual panel that appears when you click the pencil > Manage > Manage group.
GROUP MANAGEMENT
The concept of group management, modification, and deletion in this release approaches groups as a context of management, not somewhat loosely affiliated functions, groups, and applications. That is, subgroup creation, modification (such as adding applications), and deletion happen in the Management contextual panels. In each page of the customer-facing site, the pencil is visible to those (such as group owners and admins) having the necessary permission.
Notice that
DELETE