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Groups

Setting up the Groups module

Overview

Groups are peer-to-peer forums to discuss topics with your colleagues of similar interests, job location, or job function. Create groups based on location, expertise, or any topic that is of interest to a team.
As a network admin, you can manage the groups and the domain-wide settings for groups from the Admin Portal.
Admin Portal > Modules > Groups
  1. 1.
    List of groups: Displays all the groups on your domain. MangoApps creates 4 groups automatically at domain creation time - Everyone, Domain Admins, Intranet Admins, and Idea Management Team. Each group creates its individual folder in the Files module for the group files. Each group displays a unique icon after the last character to depict the type of the group.
    • No icon: Public group.
    • Lock icon: Private group.
    • Building icon: Default domain group. All network users are added to the default group automatically. All default groups, by default, have the 'Public' privacy permissions.
    • Location pin icon: Location-based group. Location-based groups automatically manage the membership of users. For example, if a user changes his office location from MangoApps Seattle to MangoApps Pune in their user profile, they will be removed from the Seattle Office group and added to the Pune Office group automatically. Location-based groups have the same permissions as private groups in MangoApps. See Location-based Groups for more information.
  2. 2.
    Actions: Click the drop-down and then click Chat Settings or View Group or View Archived Group or Edit Group or Edit Archived Group or Transfer Owner Rights or Remove Default Group or Set as Default Group or Archive Group or Activate Group or Delete Group or Delete Archived Group or Disassociate Location. See Actions on Groups for more information.
  3. 3.
    Filter By Categories: Choose the filter to display groups by categories.
    • All Categories: Show groups from all categories in the list.
    • Browse by Departments: Show only those groups tagged with the selected department name. Department names are implicitly coined as categories and you can assign a Group/Project to it.
    • Browse by Category: Show only those groups tagged with the selected category in the list.
  4. 4.
    Filter By Type: Choose the filter to display groups by type.
    • All Groups: Show all groups in the domain.
    • Location Based Groups: Show only location-based groups in the list.
    • Archived Groups: Show only archived groups in the list.
  5. 5.
    Sort Groups: Choose the filter to sort the groups in the list.
    • Name: Sort the groups alphabetically. You can choose to sort from A-Z (Ascending) or Z-A (Descending).
    • Activity: Sort the groups as per the last activity time in the group. You can choose to sort from Most recent activity (Ascending) or Least recent activity (Descending).
    • Ascending: Sort the groups in an ascending order.
    • Descending: Sort the groups in a descending order.
  6. 6.
    Manage Group Settings: Click the
    (gear) button and then click Configure Custom Fields or Manage Settings or Manage Categories or Show/Hide Fields or Export Group Email IDs.
    • Configure Custom Fields: Click the Configure Custom Fields option to open the Setup Custom Fields pop-up and create custom fields.
    • Manage Settings: Click the Manage Settings option to open the Group Settings pop-up and configure the domain-wide group settings.
    • Manage Categories: Click the Manage Categories option to open the Manage Categories pop-up and configure the domain-wide categories for group.
    • Show/Hide Fields: Click the Show/Hide Fields option to open the Show/Hide Fields pop-up and configure the fields displayed on the Groups page in the User Portal.
    • Export Group Email IDs: Click the Export Group Email IDs option to open the Export Groups pop-up. You can choose to Export All Group Data in XML format (excluding files) or Export All Group Members list in .csv format.
  7. 7.
    Create Group: Click the Create Group button to create a new group on your domain.
Unlisted groups are NOT displayed in the Groups module in the Admin Portal.

Actions on Groups

Chat Settings

You can send instant messages (IM) to an entire group and its members in MangoApps.
Selected Group > Chat Settings
  1. 1.
    Who can send IM in the Group?
    • Domain Admins Only: Select to allow only network admins to send IMs in the group.
    • Domain Admins & Group Admins Only: Select to allow only network admins and group admins to send IMs in the group.
    • Any Group Member: Select to allow any group member to send IMs in the group.
  2. 2.
    Who can see the group member list?:
    • Domain Admins & Group Admins Only: Select to allow only network admins to view the group member list. If selected, displays a Show Members button in the group IM only for network admins.
    • Any Group Member: Select to allow only network admins to view the group members list. If selected, displays a Show Members button in the group IM for all group members.
  3. 3.
    Who can send important messages?: You can mark an IM as important. Messages set as important get flagged as an important message and have a unique audible alert which distinguishes it from other messages. The message remains at the top of the recipient’s notification list until it is marked as read.
    • Domain Admins Only: Select to allow only network admins to mark a message as important in a group IM when they compose a chat message. If selected, displays a Set as Important option in the group IM only for network admins.
    • Domain Admins & Group Admins Only: Select to allow only network admins and group admins to mark a message as important in a group IM when they compose a chat message. If selected, displays a Set as Important option in the group IM only for network admins and group admins.
    • Any Group Member: Select to allow any group member to mark a message as important in a group IM when they compose a chat message. If selected, displays a Set as Important option in the group IM for group members.
  4. 4.
    Save: Click the Save button to apply the chat settings for the selected group.

View Group

Redirects to the group's page on the User Portal.

View Archived Group

For archived groups, redirects to the archived group's page.

Edit Group

Opens the group in the edit mode. You can modify the basic settings and configure the modules for the group.
Editing a group

Edit Archived Group

For archived groups, opens the archived group in the edit mode. You can modify the basic settings and configure the modules for the archived group.

Transfer Owner Rights

Selected Group > Transfer Owner Rights
  1. 1.
    Current Owner: Name of the current group admin.
  2. 2.
    Select New Owner: Enter the name of the new group admin in the Select New Owner text box. The user MUST be a member of the group to successfully transfer the owner rights.
  3. 3.
    Transfer Owner Rights: Click the Transfer Owner Rights button to transfer the owner rights from the current owner to the specified user.
After transferring the owner rights to a new owner, MangoApps converts the old group admin into a member of the group and does NOT remove the user from the group.

Remove Default Group

For default groups, unlinks the selected group as the Default Group on the domain.

Set as Default Group

For existing public groups, makes the selected group as the Default Group in the domain.
All existing network users, network users invited, and signing up in the future are automatically added to the Default Group. Existing guest users are NOT removed from the selected group.
You can have more than one default group on the domain.

Archive Group

For active groups, archives the selected group. As a network admin, you can choose to generate an update ("This group has been archived.") on the group's wall to notify the members of the group archival.
Archiving a group does NOT delete any content in it. The group and all its contents can still be viewed by the group members but it CANNOT be edited.
Archived group do NOT appear in your active list of groups on the User Portal.

Activate Group

For archived groups, activates the selected group. As a network admin, you can choose to generate an update ("This archived group has been activated. ") on the group's wall to notify the members of the group activation.
Only network admins and the group's admin can activate an archived group.

Delete Group

For selected group, deletes the selected group from your domain.
Deleting a group does NOT delete any content in it, it moves the group to the Trash Can. The group and all its contents can still be restored by the network admins from the Trash can.
Deleted groups do NOT appear in your active list of groups on the User Portal.

Delete Archived Group

For selected archived group, deletes the selected group from your domain.
Deleting a group does NOT delete any content in it, it moves the group to the Trash Can. The group and all its contents can still be restored by the network admins from the Trash can.
Deleted groups do NOT appear in your active list of groups on the User Portal.

Disassociate Location

For location-based group, converts a location-based group into a general group without changing the privacy permissions.
You need to manage the members of this disassociated group manually like other MangoApps groups.

Configuring Custom Fields

Custom fields let you add additional data to groups in MangoApps. You can create a field for stage, priority, cost, or anything else that’s important to your workflow, team, and company.
Click the
(gear) button and then click Configure Custom Fields to open the Setup Custom Fields pop-up.

Adding a New Custom Field

Adding a custom group field
  1. 1.
    In the Setup Custom Fields pop-up, click the New Custom Field button.
  2. 2.
    Enter a name for the custom field. For example, enter test.
  3. 3.
    Select the type of the field from the drop-down list. For example, select Single Line Text from the drop-down list.
  4. 4.
    Click the Save button.
  5. 5.
    Click the Close button to exit the pop-up.
Custom fields can be mapped to external APIs for syncing data.

Editing a Custom Field

In the Setup Custom Fields pop-up, click the
(three dots) button for a field and then click Edit to edit the custom field.

Deleting a Custom Field

In the Setup Custom Fields pop-up, click the
(three dots) button for a field and then click Delete to delete the custom field.

Managing the Domain-wide Group Settings

Click the
(gear) button and then click Manage Settings.
Managing domain-wide group settings
  1. 1.
    Label: Enter a custom label for the Groups module.
  2. 2.
    Permissions to create a new group:
    • Any Network User: Select to allow any network user to create groups on your domain.
    • Only Network Admins: Select to allow only network admins to create groups on your domain.
    • Network Admins and Users with Creator Role: Select to allow only network admins and the users defined with the Creator Role (via Admin Portal > Users > Admin Roles) to create groups on your domain.
  3. 3.
    Allow group admins to delete their groups: Mark the option to allow group admins to delete their group from the domain. If left unmarked, only network admins can delete groups from the domain.
  4. 4.
    Allow creation of unlisted groups in the domain: Mark the option to allow network users to create groups with the Unlisted privacy permissions on the domain. If left unmarked, unlisted groups cannot created be by any user on the domain, not even by network admins.
  5. 5.
    Only network admins can create group categories: Mark the option to allow only network admins to create and manage the group categories. If left unmarked, any network user can create group categories from the User Portal.
  6. 6.
    Tag is required while group creation: Mark this checkbox to make hashtag a required field for every group. The system checks the required condition on a group's Create action or an Edit action to have at least 1 hashtag.
  7. 7.
    Category required when creating group: Mark this checkbox to make category a required field for every group. The system checks the required condition on a group's Create action or an Edit action.
  8. 8.
    Show departments as categories for browsing & assigning: Mark this checkbox to display all departments in the domain as categories when assigning categories to groups.
  9. 9.
    Save: Click the Save button to apply the settings to the Groups module.
The translate option of your domain in the Admin Portal (Admin Portal > Domain > Translate) MUST be deactivated to edit the module label.
Activating and Deactivating the translate option of your domain in the Admin Portal (Admin Portal > Domain > Translate) resets the custom label text.

Managing Group Categories

To manage group categories:
  1. 1.
    Click the
    (gear) button and then click Manage Categories to open the Manage Categories pop-up.
  2. 2.
    Click the + New Category button to create a new group category.
  3. 3.
    Enter the name for the group category and press ENTER or click anywhere on the screen. For example, enter Sales.
  4. 4.
    Right-click the new created category and then click the Add Subcategory option to add a new subcategory in the hierarchy.
    1. 1.
      Enter the name for the subcategory category and press ENTER or click anywhere on the screen. For example, enter Organic.
    2. 2.
      Right-click a group category and then click the Rename option to rename it.
    3. 3.
      Right-click a group category and then click the Delete option to delete it.
  5. 5.
    Click the Done button to save the group categories.
Managing group categories
Deleting a group category only removes the association of the category from the group.

Showing/Hiding Group Fields

Click the
(gear) button and then click Show/Hide Fields.
Showing/Hiding Group Fields on the User Portal
  1. 1.
    Group Fields: Mark/unmark the group fields to show/hide on the Groups page. Drag-and-drop the fields to re-order them.
  2. 2.
    Apply to new users only: Click the Apply to new users only button to apply the field settings to only the new users who are invited or signup on your domain.
  3. 3.
    Apply to all users: Click the Apply to all users button to apply the field settings to all existing users and new users the new users who are invited or signup on your domain.
Groups page on the User Portal with the selected fields for groups

Exporting Group Email IDs

You can export all groups data (excluding files) in XML format or export only the member data of all groups in the domain to .csv file. Click the
(gear) button and then click Export Group Email IDs to open the Export Groups pop-up.
Exporting Groups Data
  1. 1.
    Export All Groups data: Click the Export All Groups data button to export data (excluding file) of all groups on your domain in XML format.
  2. 2.
    Export All Groups Members List: Click the Export All Groups Members list button to export the member list of all groups in .csv format.
  3. 3.
    Previously exported data: List of the most recent exported group data on the domain.
  4. 4.
    Close: Click the Close button to exit the Export Groups pop-up.
The exported data files are listed in the Data Exports tab in the Admin Portal.

Creating a New Group

To create a new group on your domain:
  1. 1.
    Click the Create Group button to open the Create Group page.
  2. 2.
    Enter a name for the group in the Name text box. For example, enter Marketing in the Name text box.
  3. 3.
    Enter a description for the group in the Short Description text box.
  4. 4.
    Add an image for the group. This is an optional step.
  5. 5.
    Assign the category/department for the group.
    1. 1.
      Select from an existing category/department. OR
    2. 2.
      Click on the + New Category button to create a new category, mark the category and then click Done.
  6. 6.
    Select the preferred privacy permissions for the group. For example, select Private.
  7. 7.
    Add a hashtag for the group in the Hashtags text box. This is an optional step.
  8. 8.
    Click the Save & Continue button.
  9. 9.
    Configure the modules for the group as preferred. Enable/disable the modules or edit the settings of the modules for the group.
  10. 10.
    Click the Save & Exit button to create the new group with the selected details on your domain.
Creating a new group
By default, the creator of the group is the group admin.

Restrict Who Can Post to the Group

You can restrict who can post updates to a group, ask questions, and post to a group.
Click on Groups from any screen on your site.
If you have already created the group, select the group you need to make restrictions for.
Select the three dots and click on Edit Group and Module Details
If you are creating the group from scratch fill our the details and click on Save and Continue. If you are editing a group, click on Configure Modules.
To edit who can post to the News Feed, click on the Gear icon for News Feed.
To restrict posting of updates, questions, and polls select the appropriate radio buttons and click on Save.
To edit who can post to the group, click on the Gear icon for Posts.
Check the box to restrict posts to group for only group admins and domain admins, and click on Save.
Then click Save and Edit. Your changes will be saved, and only group and domain admins will be able to make posts to the group.

FAQs

What are the MangoApps group permissions?

The 3 permissions for groups in MangoApps are Public, Private, and Unlisted.
  • Public Groups
    • Allow any network user to join the project without an explicit invitation to the project. Users simply search for the group name and click “Join” to become a member of the group.
    • Allow non-members of the project to view and post messages into the group without joining it. This is effective when not all group updates need to be seen by a non-member of the group, but from time to time the non-member of the group may need to find information from a group or communicate with the group audience.
  • Private Groups
    • Private groups protect the content of the group from being read by unauthorized users.
    • Private groups require an explicit invitation to the group by a group admin. Non-members can find private group names when searching but cannot view any of the group’s proprietary information. Non-members can request to join private groups but admins need to approve their request before they can join.
  • Unlisted Groups
    • Similar to Private groups, unlisted group members are explicitly invited to the group by a group administrator.
    • The differentiating factor between Private and Unlisted groups is the ability to find the private group’s name when searched. Unlisted groups do not show up in the search results.
    • Secret groups do not show group names or group members to non-members of the group. Even network admins that are not a member of the unlisted group cannot find the group as a result of a search.
    • Log entries display unlisted group items as ***** in the Audit Logs.
    • The Unlisted group privacy can be disabled by network admins to force only Private or Public group privacy to be used in the domain via the domain-wide group settings.

What happens if I disable the Groups module?

Disabling the Groups module from the Admin Portal (Admin Portal > Modules > Setup) does NOT delete or archive groups. MangoApps displays a warning message "This module is currently turned off by the Domain Administrator" on the User Portal when users try to access the groups they were a member of. Network admins can access all the groups via Admin Portal > Modules > Groups.
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To see how these configurations impact the Groups on the User Portal, see Groups in the User Portal Guide.

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