Types and Groups

For various reasons, it is useful to be able to split users into sets of one sort or another. This is done in Exprodo DB using types and groups. These are two independent means of segregating users.

Exprodo DB should be configured with types and groups that make sense for the current installation. A default installation comes with no types and no groups. If your installation does use User Types, then when a user registers, they will be asked what their type is. An administrator can override that and change it when they approve the user, but the user will always have a single type. When users have types, then the type can be used for Permissions, Automatic Emails and Manual Emails.

Use User Types if there is some logical separation of users that fits the notion of a user having precisely one type. For example, it may be that there are multiple departments in your company, with everybody belonging to only one department. If that were the case, then perhaps have as many User Types as there are departments.

User Groups can also be used for Permissions, Automatic Emails and Manual Emails, the same as for types. However, there is greater flexibility due to the way a user can belong to multiple groups (or no groups). So, while a user's type may indicate their department (or whatever), groups could be created that reflect any sort of grouping that makes sense in your situation. Given this apparent flexibility in groups, one might ask what the point of types is. The answer is that it is sometimes useful to have a taxonomy in which you know every user has a type, whereas a user may belong to no groups at all.

See also:

Configuring Types And Groups.