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 Calpendo using types and groups. These are two independent means of segregating users, projects and resources.

Your Calpendo should be configured with types and groups that make sense for you. 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, Workflows, Manual emails and Booking Rules.

User Types are used 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 you would have as many User Types as there are departments.

User Groups can also be used for Permissions, Workflows, Manual Emails and Booking Rules, 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 every user has a type, whereas a user may belong to no groups at all.

In exactly the same way that a User has a User Type and may belong to User Groups, a Project has a Project Type and may belong to Project Groups, and a Resource has a Resource Type and may belong to Resource Groups. The same Booking Rule about having precisely one type and belonging to any number of groups applies to projects and resources in exactly the same way as it does to users. These types and groups can be used for Permissions, Workflows, Manual Emails and Booking Rules.

Bookings may also have a type. If you create one or more types in the Types and Groups Editor, then when somebody creates a booking, they will be asked for its type. However, there are no booking groups in Calpendo. One might want to use a booking type for several reasons. For example, in a clinical or mixed clinical and research environment, it may be required to categorise scanner bookings according to the nature of the subject of the scan. That is, to record whether they are fully healthy, walking patients, patients in a chair or patients in a bed.

If using booking types, then this allows the setting of different Booking Rules or Permissions based on the booking type, and the different booking types can also be displayed differently on the calendar so that the booking type is obvious at a glance. The Booking Type can also be used for Permissions, Workflows, Manual Emails and Booking Rules.