Groups

Grouping allows the administrator to separate users that work on different tasks or projects. When users are grouped together, their view and access to information can be targeted and/or restricted. This also allows an organization to divide a system amongst a number of clients where information is client specific.

Simple Example

You can configure FIT such that each subgroup has access to a specific project (or project set).

A user is only allowed to exist in one group at any one time. This can be a little tedious to administer, but it provides greater administrative security because each user belongs to exactly one group and there are no group definition conflicts. You can create as many groups as you desire and if you have specific criteria for certain members, you simply create a subgroup with more specific criteria.

The "Master List" exists as default group for all the users that do not currently belong to a group. By default, each user is placed in the "Master List" and remains there until they are selected in another group. Users within the "Master List" (like admin users), have an unrestricted view of the bug database. Users are not deleted or removed from a group. When a user is selected in a group, the user is removed from it's previous group and placed in the new one. To remove a user from all groups, simply add the user back to the "Master List".

Setting up Groups

When you set up a group, you must define exactly what will be visible to the members of that group. The following options allow you to define the data set and users that a particular group can see.

Visible Projects are the set of projects that are visible to users in a group. If a set of projects is selected, only issues in those projects will be visible to users in that group. If no projects are selected (the default), then all projects are actually visible. Hiding issues by project is a very useful way to separate different customers in a system (or users that only work on specific projects), so that they can only see relevant data.

Visible Groups defines the set of users that are visible to members of a group. If a user is not in a visible group, then they can not be assigned an issue. Visible Groups allow you to create relationships between groups that define who can assign issues to whom.

To define a Group, enter a group name, select the project(s) that you would like users within this group to have access to, and then select the users for the group. Selecting multiple entries on a list is browser dependent, but on a Windows machine using Internet Explorer or Netscape, holding the control key while selecting an entry will select / deselect a particular item. If other groups are already configured, they will appear in the group's visible list. If you would like users within this group to see users in another group, select these other groups in the Groups Visible list. Select users to import into this group in the last list. Users can also be assigned to groups by Administrators using the User Administration menu, as well as by editing a group and importing additional users into that group.

The "Hide Users From Others in Group" checkbox helps limit the users who can be assigned bugs in the system. When this is checked, users are only able to assign bugs to people they can see (such as managers in the Master List).

Notes:
- The delete link and the hide users option will do nothing for the Master List.
- If no project is selected as visible, group members will have access to all projects.
- Field controls can be set up to hide or restrict access to specific fields. These controls are defined in the Admin->Field Control menu and are controlled by changing attributes that are set for different groups. Fields can be set as Read/Write, Read or Hidden as defined in the Field Control documentation. - New projects must be added manually before you can assign groups to them. - If you cannot see specific issues, then you probably cannot see their associated project.