A group of users all share the same permissions. This makes assigning permissions to users much faster as I only have to set them in one place.
To create a group, click on the Add Group link on the user panel. Next enter the title of the group and a description if you like.
Below that you will see two columns. The column on the left contains the users that are in this group. The column on the right is a list of users not in the group. Select the users you want in the group in the right box and click the Add Member button. Alternately, select the users you want to remove from a group and click the Drop Member button.Finally, select the permissions for that group just as you did for users.
Click the Create Group button when you are satisfied with the results.
Users will inherit the permissions from the groups they are in. These permissions will NOT overwrite the permissions from another group nor will they cancel out the permissions set for that user. So if you have a group that is just for those who can enter announcements and you have another group who can create new calendar entries only, both those rights will be inherited by the user. Just because one group doesn't allow something the other group allows, doesn't mean they will cancel each other out.
If you go to the Manage Users screen and Edit a user you previously put into a group, you should now see that fact listed. You can remove the user or add their membership to a group from this page.
You may also notice another column added to the permissions portion of the user form. It indicates whether the user is receiving permissions from their groups. The Inherits column will print Yes if they do or No if they do not.
The Manage Groups page lists the groups currently in your system. You may click on the Edit link next to the group name to alter the members, permissions, title or description. You can also click the Delete link to remove a group permanently from the system. Removing a group will not delete the users in that group.