Roles and Groups – how do I use them?

What each user can do in the GVO is determined by:

  1. The role they are given
  2. The options they are given within the role
  3. The Group or Groups they are a member of


Readers - can view ‘content’ but cannot add ‘new content’ and cannot comment on content

Authors* - can contribute and update their own content and can comment on any other content that they have access to.

Editors* - can add and update their own content as well as the content of other Virtual Office users. They can comment on any content that they have access to.

Managers - In addition to Editor permissions, Managers can remove content added by any Virtual Office users and control membership of the GVO.

* Exactly what content (eg files, pages, discussions, tasks, calendar events) authors can contribute is controlled by their user profile and any groups that they belong to – this is a local school decision and only the GVO Manager can change this

Normally all users of the GVO (Governors, Chairs and Head Teachers) should be assigned to the Author role. The actual content that they can add is a local decision

Clerks should normally be assigned to the Manager role.

Where users need to edit other people's documents in many areas of the GVO, they can be given the Editor role. Alternatively, GVO users can be added by name, as Additional Authors, to specific documents to allow them to add, for example, attachments to them or to edit them.

Groups are used like distribution lists when you wish to notify the users of a particular committee, for example, or restrict access to a document to a certain group of people.

Groups can also be used to control access to folder areas of the GVO.

Groups can also be used to add groups of people as Additional Authors to specific documents to allow them to edit the document.

Groups are created and maintained by people in the Manager’s role. There is no restriction on the number of groups that a user can belong to.