Create groups
In this topic
Groups are a collection of items, often related to a specific region, subject, or project, that are created and managed by the group owner. If you have privileges to create groups, you decide who can find your groups, if others can request to join, and who can contribute content. You also have control over items shared to the group and can invite others to join, even if your group doesn't accept membership requests.
Administrators also use groups to configure the portal website. These site configuration groups contain the organization's featured content, basemaps, and templates.
Create a group
- Verify that you are signed in and have privileges to create groups.
- Open Groups and click Create a Group.
- Enter a name, summary, description, and tags.
- Add a thumbnail image. For best results, the image should be 65 pixels wide by 65 pixels high. Other sizes will be adjusted to fit. Acceptable image formats are PNG, GIF, and JPEG. Maximum allowed file size is 1 MB.
- Click the icon
next to your group name. - Browse to the image file on your desktop.
- Click OK and click Save to see your new thumbnail.
- Click the icon
- Select the sharing status of your group:
- Public: Anyone with access to the portal can search for and find the group, even if they are not a member of the portal. Anyone can be invited to the group or apply to join. This is the default.
- Organization: Only members of the group can search for and find the group. Members can be invited to the group or apply to join.
- Private: Only members of the group can search for and find the group. Members must be invited in order to join the group.
- Select how users become a member of the group:
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Can join by invitation only: The group owner must explicitly invite users to join before they can become a member. Invitations are sent as a notification in the portal to the selected members; they are not sent as an email. Members will need to log in to the portal in order to see notifications for group invitations. Notifications are listed next to the member's user name in the portal website.
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Can apply to join group: Any user in the organization can apply to become a member of the group. Applications can be accepted or rejected by the group owner. This option is only available if you selected the Organization or Public sharing status.
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From an Enterprise Group: Membership is controlled outside of the portal by an enterprise group. This option is only available if the following conditions are met:
- You are an Administrator of the organization or have the privilege to link built-in groups to enterprise groups.
- Your portal has been configured with an enterprise identity store and metadata has been provided about the enterprise groups in the identity store. For details, see About configuring portal authentication.
To define an enterprise group to manage membership, click Search for group. After entering your search criteria, select the desired group from the list of results and click Select group.
Note:
If the group already contains members from the portal's built-in identity store, you must remove the members before you can update the group. For instructions, see manage groups.
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- Select who can contribute content to the group, all members or just you, the group administrator (group owner).
If you choose to only allow the group owner, members can view and access your items but they can't share their own items with the group. This type of group is a good way to share your authoritative maps and data to a targeted audience. You control what items appear in the group and who can view them.
- To change how the items are sorted on the group page, select a field in the drop-down list next to Sorted by.
You can choose to sort by title, owner, ratings, views, or date (default). To change how the items are ordered, check or uncheck the box next to Ascending. The sort field and order extends to your group when it is embedded in a website, shared as an app, and used to configure your portal website (such as the basemap gallery). If you change the sort field or order, the item display is updated everywhere the group is used.
- Click Save to create your group.
Edit a group
- Verify that you are signed in and own the group (or have privileges to update groups owned by members).
- Open Groups and click the name of the group you want to edit.
- Click Edit and edit your group information.
You can update the name, summary, description, tags, and thumbnail image. You can also change the status (private or public).
- Click Save to update your group.