Running a SharePoint Site on Windows Home Server : Working with Site Settings (part 3) - Working with Groups

3. Working with Groups

Like the security groups in Windows Home Server, the groups in a SharePoint site serve to simplify user management and user permissions. You’ve seen how to add a user to one of the three predefined groups—Visitors, Members, or Owners—but SharePoint offers several other group features. For example, you can change group settings, such as the group name and permissions. You can also create your own custom groups, and you can apply different groups to visitors, members, and owners. The next few sections take you through these useful features.

Modifying Group Settings

For each group, SharePoint maintains settings such as the group name and description, the user or group that owns the group, and who can view and edit the group membership. You can modify all these settings and more by following these steps:

1.	Log on to the top-level SharePoint as an administrator.
2.	If you want to work with a group in a subsite, navigate to that subsite.
3.	Select Site Actions, Site Settings.
4.	Click the People and Groups link.
5.	In the Quick Launch Groups header, click the group you want to work with.
6.	Select Settings, Group Settings. The Change Group Settings page appears, as shown in Figure 4. Figure 4. Use the Change Group Settings page to modify a group’s settings.
7.	Use the Name and About Me boxes to edit the group’s name and description.
8.	Use the Group Owner list to select the group’s owner. (This can be a user or a group.)
9.	Under Who Can View the Membership of the Group, select either Group Members or Everyone.
10.	Under Who Can Edit the Membership of the Group, select either Group Owner or Group Members. Note Ignore the options in the Membership Requests section. These options require that an email server be configured on the system, and Windows Home Server doesn’t come with an email server.
11.	Click OK to put the new settings into effect.

Creating a New Group

If none of SharePoint’s predefined groups has exactly the settings you want (and you don’t want to reconfigure an existing group), you can add your own custom group to the SharePoint site. Follow these steps:

1.	Log on to the top-level SharePoint as an administrator.
2.	If you want to work with a group in a subsite, navigate to that subsite.
3.	Select Site Actions, Site Settings.
4.	Click the People and Groups link.
5.	Click More to display the All Groups page.
6.	Select New, New Group. SharePoint displays the New Group page, which has the same controls as the Change Group Settings page, shown earlier in Figure 4.
7.	Fill in the settings you want for your new group.
8.	In the Give Group Permissions to This Site section, use the check boxes to specify the permissions for the group membership: Full Control, Design, Contribute, or Read.
9.	Click Create to add the group to the site.

Deleting a Group

If a SharePoint site has a group that you no longer need, you should delete it to reduce clutter in the Quick Launch Groups header. Follow these steps to delete a group:

1.	Log on to the top-level SharePoint as an administrator.
2.	If you want to work with a group in a subsite, navigate to that subsite.
3.	Select Site Actions, Site Settings.
4.	Click the People and Groups link.
5.	In the Quick Launch Groups header, click the group you want to work with.
6.	Select Settings, Group Settings to open the Change Group Settings page.
7.	Click Delete. SharePoint asks you to confirm.
8.	Click OK.