Managing Group Access to Templates, Folders, and Documents

This feature offers users increased flexibility by allowing access to specific ‘objects’ on the platform (for example: templates, folders, or documents) through group assignments rather than being limited by user profile. It adds a layer of customisability, enabling administrators to grant permissions to multiple users efficiently by organising them into groups.

What are Groups?

In many organisations, different teams may need access to the same templates, folders, or documents. Rather than assigning permissions individually, based on user profiles you can create groups that represent specific interests or roles, making the process more streamlined.

For example, let’s say your organisation has a corporate team and a tax team, and both require access to certain tax templates. Instead of individually assigning access rights, you can create a group that includes members from both teams, giving them access to the needed resources in one step. This increases efficiency and reduces administrative overhead.

Types of Groups

Some “system level” Groups are created automatically. For example, every organisation will have an automatically generated Group that includes all users. Additionally, users will be grouped based on Profiles with a group containing all users in a Profile and additional Groups based on user rights in the Profile, such as "Onboard" and "New Documents". These groups will update dynamically as users are added, removed, or when their permissions change, reducing the need for extra admin to maintain these Groups.

For example here you can see the groups created by default in an Organisation called "Avvoka" with a "Test Sandbox" Profile:

Users can also choose to manually create additional Groups. There are two types of groups available:

Standard Groups: These are the most commonly used groups and are ideal for regular access management within departments.
Organisational-Level Groups: These groups are used for people with organisational-level rights. When setting up these groups, you will also have the option to control document visibility. You can choose whether group members can view all generated documents or only the documents they themselves generate.

How to Create a Group

Groups can be created by Org. Support users in the “Support” tab. Here are detailed steps to creating and managing groups:

Access the Groups Page: Click the ‘Groups’ button on the left side panel once you’re in the ‘Support’ tab
Add a New Group: Click on the button to create a new group. You will be prompted to provide a name, description, and select an organisation for the group.
Select Group Type: Choose whether the group is a standard group or an organisation-level group. If you select an organisation-level group, you'll also have the option to define the visibility of generated documents (either group-wide or personal).
Add Members: From a dropdown list, select the users you want to add to the group. You can choose members from different user profiles to ensure you cover all necessary roles.
Assign Admin Rights: At least one user in each group must be given admin rights. You can do this by checking the 'Admin' box next to the selected user. Users with Admin rights can manage the group itself and can add/remove people.
Save the Group: Once all members are added and admin rights are assigned, click the 'Update group' button to save the changes.

After creating a group, you can begin assigning it to Templates, Folders, or Drive Files. To assign to Templates, go to the ‘Templates’ tab, select the template by clicking on the white space or ellipsis next to its name, then navigate to the "Who has access" tab and click the 'Add group' button under ‘Groups’. Select the group name and, from the 'Template rights' dropdown, assign permissions such as "Onboard" or "New Document."

The same process applies to Folders: visit the 'Drive' tab, select the folder or file by clicking the white space or ellipsis, and add group access in the "Who has access" tab by selecting options like "View," "Edit,” or "Full" under 'Folder rights.' For Drive Files, you can assign "View" or "Edit" rights under 'Drive File Rights.'

When assigning groups to Template Folders, the steps are the same. Visit the folder under the Templates tab but note that the first part (Template rights) is responsible for the permissions in the folder, and the second part (Folder management) manages the folder itself. Rights include: "Onboard + Manage," "New Document + Manage," "New Document + View," and "Onboard + View."

Assigning Groups to Template Folders

You can assign groups to template folders and provide different folder rights.

To learn more about folder rights and what they mean, you can check this article.

If you have subfolders, you can also set up specific access, or just choose the Parent’s folder rights to be inherited in the subfolder.

Assigning Groups to Templates

You can assign groups to templates. Different template rights can be selected:

Right	Privilege
Onboard	The user is able to edit the Template and create new documents from this Template. Please note that if the user or group has “New document” or “View” rights to access Avvoka, their access will have to be upgraded to be able to assign “Onboard” rights to the template.
New Documents	The user is only able to create new documents from this Template but cannot edit the precedent.

If the template is inside a folder, you can also choose the rights set up on the folder level to be “inherited” in the templates.

Assigning Groups to Document Folders

You can assign groups to Document Folders. You can read more about document folders and their rights here.

If you have subfolders, you can also set up specific access, or just choose the Parent’s folder rights to be inherited in the subfolder.

Assigning Groups to Documents

You can assign groups to Documents and Drive files. To read more about file rights options, click here.

If the document/file is inside a folder, you can also choose the rights set up on the folder level to be “inherited”.

Editing or Deleting Groups

To manage an existing Group, navigate to the Groups page in Settings.

Click on the Group name to view and edit the users, permissions, and description.

You can remove users, change their permissions, or delete the entire Group if it is no longer needed by clicking on the delete button.

Some Groups are created automatically and cannot be edited or deleted (they will not have a bin icon near them). For example, every organisation will have an automatically generated Group that includes all users. Additionally, users will be grouped based on profiles and level of rights, such as "Onboard" and "New Documents". These groups will update dynamically as users are added, removed, or when their permissions change.

Worked example

Let’s say your organisation has different teams working on projects that involve both financial and legal documents. You can create a Finance group and a Legal group, granting each access to specific templates and folders. If certain members need access to both financial and legal templates, you can easily add them to both groups.

This structure ensures users only access the resources they need, reducing clutter and confusion, while administrators benefit from more efficient permission management.

Best practice

Clear Group Naming: Use descriptive and consistent naming conventions for Groups to avoid confusion, especially when managing many teams or departments.
Audit Access Regularly: Periodically review the Groups and their permissions to ensure that access is granted appropriately, especially for sensitive data.

Difference between Groups and Profiles:

Category	Can Do (Groups) ✅	Can Do (Profiles) ✅	Can't Do (Groups) ❌	Can't Do (Profiles) ❌
User Management	Users can amend their own details (e.g., name, email) and configure settings like email regularity in "My details".	Profile Admins can manage user access rights, assign roles, and change user privileges (Role, Manager, Admin) from the "Edit Profile" page.	Users cannot manage other users unless given "Admin" rights.	Users without "Admin" rights cannot add, remove, or modify other users on the Profile.
Document Creation	Users can create new documents or templates based on their assigned role.	Users assigned with "Onboard" rights can create and edit templates, and "New Document" rights allow users to create documents from templates.	Users cannot create documents unless they have the "New Document", or "Onboard" rights enabled.	Users without "Onboard" or "New Document" rights cannot create or edit templates.
Document Viewing	Users can only view their own documents unless given Manager rights.	Users with "View" rights can only view documents saved on their profile.	Users without "Manager" rights cannot view all Profile-level documents unless explicitly added to them.	Users without "View" rights cannot see documents not assigned to them.
Document Editing	Users cannot edit documents unless they have explicit permissions at the Profile or Template level.	Profile admins can set "Document Edit" rights to ensure users can edit any document within their profile.	Users without "Edit" rights cannot modify documents.	Users without "Edit" rights cannot change documents unless assigned specific template permissions.
Document Signing	Users cannot sign documents unless granted explicit "Sign" rights.	Users with "Sign" rights can sign documents.	Users without "Sign" rights cannot electronically sign documents.	Users cannot sign documents without "Sign" rights enabled for their profile.
Document Inviting	Users cannot invite others to collaborate on documents unless they have explicit permissions to do so.	Users with "Invite" rights can invite external parties to documents.	Users cannot invite collaborators unless "Invite" rights are granted at either the Profile or Template level.	Users without "Invite" rights cannot send invitations for document collaboration.
Document Control (Priority)	Users cannot control how rights are inherited without administrator-level changes.	Profile admins can set document rights (Edit, Sign, Invite, Controller) to always take precedence over template-level rights, ensuring a consistent user experience.	Users cannot modify or control document rights unless those are specifically assigned at the profile level.	Users cannot override document-level rights unless the Profile is configured to take priority.
Role-Based Functionality	Users can see and interact with specific functions of the system based on their assigned role (Onboard, New Document, View).	Roles dictate the level of system functionality visible and usable by the user (e.g., Onboard for creating templates, New Document for generating new contracts, View for auditing).	Users cannot interact with system functionality outside their role assignment (e.g., cannot create templates if not assigned the "Onboard" role).	Users cannot use features restricted by their role (e.g., creating new documents if limited to the "View" role).
Manager Rights	Users cannot access all documents generated on the Profile unless they have Manager rights.	Manager rights enable users to see all documents generated on the Profile, regardless of individual user involvement.	Users without Manager rights cannot view documents they are not specifically added to.	Users without Manager rights cannot view documents not generated by themselves or assigned to them.
Admin Rights	Users can manage group itself and add/remove people.	Admin rights allow users to manage other users, including adding, removing, or modifying users in the Profile.	Users cannot manager users.	Users without Admin rights cannot change user access or permissions within the profile.