You will want to do this prior to setting up any other OG configurations, as there is a general configuration down the road that will ask you specifically for the name of a group role.

In regards to organic group roles, before you even reach for your keyboard, it's suggested that you do a little thinking first and maybe even write out a brief sketch regarding the different roles that you want involved in your site.  Be specific and provide these roles with accurate, meaningful names.

Once you have a little bit of a game plan formed, you can add the roles to your site by doing the following:

  1. Go to Admin menu > Configuration > Organic Groups > OG global roles.
  2. Click the edit link of a group.
  3. Enter the name of the role in the field provided.
  4. Click the Add role button.
  5. To define permissions for this role, click its respective edit permissions link.  This will take you into a detailed permissions list that is exclusive to Organic Groups.
  6. Add any desired permissions for the role.
  7. Click the Save permissions button.

In our OSU Drupal 7 installation, we use four different roles within an Organic Group, by default:

Role Purpose
Group Manager Can configure group dashboard settings. Controls access to the group. Adds, promotes, demotes and removes users from the group. Can work with all content within the group. Can view private group content. Can update group member's profiles.
Group Author Can work with most content within the group. Can view private group content. Can update group member's profiles.
Group Member Can view private group content. Can update own profile. Role is intended for someone who is similar to an "employee"
Group Affiliate Can view private group content. Can update own profile. Role is intended for someone who isn't really an "employee" but who still has an interest or some affiliation with the group.

Web Services has set the system up so that the Site Architect and Site Manager have the ability to go into any group as needed to assist the group's members.  This is a configurable option, but we recommend keeping this setting as is.

Now let's take a look at some general settings.