diff --git a/SQL/2011-12-12-PermissionCategory.sql b/SQL/2011-12-12-PermissionCategory.sql
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..4f7cd7f7d93
--- /dev/null
+++ b/SQL/2011-12-12-PermissionCategory.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+CREATE TABLE permissions_category (
+    ID int(10) not null AUTO_INCREMENT,
+    Description varchar(255) not null,
+    PRIMARY KEY(`ID`)
+);
+
+REPLACE INTO permissions_category VALUES (1, 'Roles');
+REPLACE INTO permissions_category VALUES (2, 'Permission');
+
+
+ALTER TABLE permissions ADD COLUMN categoryID int(10) REFERENCES permissions_category(ID);
+
+UPDATE permissions SET categoryID=1 WHERE type='role';
+UPDATE permissions SET categoryID=2 WHERE type='permission';
+
+-- You should run this once you're sure everything works.
+-- ALTER TABLE permissions DROP COLUMN type;
diff --git a/php/libraries/NDB_Form_user_accounts.class.inc b/php/libraries/NDB_Form_user_accounts.class.inc
index 10cc1e39f9f..1bd15f7525a 100644
--- a/php/libraries/NDB_Form_user_accounts.class.inc
+++ b/php/libraries/NDB_Form_user_accounts.class.inc
@@ -347,9 +347,11 @@ class NDB_Form_user_accounts extends NDB_Form
         foreach ($perms as $row) {
             if($row['type'] != $lastRole) {
                 $lastRole = $row['type'];
-                $group[] = $this->form->createElement('static', null, null, '<b>'.ucwords($row['type']).'</b>');
+                $group[] = $this->form->createElement('static', null, null, '</div>' . 
+                        "<h3 id=\"header_$lastRole\" class=\"perm_header button\" style=\"text-align: center; margin-top: 5px;\">".ucwords($row['type']).'</h3>' 
+                        . "<div id=\"perms_$lastRole\" style=\"margin-top: 5px;\">");
             }
-            $group[] = $this->form->createElement('advcheckbox', 'permID['.$row['permID'].']', null, $row['description']);
+            $group[] = $this->form->createElement('advcheckbox', 'permID['.$row['permID'].']', null, $row['description'], "class=\"perm_$lastRole\"");
         }
         $this->form->addGroup($group, 'PermID_Group', 'Permissions', "<br />\n", FALSE);
         unset($group);
diff --git a/php/libraries/UserPermissions.class.inc b/php/libraries/UserPermissions.class.inc
index bf1858764af..a178cba808a 100644
--- a/php/libraries/UserPermissions.class.inc
+++ b/php/libraries/UserPermissions.class.inc
@@ -239,7 +239,7 @@ class UserPermissions
             return PEAR::raiseError("Could not connect to database: ".$DB->getMessage());
         }
 
-        $query = "SELECT permissions.permID, code, description, type FROM permissions, user_perm_rel WHERE permissions.permID = user_perm_rel.permID AND userID = '$this->userID' ORDER BY type, description";
+        $query = "SELECT p.permID, p.code, p.description, pc.Description as type FROM permissions p JOIN user_perm_rel up ON (p.permID=up.PermID) LEFT JOIN permissions_category pc ON (pc.ID=p.categoryID) WHERE up.userID = '$this->userID' ORDER BY p.categoryID, p.description";
         $DB->select($query, $results);
         if (PEAR::isError($results)) {
             return PEAR::raiseError("DB Error: ".$results->getMessage());
@@ -248,4 +248,4 @@ class UserPermissions
         return $results;
     }
 }
-?>
\ No newline at end of file
+?>
diff --git a/smarty/templates/form_edit_user.tpl b/smarty/templates/form_edit_user.tpl
index 17882773fd0..ce7fda1df56 100644
--- a/smarty/templates/form_edit_user.tpl
+++ b/smarty/templates/form_edit_user.tpl
@@ -1,4 +1,32 @@
 <br />
+{literal}
+<script>
+$(document).ready(function() {
+    function toggleGroup(group) {
+        if(group) {
+            // id is the header that was clicked
+            id = group.target.id;
+
+            // chop off header_ to get section name
+            section = id.substring(7);
+            
+            // hide (or show) the appropriate div for that section
+            section_el = $("#perms_" + section);
+            section_el.toggle();
+        }
+    }
+    // define event handler for all the header sections
+    $(".perm_header").click(toggleGroup);
+    // Get rid of the extra <br /> tag that Quickform element adds at the top of each <div>
+    $(".perm_header").each(function(idx, el) {
+        id = el.id;
+        section = id.substring(7);
+        section_el = $("#perms_" + section + " br:nth-child(1)").hide();
+    });
+    
+});
+</script>
+{/literal}
 <form method="post" name="edit_user" id="edit_user">
 <table class="std">
     <!-- table title -->
@@ -121,7 +149,7 @@
 
 	<tr>
 		<td nowrap="nowrap" valign="top">Permissions</td>
-		<td nowrap="nowrap">{$form.PermID_Group.html}</td>
+		<td nowrap="nowrap"><div>{$form.PermID_Group.html}</div></td>
     </tr>
 
 	<tr>