diff --git a/ckan/controllers/user.py b/ckan/controllers/user.py
index 7a0cf3389bb..86424a3010e 100644
--- a/ckan/controllers/user.py
+++ b/ckan/controllers/user.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 from ckan.logic import NotFound, NotAuthorized, ValidationError
 from ckan.logic import check_access, get_action
 from ckan.logic import tuplize_dict, clean_dict, parse_params
-from ckan.logic.schema import user_new_form_schema, user_edit_form_schema 
+from ckan.logic.schema import user_new_form_schema, user_edit_form_schema
 from ckan.logic.action.get import user_activity_list_html
 from ckan.lib.captcha import check_recaptcha, CaptchaError
 
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ def __before__(self, action, **env):
             if c.action not in ('login','request_reset','perform_reset',):
                 abort(401, _('Not authorized to see this page'))
 
-    ## hooks for subclasses 
+    ## hooks for subclasses
     new_user_form = 'user/new_user_form.html'
     edit_user_form = 'user/edit_user_form.html'
 
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ def new(self, data=None, errors=None, error_summary=None):
 
         if context['save'] and not data:
             return self._save_new(context)
-        
+
         data = data or {}
         errors = errors or {}
         error_summary = error_summary or {}
@@ -201,10 +201,10 @@ def edit(self, id=None, data=None, errors=None, error_summary=None):
             abort(404, _('User not found'))
 
         user_obj = context.get('user_obj')
-        
+
         if not (ckan.authz.Authorizer().is_sysadmin(unicode(c.user)) or c.user == user_obj.name):
             abort(401, _('User %s not authorized to edit %s') % (str(c.user), id))
-        
+
         errors = errors or {}
         vars = {'data': data, 'errors': errors, 'error_summary': error_summary}
 
@@ -244,9 +244,9 @@ def login(self):
             # #1662 restriction
             log.warn('Cannot mount CKAN at a URL and login with OpenID.')
             g.openid_enabled = False
-            
+
         return render('user/login.html')
-    
+
     def logged_in(self):
         if c.user:
             context = {'model': model,
@@ -268,14 +268,14 @@ def logged_in(self):
             h.flash_error('Login failed. Bad username or password.' + \
                           ' (Or if using OpenID, it hasn\'t been associated with a user account.)')
             h.redirect_to(controller='user', action='login')
-          
+
     def logged_out(self):
         c.user = None
         response.delete_cookie("ckan_user")
         response.delete_cookie("ckan_display_name")
         response.delete_cookie("ckan_apikey")
         return render('user/logout.html')
-    
+
     def request_reset(self):
         if request.method == 'POST':
             id = request.params.get('user')
@@ -337,7 +337,7 @@ def perform_reset(self, id):
 
         if request.method == 'POST':
             try:
-                context['reset_password'] = True 
+                context['reset_password'] = True
                 new_password = self._get_form_password()
                 user_dict['password'] = new_password
                 user_dict['reset_key'] = c.reset_key
@@ -365,7 +365,7 @@ def _format_about(self, about):
             log.error('Could not print "about" field Field: %r Error: %r', about, e)
             html = _('Error: Could not parse About text')
         return html
-    
+
     def _get_form_password(self):
         password1 = request.params.getone('password1')
         password2 = request.params.getone('password2')
@@ -375,4 +375,4 @@ def _get_form_password(self):
             elif not password1 == password2:
                 raise ValueError(_("The passwords you entered do not match."))
             return password1
-        
+
diff --git a/ckan/model/user.py b/ckan/model/user.py
index 96660ef839d..780cb94ef00 100644
--- a/ckan/model/user.py
+++ b/ckan/model/user.py
@@ -148,6 +148,19 @@ def number_administered_packages(self):
     def is_in_group(self, group):
         return group in self.get_groups()
 
+    def is_in_groups(self, groupids):
+        """ Given a list of group ids, returns True if this user is in any of
+            those groups """
+        guser = set( self.get_group_ids() )
+        gids  = set( groupids )
+
+        return len( guser.intersection( gids ) ) > 0
+
+
+    def get_group_ids(self, group_type=None):
+        """ Returns a list of group ids that the current user belongs to """
+        return [ g.id for g in self.get_groups( group_type=group_type ) ]
+
     def get_groups(self, group_type=None, capacity=None):
         import ckan.model as model