Enhancement: Group accounts for contacts and calendar. #10648

ghost · 2018-08-10T23:28:21Z

I think it would be very beneficial to be able to create shared group calendars and address books, just like we have group folders today.

Admin should be able to:

assign address books to select users, circles or groups
assign calendars to select users, circles or groups.
define r/o or r/w for select users, circles or groups.
define if re-sharing is allowed.

Examples:

assign a read only address book with all users in the 'users' group, containing main important numbers etc. Like a company address book.
create a Team calendars, and Team contacts. Ideal for project groups or for other groups of users, like families wanting shared contacts and calendars.

Obvious advantage is to not have to set up a full new user for each new shared contact list or calendar. But also much more clean and flexible solution for the users.

nextcloud-bot · 2018-08-10T23:39:34Z

GitMate.io thinks possibly related issues are #758 (drop old calendar and contacts tables), #1662 (Calendar and Contacts Trashbin), #3003 (Disable birthday contacts calendar generation for user), #9816 (enhancement: merging accounts), and #5107 (Privacy enhancements for contacts menu).

skjnldsv · 2018-08-11T16:01:23Z

Do you mean like #693

ghost · 2018-08-11T18:00:13Z

Well, no. It's similar. #693 talk about a global system address book with users. That is a good idea too.

I mean more simply admin configurable address books and calendars that should be available to specific users or sets of users.

One example :
It's very useful for a project team to have a shared calendar. Book supplier meetings, customer meetings and joint stuff like that. Also all team members could then belong to a custom project address book. Once the project is finished everything can be archived, put as read only or simply deleted.

For me personally I simply like to have a shared contact list and calendar with my wife and another with friends etc.

skjnldsv · 2018-08-11T18:03:56Z

But you can already do that. Just create an addressbook or a calendar and share it with her?

I don't really get your suggestion! :)

ghost · 2018-08-11T18:11:16Z

Yes, that's how I do it. But in a more professional setting that isn't so good.

The reasoning is the same as for group folders. A user can simply share a folder to his peers, so why need a group folder feature? We do so there is better control and avoid making 'fake' accounts. Otherwise a single user would be in control, and that may not always be good.

skjnldsv · 2018-08-11T18:17:06Z

Him, then this feature should come from server not the contacts app. Basically it will just be a dedicated addressbook/folder/calendar per group right?

~~Could you recreate a similar issue if one does not exists already? :)~~

skjnldsv · 2018-08-11T18:18:21Z

Sorry, I'm an idiot. I was convinced we were on nextcloud/contacts... 😅

ghost · 2018-08-11T19:42:19Z

:) No problem.

I think your description is spot on "a dedicated addressbook/folder/calendar per group".

bpcurse · 2019-01-20T18:08:34Z

Taking these ideas further: In a future nextcloud release a central group management tool for admins integrating folders, calendars, addressbooks and maybe group creation / renaming would be an interesting and probably useful new development.
If installed apps could register with it via a standardized interface, group related features could be made available here at a central point.
E.g. create a deck board for a group or make an email account with server-side stored credentials accessible to a group.

skjnldsv · 2019-01-25T13:30:14Z

@juliushaertl this is basically like #11015 ?

skjnldsv · 2019-03-13T08:56:45Z

CLosing as I think this fit #11015 :)

nikkilocke · 2020-01-14T17:59:03Z

#11015 doesn't seem to address the original issue, which we have too:
Fred is boss of the Migration Group (which is a group on Nextcloud, with a Group Folder)
Fred makes a calendar for the Migration Group, puts lots of events on it, and shares it with the whole Group.
6 months later, Fred gets head hunted by a rival firm, so his account is deleted.
Suddenly, the Migration Group's calendar has disappeared.
If we had a Group Calendar app, like the Group Folder app, this would not be a problem.

The same issue may apply to other stuff (like Decks? Contact Lists? Don't know, because I haven't played with them enough yet).

Can this issue be reopened, or shall I create a new one?

bpcurse · 2020-01-14T18:43:11Z

@nikkilocke I can confirm this applies to decks, contacts, calendars and share links.

It is a missing feature essential for group based coworking.
Our organization has an inherently high turnover in personnel organized in many different groups.
The workaround for us is to use a dedicated, non-personalized user to create those things and share them with the corresponding groups. Bad UX, but it does its job, although very prone to human error.

This issue should definitely be reevaluated and discussed further.

ghost · 2021-12-05T12:38:13Z