Thread

Hi,

I know this have been discussed here before. And I know it is not possible at the current EE state to assign a user to more than one Group and for that reason I have a couple of websites still running on IPB

One of them is a school and users belong to more than one class a the same time… and I’m not able to replicate that in EE Group Member System.

Is there any thinkable workaround, module, add-on, extension, plugin or whatever to enable that in EE?

Are there any plans in Ellislab to implemente this feature? Can this be added by a third-party or has to be implemented in EE core?

Thanks
Mario

Hello Mario,

Thank you for posting on the ExpressionEngine forums! I appreciate your concern over the ability to allow members to belong to multiple groups. As you have mentioned, it has been discussed and we’re certainly aware of the interest shown for this feature. I do not have a target date for when this feature may be implemented.

I would certainly agree that this is a core function of ExpressionEngine, so there is not a third party add-on available that can bring this functionality. The only work around that I can think of is to create a group for every situation and member/group combo you need, though I know that can be a rather intensive undertaking.

I appreciate your understanding and patience on this. We have many feature requests and are working hard to make ExpressionEngine the best it can be!

Cheers,

Hi Kevin,

I appreciate your answer…. just for the records, we got a similar reply 2 years ago…! when we made the same question. There was a hot discussion about this in the thread.

I don’t know if it is really a mayor task or too difficult to do from a programming perspective, but the fact is that this “small issue” is a big issue and makes extremely difficult or almost impossible to undertake certain kind of proyectos in EE. I would say it is probably the biggest shortcoming in EE, because 99% of all other shortcomings can be done with add-ons or workarounds but this one, is something we depend on you. It is really a pity, because EE is a great platform…

We hope to see this feature implemented before the Maya calendar ends and that someone in EE Management o a really Big customer needs this feature and maybe is even willing to pay for it….

Cheers

I can’t find the source, but I recall Paul Burdick (one of the early EE developers) saying this would be a significant change, touching nearly every function in the current system.  That there are no 3rd party workarounds is testament to this, I think.

I don’t remember if it was Paul that said that either - but it is absolutely correct.  Redoing the member system to allow members in multiple groups is a major undertaking - starting at the most basic level of planning out how it should work, never mind the coding work.

We all understand that this is important - but it’s not a near future item considering the undertaking it is.  But it is something that we do want in the future.

In the mean-time, if you need this for front-end viewing, you could build a custom module for permission sets or some such, but that would be entirely custom.

I am sorry that we do not have a solution for you immediately; but unfortunately, if that is critical functionality for you then EE may not be the best fit for that project at this time. 

Do you have any remaining questions, Mario?