Add group module to GovCMS8

[Shmendrich]

What value does this module/package add to GovCMS?
It provides developers with a very robust tool to define permissions for different groups within an organization. It can provide access to editing, viewing or publishing content to only members of a certain group.

Please provide a brief outline of what this module does.
You can create permissions and ownership of content defined by a group. For example you can have 1 website managed by multiple groups or institutions, each one with access to their individual parts of the website only. For example a health website managed by multiple hospitals:
http://www.islhd.health.nsw.gov.au/

Who does this module benefit:
[X] end users
[X] content editors
[X] site builders
[ ] themers
[X] developers

How could you provide/replicate the functionality of this module using alternative methods, eg in your theme?
It can be done but it becomes quite complex since you need to:

• Provide ownership of individual items to groups
• Add new users to existing groups, or have them exist in multiple groups
• Provide read and write permissions separately to different groups

So you would need to: Replicate all your content types per each group you want to manage
OR: Re-build admin views so they take some taxonomy as reference to show content according to a user role.
And this would not even cover having some individual entity which represents the group, or group roles and permissions.

It would pretty much be rebuilding the wheel for no reason when the group module already exist.

What is the maintenance and support status of the module. Describe the issue queue activity.

• It is covered by drupal security advisory
• It has been in constant development since it started 7 years ago
• Last commit was 2 days ago
• It has a current sponsor, and has had 3 sponsors in the past
• In the last 2 years it has a 100% response rate in issues
• 21 active participants
• Its well documented

What permissions are needed to utilise the module (and are any new permissions provided by the module)?
Admin permissions are required to setup most of the module.
It includes new permissions to manage groups, group members, and content ownership per group.
Content not owned by any group is visible to all groups by default.

Does the module modify the database structure and/or store additional metadata on nodes or other entities? If so, why? What are the risks for future updates?
It does not modify existing structure but it does add new tables for its tracking of groups, group members and content ownership. I believe any risk is minimal, as it mostly targets nids. and uids. If drupal suddenly decides to change the way nodes or users are identified then it could require an update in the module.
Another risk could be if drupal changes the way it manages access and permissions for content, which could also require updates or changes to the

Is the module designed to capture anonymous user data?
No

Is the output of the module typically fully cacheable? Would the inclusion of this module potentially render pages uncacheable.
The module manages access. It does not affect cacheability of content.

What is your assessment of the quality of this module, the contribution history of the module's maintainers, and the uptake of the module within the Drupal community?
I think it is one of the top 10 or 20 modules in Drupal 8 so far. I have used it in 3 projects so far and it has been pretty useful. Its only problem is that it does not do everything. For example it does not manage taxonomies. But its still growing and managing its priorities like any properly made module would.

Additional information
In my opinion this module offers the best option for Drupal 8 to manage groups of users, either content editors or just users who require to have access to different pieces of content. It offers a clean and simple experience to backend users so they can only edit, see and manage content within their groups.

[thisisalistairsaccount]

HI @Shmendrich we're currently reviewing https://www.drupal.org/project/entity_hierarchy which aligns to a lot of the features mentioned as part of the group module. Would you consider that this would solve issues when considering your situation?