This feature is part of our upcoming October release and available for Admin users only.
Overview
Until now, every workspace was shared person by person. At firm scale that is slow, and it is easy to leave someone off, which nobody notices until that person cannot see something they need.
User Groups gives admins one place to define who is in “the Sydney office”, “the energy pitch team” or “litigation partners”, and then reuse that definition wherever it is needed.
Set it up once, use it everywhere. Build a group in a couple of minutes with filters, then give it access to any workspace in one step.
Access keeps itself up to date. When someone joins or leaves a group, their access to every workspace that uses the group changes with them. No more chasing workspace member lists when people change teams.
Always know who has access, and why. Workspaces show which groups and which individuals have access, and Nexl shows you exactly who will be affected before you remove anything.
Find User Groups
Select the settings cog at the top right, choose User Management, then open the User Groups tab. Only admins can see it.
Fig 1. The User Groups tab lists every active group, with its description and member count.
From here you can search groups by name or description, sort by member count, export the list, and switch between Active and Archived groups.
Create a group
On the User Groups tab, select Create group.
Give the group a name. Names must be unique, and capitalisation and extra spaces are ignored, so you cannot have two active groups called “Litigation” and “litigation”.
Add a description if you like. A line on who belongs in the group, and why, helps other admins later.
Select Confirm.
Fig 2. Name the group and say who it is for.
Nexl creates the group and opens Add members straight away. A group can also stay empty, so you can add people now or later.
Add members
The Add members window is designed for adding lots of people at once, not one at a time.
Narrow the list. Use the filters on the left:
Department: whatever your firm records in this field, such as practice group or business unit.
Office.
User groups: start from a group you have already built. For example, take everyone in Sydney Office, then pick the people you need.
Choose several values in one filter to include people who match any of them. Use more than one filter to include only people who match all of them. Then select Apply filters.
Choose people. Tick people individually, or use Select all to take everyone in the filtered list.
Select Add members. The button shows how many people you are adding, and a message confirms when they are in.
Fig 3. Filter by an existing group, then choose who to add.
Good to know
Once you have selected someone, the filters lock, so the list cannot change underneath your selection. To change the filters, select Clear selection.
The search box searches within the filtered list. To add someone from outside it, add your first batch, then open Add member again and search for them.
People who are already in the group are tagged Member and cannot be selected again, so nobody is added twice.
A person can belong to as many groups as you like.
Fig 4. People already in the group are tagged Member.
Manage a group
Select a group’s name to open it. You will see its description, how many members it has, and a table of members showing each person’s role, email, when they joined the group and who added them. Select a member’s name to open their record, or use Export to download the member list.
Fig 5. A group’s page shows who is in it and who added them.
Remove members
To remove one person, select the bin icon on their row.
To remove several people, tick them and select Remove above the table.
Fig 6. Select several members to remove them together.
Before anything changes, Nexl explains what will happen: the people you remove lose any workspace access they had through this group, anyone who was also added individually keeps their access, and nobody’s Nexl account is affected.
Fig 7. Nexl confirms what removing members will change.
Removed someone by mistake? Select Undo on the confirmation message.
Rename a group or change its description
On the group’s page, select Actions, then Edit details. Make your changes and select Save changes. Renaming does not change who is in the group or who has access to anything, and the new name appears everywhere the group is used, including on workspaces.
Fig 8. Update a group’s name or description at any time.
Archive and restore a group
When a group is no longer needed, archive it: on the group’s page, select Actions, then Archive.
Fig 9. Archiving a group asks you to confirm first.
When you archive a group:
it disappears from group lists and pickers;
its members lose any workspace access they had through it. Access they have individually, or through another group, is not affected;
its members are kept, so nothing is lost.
To bring a group back, switch the list to Archived, open the menu on the group’s row and select Restore. The group returns with the same members, and its workspace access comes back with it. An archived group’s name is free to reuse.
Fig 10. Restore an archived group from the Archived view.
Groups cannot be permanently deleted. Archiving keeps the record of who was in a group while stopping it from being used.
Give a group access to a workspace
Open the workspace and select Team/Share.
Search for colleagues or groups. Results are split into Groups, each showing how many members it has, and Colleagues.
Pick as many groups and people as you need, then select Add.
Fig 11. One search finds both groups and colleagues.
Fig 12. Add a group and individual colleagues in one go.
The Team members window now lists User groups, each with its member count, separately from people Added directly. The total at the top counts each person once, even if they have access in more than one way.
Fig 13. Groups and individuals are shown separately.
Access follows the group. Add someone to the group next month and they can open the workspace straight away. Remove them from the group and the access they had through it ends.
Check who has access, and why
Search for a person in the Team members window. If they already have access, Nexl tells you how:
Member via [group name]: their access comes through that group.
2 sources: they have access in more than one way, for example added directly and through a group.
People who do not have access yet appear without a tag, and you can add them.
Fig 14. Search for a person to see how they have access.
Remove a group from a workspace
Select the × on the group’s card. Before anything changes, Nexl shows who will lose access and who will keep it because they also have access another way. Select Remove group to confirm. Removing a group from a workspace does not change the group itself.
Fig 15. See exactly who loses access, and who keeps it, before you confirm.
Filter the Firm Portfolio by group
This feature is available to those who have the BD bundle included in their plan.
In Firm Portfolio, open the By Lawyer tab and select the lawyer picker. Under Narrow it down, choose a group in User groups. The list shows only the lawyers in that group, and you can combine it with Job title or a search.
Fig 16. Find the lawyers in a group when planning portfolios.
This is a filter only. Choosing a group does not add, assign or save anything.
See which groups someone belongs to
Admins can see a User Groups section on each colleague’s record, listing every group they belong to. It is read-only; to change someone’s groups, use User Management.
Fig 17. A person’s groups appear on their record.
Frequently asked questions
Does adding someone to a group change their permissions?
Does adding someone to a group change their permissions?
No. Groups have no permissions of their own. Adding someone to a group only affects what the group is used for, such as access to a workspace the group has been added to.
Who can create and manage groups?
Who can create and manage groups?
Admins. Anyone who can edit a workspace can add a group to it or remove one.
Can one person be in several groups?
Can one person be in several groups?
Yes, as many as you need. A tax partner in New Jersey can be in Tax, New Jersey Office and Partners at the same time.
Are people told when they get access through a group?
Are people told when they get access through a group?
No email is sent when a group is added to a workspace, or when someone joins a group that already has access. Let your teams know when you set up a new workspace.
Someone has left or changed team. What should I do?
Someone has left or changed team. What should I do?
Remove them from the relevant groups. Any workspace access they had through those groups ends straight away, and access they were given individually is unaffected.
Can groups sync from Active Directory or our HR system?
Can groups sync from Active Directory or our HR system?
Not in this release. Groups are created and maintained in Nexl.
Can I import a list of members?
Can I import a list of members?
Not in this release. The Department, Office and User groups filters, together with Select all, are the quickest way to build a large group.
Can I delete a group?
Can I delete a group?
No but you can archive it instead. Archived groups disappear from lists and pickers, keep their members, and can be restored at any time.
I am an admin but cannot see the User Groups tab.
I am an admin but cannot see the User Groups tab.
Contact your Nexl Customer Success Manager to check it is switched on for your firm.
What comes next
This release makes groups quick to build and easy to reuse. Permissions for groups are planned for a later release.