Overview
User Groups let you organize Users into reusable units that you can assign work to, target with notifications, and grant access through. They are the connective tissue that lets you manage a team of ten or ten thousand without touching individual Users every time something changes.
Why this matters: A well-designed set of User Groups is the difference between adding a new hire in 30 seconds and spending an hour wiring them into Schedules, Assignments, Notification Rules, and Locations one by one. Get the Group structure right early and the rest of your Mobaro setup gets dramatically easier to maintain.
Required access: To create or manage User Groups, you must be a Super User or hold a Role with the User Groups: Modify or User Groups: Create permissions.
Create a User Group
Go to the User Groups section
From the Mobaro Backend, navigate to User Groups in the sidebar.
Add a new User Group
Click + Create to open the editor panel on the right.
Enter a name and description
Name — give the Group a clear, conventional name. See Naming conventions below for guidance.
Description (optional) — note the Group's purpose, scope, or any caveats so future admins understand the intent.
Save the Group
Click Save. The Group is created and the Memberships section becomes available for further configuration.
Manage memberships
After saving, expand the Memberships section in the editor to configure who belongs to the Group, who manages it, what work it can be assigned, and which Locations it operates in.
Administrators
Administrators can edit the Group, add or remove Users, and modify settings — even if they are not themselves members of the Group. Use this for shift leads or department managers who need to maintain a Group without participating in its day-to-day work.
Users
The Users who actually belong to the Group. A User can belong to as many Groups as needed — there is no limit and Mobaro unions their permissions and assignments across every Group they are in.
Delegable User Groups
Other Groups that this Group's members are allowed to assign work to. See the Delegable User Groups section below for a full explanation.
Locations and Location Groups
The Locations and Location Groups this User Group operates in. Adding a Location here gives every member of the User Group membership in that Location, which gates access to Assignments, Schedules, and other Location-scoped work.
Best practice: Prefer adding Locations through User Groups rather than directly to individual Users. When the Group's coverage area changes (a new ride opens, a section closes for the season), one edit to the Group propagates to every member.
Delegable User Groups
By default, a User can only assign work to themselves or to User Groups they belong to. Delegable User Groups expand that default by letting members of one Group assign work to another Group they are not in.
When you need delegable Groups
Cross-team handoffs — a shift lead in Operations needs to assign a maintenance issue to Maintenance.
Centralized dispatch — a control room team needs to assign work to every operating crew without being a member of each one.
Specialty escalation — a general maintenance crew needs to escalate work to a specialist team (electricians, ride mechanics).
How it works in practice
If your Ops Leads Group has Maintenance set as a delegable User Group:
An Ops Lead opening a new Assignment sees both Ops Leads (their own Group) and Maintenance in the assignee dropdown.
A regular Ops member who is not in the leads Group only sees Ops Leads.
Watch out: Delegable Groups change which assignees appear in dropdowns, which can make Mobaro feel cluttered if used too liberally. Add a delegable Group only when there is a real cross-team workflow that requires it. Avoid the temptation to make every Group delegable to every other Group.
Assignability
The Assignability section controls whether the User Group itself can be selected as an assignee on Assignments. Disable this for "tag" Groups that you use for filtering or membership tracking but never directly assign work to.
Note: Assignability only affects Assignments. It does not control whether the Group can be referenced in Schedules, Notification Rules, or other features.
Edit an existing User Group
To update a Group, navigate to User Groups in the Mobaro Backend, search for and select the Group, then make changes in the editor panel on the right. Common edits include:
Renaming the Group or updating its description.
Adding or removing Users, Administrators, Locations, or Delegable User Groups.
Toggling Assignability on or off as the Group's purpose evolves.
Click Save to apply changes. Updates take effect immediately — including for Users who are currently logged in.
Tip: When restructuring Groups, edit the Group from the User Group page rather than removing memberships from individual Users. One edit at the Group level is faster, less error-prone, and easier to audit later.
Delete a User Group
To delete a User Group, open the Group from the User Groups page and click the Delete action. Deletion removes the Group itself but does not delete the Users who were members.
Critical: Deletion cannot be undone. References to the Group are cleared from Assignments, Schedules, Notification Rules, Dashboards, and any Group that had this Group set as a delegable User Group. Users who relied on the deleted Group for Location membership lose that membership and the access it provided.
Before deleting, audit where the Group is referenced. Check Notification Rules, Assignment Triggers, Schedule assignments, and other User Groups' delegable settings to confirm nothing critical depends on it.
Naming conventions and structure
Consistent naming is the single highest-leverage thing you can do for User Group manageability. A common, scalable pattern:
[Function or Access Type] – [Team or Area]
Examples:
Ops – Ride Operators – Zone AAccess – Maintenance LeadsF&B – All LocationsMgmt – Park Directors
Best practice: Use the prefix to encode what kind of Group it is (operational team, access bundle, management tier) and the suffix to encode which team or area. Combined with a short description, this makes the Group list self-documenting and dropdowns easy to scan even with hundreds of Groups.
User Groups vs Roles
User Groups are often confused with Roles, but they answer different questions:
Roles answer "What can this User do?" — they grant permissions to view, modify, create, delete, or administrate features (Checklists, Dashboards, Users, etc.).
User Groups answer "Who does this User work with, and on whose behalf?" — they bundle Users for assignment, scheduling, notifications, and Location access.
Most healthy Mobaro setups use both, with each User holding one or more Roles (for what they can do) and belonging to one or more User Groups (for where and with whom they do it).
See also: User Groups vs Roles: understanding the two access primitives for a side-by-side comparison and decision guide.
See also
User Groups vs Roles: understanding the two access primitives — the companion article on choosing between User Groups and Roles.
How to set up Roles — for granting permissions instead of grouping Users.
Create new users in your organization — for adding Users that you can then assign to Groups.
How to deactivate a User — for removing Users from Groups by disabling or deleting them.
Frequently asked questions
Q: Can a User belong to more than one Group?
A: Yes. Users can belong to as many Groups as needed. Permissions, assignments, and Locations from every Group are unioned together for the User.
Q: Do Administrators have to be members of the Group they manage?
A: No. Administrators can manage a Group without being listed as a User in it. This is the standard pattern for shift leads, department managers, and supervisors.
Q: What's the difference between adding a Location to a User vs. to a User Group?
A: Functionally similar, but managed differently. Adding the Location to the Group propagates to every member at once and is easier to maintain when membership changes. Adding it directly to a User is a one-off.
Q: When should I use a delegable User Group instead of just adding the User to both Groups?
A: Use a delegable Group when the User shouldn't be a member of the second Group (they don't receive its assignments, notifications, or scheduling) but does need to assign work to it. Common for shift leads, dispatchers, and escalation paths.
Q: What happens to assignments if I delete a Group?
A: Assignments that were assigned to the Group become unassigned. Schedules, Dashboards, and Notification Rules referencing the Group are updated. Users who were members are not deleted — only their membership in this Group is removed.
Q: Can I copy or duplicate an existing Group?
A: Mobaro does not have a built-in duplicate function for User Groups. To replicate a Group's structure, create a new Group manually using the original as a reference or utilize the API.
Q: How many Groups should we have?
A: As many as your structure justifies — there is no penalty for many Groups beyond dropdown clutter. Aim for Groups that map cleanly to real-world teams, areas, or access bundles, and use consistent naming so the list stays scannable.