Groups & Users

Groups & Users

Roles are great when “every Subscriber gets the same files.” Groups are great when you need finer control — one client gets this folder, another client gets that folder, and a third gets both. Groups are a Pro feature.

The bouncer model, with VIP lists. Roles are like having one big “members” list. Groups are like adding VIP lists for each event. A user can be on multiple lists at once.

When to use Groups instead of Roles

  • You sell or share files to different clients or cohorts who shouldn’t see each other’s content.
  • You have course modules that unlock at different times.
  • You want to share a whole folder with a person and not list every file in a shortcode.

Create a group

  1. Go to Media Guard → Groups.
  2. Fill in Group Name (and optional description). Click Create Group.
  3. The group appears in the list with a unique slug (auto-generated from the name).

Add files to a group

  1. Go to Media Guard → File Manager.
  2. Tick the files you want to share with this group.
  3. From the bulk action dropdown, pick Assign to Group and choose your group. Click Apply.

A file can belong to more than one group. Anyone in any of those groups can open it.

Add users to a group

  1. Go to Media Guard → Users.
  2. Use the search box if your site has lots of users.
  3. Tick the group checkbox(es) next to each user. Click Save.

Tip: users can also be added to a group automatically when they buy a WooCommerce product — see Sell Protected Files with WooCommerce.

Share files with a group (in a page)

Use the groups attribute on the standard shortcode:

[mediaguard file="client-onboarding.pdf" groups="acme-corp"]

Only users in the acme-corp group will be able to open the file. Anyone else gets a “please log in” or “no access” message.

To show a gallery of every image or video in a group, use the gallery form:

[mediaguard group="acme-corp" type="image,video" columns="3"]

This renders a responsive grid of thumbnails. Clicking one opens the protected viewer.

Combine groups with roles

You can mix both. A file with roles="subscriber" groups="acme-corp" is visible to anyone who is either a Subscriber or in the Acme group. Use whichever combination matches how you think about access.

Common patterns

  • Per-client portals — one group per client, one page per client, shortcode loads that client’s files. Add users when they sign the contract.
  • Course cohorts — one group per cohort. Add students at the start. Drop them when the course ends.
  • Internal teams — group per department. Mix with the company-wide role for shared documents.

Common issues

  • User in the group but can’t open the file — confirm the file is assigned to the same group (File Manager → check the Groups column). A user in Group A can’t see a file only assigned to Group B.
  • Bulk-assign isn’t sticking — make sure you clicked Apply after picking the group. The page will show a success notice.
  • Group slug already in use — pick a different name. Slugs must be unique site-wide.

Next steps