CalGroups Google Sync Guide

A knowledge base article about CalGroups Google Sync Guide provided by the UC Berkeley IT Service Hub - Knowledge Portal

The CalGroups - Google Sync feature allows you set your CalGroups group to automatically show up as a bConnected list (Google group).

In order to use the feature:

CalGroups - Google Sync Service Terms

Groups created in CalGroups that are synced with Google are, in effect, bConnected Lists (or Google Groups).  As such, these groups must adhere to the following terms and policies.  Please review them for information on official mass mailings and mailing lists.

Usage Rules

Users intending to create groups derived from Official Groups for email purposes must observe the following:

  • You must be approved by your department’s leadership to create these type of groups.
  • Your group must have at least one owner.
  • Your group members may only include those within your department; communication with these groups should be for departmental purposes only.
  • Only organizations with campus-wide responsibilities (such as HR, Payroll, etc.) are allowed to include  people outside their department in their groups. Communication with these groups should be for campus purposes only.
  • Violation or abuse of these rules will cause your access to CalGroups to be revoked.

How to Sync Your CalGroups Group to Google

  • Click on the group you already created.  
  • Click the  button.                                   More Actions                                                               
  • Select "Edit Provisioning Info".                                           Edit Provisioning Info                                                 
  • Select "Yes" to Sync to Google bConnected Groups.        Sync to Google        
  • For tips and tricks on how to sync your CalGroups group to Google, go here
  • For instructions on how to manage your synced group in Google as a bConnected List, go here. 

CalGroups - Google Sync Tips and Tricks

The following are some tips and tricks on syncing your CalGroups group to Google.

Timing

  • Allow at least 15 minutes for changes that you make in CalGroups to be reflected in Google.

Limitations

  • When CalGroups manages membership of a Google Group, some features of Google Groups are no longer available.
  • Welcome messages configured in Google Groups will not be sent when CalGroups syncs to Google.
  • You cannot directly add or remove membership to the Google Group.  Any changes to membership must be made in CalGroups.
  • You cannot change management permissions directly on the Google Group.  Administrators in CalGruops will be added to the Google Group as a manager.  See below for more related tips.
  • Opt-in and Opt-out is not available in the Google Group.  If you need functionality similar to other public mailing list managers consider just creating a Google Group.  See CalGroups or bConnected Lists?

Group Syncing

  • Syncing will be faster if you create your group and add members before you sync it to Google.
  • You only need to sync your group once.  Any updates to your group thereafter will sync automatically to the Google group.
  • When your CalGroups group is synced, you will see it listed in "My Groups" in Google groups. CalGroups-synced groups will end with "@calgroups.berkeley.edu"; Google-created groups will have "@lists.berkeley.edu".
  • If you change your bConnected Google sync to "No" from "Yes", that group will disappear in Google.  If you switched the sync back to "Yes", that group and the Google management settings you configured will re-appear.
  • If you delete your group in CalGroups, that group will be deleted entirely in Google also. If you create a new group with the same name, a completely new group will be created in Google with all default settings.

Group Management

  • All administrators of your CalGroups group (which you add by using the Privileges tab) will appear as managers in Google. If you have several administrators in CalGroups but want to set yourself up as the only manager of the synced Google groups, here are instructions on how to do so.
  • If you have a group that's already synced, any member you add or delete will be reflected Google.  Allow at least 15 minutes for the changes to occur. 
  • As of now, you can sync groups of 350 members or less. Any update that would result in the total group membership to be greater than 350 will fail. For example, if you already have a group that’s synced with 100 members and then add another 400, none of the 400 members you added will be synced. The original members will still be synced, however. 
  • If there is a discrepancy between the number of members you see in your groups in CalGroups versus Google, there could be several reasons:
    • If there are more people in the Google Group than the CalGroup, it could be due to group administrators (Seen on the Privileges tab in CalGroups) being automatically added as managers even if you did not explicitly include them as group members.
    • If there are fewer people in the Google Group than the CalGroup, it could be because some CalGroups group members do not have a Google account, that member will not show up in Google.  Guest accounts and some HCM affiliates are not eligible for bConnected accounts.  Other account holders may not have yet claimed their bConnected account.
    • If there are fewer people in the Google Group than the CalGroups, look to see if your CalGroups group is comprised of other groups.  If so, the groups themselves are counted as members in CalGroups, in addition to each of their members.  

How to Set Yourself up as the Only Manager in your Synced Google Groups

By default, all members of your folder’s Admin group will automatically show up in Google Groups as managers of the synced Google groups.  This is because the Admin group that comes with your Org or App folder is automatically added with admin privileges to the sub groups or folders created within your folder. 

If you want to set yourself up as the only manager in the synced Google groups but want to preserve the members of your Admin group, we recommend that you create a separate admin group with only yourself as a member.  Then, grant that group admin privileges to the folder in which you create your groups. Should someone else take over for you as group manager, you simply need to add that person to the new admin group and remove yourself.

Create a Subfolder with its Own Admin group

Example:

Org Folder: DEPT

Org Folder Admin Group: DEPT-Admin

Subfolder: DEPT-Sub

Subfolder Admin Group: DEPT-Sub-Admin

  • Under the DEPT folder, create a new folder (DEPT-Sub).  
  • Under the DEPT-Sub folder, create an admin group (DEPT-Sub-Admin) and add yourself to the new group.
  • In the DEPT-Sub folder, grant the DEPT-Sub-Admin group admin privileges. In addition, remove the DEPT-Admin group’s privileges that were created automatically. 
  • Create your groups under the DEPT-Sub folder.  

* If you are creating groups for others and don't want to appear as a manager/member in Google, you can use the above method to create the groups.  When you're done, you can remove yourself from the DEPT-Sub-Admin group.  You will no longer see the groups you created, however.  If you need to make changes, add yourself back to the DEPT-Sub-Admin group.

Detailed instructions for folder/group creation in CalGroups can be found here.

CalGroups - Google Sync Default Settings

What to Expect When Your CalGroups Folder is Synced with Google Groups

All the groups in your CalGroups folder will show up as Google groups. The admin of a group in CalGroups will become the manager of that group in Google. Adding or deleting members can only be done in CalGroups, which will propagate to Google.  You may also delete the group in CalGroups, which will cause it to disappear from the Google Groups list.

The following are the default settings for CalGroups synced to Google, which managers can change. There are also optional attributes that can be set. Managers are advised to review all the Google group management settings and configure them for your needs.

Settings 

Identity

Required forms of identity: Either display name or Google profile

Moderation

New member restrictions: Anyone can post

SPAM messages: Send them to the moderation queue and sent notification to moderators 

Tags: Disabled

Categories: Disabled

Permissions

Basic Permissions

            View Topics: Owners of the group

            Post: Public

Join the Group: Anyone in the organization can ask

Posting Permissions

            Attach Files: Public

            Post messages to forum: Public

Moderation Permissions

            Add Members: Owners and Managers of the group

 Approve Members: Owners of the group            

            Approve Messages: Owners of the group

            Modify Members: Owners of the group

Ban Users: Owners of the group

Invite Members: Owners and Managers of the group

Modify Roles: Owners of the group

Access Permissions

            Contact the owners of this group: Public

            View members: Owners and managers of the group

View member email address: Owners of the group

            View Topics: Owners of the group 

Information

General Information

Allowed Topic Types: Discussion

Posting options

Allow posting by email

Allow users to post to the group on the web

Web view customization

            Conversation Mode: Enable grouping of emails into threads based on subject