Users and groups

Author: ben

en/book/04-git-server/chapter4.asc

@@ -647,20 +647,36 @@ Once logged in, click the ``Admin area'' icon in the menu at the top right.
 .The ``Admin area'' item in the GitLab menu.
 image::images/gitlab-menu.png[The ``Admin area'' item in the GitLab menu.]
 
-===== Users and Groups
-* Users
+===== Users
+
+Users in GitLab are accounts that correspond to people.
+User accounts don't have a lot of complexity.
+Mainly it's a collection of personal information attached to login data.
+Each user account comes with a *namespace*, which is a logical grouping of projects that belong to that user.
+If the user +jane+ had a project named +project+, that project's url would be http://hostname.tld/jane/project[].
 
 [[gitlab_users]]
 .The GitLab user administration screen.
 image::images/gitlab-users.png[The GitLab user administration screen.]
 
-* Groups
+Removing a user can be done in two ways.
+``Blocking'' a user prevents them from logging into the GitLab instance, but all of the data under that user's namespace will be preserved, and commits signed with that user's email address will still link back to their profile.
+
+``Destroying'' a user, on the other hand, completely removes them from the database and filesystem. All projects and data in their namespace is removed, and any groups they own will also be removed.
+This is obviously a much more permanent and destructive action, and its uses are rare.
+
+===== Groups
+
+A GitLab group is an assemblage of projects, along with data about how users can access those projects.
+Each group is a project namespace (the same way that users are), so if the group +training+ had a project +materials+, its url would be http://hostname.tld/training/materials[].
 
 [[gitlab_groups]]
-.The GitLab groups administration screen.
-image::images/gitlab-groups.png[The GitLab groups administration screen.]
+.The GitLab group administration screen.
+image::images/gitlab-groups.png[The GitLab group administration screen.]
 
-()
+Each group is associated with a number of users, each of which has a level of permissions for the group's projects and the group itself.
+These range from ``Guest'' (issues and chat only) to ``Owner'' (full control of the group and its projects).
+The types of permissions are too numerous to list here, but GitLab has a helpful link on the administration screen.
 
 ===== Projects
 * Visibility levels