---
title: "Group Properties"
source: https://dev.pageseeder.com/guide/configuration/properties/group_properties.html
description: "Group properties are name/value pairs that configure PageSeeder group behavior, including document workflows, task management, and email handling. They can be set individually or inherited from defaults."
last_updated: 2026-09-08T14:07:17+10:00
tokens: ~2691
---

# Group properties

The **[group properties](../../../reference/glossary/group_properties.md)** are a set of name / value pairs that define much of the behavior for a PageSeeder [group](../../../reference/glossary/group.md), including the following:

- The names assigned to the stages of a document lifecycle, see [workflow](../../../reference/glossary/workflow.md).
- The names of the priority and stages of a [task](../../../reference/glossary/task.md).
- How [email](../../../reference/glossary/comment.md) messages generated from [comments](../../../reference/glossary/comment.md) or tasks are handled.

Where an individual group doesn’t specify a property, a value is inherited from the default group properties stored in the following locations.

## Individual group properties

These values are stored in the database and are editable through the user interface by anyone with a [role](../../../reference/glossary/role.md) of [manager](../../../reference/glossary/manager.md).

## Configurable default group properties

These properties apply to all groups on the server. Stored and processed in the same way as [Java Properties](http://java.sun.com/javase/6/docs/api/java/util/Properties.html#load%28java.io.Reader%29). To update the properties, insert the correct name/value pair in the following file:

`/WEB-INF/config/group.properties`

> **Note:** As of PageSeeder v6: - The group properties on the [global template](../../../reference/glossary/global_template.md) project are used as the default group properties and override the `group.properties` file. - Only the following property names can be used for group properties. Custom group property names aren’t supported.

## System default group properties

The following files contain the default values for PageSeeder. These are the system-level, fallback values and must never be modified:

`/WEB-INF/sysconfig/groupDefault.properties`

`/WEB-INF/sysconfig/projectDefault.properties`

### Processing order

The order that group and [project](project_properties.md) properties override each other is as follows (high number overrides low number – or 6 overrides 5, 5 overrides 4, etc):

Group properties (that are inherited from the parent project).

`template/[current top level project template]/config/project.properties`

Group properties from global template project.

`template/[globalTemplate]/config/project.properties`

`config/group.properties`

`sysconfig/groupDefault.properties`

`sysconfig/projectDefault.properties`

> **Warning:** Any reference to ‘list of values’ should be interpreted as comma-separated with no spaces between values.

The following table describes all the group properties currently in use.

| Property | Description | Default Value |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `notifyFromAddress` | The value for the `From:` field in email messages sent from this group: `groupReturned` – the group email address using this value sends all returned messages generated by the group to this address. `[group-name]//returned@[server email domain]` Also see `mailReturnedAddress` option below `group` – using this value sends returned messages to the whole group. `[group-name]@[server email domain]` `suppressed`: – the `From:` field displays this value for all messages. `email_suppressed@[server email domain]` `noreply:` – the **From:** field displays the following where hash should be unique to the sender. `[hash]--noreply@[server email domain]` | `noreply` |
| `mailReturnedAddress` | When `notifyFromAddress` is set to `groupReturned` (see above), any returned messages generated from members accounts are sent to this address. | a valid email address |
| `mailRejectedAddress` | Tracking messages that have been sent to the group but rejected helps to manage a common source of support incidents – when a member posts from an email account other than the one they are registered with. | a valid email address |
| `stripHtmlEmailFooter` | A Boolean datatype that determines whether the footer from PageSeeder’s HTML emails should be stripped. | `true` |
| `emailFooterStart` | The character strings that signal where the email footer begins. Where group messages have been configured with more than one type of footer, this value can be a comma-separated list of character strings. | `----------------------,` `Type response above` |
| `errorReportAddress` | The email address that PageSeeder error reports are sent to | `[PageSeeder support email address]` |
| `ignoreEmbeddedAttachmentSize` | Embedded files in incoming emails below this number of bytes are ignored. | `20000` |
| `mailNewThreadByTitle` | A Boolean datatype that spawns a new thread if the subject line of a reply is different from the subject line originally sent by the group. | `false` |
| `reminderNotification` | A boolean indicating to send reminder emails for due tasks in this project or group. *Requires PageSeeder v6.2 or higher.* | `false` |
| `statusApprover` | A list of task status values available to approvers. *(comma-separated, no spaces between values, in order of lifecycle)* | `Open,Resolved,Closed` |
| `statusManager` | A list of task status values available to managers. *(comma-separated, no spaces between values, in order of lifecycle)* | `Open,Resolved` |
| `statusContributor` | A list of task status values available to contributors. *(comma-separated, no spaces between values, in order of lifecycle)* | `Open,Resolved` |
| `statusIcon` | The list of icons corresponding to statusApprover values in the same order *(comma-separated, no spaces between values which can be open,resolved,approved or closed* - requires PageSeeder v6)** | `open,resolved,closed` |
| `statusReviewer` | A list of task status values available to reviewers. *(comma-separated, no spaces between values, in order of lifecycle)* | `Open` |
| `statusActive` | A list of statuses considered active. Each status must be defined in one of the `status` or `documentStatus` properties. *(comma-separated, no spaces between values)* | `Open, Initiated, In Progress, Complete` |
| `statusBroadcastApprovers` | List of status values that trigger an email notification to approvers. *(comma-separated, no spaces between values)* |  |
| `documentStatusApprover` | A list of workflow status values available to Approvers. *(comma-separated, no spaces between values, in order of lifecycle)* | `Initiated, In Progress, Complete, Approved, Suspended, Terminated` |
| `documentStatusManager` | A list of workflow status values available to Managers. *(comma-separated, no spaces between values, in order of lifecycle)* | `Initiated, In Progress, Complete, Suspended, Terminated` |
| `documentStatusContributor` | A list of workflow status values available to Contributors. *(comma-separated, no spaces between values, in order of lifecycle)* | `In Progress, Complete` |
| `documentStatusIcon` | The list of icons corresponding to statusApprover values in the same order *(comma-separated, no spaces between values which can be open,resolved,approved or closed - requires PageSeeder v6) * | `open, open, resolved, approved, closed, closed` |
| `documentStatusReviewer` | A list of workflow status values available to Reviewers. *(comma-separated, no spaces between values, in order of lifecycle)* | `In Progress, Complete` |
| `documentStatusLocked` | A list of workflow status values that disable the editing interface. *(comma-separated, no spaces between values)* |  |
| `priority` | A list of priority values ordered from highest to lowest. *(comma-separated, no spaces between values)* | `High,Medium,Low` |
| `indexIgnoreFolders` | A list of folders to be ignored when indexing the group |  |
| `indexVersions` | A Boolean datatype indicating whether document versions should be indexed. Enabling this can create redundant information in the index. | `false` |
| `disableIndexing` | A Boolean datatype indicating if indexing in the group should be disabled. Use with care as many features rely on the index. | `false` |
| `indexXFields` | A Boolean, which if `true`, indexes all fields extracted from documents by Tika and prefix their name with `“x-”` – see [index fields](../../../reference/index/index_fields.md) for further details on X-Fields. | `false` |

## Notes

- Wherever multiple values are allowed, the list syntax is comma-separated.
- Lists must not include spaces before or after commas.
- Valid Boolean values are `true` or `false`.
- Default values provided for convenience; for the latest values, check the `groupDefault.properties` on the PageSeeder installation.

## Deprecated properties

> **Deprecated:** The following properties have been deprecated and are no longer used in the latest version of PageSeeder.

| Property | Description | Since Version |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `styleViews` | Deprecated, see Project Properties | 4.95 |
| `defaultStyleView` | Deprecated, see Project Properties | 4.95 |
| `documentStatusInitial` | The initial document status | 4.95 |
| `contentEditorName` | The name of the default content editor | 4.95 |
| `customCss` | A Boolean datatype indicating whether the group uses custom CSS | 4.95 |
| `inlineContentLabels` | List of inline labels available in a document fragment | 5.3 |
| `paraContentLabels` | List of block labels (formerly para labels) available in a document fragment | 5.3 |
| `xrefContentLabels` | List of labels for use on cross references | 5.3 |
| `generalLabels` | List of labels for general use (documents, comments, folder, etc.) | 5.3 |
| `emailFooterEnd` | The character string that signals the end of the email footer ends. Where group messages have been configured with more than one type of footer, this value can be a comma-separated list of character strings. | 5.9 |
| `statusChangeBroadcast` | A Boolean datatype flagging whether a change to **assigned to**, **priority** or **due date** should trigger a notification to all authors or members assigned to a task thread. This property does not apply to document status. | 5.93 |
| `headerLogoUrl` | The link for the logo on the top left corner of the interface. If blank, use: `/ps` | 5.93 |
| `helpUrl` | The URL of the Help documentation. If blank, use: `https://user.pageseeder.com` | 5.93 |
| `shareDocumentEdits` | A Boolean datatype indicating whether document edits should be visible to all groups if shared from the group default folder: `/ps/[group name]/` | 5.99 |
| `shareXrefsWithTarget` | A Boolean datatype indicating whether to display a reverse cross reference on the document in the target group when xrefs are shared. `/ps/[group name]/` | 5.99 |
| `documentTimeVers ionStatic` | A list of fixed version values rather than free text | 6.0 |
| `documentTimeVers ionIncrementing` | The default value by which document versions should increment | 6.0 |