title: When and how should one use project roles instead of groups within JIRA?
body: <p>I am having a little difficulty understanding when a person should configure JIRA permissions using groups and when they should use project roles.  I have read the online documentation, however, the difference between the two seems subtle.</p>
  
  <p>A <code>group</code> seems simple enough. Group users into a named bucket.  Assign the <code>group</code> to one or more permissions within a <code>permission scheme</code> to enable access to functionality for any users within the group.  Assign the <code>permission scheme</code> to a <code>project</code> to apply the permissions to that <code>project</code>.</p>
  
  <p>A <code>project role</code> seems very similar.  It does all of the above except that you can also add <code>groups</code> to <code>project roles</code>.  It seems that a <code>project role</code> also allows a project administrator to add their own users to a project instead of requiring a system administrator.</p>
  
  <p>However, I am not sure how I can leverage this.  Here is an example of what I want to achieve.</p>
  
  <ol>
  <li>Have multiple projects created in JIRA.</li>
  <li>All of our managers, developers, etc. have the same permissions across all projects.</li>
  <li>Our clients have access only to their projects.</li>
  </ol>
  
  <p>I think that the best way to accomplish this is to:</p>
  
  <ol>
  <li>Create an <em>employees</em> <code>group</code> to which I add all of our employees.</li>
  <li>Create one or more  <em></em> <code>project roles</code> to which I add the appropriate clients.</li>
  <li>Assign permissions to the <em>Default Permissions Scheme</em> using the <em>employees</em> <code>group</code>.</li>
  <li>Copy the <em>Default Permission Scheme</em> to a new project specific scheme, e.g., <em>client-scheme</em></li>
  <li>Assign the <em>client-scheme</em> to the client specific project.</li>
  </ol>
  
  <p>However, it seems that I am not leveraging <code>project role membership</code>.  How does this come into play?</p>
  
  <p>What is the best practice for using JIRA <code>groups</code> and <code>project roles</code>?  What is the different between the two?</p>