How do I create a new group?

Post date: Sep 07, 2010 11:56:41 AM

To create a new group in the Ecunet Groups domain, follow these steps:

• 1. Log in to Ecunet.  You must have an Ecunet account to create new groups.  Some groups don't require an @ecunet.org address to be a participant, but to create a group it is required. If you don't have an account, use the "Sign up for Ecunet" link to get one.

  2. When you arrive on the Groups page, click the "Create a group" button and complete the form to enter basic group information: group name; group e-mail address; description (300-character limit); pick the access level. You can change these settings later if you need to. It may take up to 6 hours for your group to show up in the groups directory, but you can begin using it right away.

  3. Deciding your group name: you will need to enter both a group Name (which displays at the top of your group on the Web interface) and a group e-mail address.  After entering the name you'll be presented with a suggested e-mail address which you can edit.  The group e-mail address is what people type in the "To" field of a message to send to the group, so simple is good here. Spaces in the group name will be converted to dashes in the e-mail address. On the old Ecunet platform, spaces in meeting addresses were replaced by underscores (e.g. table_talk.topic@ecunet.org). Some group owners have decided to keep that format so that group members won't have to update their e-mail address books with new meeting addresses. Alternately, people creating entirely new groups may elect to use simple meeting addresses with no punctuation (e.g. tabletalk.topic@ecunet.org).

  4. After creating your group go the "Group Settings" section and review all your settings:

     • The "General" tab will remind you of the Web address for your group, which you can use in Group promotion.

     • The "Access" tab lets you fine-tune who can view, join and post messages.  For example, if you have a wide open group for posting, you may want to consider moderating messages from new members.

     • On the "Appearance" tab you can pick a color scheme for your group.

     • There's not much to changes on the "Navigation" tab, since there are just two options, discussions and members.

     • The "Email delivery" tab has some important choices, including whether when someone replies to the group the note goes back to the entire group. The default setting is: "Users decide where their replies are sent."  This tab also lets you append a footer on every note so people know where the note came from, how to unsubscribe, etc.

     • The "Advanced" tab doesn't contain much of interest, except the option to delete your group.

     • The "Spam Control" tab gives you options for how to handle spam.

  5. Promote your group.  After creating your group it can sometimes take up to 6 hours to appear in the Ecunet Groups directory.  The "General" tab under group settings includes a group URL you can share with others.  If your group is public, you can use the RSS links on the "About this group" page to display the most recent notes from your group on your Web site or blog.