Dear SnoWest Member:
Another of the major upgrades to SnoWest was completed over this past weekend.
This new feature is called SOCIAL GROUPS.
When you click on FORUMS, you will soon see a new menu item called "SOCIAL GROUPS".
http://www.snowestonline.com/forum/group.php
In essence, this new feature allows for members of SNoWest to gather together and create their own personal forums!
You get to choose the title, the content and the membership of those allowed to read/write/participate in it!
What are social groups?
Social groups provide a way for you to create a public, semi-private, or completely private group for discussing special-interest topics that fall outside of the scope already provided in the "public" forums.
Social groups consist of two parts
1) A "home page" inside of the forums where members can post photos and general information about the social group is provided (list of members, general description, etc.)
2) A private forum the members of the social group can use to communicate. You'll need at least 10 members before you can have your own forum.
Are social groups private? What kind of social groups are there?
To some extent. There are basically 3 types of social groups
Public: Anyone can see that the social group exists, anyone can join the group, and anyone can read the messages in the group forum, but you do need to join the group before you can post.communicate.
Moderated: Anyone can see that the social group exists, and requests to join the group must be approved by the group owner. You will not be able to read the forum for this group until your membership is approved. Group owners can also send invitations to forum members to join.
Private: These groups are hidden from view. The only way you would know they exist is if you are privately invited to join. The group owner issues invitations.
NOTE: All social groups and messages (public, moderated, and private) can be seen by the SnoWest moderators.
Who can create a social group?
Anyone can create a social group, but you'll need at least 10 members before you can create a forum. However, please DO NOT create social groups for things that are already addressed by the forums in general.
How do I join a social group?
Click the "Forums" menu at the top of your screen, then choose "Social Groups" to see a complete list of social groups that have already been created. Under "Available groups" click the name of the group you'd like to join. This will open the "home page" for the social group. From here, if the group is public, you can view the members and any recent messages posted.
To join the group, click the "Join group" link on this page (located on the top-right).
Alternatively, if you have been invited to join a social group, you will see invitation under "Your notifications" on the top-right corner of the screen (the same place where you go to read your new private messages). You'll see a line item for "Initiations to join social groups". Click this link to view your current invitations.
How do I create a social group?
Click the "Fourms" menu at the top of your screen, then choose "Social Groups", then click "Create new group" at the bottom of the page.
http://www.snowestonline.com/forum/group.php?do=create
Choose a name for your group (Keep it short and descriptive) and enter a description of what your group is all about (if it's not immediately clear how your group is different from a forum that already exists on SnoWest, please make it clear in the description or your social group could be deleted by the moderators). Again, please DO NOT create social groups for things that are already addressed by the forums in general.
Under group type, select public, moderated, or private (see the description of the three types of groups under "Are social groups private" above).
You can also choose whether or not photo albums will be enabled for your group (this allows group members to share photos) and whether or not people must be a member of your group in order to view the content.
Remember, you must have 10 members before you can create a forum to go with your social group.
How do I invite people to join my group?
There are two ways to get people to join:
1) If your group is public (or moderated) you can use General Chat to announce that your group has been created and encourage others to join. If the group is public, people will be allowed to join without your approval. Moderated groups first require that members request permission to join.
2) You can send personal invitations to people you think would be interested in your group. (This is the ONLY way to get members into a private group).
How do I approve join requests?
Anything else I should know?
Another of the major upgrades to SnoWest was completed over this past weekend.
This new feature is called SOCIAL GROUPS.
When you click on FORUMS, you will soon see a new menu item called "SOCIAL GROUPS".
http://www.snowestonline.com/forum/group.php
In essence, this new feature allows for members of SNoWest to gather together and create their own personal forums!
You get to choose the title, the content and the membership of those allowed to read/write/participate in it!
What are social groups?
Social groups provide a way for you to create a public, semi-private, or completely private group for discussing special-interest topics that fall outside of the scope already provided in the "public" forums.
Social groups consist of two parts
1) A "home page" inside of the forums where members can post photos and general information about the social group is provided (list of members, general description, etc.)
2) A private forum the members of the social group can use to communicate. You'll need at least 10 members before you can have your own forum.
Are social groups private? What kind of social groups are there?
To some extent. There are basically 3 types of social groups
Public: Anyone can see that the social group exists, anyone can join the group, and anyone can read the messages in the group forum, but you do need to join the group before you can post.communicate.
Moderated: Anyone can see that the social group exists, and requests to join the group must be approved by the group owner. You will not be able to read the forum for this group until your membership is approved. Group owners can also send invitations to forum members to join.
Private: These groups are hidden from view. The only way you would know they exist is if you are privately invited to join. The group owner issues invitations.
NOTE: All social groups and messages (public, moderated, and private) can be seen by the SnoWest moderators.
Who can create a social group?
Anyone can create a social group, but you'll need at least 10 members before you can create a forum. However, please DO NOT create social groups for things that are already addressed by the forums in general.
How do I join a social group?
Click the "Forums" menu at the top of your screen, then choose "Social Groups" to see a complete list of social groups that have already been created. Under "Available groups" click the name of the group you'd like to join. This will open the "home page" for the social group. From here, if the group is public, you can view the members and any recent messages posted.
To join the group, click the "Join group" link on this page (located on the top-right).
Alternatively, if you have been invited to join a social group, you will see invitation under "Your notifications" on the top-right corner of the screen (the same place where you go to read your new private messages). You'll see a line item for "Initiations to join social groups". Click this link to view your current invitations.
How do I create a social group?
Click the "Fourms" menu at the top of your screen, then choose "Social Groups", then click "Create new group" at the bottom of the page.
http://www.snowestonline.com/forum/group.php?do=create
Choose a name for your group (Keep it short and descriptive) and enter a description of what your group is all about (if it's not immediately clear how your group is different from a forum that already exists on SnoWest, please make it clear in the description or your social group could be deleted by the moderators). Again, please DO NOT create social groups for things that are already addressed by the forums in general.
Under group type, select public, moderated, or private (see the description of the three types of groups under "Are social groups private" above).
You can also choose whether or not photo albums will be enabled for your group (this allows group members to share photos) and whether or not people must be a member of your group in order to view the content.
Remember, you must have 10 members before you can create a forum to go with your social group.
How do I invite people to join my group?
There are two ways to get people to join:
1) If your group is public (or moderated) you can use General Chat to announce that your group has been created and encourage others to join. If the group is public, people will be allowed to join without your approval. Moderated groups first require that members request permission to join.
2) You can send personal invitations to people you think would be interested in your group. (This is the ONLY way to get members into a private group).
- Open your social group home page (Click "Forums", "Social groups", and click on the name of your group).
- At the bottom of the page, click "Pending & Invited Members"
- Under "Invite user", enter the name of the person you'd like to invite.
- Once you click "Invite" the system will send that person an invitation notification which they can accept or decline.
How do I approve join requests?
- Open your social group home page (Click "Forums", "Social groups", and click on the name of your group).
- At the bottom of the page, click "Pending & Invited Members"
- Approve or deny the members who have requested to join.
- Open your social group home page (Click "Forums", "Social groups", and click on the name of your group).
- At the bottom of the page, click "Create Forum".
Anything else I should know?
- All social groups (public, moderated, and private) are monitored by the administrators and moderators of SnoWest.
- Once again, please DO NOT create social groups for things that are already addressed by the forums in general.
- Once you join a social group, all posts for that group will show up in the "New posts" and searches just like any other forum. Posts from social-groups are colored in light blue.
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