Introduction to Groups

Groups are an online community where two or more members may join together. The group may be of common interest, a friendship group, a social gathering or just somewhere to share and discuss matters privately.

Getting started

There may already be an existing group that interests you. In this case, you can join the group. If no suitable group exists, you can create your own group and invite others to join up.

Every group has a name. A group also has a description, where the creator of the group should have written some useful information on the group's purpose.

Group privacy and permissions

Groups have three levels of privacy. They are:

• Public: Anyone can view the content in the group. Any registered user may join a public group without requiring approval.
• Restricted: Anyone can view the content in the group. Memberships require approval.
• Private: Only members can view the content in the group. Memberships require approval.

In any case, you must be a member before you can contibute or post messages to a group.

Spam and privacy rules

Under no circumstances is spam to be posted to any group. Users found to be spamming (i.e. repetitively posting links, promotional material, etc) will be banned. However, it is OK to post a link or URL if you are legitimately discussing something with another group member.

Email addresses should not be posted unless the group privacy mode is private. Even then, you should not count on the privacy settings, as the administrator/owner of the group is able to change the group privacy to restricted or public.