Manage a Google Group
Gmail brought a revolution to E-mail. One of these new features is Google Groups; a combination of e-mail and websites. Learning how to create and manage a Google Group can be helpful and spread ideas through the web, or just for your group members.
Contents
Steps
- Create a Google group. The first thing to managing a Google Groups is to create one. If you don't have a Google Account, you must register for a Google Account. Once you have your account, go to groups.google.com (it will automatically go to the sign in page) and sign in, unless you already have. You can take a tour, but if you choose to skip it, click on "Create a Group" which is underneath the three steps to create one. Fill in the information for you group and invite people or automatically join them in. Decide the type of access you want by selecting public, announcement only, or restricted.
- Manage your profile. To manage your profile on Google Groups, you click "Profile" on the upper right hand corner and upload your own picture. Fill in your profile and and save changes. Your profile will stay with you in every group unless you decide to edit it. At this page you can see your recent discovery, and your ratings. Ratings given by fellow group members who rate how insightful or 'good' your messages in the group are.Upload a picture for your Google Groups. It is important that your members have a visual to go along with a catchy and distinctive title.
- Design your group. You will be asked to design your group. Upload a picture for your Google Groups. It is important that your members have a visual to go along with a catchy and distinctive title.
- Edit your welcome message. Whenever someone reaches this site, they will see it. Make sure it expresses the essence of the group.
- Now you can write pages on the topic, start discussions that each member will receive in their inboxes every time someone sends a new message, or upload files. These files are usually more pictures.
- Fine tune the group settings. Go to the smaller-font navigation links to fine tune your group settings. At the "About this group" one, you can change the language, description, and see the latest archive. You can also select a category for your group in case it is public and people who have similar interests can find yours easily.
- On edit my membership, you can select your nickname, see some info about the group, and select how much read you want from the group. If you only want certain messages with specific words, click the link underneath "Save these settings". You can also unsubscribe.
- Group Settings is pretty straightforward. Just click on the different tabs and it will show you the different things you can change. If you are a manager or an owner, you can go to Management Tasks and change almost anything about a membership. You can also promote people or ban them, as well as putting them under moderation, which means every time they send a message, it will be sent to a manager for them to view it and see if they can post it.
- Setup is complete. Your group is now finished! If you have a large group, soon the discussions and pages will pile up and you will be managing a website with a twist.
Tips
- Make your Google Groups support your ideas or for an upcoming event that needs to be planned. Take the tour to learn more about what you can do with Google Groups.
- Only group owners can delete the group. If you choose to, then you can go to Group Settings and then Advanced.
Warnings
- If you have too many members on moderation, it may lead to too much inbox. If the member is too much of a trouble, ban them or have them unsubscribed.
- Although you can add members who have a non-gmail address, their contributions cannot be readily integrated into the group. You would be advised to limit group membership to those with a Google mail account.
- You cannot delete pages. Be cautious about the pages you are making.
