Text: All about groups
Anyone within a Pool log-in can create a group, and you can join some too!
Groups set up quick start
- Click on the juicy blue upload button on the home page
- Select 'group'
- Follow the prompts as you go, and click on the blue question marks for more detail. Read more about the difference between open and closed groups, the role of the group admin, membership & group forums below.
Overview
'Groups' allow Pool users to create smaller communities within the Pool site, with the aim of facilitating collaboration, discussion of ideas, and the generation of work among users.
A group can be thought of as being like a sub site of the general Pool site. Users can create a group with basic information like a description and profile image. Other users can then sign up to this group, allowing them to post content to the group, view the group's content and participate in group discussions.
Interfaces
The Explore page has a Group directory listing, allowing users to browse groups directly. http://pool.org.au/explore/groups Users may also search for groups using the standard Pool search interfaces.
Each group maintains its own profile & home page. Group home pages display the group's basic information and profile image, a list of content that has been associated with the group, as well as a list of the group's members.
Creation & Management
Any user may create a new group at any time. Groups now appear as a upload type along with audio, video etc. Groups are created with either public or private permissions, defaulting to private. The resulting differences will be discussed below.
The creator of the group becomes the group Manager. The manager has full administration rights over the group and is essentially the group owner. The manager has the ability to transfer ownership of the group to another group member at a later stage.
Group administrators have the ability to change the group's profile image, description and other associated properties. They may also add and remove users to and from the group, assign or remove administration privileges to and from other members of the group and approve or deny membership requests. The manager always retains full administration privileges.
Group administrators can also delete groups, but only where there are no other members of that group. Upon deletion, the administrator may choose whether to move the content to another group or into the public Pool space.
Group administrators may also send bulk email communications to all members of the group.
Group Home Page
All users can view the group's home page regardless of the group's privacy setting. They are able to see the description and profile image for each group; however, no content is displayed for private groups where the viewer is not already a member of the group, in that case there is a link enabling them to request membership with the group.
If the viewer is already a member of the group, or if the group is public, they see the full range of content for the group. If the group is public and the viewer is not a member, in addition to the content they see a link to immediately join the group. Home page content consists of a paginated list of works that have been attached to the group and a list of group members.
The home page also provides the user the option to upload content to the group, invite friends to the group (where permissions allow), subscribe to group feeds (This feeds feature is not yet implemented) or leave the group. There is also a link to view the group forums.
Group administrators will have access to further menu items, allowing them to manage group membership, edit group details, edit forums and send bulk emails to group members.
Membership
Users may join public groups immediately. They may also apply to join a private group but must then wait to be approved by an administrator.
Upon gaining access to a group, a user has full access to view the group content and to upload content to the group.
Users may also send invites to friends to join the group. Users are free to leave the group at any time.
Administrators may also immediately add Pool users as members of a group at any time.
Approval Process
When a user applies to join a group, administrators of the group can view the application in the group member list. They will also receive email notification of the application.
They may either then approve or deny the user's application from within the user list. The applying user will then receive an email notifying them of their acceptance into the group.
Adding content
Once a user is a member of a group, they may upload content to the group. For private groups, the content will only be visible to other members of the group.
For public groups, the content will be made available to all users by default. Where a private group is later made public, any content attached to the group may also be made public.
Content can be added to a public group but made only visible to members of the group by un-ticking the Public tick box, see a screen shot here
An existing public group containing content can never be made private. All existing content types may be uploaded within a group space.
A user uploading content may choose to associate the content with any groups of which they are a member, the only restriction being that content cannot be added to both a private and public group at the same time.
RSS feeds (This is yet to be implemented) All groups are automatically provided with an RSS feed of any items added to the group.
Email subscription In addition to subscribing to RSS feeds, users may also subscribe to receive email updates of new content within the group.
Group Forums
Each group has the option of creating forums for members to post to. Only administrators may create top-level forums but any group member may post a new forum thread or reply to existing posts. Group forums are only accessible to members of the group. (We are still tweaking this aspect, and are debating whether they be public/private following the group’s settings)
Integration with other areas of the Pool The main group listing is available within the 'Explore' section of the site. The main menu on the left also includes a 'Groups' item. Selecting this menu item will lead to the Groups directory. The directory contains a paginated list of groups.
SearchingUsers may search across groups using the standard search fields. Groups appear in results lists in the same way as other content. Matches are made on the group name or description fields.
Users may also search within a given group from the group home page, enabling them to search for content specifically within a group. (This is yet to be implemented)
User Pages
User pages now also display a list of groups of which the user is a member. In addition there is a new tab within the user page "My Groups", that enables the user to manage all existing group management and subscriptions from a single location.
Content Pages
Content pages now include a link to any group the content may belong to.
Summary of Pool Groups implementation
Group Properties
- a description & profile image
- public home page with basic information and list of content
- privacy settings: groups can be private or public
- group content viewable only if public group or viewer is a member of the private group
- group has own forum section
Group Actions
- users can create groups at any time
- users can join public groups immediately
- users can apply to join private groups and await approval
- members can leave a group at any time
- members can invite friends to join public groups
- members can attach content to any groups they're a member of
- members may search within a group
- members may post within group forums
Administration
- A list of actions available to group administrators.
- approve or deny applications to join private groups
- grant and remove administration privileges to/from other members
- update group information & profile image
- send bulk email to group members
- sign up a user immediately
- delete a group - only where there are no other members; in which case existing group content may be moved to another group or into the public pool space
- Forums: admins may create and edit top level forums
Pool Integration
- groups directory listing within the 'Explore' section
- user pages list groups each user is a member of
- content pages display any groups the content has been uploaded to
- users may search across groups like all other content
Phase 2
Extra functionality to be considered only if able to do so within existing development time frames.
- groups have mailing list of latest posts (like RSS feed)
- single RSS feed of all groups of which user is a member
Exclusion - Other prospective groups functionality that is excluded from this round of development.
- sub groups
- calendar of group events
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