User Groups

Fantastic feature.

I have a catchy title - Food Groups!

Hmmm, wine whiners. Oops, no, I didn't mean that. Wine Winners. Wine and Roses. No, I guess not.

Artists Associated.

Photographers Possessed.

Well, stop me before I go too far...

Interesting - great idea!

osso, do you really want any of these groups. I'll make 'em, but only if folks are serious about joining 'em. :-D

More User Group Features

Another feature of User Groups is that they have Group Leaders. Each group can only have one leader. This means that, when people ask to join, the leader will get an email. They then just follow the link in the email and can approve or deny all requests for membership. This doesn't necessarily mean that that person is truly in a leadership position within said group, beyond the acceptance or denial of memberships within the group. That decision - and even whether a group is going to have a more substantive leader at all - is up to the group's own membership.

I am not listed as a member of any of these groups, but I will be able to come in and help people if they are having difficulties. I generally will not actively participate in these groups. Rather, I am around in order to help with technical issues and to assure that the Membership Agreement of Able2Know is being followed.

If anyone is listed as a Group Leader and doesn't want to be one, just send me a Private Message and I will be happy to make a change for you.

Another feature is the group description. This can be what you want, although I'd advise that it not be too long. Furthermore, it must be in keeping with the rules of Able2Know and not in contradiction to the basic policies of this website. I have written up descriptions for all of the user groups. If you don't like the description, please have the Group Leader contact me about changing it. By going through the Group Leader, this will prevent a possible situation wherein several people want conflicting statements in their group's description.

In addition, I'd advise not to ask for any prerequisites to membership that cannot be confirmed. For example, say there was a new group that called itself the Hoosiers, which only wanted residents of Indiana as its members. Short of asking people to provide their addresses (which of course we don't require here on A2K), there is no way of confirming Indiana residence. And, even if potential members provided Indiana addresses, apart from visiting each potential member personally, there would be no way to confirm their addresses. Therefore, such a requirement would be meaningless.

The usergroup feature needs a bit of clarification. A usergroup is not a private forum. Private forums can be made that use a usergroup to determine access.

At this moment no private forums are being created pending technological and policy change.