Question in regards to the groups

[Astrid]

Hello Sam, Robert & Peter

I just noticed that the groups are open to read for everyone, not just for members of the forum (please correct me if I'm wrong).

I would prefer them being a protected place, I don't want any clients or future clients reading about all my business secrets :-)

Especially as the forum postings come up pretty high in google and I know that prospective clients google my name before they book me ;-)

Thanks and Cheers
Astrid

[petercrocker]

Hi Astrid,

When a group is set up the group leader/creator has the option to make it either a public group, private group or moderated group. But yes, almost all the existing groups are set up as public as that is the default setting.

Much like the forums it is important to be mindful that posts will not only appear on our forum, it may appear on external search engines. Also, quite possibly registered forum members could well be current or future clients To date our preference has been to keep the groups open, yet also enable private groups to be created if they are wanted.

Cheers,
Peter

[Renee Barber]

I wondered about this (and posted in the graphic design group) today so we must be on the same wavelength Astrid.

Peter, is it possible to change the settings after the group is set up? If not, I imagine it's going to get very quiet in some of the groups from now on ...

[Jacquie]

Hi there

I've just sent an email asking these same questions. As the person who set up the design group, I'm happy to make it private but would also like other designers to be able to join in if they want to...how do I do this Peter? Does
this mean I need to moderate the group? I haven't done anything like this before so I'm on a learning curve here...info appreciated!

Regards, Jacquie

[Astrid]

Hi Jacquie

I imagine that you only have to accept new users when they apply to become part of that group. No moderation.

Peter - yes, I know and I won't write anything in the other (open) threads that would affect any future work relationships.
But in this group we might go more into details ;-)

Thanks
Astrid

[FS Administrator]

Hi guys,

I agree it's a tricky one. The group type can be changed by the creator at any time. There are three types of groups enabled by the system:

• Public - open to everyone. There is no restriction on who can join or who can post messages to it
• Invite Only - require an invitation to be sent to join them. Invitations can only be sent by the group creator or forum moderators and administrators. Invitations are sent by clicking 'Pending & Invited Members' at the bottom of the page for that individual group
• Moderated - open to everyone to join but messages need to be moderated before they will appear. They are moderated by the group creator and the site moderators and administrators

But obviously the last two mean the creator needs to manage things a little in terms of extending invitations and/or moderating.

There is another option available that makes all groups only accessible to logged in members but we haven't enabled that to date as we preferred an open approach.

However, as always, we're open to discussion and would like to make the groups function as useful as possible for everyone.

It's still early days on the forum, especially with the evolution of groups, so I guess it's a learining curve for us all at this stage!!

We'll put our heads together about this topic and also welcome further ideas and comments on this thread. Thanks as always for your ideas and support

Cheers,
Peter

[Jacquie]

Thanks for clarification Peter.

I will probably make the designer's group Invite Only soon...but just want to get a bit more feedback from existing members about this before I make this decision.

Any further thoughts about whether Invite Only discussions can end up on a search engine search?

Cheers,
Jacquie

[FS Administrator]

Hi Jacquie,

We've been giving this some thought and for now we've altered the settings for all groups so that only registered and logged in forum members will be able to see groups. We may do more as we track feedback.

In terms of search engines this means that while older (already indexed) posts may still be listed in the search results page, the actual posts themselves won't be accessible unless you are registered and logged in before you click on them. It is my understanding that spiders won't be able to access future posts to list in search engines as they are behind the login, but you might like to do a few tests (as we will do) in a week or two to confirm this.

Over time this should (?!?) solve the issue of group discussions appearing on Google etc, but you may well still decide to make your forum invite only if you want a completely private group.

Hope that helps for now, and any further feedback welcome.

Cheers!
Peter

[Jacquie]

Thanks Peter.

Much appreciated. Will feed this back to the group members and see where we go from here. It does sound better!

Cheers!
Jacquie

[Astrid]

Thanks Peter - I think that's better too.

Cheers
Astrid