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locked Privacy

Mark Fletcher
 

Hi All,

As per Shal's suggestion, I've changed the label of 'Full Name' to 'Display Name', to better suggest that what you fill in there is up to you.

On the group home page, for people who cannot see the archives (not a subscriber and the group has private archives, for example), they no longer see Top Hashtags/Top Posters/Recent Photos or Message History. I'm a bit torn about removing Message History, as that's a good way to see the activity level of a group. Thoughts?

I will permanently remove the Recent Posts part of your profile. It was never intended to display posts from groups with private archives.

I audited the profile code and found a bug where in a small set of cases, unlisted groups were displayed in a public profile. I have fixed that.

As was mentioned, if you do not wish to have a profile at all, just leave the User Name blank.

I completely agree that security and privacy are important. But I do think there is value in having public profiles, for people who wish to have them. 

Please let me know if you have any suggestions or thoughts.

Thanks,
Mark
locked Re: Somewhat OT: Download Y! Group Messages

Mark Fletcher
 

On Sat, Feb 21, 2015 at 2:32 PM, Shal Farley <shal@...> wrote:

I first tried it in my test group (680 messages) leaving the Start Num and End Num fields blank. Contrary to expectation that downloaded a single message (#1). Maybe it is good that it didn't try for all of them, as I thought it might.

I next tried setting them to 1 to 100, which worked, 101 to 200 worked, and so on. Until 601 to 700 - which kept on counting towards infinity. I let it go a few thousand then in order to stop it I changed the End Num to 680, clicked Download again and then it stopped and lit up the Save, which worked. Rather inconvenient having to manually adjust the numbers and get the final correct.

Unfortunately I didn't have a chance to figure out the call to make to get the highest message number available. Right as I got it working, my dog got attacked by a coyote, which put an end to my hacking for the night ... (he'll be ok).  

 
If you'd rather not have discussion of this message exporter in beta, or would rather not hear about it at all, let me know. I understand that it is just a toy built on a lark, and not a supported program.

Sure, no problem. I'm not sure when I'll be able to devote any more time to it, but am happy to if I can. And I always like hearing when people are able to use something I've written.

Thanks,
Mark 
locked Re: Email command to turn digest mode on or off?

Duane
 

If you want to see what Mark has on the agenda, you can check his "reminder" page:

https://trello.com/b/qu3WgzVq/beta-https-groups-io-org-groupsio-beta

Duane
locked Re: Post preference, show message history, emoji

dread_axefr@...
 

locked Re: Transfers

dread_axefr@...
 

To my opinion member list it's not interesting. Maybe give the ability to moderator to add MBX files.
locked Re: merging threads??

Shal Farley
 

Ronaldo,

I'm not quite sure what this means. Does it mean than an entire thread
gets a subjecline-change and is inserted into another thread? By a
moderator?
Yes. Although in most actual use cases I'd expect that the subject line might already be the same, or nearly so, and that in any case the content of the messages justifies the re-assignment.

What would you need that feature for?
The algorithm that Groups.io uses to connect messages into a thread requires _both_ that: a) the subject line match, and b) the email header fields indicate a "reply to" relationship. This differs from Yahoo Groups, where a message is joined to a thread if either (a) or (b) apply.

Sometimes members make mistakes, like making a change to the subject line which they didn't realize would split their message (and replies to it) from the original thread. Or a member might post a new message (not a reply) with the same subject, intending it to be part of the original thread. Or a moderator might make a mistake with the upcoming "split thread" feature, and wish to put it back.

-- Shal
locked Re: Email command to turn digest mode on or off?

christopher hallsworth <challsworth2@...>
 

Brilliant, thanks for letting us know.

On 22 Feb 2015, at 09:53, Duane <txpigeon@gmail.com> wrote:

Mark has that on his TODO list under Features | More email commands.

Duane
locked merging threads??

ro-esp
 

I'm not quite sure what this means. Does it mean than an entire thread gets a subjecline-change and is inserted into another thread? By a moderator?

What would you need that feature for?

groetjes, Ronaldo
locked Re: Email command to turn digest mode on or off?

Duane
 

Mark has that on his TODO list under Features | More email commands.

Duane
locked Re: Security issue

Shal Farley
 

Frances,

I have set a user name but it doesn't seem to be used by the system
EXCEPT when you click on profile when logged in. What is displayed is
whatever I have in Full Name on Profile.

I would have thought that would be displayed with the posts. And with
top posters, etc
I agree with Linda, I think "Full Name" is working as intended, but perhaps would have better been called "Display Name" - it is what you want shown in the Groups.io web pages. That is, there's no reason you have to put your legal name there if you don't want to.

Unlike the "Full" or "Display" name, the "User" name is must be unique and have no spaces so that it can be used in an URL, like the link to your profile.

-- Shal
locked Email command to turn digest mode on or off?

christopher hallsworth <challsworth2@...>
 

Hi all,
With other group providers, it is possible to turn digest mode on or off simply by sending a command by email to the list server. Same is true for no mail. Can this be implemented in groups.io? Someone tried to do this on our The Tech Zone list, prompting me to send this suggestion.
Thank you, I look forward to any comments on this.
locked Re: Issues with thread renaming

Judy F.
 

Shal, thank you, thank you, thank you! I now understand clearly what a hash
tag is used for and the benefit.

You are just swell!

Judy F.
SW Florida - USA

-----Original Message-----
From: Shal Farley [mailto:shal@roadrunner.com]
Sent: Sunday, February 22, 2015 1:33 AM
To: beta@groups.io
Subject: RE: [beta] Re: Issues with thread renaming

Judy,

Thanks Shal, but I guess what I'm asking is what are they? Are they
the FS, SOLD, ISO, OFFER, etc. that we are talking about?
In Groups.io a HashTag is a word that has the # symbol in front of it, used
in the Subject line of a message. For example #FS, #SOLD, #ISO, or #OFFER
would be hashtags, whereas those same words without the # would not.

Messages and Message threads with hashtags in the subject line may be
treated specially by Groups.io. One of the ways is that a member can choose
to "mute" a hashtag, meaning that messages in threads with that tag won't be
emailed to the member. Or a member may choose not to have all messages sent
to them by email, but to "follow" certain hashtags, in which case messages
in threads with that tag will be emailed to the member.

If you go to the Groups.io home page at https://groups.io/ while signed in
you can see a list of the hashtags you've muted or followed.

Another feature of hashtags is that they can be set mark a thread for
limited duration - meaning that a thread with that tag is automatically
deleted after a set length of time.

In my earlier email I proposed a new feature for hashtags: a way to group a
few hashtags together so that messages with any of the grouped hashtags may
still be considered the same thread - assuming the rest of their subject
line was the same. Ordinarily messages with different hashtags would be
considered to be different threads because their subject lines are different
(I think).

-- Shal
locked Re: Issues with thread renaming

Shal Farley
 

Judy,

Thanks Shal, but I guess what I'm asking is what are they? Are they the
FS, SOLD, ISO, OFFER, etc. that we are talking about?
In Groups.io a HashTag is a word that has the # symbol in front of it, used in the Subject line of a message. For example #FS, #SOLD, #ISO, or #OFFER would be hashtags, whereas those same words without the # would not.

Messages and Message threads with hashtags in the subject line may be treated specially by Groups.io. One of the ways is that a member can choose to "mute" a hashtag, meaning that messages in threads with that tag won't be emailed to the member. Or a member may choose not to have all messages sent to them by email, but to "follow" certain hashtags, in which case messages in threads with that tag will be emailed to the member.

If you go to the Groups.io home page at https://groups.io/ while signed in you can see a list of the hashtags you've muted or followed.

Another feature of hashtags is that they can be set mark a thread for limited duration - meaning that a thread with that tag is automatically deleted after a set length of time.

In my earlier email I proposed a new feature for hashtags: a way to group a few hashtags together so that messages with any of the grouped hashtags may still be considered the same thread - assuming the rest of their subject line was the same. Ordinarily messages with different hashtags would be considered to be different threads because their subject lines are different (I think).

-- Shal
locked Re: Issues with thread renaming

Judy F.
 

Thanks Shal, but I guess what I'm asking is what are they? Are they the FS,
SOLD, ISO, OFFER, etc. that we are talking about?

Judy F.
SW Florida - USA

-----Original Message-----
From: Shal Farley [mailto:shal@roadrunner.com]
Sent: Saturday, February 21, 2015 10:58 PM
To: beta@groups.io
Subject: RE: [beta] Re: Issues with thread renaming

Judy,

Hi Shal, don't based everything on the Freecycle group and their
various subject titles.
I quite agree, I was only using those HashTags as examples.

The beauty of leveraging Groups.io's HashTag mechanism is that each group
defines and manages its own hashtags.

Since I'm not really sure what a hashtag is, I'm not sure if it is
something we need so hopefully it will be an option.
I haven't used HashTags extensively myself, but I see a number of ways in
which they could be quite useful in certain types of groups. Like this
example of Freecycle, Freegle, or Buy/Sell groups. And I try to remember to
use them when appropriate here in Beta.

In each group's Settings page there is a checkbox for "Only Moderators Can
Create Hashtags". If you check that, and then never create any, then
HashTags won't be available to your group members. Doing that wouldn't cause
any problems, it would just be a feature your group doesn't use.

-- Shal
locked Re: Issues with thread renaming

Shal Farley
 

Judy,

Hi Shal, don't based everything on the Freecycle group and their various
subject titles.
I quite agree, I was only using those HashTags as examples.

The beauty of leveraging Groups.io's HashTag mechanism is that each group defines and manages its own hashtags.

Since I'm not really sure what a hashtag is, I'm not sure if it is
something we need so hopefully it will be an option.
I haven't used HashTags extensively myself, but I see a number of ways in which they could be quite useful in certain types of groups. Like this example of Freecycle, Freegle, or Buy/Sell groups. And I try to remember to use them when appropriate here in Beta.

In each group's Settings page there is a checkbox for "Only Moderators Can Create Hashtags". If you check that, and then never create any, then HashTags won't be available to your group members. Doing that wouldn't cause any problems, it would just be a feature your group doesn't use.

-- Shal
locked Re: Group home page information

Shal Farley
 

Frances,

I think it would be better if top posters weren't shown to people who
are not members of private groups. Especially since real names (not
screen names) are shown.
I concur. If the group's messages are not shown to non-members, then neither should the top poster's names be revealed.

-- Shal
locked Re: Issues with thread renaming

Judy F.
 

Hi Shal, don't based everything on the Freecycle group and their various
subject titles.

The ads for the buying and selling group have options such as FS, SOLD, ISO
and when the seller uses one of these, they would have something like FS:
Janome embroidery machine. Then when it is sold, of course it would be
SOLD: Janome embroidery machine along with information in the body like
thanks to those that asked, etc.

Since I'm not really sure what a hashtag is, I'm not sure if it is something
we need so hopefully it will be an option.

Judy F.
SW Florida - USA

-----Original Message-----
From: Shal Farley [mailto:shal@roadrunner.com]
Sent: Saturday, February 21, 2015 10:25 PM
To: beta@groups.io
Subject: Re: [beta] Re: Issues with thread renaming

Carol & Mark,

This might be the hook that allows correctly typing an 'OFFER' to a
'TAKEN' if the taken isn't an exact match in subject line. Has
potential for us Freecycle folks.
This might be done with a slight change to the HashTag mechanism in
Groups.io.

If the subject line contained #OFFER or #TAKEN, and those hashtags could
somehow be defined as related tags so that messages with either tag (or any
tag in the related set) were treated as if they were in the same thread,
then each offer and its corresponding taken message would naturally group as
the same thread. Same idea for the WANTED/RECEIVED pair.

In the Messages lists (and the opened thread/message) perhaps the union of
the tags (#OFFER only, until the #TAKEN is posted, then both) should be
shown as the Subject line.

Er, Mark, shouldn't hashtags show in Message View and Expanded Message View
as well as Thread View? They don't seem to now.

This would have the further property of allowing email members to follow
only the #OFFER and #WANTED tags, and not be bothered with the others. If
they want to know the status then they need only click on the "View this
message" link in the message footer and see if there's a #TAKEN or #RECEIVED
in that thread. Members who read the group's web pages would have it even
easier, as the hashtags are already shown in the Thread View list.

If the OP wants to post the #TAKEN notice via the group's web pages he/she
would need a way to add the #TAKEN hashtag. Whether that would be a part of
the Reply mechanism or some other affordance I'm not sure.

If the #OFFER had a longer keep duration, and the #TAKEN tag had a shorter
one, and the first expiration deletes the thread, that would provide a nice
automated clean-up of the group's archives. Each group could set its own
policy for how long #OFFERs are retained, and items that are #TAKEN could be
taken down promptly.

-- Shal
locked Re: Issues with thread renaming

Shal Farley
 

Carol & Mark,

This might be the hook that allows correctly typing an 'OFFER' to a
'TAKEN' if the taken isn't an exact match in subject line. Has
potential for us Freecycle folks.
This might be done with a slight change to the HashTag mechanism in Groups.io.

If the subject line contained #OFFER or #TAKEN, and those hashtags could somehow be defined as related tags so that messages with either tag (or any tag in the related set) were treated as if they were in the same thread, then each offer and its corresponding taken message would naturally group as the same thread. Same idea for the WANTED/RECEIVED pair.

In the Messages lists (and the opened thread/message) perhaps the union of the tags (#OFFER only, until the #TAKEN is posted, then both) should be shown as the Subject line.

Er, Mark, shouldn't hashtags show in Message View and Expanded Message View as well as Thread View? They don't seem to now.

This would have the further property of allowing email members to follow only the #OFFER and #WANTED tags, and not be bothered with the others. If they want to know the status then they need only click on the "View this message" link in the message footer and see if there's a #TAKEN or #RECEIVED in that thread. Members who read the group's web pages would have it even easier, as the hashtags are already shown in the Thread View list.

If the OP wants to post the #TAKEN notice via the group's web pages he/she would need a way to add the #TAKEN hashtag. Whether that would be a part of the Reply mechanism or some other affordance I'm not sure.

If the #OFFER had a longer keep duration, and the #TAKEN tag had a shorter one, and the first expiration deletes the thread, that would provide a nice automated clean-up of the group's archives. Each group could set its own policy for how long #OFFERs are retained, and items that are #TAKEN could be taken down promptly.

-- Shal
locked Re: a suggestion regarding the invite/add members feature

Steph <hsrsp@...>
 

Not a problem.
The people that use the phone for their mail call into a voice mail system called Phil More or use a free email reading service called Voice on the Go. And they are limited of what they can and cannot do.

And I would pay for the groups upgrade so that I can get the add members feature but around here money is so tight.

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Shal Farley" <shal@roadrunner.com>
Sent: Saturday, February 21, 2015 5:27 PM
To: <beta@groups.io>
Subject: Re: [beta] a suggestion regarding the invite/add members feature

Steph,

Thanks for the help, since I have people who can only access their email
via the phone, trying to get them successfully in.
The invite should still work, but I'll admit I haven't tried it. I've got Gmail on an Android, plus Earthlink and Yahoo Mail I could access via the Chrome browser on the phone.

I could test one or more of those for you if you'd like, but the trouble is that they all already have Groups.io accounts connected to them; so that wouldn't actually test the experience of someone totally new to Groups.io. I'd have to create some new email accounts to do that. I'm game if you think it would help you. If most of your would-be members are on iPhone though, I don't have that to test.

-- Shal




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locked Re: Issues with thread renaming

Shal Farley
 

Mark,

Working on it. Splitting a thread is almost ready. Combining two threads
will be trickier, if for no other reason than figuring out a good user
interface for how to do that.
A cut/paste type metaphor might be simplest and most familiar to people. The moderator navigates to the thread they want to move and operates some affordance to "pick up" this thread, then navigates to the target thread and operates some affordance to "paste" the first thread onto this one. If the moderator doesn't complete the operation before session end then nothing happens (the first thread is unchanged).

A drag 'n drop metaphor might also be useful, but that assumes that the moderator is comfortable navigating two browser windows (or tabs) and that your code can communicate across them. Both of those assumptions seem more advanced.

-- Shal
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