Help

Getting to Know GroupSwim

What is GroupSwim?

GroupSwim is a new service to create online communities for businesses and their customers, employees and partners. Our goal is to make communities really work by identifying the best information, proactively notifying members about information they care about, and helping experts answer questions once. These online communities can identify problems, find solutions, and share ideas.

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What's a "GroupSwim site"?

A GroupSwim site is a community website created with GroupSwim. The GroupSwim site has its own web address, members, and unique content.

You may quickly access any GroupSwim site that you belong by clicking on your name at the top of the page and selecting "Your GroupSwim sites" from the menu.

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What's a "group"?

Within a GroupSwim site, GroupSwim supports the ability to have any number of Groups. The groups are made up of GroupSwim site members, but have their own discussions, membership controls, and settings.

Groups are useful for committees, organizations, project teams, or just people with a specialized interest within the larger GroupSwim site.

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How do I sign in to GroupSwim?

Go to GroupSwim.com, or the web address of any GroupSwim site that you belong to.

If you already have a GroupSwim account, just enter your email address (the one you used to create the site) and your password, and you're off to the races.

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What are those green and gray balloons with numbers in them?

Those round word balloons indicate that a post is a "Discussion." The number in the balloon tells you how many replies there are in the discussion. The color, ranging from a light gray to a bright green, tells you how popular the discussion is; the better the discussion is, the greener it gets. If you see a little green thumb overlaying the balloon, it means you have rated some part of the discussion with a thumbs-up.

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What's the deal with tags? They're everywhere!

"Tags" are keywords to help you organize and quickly find posts and replies you have made. Your tags are saved in your profile for quick reference and sharing with others. Tags cut across an entire site and help you find what you need. They also help you identify experts and other people interested in similar topics.

GroupSwim automatically suggests tags as you type your posts or email them into the community. If you see a small "X" next to a tag, this means you can delete it. You can only delete tags if you are the one who added them, or if the post was added by email.

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How do I post a discussion?

On the top right of the menu bar, you will see "+ Post new..." in groups where you are able to post. This link takes you to the post form for that group. In some groups, you may not see this button. In this case, the group may have been configured to allow only group managers to post.

On the home page (or in the top-left menu), there is also a "+ Post new..." link. This link pops-up a window which allows you to choose which of your groups you want to post to.

Once you're on the post form, you simple enter a subject line, body, and tags for your post, and press the Submit button. It's as easy as that.

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Can I add pictures and videos to my posts?

Yes you can. You can add links for both using the post form toolbar. When you post a discussion, click on the button with a tree on it. This gives you a pop-up to add pictures. The pictures need to be somewhere on the web where you can link to them. Click on the filmstrip icon in the post form to add video. All you need to do is copy the "embed" information from YouTube or some other video site and add it to the popup and you will be linked to your video content.

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Can I upload files or attachments with my posts?

Yes you can. On the post (or reply) form, underneath the main text area, there is an box with a link saying “Attach file(s)...”. If you click this link, you will be able to chose a file from your computer to upload. If you want to upload multiple files, that’s fine; each time you chose a file, a new blank file input field appears underneath it. Note that you are not allowed to upload more than 30 megabytes at a time, and no more than 10 megabytes per file.

If you do not see the attachment box on the post form, it means that the GroupSwim site’s owner has restricted permission to upload files.

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Can I print discussions?

You can print an entire discussion using the action on the right of the page labeled Print this page.

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Can I edit my posts? Delete them? Move them?

You can edit posts that you have submitted. If you go into a post that you have written, you will see a "+" button next to the thumbs up/thumbs down buttons at the top of the post. If you click on the "+" plus sign, you will see the option to "Edit this post". Once you edit a post, a little pencil will appear in the post form to indicate it has been edited.

You can also delete your own replies (also under the “+” menu). If you have posted a discussion and there are 0 replies, you can delete that entire discussion. If there are any replies, you will need to contact a group manager to delete the discussion.

You need to be a manager in order to move discussions between groups.

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What are the thumbs for? Why should I rate other people’s posts?

The rating tools in a discussion are beneficial to both you and the group. If you rate a post with a thumbs-up, three thing happen:

1. You vote to highlight that content for other group members
2. You give the person who wrote the post some credit
3. You save this post in your history, making it easy to find later

If you rate a post with a thumbs-down, it collapses the post, so you don't have to see it anymore.

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I find a post (or reply) objectionable. What can I do about it?

If you don’t like someone’s post or reply, there are a couple actions you can take:

1. You can rate it “thumbs-down” if you personally don’t like it or find it unhelpful. This collapses it so you don’t have to see it again and your “vote” shows for other members to see, though they don't see it was from you&emdash;all thumb votes are anonymous.

2. You can Flag it if you think it is offensive or in violation of community policy. The flag action is in the “+” menu at the upper-right corner of the post. The flag shows up only for managers only, and is a way for the community to tell the managers if there’s a problem.

3. You can contact a manager if you feel like the problem is particularly urgent.

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How can I contact a manager of this group or this site? Another member?

On the “About” tab of a site or group, there is a sidebar action to “Contact a manager”. This action pops-up a window for you to enter your message, and then sends an email to all managers of the group or site.

To contact another member, go to their profile (you can find them with search). In the sidebar of their profile is an action to “Send a message”. The action pops-up a window for your message. When you send this message, it sends the member an email from your email address.

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What does "Subscribe to a feed of this page" mean? It's everywhere.

This action allows you to subscribe to an RSS feed of the page. The feed can be for the whole site, your Watchlist, a group, or a specific discussion. The feed sends out the headline for you to monitor using an RSS reader like Google Reader, NetVibes, My Yahoo!, or other tools. You can also use some email tools like Outlook to monitor RSS feeds. This is a great way for you to monitor the activity in your community without having to log in and check yourself.

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What is RSS?

RSS stands for "Really Simple Syndication". It is a web feed that publishes updated content from sites like GroupSwim, news sites, and blogs. It allows you to monitor sites you are interested in without having to go there yourself to check in.

There is great information on the web on RSS if you are interested. Check out this article on Wikipedia to learn more.

GroupSwim uses the Atom 2.0 format for its feeds.

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How does search work?

When you search for something, we check everything. We look at tags, the subject lines and bodies of discussions, the content of files, members’ names and descriptions, and groups’ names and descriptions. This way, we give you every opportunity we can to help you find what or who you are looking for.

Search is contextual to your current location in the site. That means if you’re in a specific group, we’ll start by searching within that group. You can search the whole GroupSwim site, just your groups, a specific group, or your profile. To change the context of your search, you can use the drop-down menu on the Search Results page.

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Why don't I have the same actions available in different groups?

Groups in GroupSwim sites can be configured to meet the needs of the community. For example, some groups automatically include everyone who is on the site; we call this auto-join. Other groups are public but give the member the option of joining. Or, you can have private groups that are invitation-only. We also give the community manager the option of configuring the groups in very specific ways like who can post, who can reply, who can see the members, etc. Check with your group's manager if you have questions about a specific group. You can also click on "About" in the menu bar when you are in a group to get more information.

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What can people see from my profile?

By default, your profile is set to "public." This means that fellow GroupSwim site members can see what you've posted and tagged. Other people can only see your posts from groups that you have in common with them.

You can change your profile to "private" in your account settings. Setting it to private will make your history and your tags invisible to other members, though they will still be able to see your most basic profile information.

Regardless of your privacy settings, no one can see your real name or location (except for managers).

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What does "Authority on" mean?

In some GroupSwim profiles, you may have seen the term "Authority on," followed by some words. These tags are automatically determined by GroupSwim by comparing what the user has posted with the community's reaction to the content. If someone posts about a particular topic frequently, and the community votes on it, reads it a lot, etc., this person will eventually get authority on the topic. This is something that happens automatically.

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What is my "Watchlist" for?

One powerful tool GroupSwim offers is the Watchlist. You can add several different things to your watchlist. You can watch members, tags, or specific discussions. When something's new from your watchlist, you can receive updates via email or RSS and see new activity in one place.

Adding something to your watchlist is easy. Anything that can be added to the watchlist will have an action on the side of the page called "Add this to Watchlist". You can do this from a user's profile, a tag page, or a discussion page.

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How do I email discussions into my community?

We call this feature "email-in". Not all sites and groups are configured for this. If you aren't sure, click on a group on your home page and then click on "About" in the menu bar. It will tell you if this group is configured for email-in and what the email address is. If you still aren't sure, you can ask your site manager or email GroupSwim at help@groupswim.com.

If your group is enabled, you simply add your group address to any email and it will be posted to your group and automatically tagged. The default email address is groupname.sitename@mailgroupswim.com. Once an email is posted, you can always go into GroupSwim and edit the post, add tags, and delete tags that the system automatically generated.

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I’m a member of multiple GroupSwim sites. How can I get to my other GroupSwim sites from the one I’m on?

There are several easy ways to get to your other GroupSwim sites. In the lower right corner of every GroupSwim site is our logo—clicking on it will take you to the GroupSwim site with a listing of all the GroupSwim sites you belong to.

Alternatively, clicking your display name at the top of any GroupSwim site shows a menu. One of the choices on this menu is "Your GroupSwim sites". This will also take you to a list of all your sites.

Or, for quicker access, you can bookmark specific GroupSwim sites, since each one has its own unique web address.

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Your Account Settings

I forgot my password. What do I do?

There's a link on the sign-in screen right for Forgotten password labeled "(Forget it?)". If you click this, you will be asked for your email address. We then send you a link to reset your password.

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Where are my account settings?

If you are signed in to a GroupSwim site, your display name should appear in the upper-right with a little down arrow next to it. Clicking on your name opens a drop-down menu of your "stuff," including your profile information, your usage history and watchlist, and your account settings.

From your account settings, you can edit your profile information, manage your email preferences, choose a thumbnail image to represent yourself online, manage your tags, manage your watchlist, change your password, quit a GroupSwim site, and more.

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Can I associate multiple emails with my account? Why should I?

You sure can. Go to your account settings and click "Email Settings." In the lower half of this page, there is a box labeled "Add New Email". Here you can enter additional email addresses. With each email address you enter, GroupSwim will send you an email to confirm the address.

There are a couple reasons why you may wish to have multiple emails tied to your account.

1. You can sign in to all your GroupSwim sites using any confirmed email.
2. You can choose to receive email alerts to any confirmed email.
3. If you use multiple email addresses, linking them all to your GroupSwim site makes it easier for your friends to find you within GroupSwim.

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I'd like to receive emails showing me new activity in my groups.

By default, you should be receiving a daily digest for each GroupSwim site you belong to. (You can turn that off on your Email Settings page in your account settings). This will showcase any new activity within a given GroupSwim site and will be sent to you every 24 hours.

You can also turn on alerts for specific groups. If you click on a group from the main page, you will see an action on the right that says "Turn on email alerts for this group". This setting allows you to get emails for all activity in this group. Alternatively, you can navigate to your account settings and select "Email settings." Here you can fine-tune which groups you receive emails from all in one place.

Additionally, you can use your Watchlist to get immediate notifications for things you're interested in. This is also turned on by default so you can just go ahead and try it. (You can also turn that off on your Email Settings page in your account settings).

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Can I change my picture?

Sure thing! We call that little square picture your Thumbnail image. Go to your account settings and click "Thumbnail Image." You can then upload an image (.gif, .jpg, or .png) to use as your thumbnail. GroupSwim automatically resizes the image to 48 x 48 pixels.

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Can I change my password?

Of course. Go to your account settings and click "Change Password." (You will need to enter your old password to change it).

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How do I change the name that people see for me?

We call that your Display Name. To change it, go to your account settings and click on "Edit Profile Info". There you may change you display name

Note that every display name within GroupSwim must be unique and that the name you choose will be used on all your GroupSwim sites.

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How do I cancel my account?

To quit a GroupSwim site, go to your account settings and click on "Quit this GroupSwim site." You will need to confirm that you really want to quit.

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For Owners and Managers

How do I get started?

It's easy! Just click on the "Create Your Group Site Now" button from the GroupSwim home page. It takes less than 5 minutes to pick a name for your group, choose your web address and create your account. We will guide you through the process. Once the free trial expires, you will need to link your community to an account to continue using GroupSwim.

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Where do I change the settings for my site (or group)?

For the GroupSwim site, the "Site settings" link is in the header of the home page, on the right (next to "Post new…"). You may have to return to the homepage to access this page from some places in your GroupSwim site.

For a group, the "Group settings" link is on the right-hand side (next to "Post new…") of your group's section.

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How do I invite members to my site (or group)?

You can get to the invitation form from the sidebar on your homepage, the Members tab, or your Settings page. To invite new members, simply enter the email addresses of the people you would like to invite. Underneath you can customize the invitation process. If you want to save the message as the default for future invitations, the checkbox at the bottom of the form allows you to do that. Once you hit send, the invitations go out via email from your email address (that way, if any bounce, you see it in your inbox).

To invite members to a group, the process is similar, except you can also select from existing site members and directly add them.

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What's the difference between an owner and a manager?

They're pretty similar; both exist to help maintain the community and manage a group's members and settings.

The Owner is a unique role within each GroupSwim site; there can be only one. The Owner has special control over the site, and is the only person who can perform certain tasks, such as deleting the GroupSwim site or adding Yahoo! or Google Groups.

Manager is another important role within the site. Site Managers can manage membership and change some GroupSwim site settings. Site Managers can also change the settings for any group; Group Managers can only edit settings for the groups they manage. If you create a new group, you are automatically made a Group Manager for it.

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How do I manage the membership of my site (or group)?

If you go to the "Members" or "Settings" sections of your site/group, you should see an action labeled "Manage Members". This section is for managers and owners only.

Here, you can browse...

1. the full membership list,
2. a filtered list of managers,
3. outstanding invitations that have not been responded to,
4. people who have requested invitations, and
5. people who have been banned.

Managers can perform many actions from this section, including removing members, promoting members to Manger, and banning/un-banning members. From this page, you can also download the member list (in CSV format, which should open in spreadsheet applications like Microsoft Excel).

Note that on groups that are auto-join, you cannot remove members (but you can still ban them).

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I sent invitations to people, but I haven't heard back. How do I track open invitations?

If you go to Manage Members and click on "Open Invitations", you can see a list of people that you've sent invitations to who still haven't responded. From the actions dropdown (above the table), you can either resend the invitations to these people or delete the invitation from the list.

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Can I/how do I kick people out of the group?

Go to Manage Members and view the member list. Using the actions dropdown (above the table), you can remove any member from a group, or ban them.

If someone is removed from the group, they can rejoin the group (be it public or private) through the same means a new user would join. If they are banned, they may not rejoin at all. In the manage members section, there is a table displaying banned users; this is where you would remove someone from the banned list.

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How do I make someone a manager of my group?

Go to Manage Members and view the member list. Select the members you'd like to promote to Manager, and use the actions drop-down above the table to make them a manager. You can also promote members from their profile page if you are a group or site manager. Once you check the box next to their name, remember to click the "Go" button.

To "demote" a manager back to a regular user, view the manager list, select the desired managers, and choose "make member" from the actions drop-down. You can also take this action from the member's profile page.

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Can I move a discussion to another group?

Yes you can. If you are a manager, you will see "Move this discussion" in the actions section of the discussion's sidebar. Simply click this action and choose which group you would like to move it to.

A moved post is deleted from the original group, and added to the destination group. GroupSwim updates all Watchlists and alerts to point to the new group. The one thing to be careful of here is if you move the post to a private group or a public group. In this case, all the people watching or involved with the post may not be in the new group.

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Can I delete existing posts and replies?

Yes. To delete a reply, click the "+" icon in the upper-right corner of the reply. To delete an entire discussion, click "Delete this discussion" action in the sidebar of the discussion page.

Deleting posts wipes them out. The post still shows up in the history of the person who posted it and the group manager, but the content is gone. You can track deleted and moved posts through the Site Activity Log in the Site Settings.

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Can I edit other people's posts and replies?

You can only edit your own contributions; managers are not allowed to edit other people’s contributions. If you find someone’s post or reply objectionable, you can do one of the following:

• Contact the author and ask them to change it,
• Flag the post or reply for other managers to review, or
• Delete the discussion or reply if you are a manager.

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How do I work with tags for my site?

You can train our software to automatically suggest the tags that are most meaningful for your communities and groups; site and group managers can do this. Tag training is available under Site settings, Group settings, and when you select specific tags to train. Click here for specific information on tag training.

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How do I change my group type after it's been created?

You can access and edit the following group types by going to "Privacy and access permissions" from your Group Settings.

A Public group (the default setting for a group) is open to all members of the parent GroupSwim site. Any member of the GroupSwim site can go to the group and read the discussions in it. People must still join the group to post. The member list is also available to all site members.

A Public (auto-join) group automatically adds everyone on the site. If you are member of a site, you are a member of a public (auto-join) group. This setting is ideal for FAQs, General Discussions, and other topics that should include everyone. Only site managers can create Public (auto-join) groups.

A Private group is closed, even within the GroupSwim site; it is invitation-only. GroupSwim site members who are not in the group can only see the group's description and request an invitation to it.

To fine-tune the settings of your group further, you can select Custom permissions, and have complete control how you want your group to behave.

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Who can create groups on my GroupSwim site?

That's up to you. By default, only managers can create groups, but you can change this to anybody from the "Privacy and access permissions" setting in your site settings.

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Who can invite new members to my GroupSwim site?

That's up to you. By default, only managers can invite new members, but you can change this to anybody from the "Privacy and access permissions" setting in your site settings. This also depends on the type of site you have. Some sites are public and anyone can join as long as they register. It is entirely up to you and your community's needs.

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How do I configure my site and groups for email integration?

Email-in is a feature that is included by default with all internal communities. You can choose the email address(es) and configure permissions for each group where you want it under "Group settings." If you would like to disable email-in site-wide, you can do so on "Site settings" within "Enable available features." Please click here for detailed instructions and guidance on email integration.

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What's the "Announcement" do?

The announcement appears on the landing page of your group or site. It is a way for managers to communicate important messages to the members of their group. When you add an announcement, it appears for everyone when they sign into the site. Anyone can select "Hide this message" once they read it to hide it.

To create an announcement, go to the Settings page and click "Announcement" (in the section "Customize Your Group"). Then, select "Show an Announcement…" to enter the announcement you'd like to show. You can create announcements for your GroupSwim site as well as each group. You can also use HTML in the announcement field if you are so inclined.

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Can I put a logo on my GroupSwim site?

Yes you can. Go to your GroupSwim site's settings and select "Customize site appearance." Here, you can upload a logo and change the colors of your GroupSwim site.

For your logo, you may upload any image (.gif, .png or .jpg). GroupSwim automatically resizes any images larger than 48 pixels tall and 250 pixels wide.

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How do I change the colors of my GroupSwim site?

Go to your GroupSwim site's settings and select "Customize site appearance." By clicking "Change theme" under Choose a color theme, you can select from one of eight preset templates. In the future, we will add more templates, and may allow you to create your own.

Additionally, you can fully customize the header area of your GroupSwim site with your own custom HTML. This is a great way to integrate your GroupSwim community into an existing website. To do this, choose the “custom header” option on the Customize Site Appearance page. This will open a form that allows you to enter your own HTML for the page header and choose the height of this area. Note that the theme you choose will still determine the color for the page's background, and the slim link bars at the top and bottom.

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How do I get my Yahoo! Groups and Google Groups into my GroupSwim site?

GroupSwim can import groups from Yahoo! and Google Groups*. An owner of a GroupSwim site (and only the owner) can enter their login information for Yahoo! or Google; this will return the list of groups that they are in. Select the groups that you'd like to add to the site and click "Save". The selected groups will be added to the GroupSwim site as specialized groups.

Once the groups have been added to the GroupSwim site, members may enter their Yahoo and/or Google account information. After successfully logging in to Yahoo! and/or Google, they will automatically join any external groups that they're a member of.

*In the future, we plan to support for additional platforms. If there is a particular service or platform you'd like us to add, please let us know by clicking "Feedback".

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Do people have to become members of GroupSwim in order to participate in my group?

Yes they do. Everyone who joins your site does so with a GroupSwim account. Be assured that we have tried very hard to make joining (and creating) a GroupSwim site as quick and easy as possible.

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Can my users access GroupSwim via a single sign-on from another application?

Yes. We have successfully set-up single sign-on interfaces for several of our existing customers. Contact Us to talk with us about it.

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Can I secure my GroupSwim site using HTTPS/SSL?

Yes. We have a fully-secure version of a GroupSwim GroupSwim site. Contact Us to enable this functionality.

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How do I transfer ownership of my GroupSwim site to someone else?

If you are the GroupSwim site's owner, you may transfer ownership by going to your site settings page and selecting "Transfer Ownership" under "Administration". You will be able to select one user from your GroupSwim site's member list to make the new owner. Be careful doing this because there is no undo.

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How do I delete my group?

Only the owner can delete a GroupSwim site. To do so, go to your GroupSwim site's settings, and click "Delete this GroupSite" in the Administration section (left-hand column). You will be asked to confirm that this is what you really want to do. Make sure it is, because there is no undo.

Any manager can delete a group. To do so, go to your group's settings, and click "Delete this Group" in the Administration section (left-hand column). You will be asked to confirm that this is what you really want to do.

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