! Important: When you finish customizing settings on the Settings page, be sure to scroll to the bottom of the page and click or tap the Update Group button. Your changes will not take effect or be remembered until you use that button.

When creating a group, the creator selects a visibility setting that determines whether the group’s message archive is public (viewable by anyone who has the group's URL) or private (viewable only by members of the group).

After a group is created, a public archive can be changed to a private one, but a private archive cannot be changed to a public one. That is, if the group has a “publicly viewable messages” visibility setting, you can change it to a “private messages” setting—for example, if you changed your mind about the public visibility of the group’s message archive. But you cannot later change it back to a “publicly viewable messages” setting. All you can change is whether the group is listed in the public directory of groups on Groups.io.

Note: During the time when an archive is publicly viewable, web search engines might find and cache the content of some messages (that is, group messages could appear in the results of a web search). If the archive is later changed to a “private messages” setting, that cached content will still be available until it is purged by search engines when they discover that the content is no longer visible from the original page.

Location in desktop browser: Left menu > Admin  > Preferences > Settings > General panel on the Settings page

Location on mobile device: Bottom of page > More > Admin > Preferences > Settings > General panel on the Settings page

! Important: Setting changes take effect after you click or tap the Update Group button at the bottom of the page.

Group Title

In this field, enter a short, descriptive title that will be displayed on the group’s home page in Groups.io along with the group’s email address. This title is also displayed in the dropdown list of groups when you click or tap Your Groups in the blue header bar on group pages. In addition, the title is displayed next to the group name (email address) in the directory of publicly listed groups if you opt to list your group there.

This field is optional, but it is good practice to provide a descriptive group title.

Tip: If you want to promote your group, use appropriate keywords in the group title or group description so the group can be found easily in the public directory of groups. 

Group Email Address

This field contains the group name (email address) you entered when you created the group. If you decide to change that email address, make the change in this field.

Note: Be aware that changing the email address also changes the URL of your group on the Groups.io website.

Tip: The ideal time to change the group’s email address is as soon as possible after you create the group—before you create member notices, customize the message footer and other elements, and add members to the group. If you decide to change the email address after a group is well established, additional considerations apply. See Renaming a group.

Group Description

In this field, which is optional, you can enter a description of the group that will appear on the group’s home page. If your group is listed in the public directory, the first few lines of this description will be included under the group’s name and title in the directory.

Tip: If you want to promote your group, use appropriate keywords in the group title or the first few lines of the group description so the group can be found easily in the public directory of groups. 

You can include text formatting and links in the description. To see all of the formatting tools in a desktop browser, click the More options icon (...) on the left in the text formatting toolbar. On a mobile device, all of the text formatting options are on the toolbar, and you can touch and scroll to display them.

Subject Tag

This field contains text that is automatically added to the beginning of the subject line of group messages that are delivered by email. The tag helps identify the group’s messages in members’ email applications.

The default tag is the name (email address) that was entered when the group was created, enclosed in square brackets. You can edit that tag (for example, to make it shorter or clearer). Changes to the subject tag do not affect the group’s email address.

Note: 

• Subject tags are not displayed in messages in the archive on the group’s website. They are included only in messages that are delivered by email.
• If a group is renamed, the subject tag is not changed automatically. You must update the tag manually. See Renaming a group.

Website

If you want to list an external website on your group’s home page at Groups.io, you can enter that website’s URL in this field. The URL will be listed as a link in the Group Information section on the Groups.io home page for your group.

Allow Sponsorships

Select this checkbox if you want to allow group members to contribute toward Groups.io hosting fees. This setting displays a Sponsor This Group button on the group’s home page, which members can click to contribute (via credit card, debit card, or PayPal) toward the cost of hosting the group. For more information, see Using the sponsorship feature to defray Groups.io hosting costs.

Additional Payment Information

In this text box, you can enter any additional information you would like to include in group invoices and payment receipts.

Location in desktop browser: Left menu > Admin > Preferences > Settings > Privacy panel on the Settings page

Location on mobile device: Bottom of page > More > Admin > Preferences > Settings > Privacy panel on the Settings page

! Important: Setting changes take effect after you click or tap the Update Group button at the bottom of the page.

Visibility

This setting controls whether the group is listed in the public directory of groups on Groups.io and whether its message archive is viewable by anyone who has the group's URL or only by group members.

Note: All of the possible Visibility options for main groups are described here. (Click or tap an option below to see its description.) However, after a group is created, the Visibility list contains only the options that are available based on the initial visibility selection made by the group’s creator (see About group visibility settings). Also, subgroups have different visibility settings (see Subgroup visibility settings).

• Group listed in directory, publicly viewable messages

  The group will be listed in the public directory of groups on Groups.io, and its message archive will be viewable by anyone—not just group members—who has the URL of the group.

  In addition:

  • The contents of group messages will be discoverable by web search engines.
  • An RSS feed link will be created automatically and listed in the Group Information section on the group’s home page. 

  Example: GroupManagersForum (GMF)

• Group not listed in directory, publicly viewable messages

  The group will not be listed in the public directory of groups on Groups.io, but its message archive will be viewable by anyone—not just group members—who has the URL of the group.

  In addition:

  • The contents of group messages will be discoverable by web search engines.
  • An RSS feed link will be created automatically and listed in the Group Information section on the group’s home page.

• Group listed in directory, private messages

  The group will be listed in the public directory of groups on Groups.io, but its message archive will be viewable only to group members. Also, message content will not be discoverable by web search engines.

  Use case example: You want prospective members to be able to find the group, but they must meet some criteria before they can join the group and view the message archive.

  ! Important: The “private messages” setting is not reversible. You can change whether the group is listed in the public directory of groups, but you cannot change private messages to be publicly viewable later.

• Group not listed in directory, private messages

  The group will not be listed in the public directory of groups on Groups.io, and its message archive will be viewable only to group members. Also, message content will not be discoverable by web search engines.

  Use case example: You want an invitation-only group that is not open to the general public, such as for a specific organization or user community.

  ! Important: The “private messages” setting is not reversible. You can change whether the group is listed in the public directory of groups, but you cannot change private messages to be publicly viewable later.

Member List Visibility

This setting controls who can view the group's member list. In the dropdown list, select the option you want to apply:

• Members

  All members of the group can view the member list.

  ! Important: Before you can select this setting, you must scroll down to and expand the Group Type and Moderation panel on the page and select the Restricted Membership checkbox. Only groups that have restricted membership can allow their members to see the member list. This restriction is a security precaution intended to prevent unscrupulous people from joining groups just to harvest members’ email addresses.

  Note: If you associate colors with members’ subscriptions (see Color) the colors are not displayed to group members who view the member list. Only group owners, and group moderators with the appropriate permission settings, will see those colors in the member list.

• All owners, and moderators with the correct permissions

  Only the group’s owners, as well as group moderators who have the appropriate permission settings, can view the member list. (This option is the default setting for new groups.)

• Owners Only

  Only the group’s owners can view the member list.

Email Address Visibility in Archive

This setting controls whether members’ full email addresses are visible or hidden (masked) in the message archive on the group’s website. Select the option you want to apply:

• Mask email addresses in the web archive
• Show email addresses in the web archive

Note: When an archive is publicly viewable, email addresses are always hidden from nonmembers who view the archive.

Location in desktop browser: Left menu > Admin > Preferences > Settings > Group Type and Moderation panel on the Settings page

Location on mobile device: Bottom of page > More > Admin > Preferences > Settings > Group Type and Moderation panel on the Settings page

Note: You must select at least one of the settings on the Group Type and Moderation panel to help prevent spam from being sent to the group.

! Important: Setting changes take effect after you click or tap the Update Group button at the bottom of the page.

Restricted Membership

Select this checkbox if you want membership requests to be approved by a group owner or moderator before people are allowed to join the group.

Tip: With this setting, you can also create a Pending Subscription notice that is automatically sent to prospective members who apply to join the group. For example, you can use that notice to request additional information before you approve someone’s membership.

Note: If you want your restricted group’s members to be able to view the group’s member list (see the Member List Visibility setting), you must select this Restricted Membership checkbox before you can set the member list visibility in the Privacy panel.

Announcement-Only Group

Select this checkbox if your group is to be an announcement-only group rather than a discussion group. Only moderators will be allowed to post messages to the group.

Example: Groups.io Updates is an announcement-only group.

Message Moderation

This setting controls whether and how messages sent to the group must be approved by an owner or moderator before they are posted to the entire group. Select the option you want to apply:

• Messages are not moderated

  Messages do not need to be approved before they are posted to the group.

• All messages are moderated

  All messages—including those that are replies to existing topics as well as those that start new topics—must be approved before they are posted to the group.

• Messages that start new topics are moderated

  Only messages that start new topics must be approved before they are posted to the group. Messages that are replies to existing topics do not need to be approved.

Note: Group notices that have a #cal-notice, #cal-reminder, #guidelines-notice, or #monthly-notice system hashtag are not affected by the “All messages are moderated” or “Messages that start new topics are moderated” setting. Those notices are time sensitive, so they are always posted to the group without requiring moderator approval—unless the corresponding hashtag is modified to be moderated. See System hashtags and associated notifications.

New Members Moderated

Select this checkbox if you want to approve the first message or first few messages sent to the group by new members. This setting allows you to check that new members follow your group’s requirements for posting messages.

When you select the New Members Moderated checkbox, an Unmoderate After dropdown list appears. Select the number of consecutive approved messages (1, 2, 3, or 4) after which new members will be automatically unmoderated. If you do not want new members ever to be automatically unmoderated, select Not enabled from the Unmoderate After list.

Those members will be marked in the member list with a New Member Moderated NMM badge followed by a number. The number after the badge specifies how many consecutive approved messages are required before the new member is automatically unmoderated.

Note: The New Members Moderated checkbox is selected by default when you create a group that does not have restricted membership because Groups.io requires at least one Group Type and Moderation option to be set.

Location in desktop browser: Left menu > Admin > Preferences > Settings > Message Policies panel on the Settings page

Location on mobile device: Bottom of page > More > Admin > Preferences > Settings > Message Policies panel on the Settings page

! Important: Setting changes take effect after you click or tap the Update Group button at the bottom of the page.

Allow Nonmembers to Post

By default, a message sent to a group by a nonmember is rejected automatically with a notice that the sender must be a member of the group to post messages to it.

If you want to allow people who are not group members to be able to post messages to the group, select the Allow Nonmembers to Post checkbox. Such messages will not be rejected automatically; instead, they will require approval from a moderator before they are posted to the group. On the Pending Messages page at the group’s website, the Author column will have a red NM badge next to a nonmember’s email address. If you open the pending message on the group’s website, a red Non Member label appears next to a nonmember’s email address.

Use case example: A group set up for a committee might want to allow people who are not members of the committee to send messages to the committee via the group.

Note: Enabling this setting might result in spam messages going to the pending (moderated) list, even though the system does some checking for known spammers.

Allow Parent Members to Post

Restriction: This setting appears only in subgroups.

By default, a message sent to a subgroup by a member of the parent group who is not a member of the subgroup is rejected automatically with a notice that the sender must be a member of the subgroup to post messages to it. 

If you want to allow people in the parent group who are not subgroup members to be able to post messages to the subgroup, select the Allow Parent Members to Post checkbox. This setting allows members of the parent group to post messages to the subgroup even though they do not belong to the subgroup. Be aware that those parent group members will not receive replies that are sent to the subgroup.

Use case example: A subgroup set up for a committee might want to allow people in the parent group who are not members of the committee to send messages to the committee via the subgroup.

Disable No Email

Select the Disable No Email checkbox if you do not want to allow group members to use the No Email option for email delivery in their subscription settings. When you select this checkbox:

• The No Email option will not be available on group members’ individual subscription pages.
• All existing member subscriptions that were set to No Email are reset to Special Notices Only.
• In the default subscription settings for the group, the No Email option is removed from the list of email delivery options. If the group's default subscription setting had been set to No Email, it is reset to Special Notices Only. (See Default subscription settings for group members.) 
• On the group’s home page, the “Members can set their subscriptions to no email” line is removed from the Group Settings list (or does not appear if the group was set to Disable No Email when it was created).

Note: Members will still be able to select the Special Notices Only email delivery option in their own subscription settings.

Hashtags Required

Select this checkbox if you want to require that all messages posted to the group have at least one hashtag.

Hashtag Permissions

This setting controls whether regular members can create new hashtags by including them in message subject lines. It also controls how messages are handled if members are not allowed to create new hashtags but include new hashtags in a message anyway. Select the option you want to apply to the group:

• Messages can be tagged with new hashtags

  Members can create hashtags by including new hashtags in emailed or web-posted topics.

  This setting also allows members to create new hashtags using the Create Hashtags page on the group’s website. See Creating a hashtag.

• Messages from members can only be tagged with existing hashtags, otherwise the message is bounced

  If a member includes a new hashtag in an email message (that is, the hashtag is not in the list of the group’s existing hashtags), the system holds the message as a draft for that member, and the member receives an email notification instructing them to edit the message.

• Messages from members can only be tagged with existing hashtags, new hashtags will be removed

  If a member includes a new hashtag in an email message (that is, the hashtag is not in the list of the group’s existing hashtags), the system strips the new hashtag from the message before sending the message to the group.

Note: You can assign group moderators a permission that allows them to create and modify hashtags.

Disable Editing Messages

Select this checkbox if you do not want to allow members to make changes to the content of their own messages in the message archive (that is, after the messages have been posted to the group).

Note: 

• Owners and moderators can still edit messages that are pending approval. Moderators can also edit messages in the archive if they have the appropriate permissions.
• Members are always able to delete their own messages regardless of this setting.

Reply To

This setting controls who is initially set to receive replies to messages that are posted to the group. Select the option you want to apply:

• Group

  Replies are automatically addressed to the entire group.

• Sender

  Replies are automatically addressed only to the individual sender of the message being replied to. However, if a group member uses the “reply to all” option in their email application, their reply will be addressed to the group in addition to the individual sender.

  Tip: If you do not want to allow replies to senders to also be delivered to the group, select the Only to Sender setting (see below).

• Moderators

  Replies are automatically addressed only to the group’s moderators (and owners).

• Group and Sender

  Replies are automatically addressed to both the entire group and the individual sender of the message being replied to.

• Only to Sender

  Replies are automatically addressed only to the individual sender of the message being replied to.

  Note: If a group member replying by email uses the “reply to all” option in their email application, their reply will be addressed to the group in addition to the individual sender; however, when the reply is sent, it will be blocked from the group. The person replying will receive a delivery failure notification that their message to the group address was blocked, and the notification message will include this statement: “Replies to this topic must be sent to the sender, not the group.” The individual sender will still receive the reply.

• Topic Followers Only

  With this setting:

  • The first message in a new topic is sent to everyone in the group according to their normal settings.
  • A follow topic record is created automatically for the person who originated the topic.
  • A follow topic record is created automatically for anyone who replies to this original message.
  • All subsequent messages to the topic are sent only to people who are following the topic.

  You can use this setting to create “semiprivate” topics in the group where only the members who are following specific topics will see those topics, but all the messages are still archived.

  This setting applies to all topics in a group. If you want to change it for an individual topic or hashtag, you can use the Reply To property for that topic or hashtag.

  Note: This setting does not affect the Message Selection preference in individual members’ subscriptions.

• Another Group (appears only in groups with subgroups, and appears in both the main group and its subgroups)

  In a group that has subgroups, you can select this setting to specify that replies to messages sent to the main group are addressed to a subgroup, or that replies to messages sent to a subgroup are addressed to the main group or another subgroup.

  Use case example: This setting could be useful in an Announcement-Only group, where you could create a subgroup to receive replies to announcements that are sent by the main group.

  When you select this option, a dropdown list labeled Other Group To Send Reply To appears next to the Reply To list. In a main group, select the subgroup to which you want replies to be sent. In a subgroup, you can select the main group or another subgroup (if more than one subgroup exists).

Note: Members will still see additional reply options in messages on the group’s website and in message digests (if they are using that delivery option). You can use the next setting to remove those additional reply options.

Remove Other Reply Options

Select this checkbox to remove links from messages on the group’s website and in digests to reply options other than the one you selected in the Reply To list above.

Automatically Moderate Topics Older Than [n] Days

To put topics on moderation automatically after a specific length of time, select this checkbox and specify the number of days after which topics should be moderated.

Note: The moderation becomes effective overnight, U.S. Pacific Time, after the specified number of days have elapsed.

Automatically Lock Topics Older Than [n] Days

To lock topics (prevent further replies to them) automatically after a specific length of time, select this checkbox and specify the number of days after which topics should be locked.

Note: The locking becomes effective overnight, U.S. Pacific Time, after the specified number of days have elapsed.

Allow Members to Download Archive

If you group members to be able to download the message archive to a file, select this checkbox.

Downloaded archive files are in mbox format.

Separate Message Footers

Select this option to put the group's message footers in a separate message part in outbound email messages rather than have the footers appended to messages. (Message parts are sections of a MIME-structured email body.)

Use case example: This specialized setting is useful in groups with members who use Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) encryption to sign their email messages.

Virus Handling

This setting specifies how the Groups.io system should handle messages that it detects contain a virus. Select the option you want to use:

• Block

  The system blocks (rejects) the message, sends a notification to the sender, and adds an entry to the group’s activity log. This setting is the default.

• Moderate

  The system flags the message for moderation—regardless of the group’s moderation settings—and adds an entry to the group’s activity log. The system also adds a red badge with the name of the detected virus to the message, and the owner or a moderator will see that information when reviewing the message.

Note: Messages from nonmembers that contain viruses are blocked regardless of the selected Virus Handling setting.

Max Photo Size in Email

To save group storage space, you can use this setting to restrict the size of images that are attached to email messages sent by group members. In the list, select the maximum size (in pixels) that images attached to email messages should be resized to. The default setting is No resizing.

Note: 

• Images attached to emails are stored in a default Emailed Photos album that the system creates. These images count toward the group’s storage limit. (Be aware that the Emailed Photos album is not accessible in Free groups created on or after August 24, 2020 because the Photos feature is not available in those groups.)
• Only images that are larger than 100x100 pixels are displayed in the Emailed Photos album.
• Inline images—that is, images inserted directly into the bodies of HTML-formatted messages—are resized to a maximum of 640 pixels in the long dimension. Inline images count toward the group’s storage limit.

Storage Limit Reached

This setting specifies how to handle message attachments when the group’s storage space limit is reached. Select the option you want to use:

• Delete old attachments

  The system deletes attachments to the oldest messages until sufficient space is freed up. This setting is the default.

  Note: The content (text) in messages themselves is not deleted. Only attachments are deleted.

• Bounce messages with attachments

  The system bounces messages that have attachments until sufficient space is freed up.

Location in desktop browser: Left menu >  Admin > Preferences > Settings > Message Formatting panel on the Settings page

Location on mobile device: Bottom of page > More > Admin > Preferences > Settings > Message Formatting panel on the Settings page

! Important: Setting changes take effect after you click or tap the Update Group button at the bottom of the page.

Message Footer

In this optional field, you can enter text—for example, a disclaimer or a link to the group’s guidelines—to be included in the footer of all group messages that are delivered by email.

The text you enter in this field is placed within the system-generated footers that Groups.io automatically adds to email messages.

Note: 

• This field does not allow any text formatting, but URLs that you enter will become live links in the emailed messages.
• When entering text, be concise. The text you enter here adds to the bulk of every outbound message.
• You cannot edit, remove, or replace the system-generated footers.

Tip: 

• To ensure that the footer has the same content and formatting when messages are viewed on a mobile device as messages that are viewed on a computer, select the Force HTML Emails setting.
• If you want group email messages to be sent without formatting in the message body but also have nicely formatted footers with links, select both the Force HTML Emails setting and the Plain Text Only setting. 

Force HTML Emails

When you select this checkbox:

• All messages that are emailed to the group in plain text format will be converted to HTML format. Message footers are particularly affected.
• The option for members to receive plain text digests is removed from the Email Delivery section on the group’s Default Subscription Settings page and from members’ individual Subscription pages.
• The footer in email messages viewed on mobile devices will have the same content and formatting as the footer in email messages viewed on computers.

Tip: If you want group email messages to be sent without formatting in the message body but also have nicely formatted footers with links, select both the Force HTML Emails setting and the Plain Text Only setting.

Note: If you apply the Force HTML Emails setting to an existing group, the subscriptions of any members who receive plain text digests will be converted to full digests.

Normalize HTML Emails

Select this checkbox to remove different font families, sizes, and colors from emailed group messages that are in HTML format. This setting also applies to signatures in emails. Simple formatting (such as bold and italic) and inline images are retained.

You can use this setting to “tone down” email messages and signatures that contain excessive use of different fonts and colors. With this setting, the system defaults to the fonts and colors that recipients have selected for their own displays, which might be easier for them to read.

Note: This setting also removes some font formatting options from the toolbar in the message editor on the group’s website. However, it does not affect the wiki editing tools.

Plain Text Only

Select this checkbox to convert HTML-formatted messages that are emailed to the group to plain text format. This setting affects the format of message footers as well.

Note: This setting does not affect the format of attachments.

Tip: If you want group email messages to be sent without formatting in the message body but also have nicely formatted footers with links, select both the Plain Text Only setting and the Force HTML Emails setting .

Attachments

This setting controls whether attachments are allowed with group messages. Select the option you want to apply:

• Allow

  Members can include attachments with email messages and with messages they compose on the website.

• Bounce

  Messages that contain attachments are rejected (bounced back to the message senders).

• Strip

  The system strips attachments from messages and posts just the message bodies to the group.

• Moderate

  The system flags messages that include attachments for moderation, regardless of other moderation settings in the group.

  Note: The “Override: not moderated” setting for individual members takes precedence over this attachment setting. That is, even if attachments are moderated for the group through this setting, attachments sent by members whose posting privilege is set to “Override: not moderated” will not be moderated.

Message reposting settings

Calendar settings

Member directory setting

Chats setting

Subgroups setting

Databases settings

Files settings

Photos settings

Polls setting

Wiki settings

! Important: When you finish customizing settings on the Membership Defaults page, be sure to scroll to the bottom of the page and click or tap the Update Settings button. Your changes will not take effect or be remembered until you use that button.

Location in desktop browser: Left menu >  Admin > Membership > Defaults > Default Subscription Settings panel on the Default Subscription Settings page

Location on mobile device: Bottom of page > More > Admin > Membership > Defaults > Default Subscription Settings panel on the Default Subscription Settings page

The settings you select in the Default Subscription Settings panel will apply to all new members who join the group after the settings are updated. Setting changes will not affect existing group members.

Be aware that members can override these defaults individually by changing their personal subscription settings.

! Important: Setting changes take effect after you click or tap the Update Settings button at the bottom of the page.

Email Delivery

Select a setting that specifies how new members receive group posts by email:

• Individual Messages

  Members receive each message individually as soon as it is posted to the group. (This setting is the default.)

• Full Featured Digest

  Members receive a fully formatted (HTML) digest containing the day’s messages. For more information, see Message digests and summaries.

  Note: Members with this setting will receive special notices directly. Special notices are also included in digests.

• Plain Digest

  Members receive a plain text digest containing the day’s messages. For more information, see Message digests and summaries.

  Note: Members with this setting will receive special notices directly. Special notices are also included in digests.

• Daily Summary

  Every morning, members receive a once-daily list of topics that were posted the previous day. For more information, see Message digests and summaries.

  Note: Members with this setting will receive special notices directly. Special notices are also listed in summaries.

• Special Notices Only

  Members receive only the messages that moderators have designated as special notices.

  Note: Special notices are always sent directly, that is, members whose subscriptions are set to receive digests or summaries will also receive special notices individually.

• No Email

  With this setting, members do not receive any group messages—including special notices—by email. However, they might still receive individual notifications from the group (for example, messages sent directly to them by moderators) and system messages from Groups.io.

  Note: 

  • Members set to No Email can still access messages and other group features on the group’s website, but they do not receive group posts through email.
  • The No Email setting will not be available on this panel if you decide to disable it for the group. See Disable No Email.

Message Selection

Select a setting that specifies which messages members receive by email:

• All Messages

  Members receive every message (individually or in digests, depending on the Email Delivery setting) posted to the group except those in topics that they have specifically muted or that are tagged with one or more hashtags they have specifically muted.

  This setting is the default.

• Following Only

  Members receive only the messages (individually or in digests, depending on the Email Delivery setting) posted to the group in topics that they are specifically following or that are tagged with one or more hashtags they are specifically following.

• First Message Also

  Members receive the first message of each new topic, disregarding the fact that they have not yet followed that topic. This setting allows members to know that a given topic has been posted so they can then decide whether to follow any additional messages in that topic.
  Note: You cannot select this checkbox unless you select Following Only.

• Auto Follow Replies

  Select this checkbox to automatically send members all replies to topics that they start or reply to. This setting marks any topic that members start or reply to as one that they follow. This setting mimics the common web forum behavior of providing email notification for topics that members post in.

  Note: This checkbox is selected automatically when you select Following Only.

Max Attachment Size

If you want to specify a default maximum size for attachments that members receive in emails, select an option from this list. The default maximum attachment size is Unlimited.

This setting is useful for members who have a metered or limited connection or who have limited storage space for attachments. Instead of receiving an attached file, they will receive a link to it so they can open it from the group's website.

Note:

• This setting does not prevent members from sending large attachments to the group (and using up storage space). It just prevents large attachments from being delivered to members by email.
• If the total size of all attachments to a message exceeds the Max Attachment Size setting, links to the attachments are sent.

Color

You can apply colors to group members’ subscriptions, for example, to indicate different subscription categories or membership types. You can assign these colors from the member list as well as on individual members’ pages.

To set a default color to be associated with all new group members’ subscriptions, click or tap in the Color box on the Default Subscription Settings panel and select the desired color from the popup list. The selected color will be applied to the subscriptions of members who join the group after this change (but not to current members) and will be displayed in a Color column in the member list.

Selecting the white box in the popup list removes a previously assigned color.

Be aware that the Color column does not appear in the member list unless at least one member has an associated subscription color.

Note:

• Only group owners, and moderators with the appropriate permissions, will see subscription colors in the member list even if the list is viewable by all group members (see Member List Visibility).
• In subgroups: If you do not set a default subscription color in a subgroup (that is, the Color box in the subgroup is white), new members added to the subgroup will inherit the color from their subscription in the parent (main) group, if one is set. Otherwise, they will inherit the default subscription color set in the parent group.

Location in desktop browser: Left menu >  Admin > Membership > Defaults > Default User Settings panel on the Default Subscription Settings page

Location on mobile device: Bottom of page > More > Admin > Membership > Defaults > Default User Settings panel on the Default Subscription Settings page

Note:

• The settings in the Default User Settings panel apply to the accounts of people who are entirely new to Groups.io at the time they join your group—that is, people who, before joining this group, had not joined any other group at that email address (or had otherwise set these preferences in their own Groups.io account settings).
• This panel does not appear in subgroups because someone must be a member of the parent group before joining a subgroup, and the act of joining the parent group creates the member's Groups.io account if it does not exist and populates the account with the default user settings at that point. Therefore, default user settings are not needed for subgroups.

! Important: Setting changes take effect after you click or tap the Update Settings button at the bottom of the page.

Language Preference

This setting specifies the default language in which the group website and notifications are displayed. But be aware that group members can change it individually in their account preferences.

Note:

• Changing the group's default language will not affect the setting for individual group members who have changed the default language in their accounts.
• If you change the default language in a group that has subgroups, the default language in those subgroups will be changed automatically to the new language. 
• If you notice any translation errors, or if you are interested in contributing to Groups.io’s internationalization efforts, see Language Support.

Timezone

This setting specifies the timezone to use for displaying times on Groups.io websites.

Note: If you, the group owner, set a timezone in your Groups.io account preferences, new groups you create will have that timezone by default. Otherwise, the default timezone is U.S./Canada Pacific Time (UTC-08:00 or UTC-07:00 depending on whether Daylight Saving Time is in effect).

Time Display

This setting specifies whether times on Groups.io websites are displayed in standard (12-hour) or military (24-hour) format.

Date Display

This setting specifies how numerical dates are displayed on Groups.io websites.

Monday Start

Select this checkbox to display Groups.io calendars with Monday, rather than Sunday, as the first day of the week. (In countries outside the United States, calendar weeks often start on Monday instead of Sunday.)

Location in desktop browser: Left menu >  Admin > Membership > Defaults > Extra Member Data panel at the bottom of the Default Subscription Settings page

Location on mobile device: Bottom of page > More > Admin > Membership > Defaults > Extra Member Data panel at the bottom of the Default Subscription Settings page

In the Extra Member Data panel of the Default Subscription Settings page, you can specify new fields, similar to database table fields, that are associated with each of your group members. These fields are searchable and sortable in the member list, and the fields that apply to member profiles are searchable in the member directory.

To add a field, click or tap the Add Column button, and complete the fields and check boxes that appear:

• Name

  Enter the name that will appear at the top of the column in the member list.

• Type

  From the list, select the type of content the column will contain.

  For descriptions of the column types, see Column types.

• Description

  In this field, you can enter a description of the column that will appear under that column’s field on:

  • The Extra Member Data panel on each member’s individual page when the page is opened from the member list
  • Each member’s profile page when the Viewable In A Member’s Profile checkbox is selected (see below)
  • Each member’s Subscription page for the group when the Answer Required To Join The Group checkbox is selected and the Viewable In A Member’s Profile checkbox is not selected (see below)

  Tip: One use for the Description field is to contain brief instructions for completing entries in the column you are adding.

• Display Width

  If desired, enter a specific width for the column. This value specifies the number of pixels, not characters. Leave the default value of 0 if you want the column width to adjust automatically (wrapping the content, if needed), along with other columns, to fit the width of the list on the page.

  Tip: In general, leaving the display width set to 0 for Extra Member Data columns results in the best member list appearance in different browsers and on different devices.

• Answer Required to Join this Group

  Select this checkbox to require someone who joins or applies to join the group to complete the field first. If the Viewable In A Member’s Profile checkbox (see below) is not also selected, this field will appear only on members’ Subscription pages.

  Note: This checkbox does not apply to those who join by email, are added to the group directly, or are sent invitations to join.

• Default Hidden

  Select this checkbox if you want the column to be hidden by default in the member list. When someone is viewing the member list, they can use the Visible button at the bottom of the page to display the column.

• Viewable in a Member's Profile

  Select this checkbox to show the field on each member’s profile page. Members can edit the field by editing their profile for the group.

To change the order of columns, click or tap the up or down arrow at the far right in the bar with a column’s name to move that column up or down on the page. To delete a column, click or tap the X next to the down arrow.

! Important: When you finish adding, modifying, or deleting columns, click or tap the Update Settings button at the bottom of the page.

New columns are visible in the member list immediately, unless you have selected the Default Hidden check box.

Creating a notice

1. Display the Notices page.
2. Click or tap the New Notice button.
3. On the New Notice page, complete the elements of the new notice:
   • Notice Type

     From the list, select the type of notice you want to create.

   • Name

     You can leave the default name as it is or change it. This name is displayed in the list of existing notices on the Notices page and in selection lists on other pages.
     Tip: If you intend to create multiple notices of the same type, you should give each notice of that type a unique name so you will be able to easily identify specific notices in the selection lists.

   • Subject

     You can leave the default subject as it is or change it.

   • Active Message

     Select this checkbox if you want to make this notice the Active Message for this notice type—that is, the message that is sent automatically at the time its corresponding event occurs.

     Note: For most notices, only one notice of each type can be the Active Message at any given time.

     Exceptions:

     • Group Guidelines—This notice type does not have an Active Message checkbox.
     • Message to Member—This notice type does not have an Active Message checkbox.
     • Monthly Reminder—You can have multiple Monthly Reminder notices set to Active Message. All of them will be sent automatically.
     • Welcome—You can have multiple Welcome notices set to Active Message. All of them will be sent automatically.
   • Body of the notice

     In the text formatting box, enter and format the body of the notice.

     Note: For some notices, the system provides default text for the message body. This text appears automatically when you select those notice types. You can edit the default text as desired.

     In the text editor, in a desktop browser, you can display another toolbar with additional editing options by clicking the More options icon (...) at the far left on the toolbar. In the mobile app or a mobile browser, all of the editing options are on the toolbar, and you can touch and scroll the toolbar to display them.

4. Click or tap the Add Notice button at the bottom of the page.

Editing a notice

1. Display the Notices page.
2. Select the notice you want to edit.
3. Make your changes to the notice.
4. Click or tap the Update Notice button at the bottom of the page.

Deleting a notice

1. Display the Notices page.
2. Select the notice you want to delete.
3. Go to the bottom of the page and click or tap the Delete Notice button.

The Banned Member notice can be sent automatically when a moderator bans a member from the group. To be sent automatically, the notice must be the active notice (set to Active Message). If no Banned Member notice is set to Active Message, none will be sent.

When you are adding members directly to a Premium or Enterprise group, the content of a Direct Add notice is placed in the Customize Message panel on the Direct Add page. If you set a Direct Add notice to be the Active Message, its content is included in the Customize Message panel automatically when you go to the Direct Add page.

You can create more than one Direct Add notice. However, only one Direct Add notice can be designated as the Active Message. For example, you might want a Direct Add notice for general use, which would be the Active Message, and another Direct Add notice for certain situations, which you would select at the time you are direct adding those members.

The Goodbye notice can be sent automatically to someone who leaves the group. To be sent automatically, the notice must be the active notice (set to Active Message). If no Goodbye notice is set to Active Message, none will be sent.

Some groups use this notice to ask members why they left the group. Responses go to the group owner email address.

The Group Guidelines notice is a unique type of notice that provides a convenient and versatile way to communicate and maintain the group’s posting and conduct guidelines, rules, best practices, and so on.

Note: A group can have only one Group Guidelines notice.

A Group Guidelines notice can be:

• Sent automatically on the first of each month as a message to the group, with an option to include members whose subscriptions are set to Special Notices Only.
• Sent automatically to all new group members.
• Sent manually by an owner or a moderator to a group member at any time.
• Displayed through its own Guidelines entry in the group’s left menu (in a desktop browser) or on the group’s More menu (in a mobile browser or the mobile app), with an option for that entry to be visible to group members only or to the general public.

When the notice is created, a Guidelines entry automatically appears in the left menu (in a desktop browser) or on the More menu (in a mobile browser or the mobile app). The rest of the notice’s features are optional, and you can specify them when creating or editing the notice:

• Name

  You can leave the default name as it is or change it. This name is displayed in the list of existing notices on the Notices page and in selection lists on other pages.

• Subject

  Enter a subject line that will appear in the message when the notice is emailed to a group member separately from the monthly message to the group.

• Email Subject

  Enter a subject line that will appear in the message when the notice is emailed to the group or to an individual.

• Private

  Select the Private checkbox to make the Guidelines entry on the group’s home page visible only to group members. If you do not select this checkbox, the Guidelines entry is visible to the general public.

• Send on Join

  Select the Send on Join checkbox to email the Group Guidelines notice automatically to new group members.

• Send monthly to group

  Select the Send monthly to group checkbox to send the Group Guidelines notice as a message to the group on the first of each month. With this option, the message is also saved in the group’s message archive.
  Note: The system sends the message with the #guidelines-notice hashtag. If that hashtag does not already exist, it is created with a topic duration of one month, causing the archived message to be automatically deleted after one month (when it is superseded by the next monthly message). The #guidelines-notice hashtag is set to “Use by Mods Only” and “Replies by Mods Only” to prevent nonmoderators from using it.

• Send monthly as special

  This checkbox appears only when the Send monthly to group checkbox is selected. When you select the Send monthly as special checkbox, the monthly Group Guidelines message to the group is sent as a special notice, so that members whose email delivery option is Special Notice Only will receive it (in addition to members who receive individual messages, digests, or summaries). In this case, the #guidelines-notice hashtag is also set to “Special.”

  Note: The checkbox in the notice overrides the #guidelines-notice hashtag setting. For example, if you edit the #guidelines-notice hashtag during the month and remove the “Special” setting from it but you do not clear this checkbox on the Group Guideline notice’s page, the “Special” setting will be reinstated in the hashtag the next time the notice is sent.

Tip: Sample Guidelines notices are available in the wiki in the GroupManagersForum group. Feel free to use those samples as a basis for your group’s notice.

The Group Sponsorship notice can be sent automatically to members who sponsor a group in a group where the sponsorship feature is enabled. To be sent automatically, the notice must be an active notice (set to Active Message). You can have multiple Group Sponsorship notices, and more than one can be set to Active Message. If no Group Sponsorship notice is set to Active Message, none will be sent.

Note: This notice is in addition to the automated payment receipt that members receive by email.

The Invite notice can be sent automatically to people you are inviting to join the group. You can customize the text further, if needed, at the time you are sending the invitation, but be aware that further customization is not saved to the notice—it applies only to that one-time use.

You can create more than one Invite notice. However, only one Invite notice can be designated as the Active Message. For example, you might want one Invite notice for general use, which would be the Active Message, and another Invite notice for special situations, which you would select at the time you send those invitations.

Restriction: The Lock Group feature is available only in Premium and Enterprise groups.

The Locked Group notice can be sent automatically when the group has been locked but someone sends an email to it. To be sent automatically, the notice must be the active notice (set to Active Message). If no Locked Group notice is set to Active Message, none will be sent.

Note: Groups.io automatically locks any subgroups that were created in:

1. A Free group that was created after January 15, 2020 at 9:00 a.m. U.S. Pacific Time, then upgraded to Premium, then later downgraded back to Free
2. A trial Premium group that is downgraded to a Free group

Those subgroups are locked until the Free group is upgraded again.

The Locked Topic notice can be sent to the group automatically at the time a topic is locked. To be sent automatically, the notice must be the active notice (set to Active Message). If no Locked Topic notice is set to Active Message, none will be sent.

You may create more than one Locked Topic notice. However, only one Locked Topic notice can be designated as the Active Message. For example, you might want a notice that applies to most locked topics, which would be the Active Message, and another notice that you want to apply to certain types of locked topics, which you would select on the Topic Properties page at the time you lock those topics.

Note:

• No one—including group owners and moderators—can reply to a locked topic.
• Members who send an email reply to a locked topic receive an automatic delivery failure notification stating that the topic is locked.

The Message to Member notice is a prewritten message on any subject that an owner or moderator can send at any time to a member, or to multiple members, through the Send Message feature from either a member’s individual page or the member list page on the group’s website.

You can create more than one Message to Member notice (for example, to cover different situations). When you send a Message to Member notice, you can customize it further as needed. However, further customization is not saved to the notice. It applies only to that one-time use.

The Monthly Reminder notice can be sent to the group automatically every month. The notice is also saved in the group’s message archive. You could use this notice to remind members how to post messages to the group, how to change their subscription preferences, how to change their email address, and so on.

To be sent automatically, the notice must be set to Active Message. You can create multiple Monthly Reminder notices and set each one to Active Message so they are all sent automatically. If no Monthly Reminder notice is set to Active Message, none will be sent automatically.

Note: 

• The system sends the message with the #monthly-notice hashtag. If that hashtag does not already exist, it is created with a topic duration of one month, causing the archived message to be automatically deleted after one month (when it is superseded by the next monthly message). The #monthly-notice hashtag is set to "Use by Mods Only" and "Replies by Mods Only" to prevent nonmoderators from using it.
• When you select the Send monthly as special checkbox, the Monthly Reminder message to the group is sent as a special notice, so that members whose email delivery option is Special Notice Only will receive it (in addition to members who receive individual messages, digests, or summaries). In this case, the #monthly-notice hashtag is also set to “Special.” Be aware that the checkbox in the notice overrides the #monthly-notice hashtag setting. For example, if you edit the #monthly-notice hashtag during the month and remove the “Special” setting from it but you do not clear this checkbox on the notice’s page, the “Special” setting will be reinstated in the hashtag the next time the notice is sent.
• If you have multiple Monthly Reminder notices set to Active Message, the system sends them all at the same time (within the same second or two). Due to the vagaries of email delivery, there is no way to guarantee the order in which multiple notices are delivered.

The Pending Subscription notice can be sent automatically to anyone who applies for membership in a restricted group (a group that has the Restricted Membership spam control setting). To be sent automatically, the notice must be the active notice (set to Active Message). If no Pending Subscription notice is set to Active Message, none will be sent.

Tips: 

• Some groups use this notice to screen potential members by asking questions for applicants to respond to in support of their applications to join the group. Responses go to the group owner address and are recorded on individual members’ pages under “+owner messages.”
• Templates for Pending Subscription notices are available in the wiki in the GroupManagersForum group. Feel free to use those templates as a basis for your group’s notice.

The Rejected Message notice is sent when a moderator rejects a pending message from a moderated member or a message in a moderated group or topic. The way it is handled depends on the method the moderator uses to reject the message.

If the moderator rejects the message by email (uses the rejection link in a “Message Approval Needed” email notification), the Rejected Message notice can be sent automatically. To be sent automatically, the notice must be the active notice (set to Active Message). If no Rejected Message notice is set to Active Message, none will be sent.

If the moderator rejects the message on the group’s website, the text box for the rejection notice is initially left empty. The moderator can write the entire message by hand or select a Rejected Message notice as the initial text.

The Rejected Subscription notice can be sent automatically when a moderator rejects an application for membership in a restricted group. To be sent automatically, the notice must be the active notice (set to Active Message). If no Rejected Subscription notice is set to Active Message, none will be sent.

The Removed Member notice can be sent automatically when a moderator removes a member or members from the group. To be sent automatically, the notice must be the active notice (set to Active Message). If no Removed Member notice is set to Active Message, none will be sent.

The Welcome notice is sent automatically to members who join an unrestricted group or whose membership in a restricted group has been approved. When the group is created, the system generates a default Welcome notice. You can edit the default notice to personalize it for your group.

You can create multiple Welcome notices and set each one to Active Message so they are all sent automatically. If you have multiple Welcome notices set to Active Message, the system sends them all at the same time (within the same second or two).

Note: Due to the vagaries of email delivery, there is no way to guarantee the order in which multiple notices are delivered.

About invitations

Groups.io provides an invitation system for owners and moderators (with the right permissions) to submit the email addresses of people they want to invite to join the group. The system sends an email invitation to each person. To join the group, each recipient just has to click the link in the invitation or reply to the invitation.

Owners and moderators can track each invitation and see whether it has been accepted.

Note: 

• Links in email invitations expire after 14 days. If no response is received within that period, you can resend the invitations, which will generate new links.
• Free groups and Premium trial groups can add members only through the invitation process. If you want to add members to your group directly without the invitation step, that feature—called direct add—is available in paid Premium and Enterprise groups.

Sending invitations to join the group

1. Desktop browser: In the left menu on the group’s website, select Admin > Membership > Invite.
   Mobile device: Tap the More icon at the bottom of a group’s page, then select Admin > Membership > Invite on the More menu.
   The Invite page appears. If you have created an Invite notice for the group and set it to be the Active Message, the text of that notice appears in the Customize Message panel.
2. If desired, customize the content in the Customize Message panel. (If your group has more than one Invite notice, you can select one from the Notices list under the text box. The notice text will then appear in the panel.) This content will be included in the invitation message along with the prewritten content in the Invitation to be Sent panel. As you enter text in the Customize Message panel, it is added to the Invitation to be Sent panel after the line that says “The following message was included by [your name]:”.
   Note: You cannot change the existing content in the Invitation to be Sent field. Including a customized message might improve the invitation acceptance rate by reassuring recipients that the invitation is legitimate.  
3. In the Email Addresses field, enter the email addresses (one per line) of the people you want to invite to the group. Alternatively, under Upload Addresses, you can navigate to a plain text file you created that contains a list of email addresses, and upload that file. Email addresses can be in either of these formats:
   email@example.com
   Display Name <email@example.com>
   Note:
   • If you include names with the email addresses (as in the second format example above), the names will become the members’ display names in the group.
   • A plain text file must contain one email address, or one display name and email address, per line and must be UTF-8 encoded. It cannot be UTF-16LE encoded. Rich text format (RTF) files will not work.
4. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click or tap the Send Invitations button. The Invite page is refreshed and displays an Invite Summary panel with the number of invitations the system processed and sent.

Note: If an email address being invited is an email alias set up in an existing member’s Groups.io account, the Invite Summary panel displays an error message stating that the invited address is already a member and including the email address the alias is associated with.

Inviting more than 20 people at a time

If you invite more than 20 people to your group in a 24-hour period, you probably will see a notice that says:

“You have reached the limit for number of invites that can be sent out without approval. Once your new invites have been approved, they will be sent out. You will receive a notification when this happens.”

For this situation, Groups.io has a waiting period during which management reviews the list of invitees to ensure that you are not a spammer. The remaining invitations usually are released within a few hours.

Note: This review also applies to paid Premium and Enterprise groups that direct add more than 20 people at a time.

Tip: It is not necessary to group your invitations in batches of 20, which will only incur additional delays. You can send all your invitations at once, either by uploading a plain text file or by copying and pasting all the email addresses into the Email Addresses field on the Invite page.

Tracking, resending, or canceling invitations

To see the status of invitations that were sent:

1. Desktop browser: In the left menu on the group’s website, select Admin > Membership > Invite.
   Mobile device: Tap the More icon at the bottom of a group’s page, then select Admin > Membership > Invite on the More menu.
2. On the Invite page that appears, click or tap the Sent Invitations button at the top. The page is refreshed and displays a list of the email addresses that were invited, the dates the invitations were sent, and the status of the invitations.

To cancel and remove invitations that were sent, or to resend them, you can use the Actions button at the bottom of the list:

1. In the list of email addresses, select the checkboxes in front of the email addresses whose invitations you want to cancel or resend.
2. Click or tap the Actions button and select the action you want to apply to those email addresses:
   • Cancel/Remove Invite
   • Send Again

Note: 

• The links in email invitations you resend expire after 14 days.
• If you do not cancel/remove an invitation, it can be sent again at any future date.

In a paid Premium or Enterprise group, owners and moderators can add members to the group directly without going through the invitation process.

To add members directly to a group:

1. Desktop browser: In the left menu on the group’s website, select Admin > Membership > Direct Add.
   Mobile device: Tap the More icon at the bottom of a group’s page, then select Admin > Membership > Direct Add on the More menu.
2. Complete the Direct Add page:
   • The Message to be Sent panel at the top of the page shows the standard text that will be sent to the members who are added. You can use the Customize Message field to add personalized content, which will be added to the text in the Message to be Sent field after a statement that says “The Group moderators have included the following important message:”.
     Note: If you have set up a Direct Add notice for the group and it is set to Active Message, or you select a Direct Add notice from the Notices list, the content of that notice will be displayed in the Customize Message field, where you can edit it further if desired. Be aware that any changes you make will not be saved to that Direct Add notice.
   • If your group includes subgroups, in the Add to Subgroups panel on the page, you can select any subgroups you want to add the new member or members to.
   • In the Emails panel on the page, enter the email addresses of the members you want to add (one address per line). Alternatively, under Upload Addresses, you can navigate to a plain text file you created that contains a list of email addresses, and upload that file. Email addresses can be in either of these formats:
     email@example.com
     Display Name <email@example.com>
     Note:
     • If you include names with the email addresses (using the second format example above), they will become the members’ display names in the group.
     • You can include digest, summary, or nomail at the end of a line to set that email delivery option for that member. Be aware that members can change their email delivery options. 
     • If you upload a plain text file, it must contain one email address (or one display name and email address) per line; a delivery option can be included at the end of a line as well. The file must be UTF-8 encoded. It cannot be UTF-16LE encoded. Rich text format (RTF) files will not work.
3. Click or tap the Add Members button at the bottom of the page.

Note:

• If an email address being added is an email alias set up in an existing member’s Groups.io account, the system displays an error message stating that the address is already a member and including the email address the alias is associated with.
• If you add more than 20 people to your group in a 24-hour period, you probably will see a notice that says you have reached the limit for the number of members that can be added without approval. For this situation, Groups.io has a waiting period during which management reviews the list of added members to ensure that you are not a spammer. The remaining additions usually are processed within a few hours.

To display the Members page, also referred to as the member list, so you can review it for member status and other information:

• Desktop browser: In the left menu on the group’s website, select Admin > Members.
• Mobile device: Tap the More icon at the bottom of a group’s page, then select Admin > Members on the More menu.

The member list on the Members page contains members’ display names, email addresses, email delivery method, and the date they joined (or were approved to join) the group. If subscription colors have been assigned to any members, the member list also contains a Color column showing those colors. In Premium and Enterprise groups, the member list might contain additional, custom columns.

Certain colored badges might appear in entries in the member list to indicate members’ email delivery status, email delivery setting, or moderation status. For a list of these badges and their descriptions, see Member badges.

To filter the member list to display only the members who are in certain categories, who have a certain status, or who are assigned a specific subscription color:

1. At the top of the Members page, click or tap the Filter button.
2. When the filter list appears, select the checkbox for the category or status by which you want to filter the member list. You can select more than one checkbox. You can also select a subscription color (the color squares are at the end of the filter list).
3. ! Important: Scroll to the bottom of the filter list and click or tap Apply.

To clear the filter list and display the entire member list, click or tap the Members button at the top of the page.

Note: If you are a moderator, these checkboxes appear in the filter list only if you have the corresponding moderator permission:

• Pending Approval 
  (requires the Approve Pending Members permission)
• Banned 
  (requires the Manage Member Subscriptions permission)
• Bouncing 
  (requires the Manage Member Subscriptions permission)

About pending members

If the group is set up with restricted membership, people who request to join the group must be approved by an owner or moderator. Until an owner or moderator takes action, the prospective member remains in a pending state.

When someone applies to join a restricted group, owners and moderators who have chosen to receive pending member notifications receive an email or web/app notification (or both) that has a subject line starting with “Subscription approval needed.” 

Note: 

• For email notifications, the owners’ and moderators’ group subscriptions must be set to receive emails sent to the owner address.
• Pending member requests expire after 14 days. If no action is taken within that period, the request is deleted. The pending member does not receive any notification.
  Exception: The 14-day timeout period does not apply to approval requests that have been claimed by a moderator on the group’s website.

Handling pending members by email

To approve a pending member by email: Reply to the “Subscription approval needed” message without adding anything to it or clearing any text (if your email application is set up to include or quote messages you are replying to).

To reject a pending member by email: Forward the “Subscription approval needed” message to the rejection link included in the message. The prospective member receives an automatic notification with a simple statement that the subscription request was not approved by the moderators. To provide more feedback to prospective members, you can create a customized Rejected Subscription notice with additional information.

Note: If the pending member has been claimed by another moderator (see below), you will receive an email delivery failure notification containing a statement that the pending member was claimed and including the claiming moderator’s display name.

Handling pending members on the group’s website

To approve, reject, or claim one pending member:

1. In the “Subscription approval needed” email from the prospective member, click or tap the View pending member link, which takes you to the prospective member’s individual page on the group’s website.
2. Scroll to the bottom of the page, and click or tap the button for the action you want to take:
   • Approve Pending Sub: Approve the subscription request.
   • Reject Pending Sub: Reject the subscription request
   • Claim Sub: Indicate to other group moderators that you are handling this subscription request. A Claimed by badge containing your name appears next to the person’s email address on the member list.

To approve, reject, or claim multiple pending members at the same time:

1. Display the member list. When the Members page appears, it lists the pending members.
2. Select the checkboxes next to the rows of the pending members for which you want to take the same action.
3. At the bottom of the page, click or tap the Actions button, and then select the action you want to take for the pending members you selected:
   • Approve: Approve those subscription requests.
   • Reject: Reject those subscription requests.
   • Claim: Indicate to other group moderators that you are handling those subscription requests. A Claimed by badge containing your name appears next to each person’s email address on the member list.

Tip: In a group that has more than one moderator, you might want to use the Claim option if, for example, you want to contact the requester for more information or consult with other moderators before approving or rejecting the request. Claiming a pending member indicates to other moderators that someone is handling that subscription request. However, be aware that it does not prevent other moderators from taking action.

Note:

• Pending members who are claimed are not subject to the 14-day timeout period for responding to subscription requests. They remain pending until the moderator who claimed them either approves or rejects them.
• Other moderators with the appropriate permissions can still take action on a claimed pending member on the group’s website. In any confirmation popup that appears, those moderators will see a “Warning: This pending member was claimed by [moderator’s display name]” statement.

Members who requested to join the group but have not yet responded to the confirmation email message sent by Groups.io are marked with the NC (Not Confirmed) badge in the member list.

Tip: To see a list of only the Not Confirmed members, display the member list. Click or tap the Filter button at the top of the page, select the Not Confirmed checkbox in the filter list, then go to the bottom of the filter list and click or tap Apply. The page is refreshed and displays a list of the Not Confirmed members.

In Free groups, owners and moderators can send another confirmation email message to a Not Confirmed member and hope that the member responds to it:

1. Display the member list.
2. Click or tap in the row—anywhere except the checkbox—of the member who has a Not Confirmed badge to display that member’s individual page.
   Go to the bottom of that page and click or tap the Send Confirmation Email button.

In Premium or Enterprise groups, owners and moderators can confirm NC members directly.

1. Display the membership record of the member whose membership you want to confirm.
2. Go to the bottom of the page and click or tap the Confirm button. 

Note: In a restricted Premium or Enterprise group, if you approve a pending member who is not yet confirmed, the approval also confirms their membership automatically.

In the member list, click or tap anywhere in a member’s row—except the checkbox—to open a page that contains their membership details.

(Clicking or tapping the checkbox in a member’s row on the Members page selects the row so you can perform an action using the Actions button at the bottom of the Members page.) 

You can change the message posting privileges for individual members without changing the settings for the entire group. Example: A member is not following the group’s guidelines for posting, so you want to moderate their posts for a while.

Note: Moderation applies only to messages. A member who is moderated will still be able to upload files and photos (if those features are available in the group) without moderator intervention. However, you can receive notifications about activity that involves files and photos. See Moderator notifications about group activity.

To moderate an individual member:

1. Display the individual’s membership record.
2. Scroll down to the Posting Privileges panel.
3. Select the level of moderation you want to apply to this member:
   • Use Group Moderation Setting

     The message moderation setting specified for the group applies to this member. This posting privilege setting is the default.

   • Override: not moderated

     No messages posted by this member are moderated, regardless of the group’s or an individual topic’s moderation setting.

     In the member list and on certain other group pages, the member will have a Posting Always Allowed badge: P

   • Override: moderated

     All messages posted by this member are moderated, regardless of the group’s or an individual topic’s moderation setting.

     In the member list and on certain other group pages, the member will have a Moderated badge: M

   • Override: new member moderated

     The first n messages posted by this member are moderated, where n is a number from 1 to 4. The default is 1. You can change the number in the Group Type and Moderation panel on the group’s Settings page (look for the Unmoderate After list below the New Members Moderated checkbox). See Group type and moderation settings.

     In the member list and on certain other group pages, the member will have a New Member Moderated badge (followed by a number): NMM

   • Override: not allowed to post

     This member cannot post any messages, regardless of the group’s or an individual topic’s moderation setting.

     In the member list and on certain other group pages, the member will have a Not Allowed to Post badge: NP

   • Override: moderate the first message of every topic this person starts

     The first message in every topic that is started by this member is moderated, regardless of the group’s or an individual topic’s moderation setting.

     In the member list and on certain other group pages, the member will have a Moderate First Message badge: MF

   • Override: moderate all messages of every topic this person starts

     All messages posted in every topic that is started by this member are moderated, regardless of the group’s or an individual topic’s moderation setting.

     In the member list and on certain other group pages, the member will have a Moderate Started Topics badge: MT

4. If desired, click or tap the Notes button at the top of the page and enter a note about why you are moderating this member. The note will be saved in the member’s record. Such notes can be helpful to other moderators who might review the member’s page.
5. Click or tap the Save button at the bottom of the page.

Group owners and moderators can add notes to individual members’ records that other moderators and owners—and only moderators and owners—can review. For example, you could add a note about who referred a particular member to the group, add a note about a moderator action related to a member (such as putting them on moderation or removing or banning them), and so on.

To add a moderator note to a member’s record:

1. Display the member’s record.
2. Click or tap the Membership button at the top of the member’s page and select Notes from the list.  
3. On the resulting page, enter the text of your note, then click or tap the Update button.

In the member list, the email address in the member’s record will be followed by a note icon  with a tooltip of “Has Moderator Note”. 

To modify or delete the note, follow steps 1 and 2 above, edit the text of the note or delete all the text, and click or tap Update.

! Caution: This action changes the email address for the member’s Groups.io account, which will affect all other group subscriptions they have at this address. It is functionally equivalent to the member changing the address in their own account.

In a paid Premium or Enterprise group, owners and moderators can change the email addresses of members who cannot change their addresses themselves for some reason:

1. Display the membership record of the member whose email address you want to change.
2. In the Email field at the top of the page, edit the member’s email address.
3. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click or tap Save.

Tip: If you want to be notified when members change their own email addresses, set a notification method under Account Changes in your subscription setting for the group. See Moderator notification settings.

Note: 

• You cannot change the email address of someone who is a moderator or owner of any group or subgroup.
• If the new address belongs to an existing Groups.io account or is an existing alias, the system displays a message that the address is already registered, and no change occurs. Group owners and moderators cannot merge members’ accounts, so the member will have to unsubscribe, or delete one of the accounts, or merge their accounts. Or you can remove the member from the group and direct add them with their new address.

The Display Name field in group members’ records can be populated or updated in any of these ways:

• An owner or moderator can include a display name when they invite or add a member to the group.
• Members can add or modify their display names in their Groups.io account profiles or in their profiles for individual groups. (See Customizing your account profile and group profiles.)
• Owners and moderators can edit the Display Name field in individual members’ records (however, be aware that members can change their own display names as mentioned above).
• If the field is empty when a member initially joins (or is added to) the group, the Groups.io system might automatically populate the field the first time the member emails a message to the group, if the message’s email header contains display name information.

Some email providers notify Groups.io when group messages end up in their (the provider’s) users’ spam folders. Most likely, the group messages were automatically flagged as spam by the email provider rather than having been specifically marked as spam by the users.

When Groups.io receives such a notification, the system automatically unsubscribes that member from the group. Groups.io also sends the member an email with a link that lets them automatically and quickly resubscribe to the group if the spam flagging was a mistake. The email lets the member know to check their spam folder and mark any messages in there from Groups.io as not spam, to help train the email provider’s spam filters to make fewer mistakes about Groups.io emails.

Group owners and moderators can check the activity log for members who were removed because group messages were reported as spam to their email providers:

1. Desktop browser: On your group’s left menu, select Admin > Activity.
   Mobile device: Tap the More icon at the bottom of a group page, then select Admin > Activity on the More menu.
   The Activity page is displayed.
2. (Optional) If you want to confine the search to a specific date or range of dates, select the applicable option from the Any Time list at the top of the page.
3. In the actions list, scroll down to and select Spam - System removed member due to spam report. A list of the members who were removed because of reported spam is displayed.

For additional information about this situation, see the wiki in the GroupManagersForum group.

Note: Be aware that members who are removed from a group are able to rejoin the group at that email address (assuming it is a functioning address). If you want to prevent someone from being able to join the group at all from that address, you can ban them.

Removing an individual member

1. Display the member’s record.
2. If desired, enter a moderator note about why you are removing this member. The note will be saved in the member’s record, which will be retained even after the member is removed. Such notes can be helpful to other moderators who might review the member’s record.
   Restriction: The records of past members are available only in Premium and Enterprise groups.
3. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click or tap the Remove button.
4. When the Verify Delete confirmation popup appears, click or tap Yes.

If the group has an active Removed Member notice, the member receives that notice automatically.

Removing multiple members at the same time

1. Display the member list.
2. Next to the Display Name column, select the checkboxes of the members you want to remove.
3. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click or tap the Actions button, then select Remove from the list.
4. When the Verify Action confirmation popup appears, click or tap Yes.

If the group has an active Removed Member notice, the members receive that notice automatically.

Note: You cannot remove someone who is the sole owner of a subgroup. You must change the subgroup’s owner first.

Removing a large number of members (bulk remove)

If you have a large number of members to remove, or you have a large membership list and it would be tedious to page through it to remove several members at once, you can use these steps to remove the members:

1. Desktop browser: In the left menu, select Admin > Membership > Bulk Remove.
   Mobile device: At the bottom of a page, tap the More icon, then select Admin > Membership > Bulk Remove on the More menu.
2. On the Bulk Remove Members page, use one of these methods to enter the email addresses you want to remove:
   • In the Email Addresses field, enter (or copy and paste) the email addresses, one address per line.
   • Under Upload Addresses, locate and upload a plain text file you created that contains the email addresses (one address per line in the file).
3. If you want an active Removed Member notice to be sent to the members being removed, select the Send Removed Member Notice checkbox. If you do not select this checkbox, the removed members will not be notified.
4. Click or tap the Remove Members button.
5. When the Verify Removal confirmation popup appears, click or tap Yes.

Banning a member

To remove a disruptive member or a spammer from the group and prevent them from rejoining at that email address:

1. Display the member’s record.
2. If desired, enter a moderator note about why you are banning this member. The note will be saved in the member’s record, which is retained even after the member is banned. Such notes can be helpful to other moderators who might review the member’s record.
   Restriction: The records of past members are available only in Premium and Enterprise groups.
3. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click or tap the Ban button. 
4. When the Verify Ban confirmation popup appears, click or tap Yes.

If the group has an active Banned Member notice, the member receives that notice automatically.

Tip: You can proactively ban an email address that you know belongs to a spammer or other undesirable member, to prevent them from trying to join the group. View the instructions.

Note:

• You cannot ban someone who is the sole owner of a subgroup. You must change the subgroup’s owner first.
• Banning applies only to that specific email address. It is possible for someone to try to join or rejoin using another email address.
• A banned member who is logged in to Groups.io with the banned email address will not be able to see the group’s home page. If they try to go to the group’s home page (for example, by entering the group’s URL in their web browser), they will be redirected to the most recent group home page they visited, where they will see a “You are not a member of this group” notice in a red box at the top of the page.
• A banned member who is not logged in to Groups.io and goes to the group’s home page, clicks the Join This Group button (or the Apply For Membership button in a restricted group), and enters the banned email address will see a “That email has been banned from the group” notice on the page after they click the Confirm Email Address button. This action is also recorded in the group’s activity log.
• A banned member who sends an email message from the banned email address to the group’s posting address will receive a delivery failure notification that contains the statement “You are not allowed to post to that group.” This action is also recorded in the group’s activity log.
• A banned member who attempts to subscribe by email from the banned email address (by sending a message to the group’s +subscribe address) will receive a delivery failure notification that contains the statement “This email has been banned from the group.” This action is also recorded in the group’s activity log.
• The group retains information about members who were banned, including any moderator notes about them, messages they sent to the owner email address, their join dates, and so on.
• In Premium and Enterprise groups, banned members are included in the Past Members list. Those groups also have the option to ban entire domains.

Unbanning a member

If you find you need to reinstate (unban) a member who was banned (for example, if the banning was an error), follow these steps:

1. Display the member list.
2. Click or tap the Filter button at the top of the page.
3. In the filter list, select the Banned checkbox, then go to the bottom of the filter list and click or tap Apply.
4. In the resulting list of banned members, select the checkbox next to the member’s row.
5. Click or tap the Actions button at the bottom of the list, and select Unban from the list.
6. When the Verify Action confirmation popup appears, click or tap Yes. The member is removed from the Banned list.

Note: The member will need to rejoin the group (by invitation, through direct add, or by requesting to join). They do not become a group member again automatically after being unbanned.

Viewing a list of banned members

1. Display the member list.
2. Click or tap the Filter button at the top of the page.
3. In the filter list, select the Banned checkbox.
4. Go to the bottom of the filter list and click or tap Apply. The page is refreshed and displays a list of members who were banned from the group.

In a paid Premium or Enterprise group, owners and moderators can upload a file containing the email addresses of all of the people they want to belong to the group. Any members currently in the group who are not listed in the file will be removed from the group, and any people listed in the file who are not in the group will be added. No email notices are sent to group members who are removed.

Note: In a group that has subgroups, the file sync feature is available only for the parent group. Because subgroup members must belong to the parent group, the file sync feature does not apply to subgroups.

To synchronize your group members with a file of email addresses:

1. Create a text file containing a list of the email addresses, one address per line, of all the people you want to be members of the group.
2. Go to the group’s website and display the Sync Settings page:
   Desktop browser: In the left menu, select Admin > Membership > File Sync.
   Mobile device: At the bottom of a page, tap More, then select Admin > Membership > File Sync on the More menu.
3. On the Sync Settings page, the Message To Be Sent section shows the standard content that will be sent to any people who are added to the group. To add your own text to that content, scroll down to the Customize Message field, and enter and format any personalized text that you want to include in the message to be sent. As you enter text there, it is added to the Message To Be Sent field above the line that starts “If this was a mistake...”, and the statement “The Group moderators have included the following important message:” is added above your text.
   Note: You cannot change the existing content in the Message To Be Sent field. Providing a customized message can reassure recipients that the message is legitimate.
   Tip: Use the formatting tools on the text editing toolbar to make your personalized text stand out from the standard content.
4. If desired, and if your group has a Direct Add notice, select the Direct Add notice from the Notices list under the Customize Message field.
5. If your group has subgroups and you want to add any new members to them, scroll to the Add To Subgroups panel and select the checkboxes for the subgroups you want to add new members to.
6. Click or tap the Browse button, and navigate to and select the text file containing the list of email addresses.
7. Click or tap the Sync Members button. The File Sync Members page appears. On this page:
   • The top panel, Members To Be Removed, lists the email addresses of members who will be removed from the group because their email addresses are not in the file you uploaded. No email notices will be sent to these members when they are removed.
   • The bottom panel, People To Be Added, lists the email addresses in the file you uploaded that do not belong to any current members of the group.
8. If you are satisfied that the lists of members to be removed and people to be added are correct, click or tap the Sync Members button at the bottom of the page. The system synchronizes the member lists and returns to the Members page. 

A Groups.io group can be synchronized (synced) with an external service, which means that members of the external service automatically can be made members of the group. Automatic syncing occurs hourly. 

Currently, the only service that a Groups.io group can sync with is Slack. Once you set up the connection between your group and your Slack team, you can view which members are a part of one and not the other and synchronize them.

To synchronize your group members with a Slack team:

1. Go to the group’s website and display the Sync Settings page:
   Desktop browser: In the left menu, select Admin > Membership > Service Sync.
   Mobile device: At the bottom of a page, tap More, then select Admin > Membership > Service Sync on the More menu.
2. On the Sync Settings page, from the Service list, select Synced with a Slack Team. The Authenticate with Slack button appears.
3. Click or tap Authenticate with Slack and then sign in to your Slack workspace. Ensure that you give Groups.io permission to access the workspace. After you are signed in, you are returned to the Sync Settings page in your group.
4. Under Auto Sync Type, select the type of synchronization you want to use. Under Join Channels, select the applicable channels.
5. Click or tap the Update Sync button at the bottom of the page. The result depends on the Auto Sync Type option you selected. If it was:
   • One of the Pull or Push options: The members in Groups.io and Slack are synchronized according to your selection.
   • No Automatic Sync: Groups.io displays the Sync Dashboard page, which contains two tabs. Each tab lists the people who are not members of the other. You can use those tabs to manually select the members of each team that you want to sync with the other team:
     • On the Groups.io Members tab, which lists the group members who are not members of the Slack team, select the group members you want to add to the Slack team and click or tap the Add to Slack button.
     • On the Slack Members tab, which lists the Slack team members who are not members of the Groups.io group, select the members you want to add to the group and click or tap the Add to Groups.io button. 

Note: When you select No Automatic Sync, you can click or tap the Sync Dashboard button (next to the Update Sync button) at any time to view the Groups.io Members tab and Slack Members tab. The Sync Dashboard button is disabled when you select a Pull or Push sync option. 

In a Premium or Enterprise group, owners and moderators can view a list of all members who left the group, members who were removed from the group, and members who were banned from the group:

1. Display the member list.
2. Click or tap the Filter button at the top of the page, select Past Members from the list, and click or tap Apply.

The resulting Past Members page lists all members who left the group (unsubscribed) and those who were removed or banned from the group by a moderator or owner.

In a past member’s row, you can click or tap the removal reason link in the History column to display that member’s record, where you can view their activity history, any moderator notes, and any messages that the member sent to the owner email address.

Overview of bouncing

When group messages cannot be delivered by email to a group member for some reason, the nondelivery events are called bounces. Those events put that member’s Groups.io account into a bouncing state that affects all the groups the member belongs to with that account’s email address.

Groups.io tries to notify a bouncing member by sending them an email message that has the subject line “Your Groups.io Account is Bouncing.” Also, when a bouncing member logs in to the Groups.io website, a red banner at the top of the page informs them that their account is bouncing.

Note: When a Groups.io account is bouncing, the member can still log in to group websites and read and post messages there. Bouncing affects only email delivery; it does not affect the member’s ability to use group websites.

Checking recent email bounces

If you realize that you have not received any group email messages for a while, but you have not received an email notification that your account is bouncing, you can check your account to see whether group email messages are bouncing:

1. Go to your account settings.
2. Desktop browser: In the left menu, select Bounces.
   Mobile device: Tap the More icon at the bottom of the page, then tap Bounces on the More menu.
3. Review the Bounces page to see whether any messages are listed there and, if so, what the associated error messages are.

Tip: You can also check your email delivery history in individual groups you subscribe to. See Checking your email delivery history for a group.

What to do if your account is bouncing

When your Groups.io account is bouncing, you can try to “unbounce” your account using any of these methods:

• If you received a “Your Groups.io Account is Bouncing” email notification, click or tap the link in the email to unbounce your account.
• Make sure you are not logged in to Groups.io, and go to the Groups.io Log In page. Click or tap the Email me a link to log in button, then click or tap the login link in the email you receive. 
• Go to the Groups.io website (and log in if necessary). You will be directed to a web page with a red banner at the top stating that your account is bouncing. The page shows the most recent bounce messages and gives you the option to either change your email address or send an email (also known as a bounce probe) to the bouncing address with a link to unbounce it.

! Important: Group owners and moderators cannot do anything to unbounce their group members’ accounts. When your account is bouncing, you must address the underlying problem yourself, which might involve contacting your email service provider for assistance or investigation.

What to do if members in your group have bouncing accounts

From time to time, group owners or moderators might want to review their group’s member list to check whether any members are being reported as bouncing. 

! Important: Other than try to contact members and make them aware of their bouncing status, group owners and moderators cannot do anything to “unbounce” members’ accounts. Members must address the underlying problem themselves.

To check a group you own or moderate for bouncing members:

1. Display the member list.
2. In the list, review the Email column. Next to their email addresses, bouncing members have either a red B badge (“Bounced”—the system received no response to any bounce probes for 15 days) or a blue B badge (“Bouncing”—the system is sending bounce probes every 3 days).
   Tip: To see a list of only the members who are bouncing, click or tap the Filter button above the list, select the Bouncing checkbox in the filter list, then click or tap Apply at the bottom of the filter list. The page is refreshed and displays a list of only the bouncing members.
3. Review the email delivery history of each bouncing member to try and determine the reason why the account is bouncing:
   • On the Members page, click or tap in the row (anywhere except the checkbox) of a bouncing member. The Membership page for that member appears.
   • Click or tap the Membership button at the top of the page, then select Email Delivery History from the dropdown list.
   • On the resulting page, review the Bounces panel. It lists all recent bounces and the reasons for them.
     Note: This panel displays activity from only your group. Because the account’s bouncing status could have resulted from failed deliveries of messages in another group the member belongs to, you might have to direct the member to look up their own bouncing activity to see what is going on. An individual member can find that information on the Bounces page for their account. See What to do if your account is bouncing.

Tip: In the Bounces panel on a member’s email delivery history page:

• 400-level errors usually indicate a temporary condition, and the affected message could subsequently get delivered.
• 500-level errors are considered permanent.

These resources on SMTP error codes provide information that you might find helpful:

• What Those SMTP Error Codes Mean and Why You Should Care
• SMTP errors and reply codes

Groups can have multiple moderators and owners, and moderators can have different sets of permissions. (Owners have all permissions by default.) To be a group moderator or additional owner, the person must first be a member of the group.

Tip: It is good practice for a group to have at least one additional owner as a backup in case the primary owner ever becomes unavailable. In addition, if you are a group owner, you might want to have multiple moderators to assist you, depending on the size and activity level of your group.

Note: Moderators cannot change the roles or subscription settings of owners or remove owners from groups.

To make a group member an owner or moderator:

1. Display the membership record of the member you want to make an owner or moderator.
2. In the Role list, select the role you want to assign to that member, Moderator or Owner. When additional panels appear on the page, select the permissions and options you want to give to that person:
   • Moderator Permissions panel
     Note:
     • This panel appears only when the Moderator role is selected; owners have all permissions by default.
     • Regardless of their permission settings, moderators cannot change the roles or subscription settings of owners or remove owners from groups.

     The permissions you can select in the Moderator Permissions panel are:

     • Approve Pending Messages
     • Edit Archives
               This option also allows moderators to view poll results.
     • Invite Members
               This option does not appear in subgroups.
     • Add Members
                This option appears only in subgroups.
     • Create or Modify Hashtags
     • Manage Subgroups
               This option does not appear in subgroups.
     • Add or Modify Integrations
     • Modify Group Settings
     • Manage Paid Subscriptions/Donations
     • Billing
     • View Member List
     • Approve Pending Members (also allows access to the member list)
     • Ban Members (also allows access to the member list)
     • Set Member Subscription Options (also allows access to the member list)
     • Set Moderator Privileges (also allows access to the member list and allows setting member subscription options)
     • Remove Members (also allows access to the member list)
   • Moderator Notifications panel

     For each item listed, you can select how the new owner or moderator should be notified about activity related to that item. The notification options are:

     • Email and web/app
     • Email only
     • Web/App only
     • None

     See Moderator notifications about group activity for more information.

   • Owner Email panel

     Select an option for how the new moderator or owner will receive emails that are sent to the group’s owner email address (groupname+owner@groups.io):

     • All Emails
     • Members Only
     • None

     Be aware that all moderators and owners who have the All Emails setting or Members Only setting will receive email messages that are sent to the owner email address. If your group has several moderators, not all of them might need (or want) to receive owner emails. In that case, some of them could select the None option in their own subscription preferences. See Owner email setting.

3. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click or tap the Save button.

! Important: Moderators cannot change the roles of owners.

To change an owner or a moderator back to a regular member:

1. Display the membership record of the owner or moderator whose role you want to change.
2. In the Role list, select Member.
3. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click or tap the Save button.

You control whether and how messages are moderated in your group using the group type and moderation settings. In your group’s message formatting settings, you can control whether attachments to messages are moderated (or allowed at all).

You can also moderate and unmoderate individual topics in your group separately from the overall group moderation settings. For more information, see Editing the properties of topics in the archive.

Another way to moderate and unmoderate topics is to use hashtags that have moderation properties.

Tip: Groups.io has a setting that allows groups to automatically moderate topics that are older than a specified number of days. You might consider using this setting so moderators can review any replies that are posted to outdated topics. See Automatically Moderate Topics Older Than [n] Days.

About pending messages

When a message that needs approval is posted to a group, owners and moderators who have chosen to receive pending message notifications receive an email or web/app notification (or both) that has a subject line starting with “Message Approval Needed.”

Note:

• For email notifications, the owners’ and moderators’ group subscriptions must be set to receive emails sent to the owner address. See Making a member an owner or moderator.
• Pending messages expire after 14 days. If no action is taken within that period, the message is deleted. The sender does not receive any notification.
  Exception: The 14-day timeout period does not apply to pending messages that have been claimed by a moderator on the group’s website.

Tip: You can visit your Pending home page to see all the messages that are currently pending in all the groups you own or moderate.

Approving, rejecting, or deleting pending messages by email

To approve a pending message by email: Reply to the “Message Approval Needed” email message without adding anything to it or clearing any text (if your email application is set up to include or quote messages you are replying to).

To reject a pending message by email: Forward the “Message Approval Needed” email message to the rejection link included in the message. The sender receives an automatic notification with a simple statement that the message was not approved by the moderators. To provide more feedback to senders, you can create a customized Rejected Message notice with additional information.

To delete a pending message by email: Forward the “Message Approval Needed” email message to the deletion link included in the message. The sender does not receive any notification that the message was deleted.

Note: If the pending message has been claimed by another moderator, you will receive an email delivery failure notification containing a statement that the pending message was claimed and including the claiming moderator’s display name.

Handling pending messages on the group’s website

Note: In groups that are fully moderated, or in groups where #xxx-notice system hashtags are moderated, notifications to be sent to the group (such as for file uploads, photo uploads, calendar invites, and so on) must be approved like any other messages. These notifications are listed on the Pending Messages page and are identified by a blue Notification badge.

Example:

Handling an individual pending message

1. In the “Message Approval Needed” email message, click the View this message online link, which takes you to the Pending Messages page on the group’s website. Or, on the group’s website, select Admin > Pending (in a desktop browser) or More > Admin > Pending (on a mobile device) to display the Pending Messages page.
2. On the Pending Messages page, click or tap the link in the row of the pending message you want to handle. The page with the individual message appears.
3. Under the text of the message, click or tap the button for the action you want to take:
   • Approve

     Approve the pending message.

   • Edit

     Edit the pending message. Note: This action also claims the message.

   • Reject

     Reject the pending message. You can include a personal message to the sender, or select a Rejected Message notice (if any exists in the group), or both.

   • Delete

     Delete the pending message. This action does not send a notification to the sender.

Tip: From this page, you can also send a private message to the sender or ban the sender. Click or tap the down arrow next to their display name to display a dropdown menu, then select Send Message or Ban Sender, as applicable.

Handling multiple pending messages at the same time

1. Desktop browser: Go to a group’s page and click Admin on the left menu, then select Pending.
   Mobile device: At the bottom of a group page, tap the More icon, then select Admin > Pending on the More menu.
   Tip: A number to the right of “Pending” indicates the number of items that are pending approval. 
2. On the Pending Messages page, select the checkboxes next to the rows of the pending messages for which you want to take the same actions.
3. Click or tap the button for the action you want to apply to the selected pending messages:
   • Approve

     Approve the selected pending messages.

   • Approve & Unmoderate Senders

     Approve the selected pending messages and set their senders’ moderation status to Use Group Moderation Settings.

   • Edit

     Edit the selected pending message.

     Note: 
     

     • This button is active for only one message at a time (that is, only one message is selected). You cannot edit more than one pending message at the same time.
       
     • Editing also claims the selected message.
   • Reject

     Reject the selected pending messages. You can include a personal message to the senders, or select a Rejected Message notice (if any exist in the group), or both.

   • Delete

     Delete the selected pending messages. This action does not send a notification to the senders.

Working with claimed pending messages

While an owner or moderator is editing a pending message, or if they edit a pending message and save it without approving (for example, to work on it later), that person effectively claims the pending message. Next to the message on the Pending Messages page, other moderators will see the Claimed by badge with the claiming moderator’s display name, along with the Moderator Edited badge. The Claimed by badge indicates to other moderators that someone is already handling that message.

Note: When someone saves an edited pending message using the Save button at the bottom of the edit page, an Undo button appears on the subject line the next time someone opens that message on the group’s website. Any moderator with the appropriate permissions can click or tap the Undo button to remove any edits that were made to the pending message and restore it to its original state.

Other moderators with the appropriate permissions can still take action on a claimed message on the group’s website. If a different moderator later edits the pending message and saves it (or uses the Undo button), that moderator becomes the claimer, and their name replaces the original name in the Claimed by badge. Another moderator can still take action on that pending message on the website, but in any confirmation popup that appears, that moderator will see “Warning: This message was claimed by [moderator’s display name]”.

If a pending message has been claimed and a different moderator tries to approve, reject, or delete that message by email, that moderator will receive a delivery failure notice containing a statement that the message was claimed and including the claiming moderator’s display name.

Groups.io provides the ability for group owners and moderators to merge separate topics together. For example, you might want to combine separate topics that were started about the same subject, or perhaps a member created a new topic by mistake instead of replying to an existing topic.

Note: Bear in mind that the messages have already been delivered as emails. Even when you merge topics in the message archive, if someone replies to an email that originated from one of the merged topics, a new topic will be created.

To merge topics:

1. On the group’s website, view the messages in Topics view. See Viewing topics and messages on group websites.
   Tip: You can use the Search button to search for topics. Then, in the search results, click or tap the Tools button and select the Collapse Topics checkbox. The list now shows the topics and the number of messages in each one.
2. Navigate to one of the topics that you want to merge into the original topic. (Do not open the topic. Stay on the Topics page.)
3. Click or tap the arrow button next to the posting date to display a menu, and select Start Merge (view an example). The page is refreshed, and that topic has a vertical blue line to the left of it.

   

4. Go to the original topic you want to merge the selected topic into.
5. Click or tap the arrow button next to the posting date, and select Merge Into from the menu (view an example).

   

6. When the Verify Merge confirmation popup appears, click or tap Yes. The first topic you selected is merged into the original topic.
7. Repeat steps 2 through 6 for any other topics you want to merge into the original topic.

Tip: If the original topic is still active, consider putting it on moderation so you or other moderators can edit the subject lines of incoming messages before they are posted to the archive (because messages might be replies originating from the “stray” topic that was merged into the original, and the subject lines might be different). You can also consider locking the topic if you do not want members posting more messages to it.

Groups.io provides the ability for group owners and moderators to split a topic into two separate topics. For example, if replies have gotten off track from the subject of the original topic, you might want to move those replies into a separate topic of their own (or merge them into a more appropriate existing topic).

Note: You cannot split the first message displayed on a page. If you are sorting messages by newest first (Date column), that view prevents you from splitting the most recent message. Click or tap the Date column header to sort the view again and move the message to the bottom of the page, where you can then split it.

To split a topic:

1. On the group’s website, view the messages in Topics view. See Viewing topics and messages on group websites.
   Tip: You can use the Search button to search for topics. Then, in the search results, click or tap the Tools button and select the Collapse Topics checkbox. The list now shows the topics and the number of messages in each one.
2. Navigate to the topic that you want to split, and expand it to display the messages in that topic.
3. Go to the message in that topic that you want to use as the start of the new (split) topic. The messages that follow it will be included in the split topic.
4. In that message, click or tap the More icon at the lower right.
5. On the menu, select Split. View an example.

   

6. In the Split Topic popup that appears, enter a subject line for the new topic, then click or tap the Split Topic button. That message is moved into a new topic, along with any messages that were posted after it.
   Note: The new topic will have the same properties as the topic it was split off from.

Tip: If the topics are still active, consider putting them on moderation so you (or other moderators) can edit the subject lines of incoming messages before they are posted to the archive, to ensure that the messages end up in the correct topic. You can also consider locking the topics if you do not want members posting more messages to them.

If a topic has run its course (or if it has grown contentious and nothing further can be gained by keeping it going), but you want to keep it available in the message archive, you can prevent further replies from being posted to that topic by locking it. If desired, when you lock the topic, you can send a Locked Topic notice to inform members that the topic is now locked. 

Members who send email replies to a locked topic receive an automatic delivery failure notice stating that the topic is locked. 

You can lock or unlock topics through their properties. For more information, see Editing the properties of topics in the archive.

Other ways to lock topics are:

• Use hashtags that have locking properties.
• When you are creating a new topic or replying to an existing topic on the group website, select the Lock Topic After Posting checkbox before you click or tap the Send button. (This checkbox appears only for group owners and moderators who have the Edit Archives permission.)

Tip: Groups.io has a setting that allows groups to automatically lock topics that are older than a specified number of days. You might consider using this setting to prevent members from posting replies to outdated topics. See Automatically Lock Topics Older Than [n] Days.

Owners, and moderators with the appropriate permissions, can edit the properties of topics that have already been posted to the archive on the group’s website. The changes they can make are:

• Edit the subject line of the topic.
• Add hashtags to or remove hashtags from the topic.
• Moderate or unmoderate the topic.
• Lock or unlock the topic.
• Make the topic sticky or unsticky. (Sticky topics are pinned to the top of the Topics page in the message archive.)
• Change the Reply To setting for that topic.
  Note: If you change it to Reply to topic followers only, the system automatically sets up follow topic records for the person who started the topic as well as everyone who replied to it. Those people then will see an Unfollow Topic link in the footer of subsequent email messages in that topic.

You can use any of these methods to edit the properties of topics in the archive:

• In Topics view or Messages view, click or tap the down arrow button next to the posting date, and select the desired option from the menu that appears.
  Note:
  • The menu contains more options in Topics view than it does in Messages view.
  • If you select Lock Topic from the menu and your group has an active Locked Topic notice set up, that notice is sent to the group automatically.
• Open the topic on the website. Then click or tap the More icon at the lower right and select the desired option from the menu that appears.
  Note:
  • You cannot edit the subject line or change the Reply To setting from that menu. But you can make those changes by selecting Topic Properties from the menu.
  • If you select Lock Topic from the menu and your group has an active Locked Topic notice set up, that notice is sent to the group automatically.
• Open the topic on the website. Then click or tap the Topic Properties button at the top of the page, or click or tap the More icon at the lower right under the message and select Topic Properties. On the page that appears, you can change any of the properties listed above (you can also delete the topic). Click or tap the Update button when you are done.
  Note: When you select the Locked checkbox on the Topic Properties page, a dropdown list appears from which you can select a Locked Topic notice that will be sent to the group after you update the topic’s properties.

Instructions for group members

A group’s owner might allow members to make changes to the content of their own messages in the message archive (that is, after the messages have been posted to the group).

Group members who are not owners or moderators can edit only messages that they have posted.

! Important: In this situation, edited messages are emailed to all group members automatically. Think carefully about whether you really need to flood other members’ email inboxes with minor corrections such as fixed typos.

To edit the content of a message that you posted:

1. On the group’s website, locate and open the message you want to edit.
2. Click or tap More at the lower right of the message and select Edit Message from the popup menu.
3. On the Edit Message page, make your changes. In addition, it is good practice to include a short note that explains your edits. Enter the note in the text box under the body of the message. That note will be included in the updated message that is sent to the group.
   Note: You cannot change the subject line because it appears in all messages that are in that topic. Only group owners and moderators with the appropriate permissions can change a topic’s subject line.
4. Click or tap the Save And Send To Group button. The edited message is sent to all group members.

In the archive, a blue Edited badge appears next to the message, at the far right under the original timestamp. All group members can click or tap that badge to see the message’s history and, if desired, compare revisions.

Instructions for group owners and moderators

Owners, and moderators with the appropriate permissions, can edit the content of all messages that are in the message archive on the group’s website.

Note: 

• To edit messages before they are delivered by email and posted to the archive, you need to use some form of moderation on members or messages.
• To change a topic’s subject line or hashtags, you need to edit the topic’s properties. See Editing the properties of topics in the archive. 

To edit the content of a message that has already been posted to the group:

1. On the group’s website, locate and open the message you want to edit.
2. Click or tap More at the lower right and select Edit Message from the popup menu.
3. On the Edit Message page that appears:
   • Make your edits to the body of the message.
   • In the text box after the message body, add a brief note about the change.
     Note: This note is optional but recommended so the reason for the change is documented. The note appears in the edited message if you choose to send it to the group by email. The note also can be viewed by members who click or tap the blue Edited badge that appears next to edited messages on the group's website.
4. Click or tap the appropriate button:
   • Save and Send to Group: Use this button if you want to send the edited message to the group by email. The message will include a statement that the message was edited along with the note you entered.
   • Save Without Sending: Use this button if you want to just save the edited message in the archive without emailing it to all group members. A copy will be sent to the original poster.

The message is sent or saved, according to the action that you took. In the archive, a blue Edited badge appears next to the message, at the far right under the original timestamp. All group members can click or tap that badge to see the message’s history and, if desired, compare revisions.

Group members can delete their own messages in the archive. Group owners and moderators with the appropriate permissions can delete any messages in the archive.

To delete an individual message within a topic (not the entire topic):

1. On the group’s website, display the message you want to delete.
2. Click or tap More under the message at the lower right.
3. Select Delete Message from the submenu that appears.
4. When the Verify Delete confirmation popup appears, click or tap Yes.

Note: Members who received the message by email will still have a copy (unless they deleted it from their email applications).

To delete a topic from the Topics page:

1. In the group, display messages in Topics view and locate the topic you want to delete.
2. Click or tap the down arrow next to the topic’s posting date and select Delete Topic from the menu that appears.
3. When the Verify Delete confirmation popup appears, click or tap Yes.

To delete a topic that is open on the website:

1. While you are viewing the topic, click or tap the Topic Properties button at the top of the page. Or you can click or tap the More icon under the message at the lower right and select Topic Properties from the popup menu.
2. On the page that appears, click or tap the Delete Topic button at the bottom.
3. In the Verify Delete confirmation popup, click or tap Yes.

A special notice can be sent only from the group's website in a desktop or mobile browser or from the Groups.io mobile app. Special notices cannot be sent by email because there is no way to designate an email message as a Groups.io special notice.

To send a special notice: 

1. Desktop browser: Go to the group’s website and select New Topic in the left menu.
   Mobile device: Go to the group and tap the New Topic icon at the bottom of the page.
2. On the New topic page, select the Send this message as a special notice checkbox under the message box.
3. Compose and format the message as desired.
4. Click or tap the Send button at the bottom of the page.

In the emailed message, a “[Special]” tag is added to the subject line in front of the group-specific subject tag.

Note: Group members who have set their subscription to No Email will not receive special notices.

About the group owner email address

Each group in Groups.io has an owner email address, which is in this form: groupname+owner@groups.io

Example: GroupManagersForum+owner@groups.io

The owner email address and other group email addresses are listed on the group’s home page.

Messages that are sent to the owner email address include automatic notices about pending group members and pending messages that need approval.

Owners and moderators have subscription options to control whether they receive messages that are sent to the owner email address. Owners can set these options for moderators and other owners that they add to the group, but moderators and other owners can change their individual subscription options (see Owner email setting).

Receiving and viewing messages sent to the owner email address

Email messages sent to the group owner email address are delivered to the email addresses that owners, and moderators who receive owner emails, use to log in to the group.

On the group’s website, you can use any of these methods to view messages that were sent to the owner email address:

• Go to the group’s activity log. In the Actions list on the Activity page, scroll down to and select Message to +owner. Then click or tap Search to display a list of messages that have been sent to the owner email address.
• Display a member’s record. Click or tap the +owner Messages button to list any messages that member has sent to the owner email address.

Sending messages from the owner email address

If you want to send a message to a member (or members) that comes from the group owner email address rather than from your personal email address, you can do so from the group's website:

1. Display the member list and select the checkbox in the row of the member you want to send the message to. You can select more than one member.
2. Go to the bottom of the page and click or tap the Actions button, then select Send Message. The Post to Member page appears.
3. Above the Subject field, click or tap your profile name and select Send from group owner address from the dropdown list.
4. Use one of these methods to compose the message:
   • Complete the Subject field, and enter the body of the message. 
   • If your group has a Message to Member notice set up (or more than one), use the Notices list under the message box to select the Message To Member notice you want to send. The notice’s subject is added to the Subject field, and the content of the notice is added to the message body. You can customize the subject and the message body for this one-time use if desired. Any customizations will not be saved to the notice.
5. If you want to send a blind copy of the message to your personal email address or to the other moderators (or both), select the applicable checkbox.
6. Click or tap the Send to Member button. (It is labeled Send to Members if you are sending the message to more than one member.) You return to the group’s home page, where a banner states that the message has been sent.

Note:

• Messages sent this way will have the group’s message footer.
• Be aware that any replies a member sends will go to all owners and moderators who receive messages that are sent to the owner email address.
• You can send messages from the owner address only from the group’s website, not through email.

Replying from the owner email address

If you want to reply to an existing message from the owner email address rather than from your personal email address, you can do so from the group’s website. When you are replying to a message on the website, click or tap your profile name above the To field and select Send from group owner address from the dropdown list.

Note: You can reply from the owner email address only from the group’s website, not through email. Also, replies sent from the owner address will have the group’s message footer.

About hashtags

A hashtag is a word or phrase that contains no spaces and is prefixed with the hash character, # (also referred to as pound sign, number sign, or octothorpe). If the group’s settings allow members to add hashtags, you can “tag” a message with a hashtag by including it somewhere in the message’s subject line.

Examples:

• My name is Inigo Montoya #intro
• Seeking #advice for a #rosebush with blackened leaves

Hashtag uses

Hashtags have several uses within Groups.io, including controlling certain behaviors of topics and messages. Moderators can apply various settings to hashtags, and those settings are then applied to topics that are tagged with those hashtags.

Group members can use hashtags for:

• Searching for messages

  On the group’s website, you can search on hashtags to easily find all messages tagged with them. See Searching by hashtags. 

  Example: If a group uses a hashtag called #intro for new member introductions, clicking or tapping on #intro in the hashtag list on the group’s website displays a list of all messages in which new group members have introduced themselves. 

• Muting topics

  You can stop receiving email messages in topics that are tagged with a particular hashtag. See Muting topics or hashtags. 

  Note: If a moderator has set a hashtag to Special (meaning messages with that hashtag are sent as special notices), you cannot mute that hashtag because special notices cannot be muted. 

• Following topics

  If you have selected “Following Only” on the Advanced Preferences panel of your Subscription page for the group, you can follow (that is, receive messages posted in) topics that are tagged with a particular hashtag. See Following topics or hashtags. 

• Receiving notifications for specific topics

  If you have enabled web/app notifications in your Groups.io account, you can turn on web/app notifications for individual hashtags:

  1. Display the group’s Hashtags page.
  2. Locate the hashtag you want to receive notifications for and click or tap Mute/Notify.
     Note: The button or link is labeled Follow/Notify, instead of Mute/Notify, if you have selected “Following Only” on the Advanced Preferences panel of your Subscription page for the group.
  3. On the resulting page, in the Notifications panel, select the Web/App Notify checkbox.
  4. Click or tap the Update button at the bottom of the page. 

Owners and moderators can also use hashtags for:

• Setting automatic topic timeouts

  If a hashtag’s Topic Duration is set, topics tagged with it will be deleted (or, if specified, locked) after that period of time. This feature can be useful when a topic will be obsolete after a certain amount of time—for example, topics about items for sale.

• Sending messages as special notices

  When a hashtag is set to Special, all messages tagged with it, including the original message in the topic and all replies from owners/moderators, are sent as special notices.

  Note: Hashtags set to Special cannot be muted. Also, only moderators and owners can send special notices. If a regular member replies to a special notice, their message is sent as a normal message. 

• Posting messages only on the group website (not through email)

  When a hashtag is set to No Email, all messages tagged with it are posted to the group’s website but not sent out as email messages.

• Moderating messages

  When a hashtag is set to Moderated, messages sent to topics that are tagged with it require approval by a moderator.

• Unmoderating replies to topics

  When a hashtag is set to Replies Unmoderated, replies to topics that are tagged with it will be unmoderated, even if members who reply are moderated or the group itself is moderated.

• Locking topics on creation

  When a hashtag is set to Locked, new topics that are tagged with it are locked immediately after the initial message that creates the topic is posted.

• Overriding the group’s Reply To option

  A hashtag with a Reply To setting other than Same as Group overrides the group’s Reply To setting.

Hashtag notes

• The hashtag limit is five per topic. (The system allows message subject lines to contain more than five hashtags, but only the first five hashtags are saved in the message archive.)
• The system treats uppercase and lowercase letters as the same and will not let anyone create the same hashtag with different capitalization. For example, if you create a #Question hashtag, the system will not allow you to then create a separate #question hashtag. After the #Question hashtag is created, if a message is sent with a hashtag of #question in the subject line, the system will change that hashtag to #Question before posting the message.
• Hashtags can contain numerals along with other characters, but they cannot consist of only numerals.

Note: If the group’s Hashtag Permissions setting is “Messages can be tagged with new hashtags,” then group members who are not moderators can also create hashtags.

To create a hashtag:

1. Desktop browser: In the left menu on the group’s website, select Hashtags.
   Mobile device: In the group, tap the More icon at the bottom of a page, then, on the More menu, tap Hashtags.
2. On the Hashtags page, click or tap the New  Hashtag button at the top. 
3. On the Create Hashtags page, complete the fields and selections:
   • Hashtag

     Enter a name for the hashtag. Make sure that you do not delete the # character at the beginning. Do not include any spaces in the hashtag name.

     Note:

     • Hashtags can contain numerals along with other characters, but they cannot consist of only numerals.
     • The system treats uppercase and lowercase letters as the same and will not let anyone create the same hashtag with different capitalization. For example, if you create a #Question hashtag, the system will not allow you to then create a separate #question hashtag. After the #Question hashtag is created, if a message is sent with a hashtag of #question in the subject line, the system will change that hashtag to #Question before posting the message.
   • Alias

     When you select an existing hashtag from the Alias list, topics currently with that hashtag will be retagged with the hashtag you are creating.

     Aliases are useful when, for example, the group has more than one hashtag that is similar (such as a singular version and a plural version), or an existing hashtag is misspelled, and you want to consolidate topics under one version of the hashtag. New messages that are posted with the alias will have the hashtag you are creating.

     Note: When you select an alias, the page is refreshed and the other hashtag settings disappear because the alias will point to the hashtag you are creating and, therefore, will have that hashtag’s settings. The alias cannot have its own settings.

   • Description

     If desired, enter a brief description of the hashtag. This description will appear in these places:
     

     • On the Hashtags page
       
     • In the list displayed by the Hashtags button
       
     • In the Add Tags list on the New Topic page
   • Footer

     If desired, enter text that will be included in the footer of email messages with this hashtag. For example, you could include additional guidance for members responding to emails that have this hashtag.

     In individual email messages, the hashtag footer will appear at the top of the message footer, above the “Groups.io links” line.

     In digests, the hashtag footer will appear after the body of the tagged message.

   • Topic Duration

     If you want to delete or lock topics with this hashtag after a specific period of time, select the applicable period from the list.

   • Lock Topic

     Select this checkbox to lock topics, rather than delete them, after the time period you selected under Topic Duration.

   • Tag Color

     If desired, click or tap the color box and select a different color to associate with the hashtag. The hashtag will be displayed in this color in the message archive. 

     You can use colors to categorize hashtags, to help distinguish them visually on the group’s website.

   • No Email

     Select this checkbox if you do not want messages with this hashtag to be emailed to group members. The messages will be posted only in the archive on the group’s website.

   • Special

     Select this checkbox if you want messages with this hashtag to be sent to group members as special notices.

   • Moderated

     Select this checkbox if you want messages with this hashtag to be moderated. 

   • Replies Unmoderated

     Select this checkbox if you do not want to moderate replies to messages that have this hashtag.

   • Locked

     Select this checkbox to lock topics that are created with this hashtag. New topics with this hashtag will be locked immediately after the initial message—the one that creates the topic—is posted.

   • Reply To

     If you want to apply a Reply To setting to this hashtag that is different from the group’s Reply To setting, select that setting from the list. This hashtag setting will override the group setting. 

     Note:

     • If you select Reply to topic followers only, the system automatically sets up follow topic records for those who start new topics with this hashtag as well as everyone who replies to those topics. Those people will see an Unfollow #hashtagname link in the footer of email messages in those topics.
     • If you select Reply Only To Sender, all responses will go privately to the sender and not to the group. This setting overrides the group setting Remove Other Reply Options in a group that is set to Reply to Sender.
       Note: If a group member replying by email uses the “reply to all” option in their email application, their reply will be addressed to the group in addition to the individual sender; however, when the reply is sent, it will be blocked from the group. The person replying will receive a delivery failure notification that their message to the group address was blocked, and the notification message will include this statement: “Replies to this topic must be sent to the sender, not the group.” The individual sender will still receive the reply.
   • Use by Mods Only

     Select this checkbox if you want this hashtag to be used only by moderators. This feature is useful for sending administrative notices, for example. Hashtags with this setting will appear in the Add Tags list only when a moderator is creating the topic.

   • Replies by Mods Only

     This checkbox appears after you select Use by Mods Only. Select the Replies by Mods Only checkbox if you want only moderators to be able to reply to topics that have this hashtag.

4. At the bottom of the page, click or tap the Create Hashtag button.

Note: If the group’s Hashtag Permissions setting is “Messages can be tagged with new hashtags,” group members who are not moderators can also create hashtags. However, those members cannot later edit any hashtags they created because the system does not track who creates a hashtag. If members want to edit hashtags that they created, they will need to ask an owner or moderator to make the edits.

To edit a hashtag:

1. Desktop browser: In the left menu on the group’s website, select Hashtags.
   Mobile device: In the group, tap the More icon at the bottom of a page, then, on the More menu, tap Hashtags.
2. On the Hashtags page, locate the tag you want to modify and click or tap the Edit Tag button.
3. On the hashtag’s page, change the desired fields and selections. For descriptions, see Creating a hashtag.
4. At the bottom of the page, click or tap the Update Hashtag button. The changes are applied to all topics that are tagged with the hashtag you modified.

Note: If the group’s Hashtag Permissions setting is “Messages can be tagged with new hashtags,” group members who are not moderators can also create hashtags. However, those members cannot later delete any hashtags they created because the system does not track who creates a hashtag. If members want to delete hashtags that they created, they will need to ask an owner or moderator to make the deletion.

To delete a hashtag:

1. Desktop browser: In the left menu on the group’s website, select Hashtags.
   Mobile device: In the group, tap the More icon at the bottom of a page, then, on the More menu, tap Hashtags.
2. On the Hashtags page, locate the tag you want to delete and click or tap the Edit Tag button.
3. At the bottom of the hashtag’s page, click or tap the Delete button. (In a desktop browser, the button is at the far right.)
4. When the Verify Delete confirmation popup appears, click or tap Yes. The hashtag is deleted from the group and removed from all topics that were tagged with it.
   Note: Any aliases that pointed to the hashtag are deleted as well.

To apply hashtags to existing topics in the group’s archive:

1. Find and display the topic you want to tag.
2. At the top of the first message in the topic, click or tap the Topic Properties button. A page with the topic’s properties appears.
3. Under the Subject field, from the Add Tags list, select the hashtag you want to apply.
4. Repeat step 3 for any additional hashtags you want to apply, up to the limit of five.
5. Click or tap the Update button at the bottom of the page. The hashtags are applied to the topic.

Owners (and moderators with the applicable permissions) can control the use and creation of hashtags through various means:

• Group hashtag settings

  Group hashtag settings are in the Message Policies panel on the group’s settings page. These settings are:

  • Hashtags Required: Specifies whether messages must have at least one hashtag.
  • Hashtag Permissions: Controls whether group members can create new hashtags by adding them to message subject lines.
• Moderator hashtag permissions

  The setting that allows moderators to create and modify hashtags is Create or Modify Hashtags, which is in the Moderator Permissions panel on a moderator’s member page. See Making a member an owner or moderator. 

• Usage settings on individual hashtags

  When you create a hashtag, you can specify whether it can be used only by moderators by selecting the Use by Mods Only setting. When you select this setting, you can select an additional setting, Replies by Mods Only, so that only moderators can reply to messages that have that hashtag.

Groups.io records all activity that occurs in the group in an activity log. Group owners and moderators can use the activity log to review various types of group activity, research email delivery errors, and so on.

To display the activity log:

• Desktop browser: In the left menu on the group’s website, select Admin > Activity.
• Mobile device: Tap the More icon at the bottom of a group page, then select Admin > Activity on the More menu.

The resulting Activity page lists all actions that have occurred in your group to date. You can refine the list of actions using these methods: 

• In the actions list at the top of the page, select a specific action.
  Note: You can refine the results of the actions list selection by also entering a keyword in the Search field or selecting a date range by clicking or tapping the Any Time button.
• Click or tap the All Activity button at the top of the page and then select a category to display the actions pertaining to that category:
  • Message Activity
  • Member Activity
  • Moderator Activity
  • Payment Activity

Message activity

On the Activity page, click or tap the All Activity button, then select Message Activity to display a list of the message-related actions that have occurred in the group. This button also filters the actions list so it includes only the actions that are related to message activity.

Member activity

On the Activity page, click or tap the All Activity button, then select Member Activity to display a list of the member-related actions that have occurred in the group. This button also filters the actions list so it includes only the actions that are related to member activity.

Moderator activity

On the Activity page, click or tap the All Activity button, then select Moderator Activity to display a list of actions that owners and moderators have taken in the group. This button filters the actions list so it includes only the actions that are related to owner and moderator activity.

Payment activity

On the Activity page, click or tap the All Activity button, then select Payment Activity to display a list of actions that have occurred in the group related to sponsorships or donation requests (if they are enabled for the group). This button also filters the actions list so it includes only the actions that are related to sponsorships and donation requests.

Calendar activity

Restriction: This feature is available only in Premium groups, Enterprise groups, and legacy Free groups.

The Activity page does not contain a specific button that displays only calendar-related actions. But from the actions list, you can select the items that start with “Calendar” to see activity related to your group’s calendar.

Database activity

Restriction: This feature is available only in Premium groups, Enterprise groups, and legacy Free groups.

The Activity page does not contain a specific button that displays only database-related actions. But from the actions list, you can select the items that start with “Database” to see activity related to your group’s database tables.

File activity

Restriction: This feature is available only in Premium groups, Enterprise groups, and legacy Free groups.

The Activity page does not contain a specific button that displays only file-related actions. But from the actions list, you can select the items that start with “File” to see activity related to your group’s Files section.

Photo activity

Restriction: This feature is available only in Premium groups, Enterprise groups, and legacy Free groups.

The Activity page does not contain a specific button that displays only photo-related actions. But from the actions list, you can select the items that start with “File” to see activity related to your group’s Photos section.

Wiki activity

Restriction: This feature is available only in Premium groups, Enterprise groups, and legacy Free groups.

The Activity page does not contain a specific button that displays only wiki-related actions. But from the actions list, you can select the items that start with “Wiki” to see activity related to your group’s wiki.

Tip: For additional information and advice on monitoring activity in your group’s wiki, see the Monitoring Wiki Activity page in the GroupManagersForum group.

Group owners and moderators can control which notifications they receive about activity in their group and the method by which they receive those notifications.

The activities that generate moderator notifications are:

• In all groups:
  • A pending member needs approval.
  • A pending message needs approval.
  • A member joined or left the group.
  • A member changed their email address or display name.
  • The group’s storage limit was reached.
  • An objectionable message was reported.
• In Premium or Enterprise groups, or in legacy Free groups created before August 24, 2020:
  • An objectionable file or photo was reported.
  • A chat was created or modified.
  • A photo or photo album was uploaded, modified, moved, or deleted.
  • A file or folder was uploaded, modified, moved, or deleted.
  • A wiki page was created or modified.
  • A database was created or modified.
• In Premium or Enterprise groups, or in legacy Free groups created before January 15, 2020:
  • A subgroup was created or deleted.

You can control the moderator notifications you receive about specific activities in the group in the Moderator notification settings on your Subscription page.

Note:

• To receive web/app notifications, you must enable them in your Groups.io account. For more information, see Enabling or disabling web/app notifications.
• Email notifications sent to moderators as a result of their Moderator Notifications settings do not include system hashtags.
• With email notifications, a delay of 4 to 8 minutes occurs between when the action is taken and when the corresponding email notification is delivered. This delay allows the system to combine multiple actions (of the same type) that occur within a short period of time into a single notification, which prevents a barrage of individual email notifications. Web/app notifications are always sent individually; they are not delayed or combined.
• If you are the one who performs an activity that you have chosen to be notified about, you will not receive a web/app notification or email notification for it.
  Exceptions:
  • If an unauthorized (spam) unsubscription occurs, you will receive a web/app notification if you were unsubscribed as a result.
  • You will receive a web/app notification about reaching the group’s storage limit even if your upload or post was the one that caused the limit to be reached.

About web/app notifications

In your Groups.io account, you can enable web/app notifications about group activity on your mobile device and desktop web browser. A web/app notification is an automated alert message about displayed by a website or mobile app outside of the web browser or app user interface (even when the website or app is not open). The location and style of these notifications depend on the device’s operating system and the browser.

In Groups.io, members who are not group owners or moderators can opt to receive web/app notifications on their mobile or desktop device when:

• New messages are posted to a group
• New messages are posted to a chat they are participating in
• Messages that contain specific hashtags are posted to a group

Group owners and moderators have additional options for controlling the web/app notifications (and email notifications) they receive about group activity. See Moderator notifications about group activity. 

Enabling web/app notifications

Before you can receive any web/app notifications, you must enable them in your Groups.io account. Follow these steps on each device and in each browser where you want to see the notifications:

1. ! Important: Ensure that the browser or app allows notifications from Groups.io. The instructions depend on your specific browser and device. See your browser’s or device’s settings and help information.
   Note: If private browsing mode is enabled in your browser, push notifications might not work. In that situation, you must disable private browsing to receive web/app notifications.
2. Display your account settings.
3. Desktop browser: In the left menu, select Notifications.
   Mobile device: Tap the Notifications icon at the bottom of the page.
4. On the Notifications page, click or tap the Enable Notifications button (the full label varies depending on whether you are using a mobile device). If a popup appears asking you to confirm that you want to allow Groups.io to show notifications, click or tap the option that allows notifications. The Notifications page then lists the device (operating system) and browser for which you enabled notifications.
5. If desired, click or tap the Send A Test Notification button to check that Groups.io notifications appear in the browser or on the mobile device.

The steps above enable web/app notifications from all your Groups.io groups. To control the web/app notifications that you see from an individual group, see Member notification settings and also Hashtag uses and notes (for notifications about messages tagged with specific hashtags).

Disabling web/app notifications

To disable web/app notifications from all your groups:

1. Display your account settings.
2. Desktop browser: In the left menu, select Notifications.
   Mobile device: Tap the Notifications icon at the bottom of the page.
3. On the Notifications page, click or tap the Disable Notifications In button (the full label varies depending on whether you are using a mobile device). Or, if you want to disable notifications on all your devices, click or tap the Disable Notifications on All Devices button.
4. When the Verify Disable Notifications popup appears, click or tap Yes.

1. Desktop browser: In the left menu on the group’s website, click Admin to display the submenu.
   Mobile browser: At the bottom of a group page, tap the More icon, then select Admin on the More menu.
2. On the Admin submenu, select the applicable entry. If your group is a:
   • Free group: Select Upgrade.
   • Premium or Enterprise group (or parent group if it has subgroups): Select Billing.
   • Subgroup: Select Usage.

   Restriction: In the Groups.io mobile app, the Upgrade, Billing, and Usage entries are not available due to the rules imposed by the Apple App Store and Google Play. Therefore, on a mobile device, you must use a browser, not the app, to see those entries.

The resulting Billing page shows your plan, its storage limit, and the amount of storage space your group is currently using. For a subgroup, the Usage page shows the subgroup’s storage limit and current usage. Each subgroup has the same amount of allotted storage space as its parent group. 

Tip: You can also view your group’s current space usage by entering this URL in your browser (substituting your group’s name for groupname): https://groups.io/g/groupname/usage

When a group reaches 80% of its storage limit, Groups.io sends a warning notification to the group owner and to moderators who have opted to receive email notifications when the storage limit is reached.

You can configure your group to either bounce messages with attachments when the storage limit is reached or automatically delete old attachments to keep the group under the storage limit. See the Storage Limit Reached setting.

Note: Photos and files are never automatically deleted.

Other settings that you can use to help manage your group’s storage space are:

• Max Photo Size in Email
• Max Image Size In Databases
• Max Size In Photos Section
• Max Image Size On Wiki Pages

In addition to using the Storage Limit Reached setting to handle attachments automatically, you can delete attachments manually to free up space in the group:

1. In a desktop or mobile browser, display your group’s Billing page (or subgroup's Usage page). See Viewing a group's storage limit and current space usage.
   Restriction: On a mobile device, you must use a browser to see the Billing page (or subgroup's Usage page). The page is not available Groups.io mobile app due to the rules imposed by the Apple App Store and Google Play.
2. In the Billing Overview panel on the page (or the Usage page in a subgroup), click or tap the View Attachments link.
3. On the Attachments page, click or tap the link of a message with an attachment or attachments that you want to delete.
4. When the message is displayed on its own page, click or tap the More icon at the lower right and select Edit Message from the popup menu.
5. At the bottom of the Edit Message page, select the checkboxes for the attachments you want to delete.
6. Click or tap the Save Without Sending button so a notification about the edit is not sent to the entire group. (However, the original poster of the message will receive a notification.)
   ! Important: Do not click or tap the Delete button unless you want to delete the entire message.
7. Repeat these steps for any more attachments you want to delete.

Groups.io plans are allotted these amounts of storage space:

• Free plans: 1GB
• Premium plans: 30GB
• Enterprise plans: 1TB

Note: In groups that have subgroups, each subgroup has the same amount of allotted storage space as its parent group.

These items are counted towards a group’s storage limit:

• Files
• Photos
• Images in databases
• Images on wiki pages
• Message attachments
  Note: The contents of messages (message bodies) are not counted towards the storage limit. Only attachments are counted.

These items are not counted towards a group’s storage limit:

• Message contents (message bodies)
• Wiki pages
• Database tables
• Chats
• Polls

Premium and Enterprise groups, as well as legacy Free groups, can use an Integrations feature of Groups.io that allows you to connect your group with outside services. Group integrations allow outside content to be sent automatically to your group. These integrations are configured by owners and moderators and are not controlled by group members.

Group integrations can be moderated, which means that any integration messages must be approved before they are sent to the group.

Note:

• In a group that has subgroups, the subgroups can have their own integrations independent of any integrations that the main (parent) group has.
• Legacy Free groups are limited to a maximum of five integrations. Premium and Enterprise groups can have an unlimited number of integrations.
• If you create a Premium trial group, add integrations, and then decide not to continue with a paid Premium group after the trial period ends, the integrations will be disabled.

About email integrations

Email integrations allow you to create email addresses that you can use outside of Groups.io to send messages to your group.

Use case example: Suppose a web service has a function to email notifications about a subject that would be of interest to your group, and you would like those notifications to be posted to the group. Instead of providing the group email address to that service, which would require you to allow nonmembers to post to your group, you can add an email integration that creates a unique email address to be used by that particular service and then provide that email address to the service.

Adding an email integration

View the steps to add the first email integration.

View the steps to add an email integration when other email integrations exist.

You can provide the generated email address to the outside service. Email messages that are sent to that address will be posted to the group.

Caution: Anyone who has the generated email address will be able to post messages to the group using that address.

Modifying an email integration

1. Desktop browser: In the left menu on the group’s website, select Admin > Preferences > Integrations.
   Mobile device: At the bottom of a group page, tap the More icon, then select Admin > Preferences > Integrations on the More menu.
2. On the Integrations page, in the Email Integration Active panel, click or tap the Edit Email Integrations button. The Integrations page refreshes and lists the existing integrations under Your Email Addresses.
3. Click or tap the link in the Name column for the email integration you want to modify. The Update Email Integration page appears.
4. As desired, modify the elements of the email integration.
5. Click or tap the Update button at the bottom of the page. Groups.io updates the email integration and returns to the Integrations page.

Deleting an email integration

1. Desktop browser: In the left menu on the group’s website, select Admin > Preferences > Integrations.
   Mobile device: At the bottom of a group page, tap the More icon, then select Admin > Preferences > Integrations on the More menu.
2. On the Integrations page, in the Email Integration Active panel, click or tap the Edit Email Integrations button. The Integrations page refreshes and lists the existing integrations under Your Email Addresses.
3. Select the checkbox for the email integration you want to delete. You can select more than one if you want to delete multiple email integrations.
4. Click or tap the Delete Email Addresses button at the bottom of the page.
5. When the Verify Delete confirmation popup appears, click or tap Yes. The email integration is removed from the Integrations page.

About feed integrations

Feed integrations allow you to post items from RSS feeds to your group. For example, if a blog is associated with your group, you can add a feed integration to have new blog posts sent to your group automatically.

Note:

• Groups.io polls RSS feeds every 30 minutes, at 5 minutes after and 35 minutes after the hour.
• You can add RSS feeds from other Groups.io groups if those groups have public archives. In such a group, the RSS feed link is in the Group Information section on the group’s home page.

Adding a feed integration

View the steps to add the first feed integration.

View the steps to add a feed integration when other feed integrations exist.

Note: When you add the RSS feed of a Groups.io group that has a public archive, the group’s title is listed on the Your Feeds page. If the group has not specified a title, the group’s URL is listed. You can change that title by modifying the feed's integration (see below).

Modifying a feed integration

1. Desktop browser: In the left menu on the group’s website, select Admin > Preferences > Integrations.
   Mobile device: At the bottom of a group page, tap the More icon, then select Admin > Preferences > Integrations on the More menu.
2. On the Integrations page, in the Feed Integration Active panel, click or tap the Edit Feed Subscriptions button. The Integrations page refreshes and lists the existing integrations under Your Feeds.
3. Click or tap the link in the Title column for the feed integration you want to modify. The Update Feed Integration page appears.
4. As desired, modify the elements of the feed integration.
   Note: You cannot change the feed’s URL on this page. If you need to change the URL, you must delete this feed integration and add a new one with the revised URL.
5. Click or tap the Update button at the bottom of the page. Groups.io updates the feed integration and returns to the Integrations page.

Deleting a feed integration

1. Desktop browser: In the left menu on the group’s website, select Admin > Preferences > Integrations.
   Mobile device: At the bottom of a group page, tap the More icon, then select Admin > Preferences > Integrations on the More menu.
2. On the Integrations page, in the Feed Integration Active panel, click or tap the Edit Feed Subscriptions button. The Integrations page refreshes and lists the existing integrations under Your Feeds.
3. Select the checkbox for the feed integration you want to delete. You can select more than one if you want to delete multiple feed integrations.
4. Click or tap the Delete Feeds button at the bottom of the page.
5. When the Verify Delete confirmation popup appears, click or tap Yes. The feed integration is removed from the Integrations page.

About GitHub integrations

You can set up a GitHub integration to send notifications to your group when code is committed to a GitHub repository.

Adding a GitHub integration

View the steps to add the first GitHub integration.

View the steps to add a GitHub integration when other GitHub integrations exist.

Modifying a GitHub integration

1. Desktop browser: In the left menu on the group’s website, select Admin > Preferences > Integrations.
   Mobile device: At the bottom of a group page, tap the More icon, then select Admin > Preferences > Integrations on the More menu.
2. On the Integrations page, in the GitHub Integration Active panel, click or tap the Edit GitHub Integrations button. The Integrations page refreshes and lists the existing integrations under Your GitHub Integrations.
3. Click or tap the link to the integration you want to modify.
4. Sign in to GitHub (if necessary), then make your changes on the Edit GitHub Integration page.
5. Click or tap the Update button at the bottom of the page. Groups.io updates the integration and returns to the Integrations page.

Removing a GitHub integration

1. Desktop browser: In the left menu on the group’s website, select Admin > Preferences > Integrations.
   Mobile device: At the bottom of a group page, tap the More icon, then select Admin > Preferences > Integrations on the More menu.
2. On the Integrations page, in the GitHub Integration Active panel, click or tap the Edit GitHub Integrations button. The Integrations page refreshes and lists the existing integrations under Your GitHub Integrations.
3. Select the checkbox for the integration you want to remove. You can select more than one if you want to remove multiple GitHub integrations.
4. Click or tap the Remove Repositories button at the bottom of the page.
5. When the Verify Removal confirmation popup appears, click or tap Yes. The integration is removed from the Integrations page.

About Trello integrations

You can set up Trello integrations to send notifications to your group when activity occurs in Trello boards.

Adding a Trello integration

View the steps to add the first Trello integration.

View the steps to add a Trello integration when other Trello integrations exist.

Modifying a Trello integration

1. Desktop browser: In the left menu on the group’s website, select Admin > Preferences > Integrations.
   Mobile device: At the bottom of a group page, tap the More icon, then select Admin > Preferences > Integrations on the More menu.
2. On the Integrations page, in the Trello Integration Active panel, click or tap the Edit Trello Integrations button. The Integrations page refreshes and lists the existing integrations under Your Trello Integrations.
3. Click or tap the link to the integration you want to modify. 
4. Log in to Trello (if necessary), then make your changes on the Edit Trello Integration page.
5. Click or tap the Update button at the bottom of the page. Groups.io updates the integration and returns to the Integrations page.

Removing a Trello integration

1. Desktop browser: In the left menu on the group’s website, select Admin > Preferences > Integrations.
   Mobile device: At the bottom of a group page, tap the More icon, then select Admin > Preferences > Integrations on the More menu.
2. On the Integrations page, in the Trello Integration Active panel, click or tap the Edit Trello Integrations button. The Integrations page refreshes and lists the existing integrations under Your Trello Integrations.
3. Select the checkbox for the integration you want to remove. You can select more than one if you want to remove multiple Trello integrations.
4. Click or tap the Remove Boards button at the bottom of the page.
5. When the Verify Removal confirmation popup appears, click or tap Yes. The integration is removed from the Integrations page.

A subgroup is a group within another group. Subgroups have all the functionality of normal groups, but for someone to be a member of a subgroup, that person must first be a member of the parent (main) group.

Subgroups are not listed in the public directory of groups.

Once someone is a member of the parent group, they can subscribe directly to the subgroup (if permitted), they can be added directly to the subgroup, or they can ask to join the subgroup (if it is restricted).

A group owner can use subgroups for subsets of their main group’s membership. Examples:

• An organization could use a subgroup for its board of directors or use several subgroups for different committees.
• You could create subgroups for different subject areas that are related to your main group.

The GroupManagersForum wiki contains additional information on why one might want to use subgroups.

Note:

• Each subgroup has the same amount of allotted storage space as its parent group.
• Subgroups cannot contain additional subgroups. Groups.io supports only one level of subgroups.
• You can create subgroups during a free trial of a Premium group. However, if you decide not to continue with a paid Premium plan after the trial period is up, those subgroups will be locked. (They will not be deleted, in case you decide to upgrade the group in the future.)

To create a subgroup:

1. Desktop browser: In the main (parent) group, in the left menu, select Subgroups.
   Mobile device: At the bottom of a page in the main (parent) group, tap the More icon, then select Subgroups on the More menu.
2. On the Subgroups page, click or tap the Create Subgroup button at the top of the page.
3. Complete the elements on the Create A Subgroup page:
   • Subgroup Email Address

     Enter the name of your subgroup, up to 34 characters long. This name will appear in the subgroup’s email address and also in the URL of your subgroup on the Groups.io website. The email address has the form subgroupname@groupsubdomain.groups.io. (For more information on subgroup email addresses, see Subdomain addressing in the GroupManagersForum wiki.)

     Note: The name cannot contain spaces, plus signs, slashes, or underscores. (Hyphens and periods are allowed.)

   • Description

     Enter a description of your subgroup. This description will be displayed on your subgroup’s home page and on the parent group’s home page (if you choose to list the subgroup there).

   • Visibility

     ! Important: When you make a message archive private (viewable only by parent group members or subgroup members), you cannot change it later to be publicly viewable. Therefore, at this stage, you should be certain about what visibility you want your subgroup’s message archive to have.

     This option controls whether your subgroup is listed on your parent group’s home page and whether its message archive is visible to the general public, only to parent group members, or only to subgroup members. Select the option you want to use for your subgroup. See Subgroup visibility settings for descriptions.

4. Click or tap the Create Subgroup button at the bottom of the page.

Now you can customize the subgroup’s settings (including adding the subgroup to a category), create member notices, and add members of the parent group to the subgroup (either by inviting them to join or, if the group is not a Premium trial group, by adding them directly). 

Note:

• After you create the first subgroup, the parent group and subgroup will not be available for a short period of time while the group’s DNS information is updated. Typically, the delay in availability lasts only a few minutes.
• If you invite someone to join a subgroup who is not a member of the parent group, they will be added to the parent group automatically when they accept the subgroup invitation.

The visibility settings for subgroups are:

• Subgroup listed in parent group, messages publicly viewable

  The subgroup will be listed on the parent group’s home page, and its message archive will be able to be viewed by the general public and by members of the parent group (which, by default, includes the members of the subgroup). In addition:

  • The contents of subgroup messages will be discoverable by web search engines.
  • An RSS feed link will be created automatically and listed in the Group Information section on the subgroup’s home page.
• Subgroup listed in parent group, messages viewable by parent group members 

  The subgroup will be listed on the parent group’s home page, and its message archive will be able to be viewed by all members of the parent group (which, by default, includes the members of the subgroup). Message content in the subgroup will not be discoverable by web search engines.

• Subgroup listed in parent group, messages viewable by subgroup members only 

  The subgroup will be listed on the parent group’s home page, but its message archive will be able to be viewed only by members of the subgroup. Message content in the subgroup will not be discoverable by web search engines.

• Subgroup not listed in parent group, messages viewable by subgroup members only 

  The subgroup will not be listed on the parent group’s home page, and its message archive will be able to be viewed only by members of the subgroup. Message content in the subgroup will not be discoverable by web search engines.

• Subgroup not listed in parent group, messages publicly viewable

  The subgroup will not be listed on the parent group’s home page, but its message archive will be able to be viewed by the general public and by members of the parent group. In addition:

  • Message content in the subgroup will be discoverable by web search engines.
  • An RSS feed link will be created automatically and listed in the Group Information section on the subgroup’s home page.

! Important: As with parent (main) groups, a subgroup’s public archive can be changed to a private one (that is, viewable only by parent group members or only by subgroup members), but a subgroup’s private archive cannot be changed to a public one. Therefore, a subgroup’s archive that is viewable by subgroup members only cannot be changed to be viewable by parent group members or by the general public. All you can change is whether the subgroup is listed in the parent group.

About subgroup categories

If your group has a number of subgroups, you can organize the subgroups in categories.

After subgroups are added to categories, the categories appear on the Subgroups page in these ways: 

• In the Subgroups You Belong To panel, which lists the subgroups of which you are a member, categories are enclosed in square brackets next to the subgroups’ names.
• Subgroups that members do not belong to and that parent group members are allowed to join are listed in the Subgroups You Can Join section of the Subgroups page, below the Subgroups You Belong To panel. Subgroups that are in categories are listed in that section of the page in panels that have the category names. (Any uncategorized subgroups are listed after the last category's panel.)

Subgroups that are in the same category are listed together, in alphabetical order by subgroup name.

Creating a subgroup category

To create a subgroup category:

1. Desktop browser: On the parent group’s website, in the left navigation menu, select Subgroups.
   Mobile device: At the bottom of a page in the parent group, tap the More icon, then select Subgroups on the More menu.
2. On the Subgroups page, click or tap the Categories button.
3. On the Subgroup Categories page, click or tap the Add Subgroup Category button.
4. Complete the resulting page:
   • In the Name field, enter a name for the category.
   • In the Description field, enter a description of the category. This description will appear in the category’s panel in the Subgroups You Can Join section of the Subgroups page.
   • If you want to limit the number of subgroups in this category that group members can belong to, enter that number in the Max Number of Subgroups field. (Leave the default value of 0 if you do not want to limit the number of subgroups in this category that members can belong to.)
5. Click or tap the Add button at the bottom of the page.
6. Repeat steps 2 through 5 for any more categories you want to add.

On the Subgroup Categories page, you can click or tap a down arrow or up arrow next to a category name to move that category down or up in the list.

Adding a subgroup to a category

1. Go to the subgroup and open the Settings page.
2. On the Settings page, scroll to the end of the General panel.
3. In the Subgroup Category list, select the category you want to assign to the subgroup.
4. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click or tap the Update Group button.

Modifying a subgroup category

1. Desktop browser: On the parent group’s website, in the left navigation menu, select Subgroups.
   Mobile device: At the bottom of a page in the parent group, tap the More icon, then select Subgroups on the More menu.
2. On the Subgroup Categories page, click or tap the name of the category you want to modify.
3. On the resulting page, change the category’s name or edit its description, as desired.
4. Click or tap the Update button at the bottom of the page.

Deleting a subgroup category

1. Desktop browser: On the parent group’s website, in the left navigation menu, select Subgroups.
   Mobile device: At the bottom of a page in the parent group, tap the More icon, then select Subgroups on the More menu.
2. On the Subgroup Categories page, click or tap the name of the category you want to delete.
3. Click or tap the Delete button at the bottom of the page.
4. In the Verify Delete confirmation popup, click or tap Yes.

! Important: After a group is deleted, its name cannot be reused (unless someone specifically contacts Groups.io Support and asks to be able to use the name again). If you think you might want to use that group name again or make it available for others to use, rename the group to some nonsense name before you delete it. Exception: The name of a deleted subgroup can be reused. There might be a short delay until that name is available again.

To delete a group or subgroup:

1. Desktop browser: In the left menu on the group’s website, select Admin > Preferences > Settings.
   Mobile device: At the bottom of a group page, tap the More icon, then select Admin > Preferences > Settings on the More menu.
2. Scroll to the bottom of the Settings page.
3. Look for and click or tap the red Delete Group button (in a desktop browser, it is at the far right). The Delete Group page appears.
4. Review the red warning banner that asks whether you are sure you want to delete the group and displays a notice that the action cannot be undone.
5. If you are certain you want to delete the group, click or tap the red Delete Group button under the red warning banner. A Verify Delete popup appears.
6. Complete the Verify Delete popup:
   • In the first text field, enter any feedback for Groups.io, if desired. (This field is optional.)
   • In the second text field, enter the words I understand.
   • Click or tap the red Yes button. The group is deleted.

About sponsorships

Groups.io has a sponsorship feature that group owners can enable to allow group members to help cover the group’s hosting costs, such as the per-member cost in Premium groups. 

Enabling the sponsorship feature

1. Desktop browser: In the left menu on the group’s website, select Admin > Preferences > Settings.
   Mobile device: At the bottom of a group page, tap the More icon, then select Admin > Preferences > Settings on the More menu.
2. On the General panel of the Settings page, select the Allow Sponsorships checkbox.
3. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click or tap the Update Group button.
4. Go to your group’s home page and verify that a Sponsor This Group button appears in the Group Information section of the page.

When members click the Sponsor This Group button, they are taken to a Sponsor Group page where they can specify a sponsorship amount (minimum of $5.00 US) and pay by credit or debit card or via PayPal.

Tip: You can create a customized Group Sponsorship notice that is sent automatically to members who sponsor the group. (This notice is in addition to the automated email receipt that members receive.)

Reviewing sponsorship payment activity

1. Desktop browser: In the left menu on the group’s website, select Admin > Activity.
   Mobile device: At the bottom of a group page, tap the More icon, then select Admin > Activity on the More menu.
2. On the Activity page, click or tap the All Activity button and select Payment Activity on the dropdown menu. All activities related to sponsorships are listed.
   Note: If the group is a Premium or Enterprise group that is set up for donation requests, the Payment Activity page lists donation activities as well.
3. To filter the activity results for sponsorships, select Group - Sponsorship failed or Group - Sponsorship made from the actions dropdown list.

Checking the sponsorship reserve amount

To see how much money is in a group’s sponsorship reserve:

1. Desktop browser: Select Admin > Preferences > Billing (in a Premium or Enterprise group) or Admin > Preferences > Upgrade (in a Free group).
   Mobile browser: At the bottom of a group page, tap the More icon, then select Admin > Preferences > Billing (in a Premium or Enterprise group) or Admin > Preferences > Upgrade (in a Free group).
   Note: In the Groups.io mobile app, the Billing and Upgrade entries are not available due to rules imposed by the Apple App Store and Google Play.
2. On the Billing page, review the Current Plan panel. That panel contains a line showing how much money is in reserve to pay hosting fees.

When the sponsorship reserve contains a sufficient amount for your group, you can remove the Sponsor This Group button from your group’s home page by clearing the Allow Sponsorship checkbox in the group’s settings. Remember to click or tap the Update Group button after you clear the checkbox.

Additional sponsorship information

• Group sponsorships generate moderator notifications. Sponsorships also are recorded in the Activity log.
• Sponsorships are nonrefundable. Sponsorship amounts are held by Groups.io and are used to pay hosting fees for the sponsored group as needed.
• The entire amount of a sponsorship is added to the reserve—that is, no processing fees are deducted.
• If a fee is paid solely by sponsorship reserves, you will not be sent a payment receipt; however, you will receive an email notification.
• Free groups can allow sponsorships. Upgrading a Free group to Premium level requires a credit card to be on file at that time, but you can delete the credit card from the Billing page in your Groups.io account after you have upgraded the group and rely solely on sponsorship reserves to pay the fee.
• Any group sponsorships that you have paid are listed on the Billing page in your Groups.io account.
• The sponsorship feature is separate from the Donations feature available in Premium and Enterprise groups.
• Group sponsorship amounts are not tax deductible.

About donations

The owners of Premium and Enterprise groups can set up donation requests to ask their members to donate to the group. Members in groups that have open donation requests will see a Donations entry on the left menu (desktop browser) or More menu (mobile device) when they visit that group. They can select the Donations entry to view the donation requests and make donations.

Groups.io uses Stripe to accept credit card payments. To accept donations in your group, you need to have a Stripe account, which is free, and connect to it from your group. Then you can create donation requests in your group, and your members can donate using credit cards.

The Groups.io processing fee is 2% in addition to Stripe’s credit card processing fees.

Note: Members who donate do not need to have Stripe accounts.

Setting up a Stripe account for donations

1. Desktop browser: In the left menu on the group’s website, select Admin > Preferences > Donations.
   Mobile device: At the bottom of a group page, tap the More icon and select Admin > Preferences > Donations on the More menu.
2. On the resulting Donations page, click or tap the Connect with Stripe button, which takes you to the Stripe website. 
3. To set up a new Stripe account for your group, complete the fields on the Stripe page.
   Tips:
   • Use your group’s name as the account name, legal business name, and in the statement descriptor (for example, “groupname Donations”).
   • Provide your group’s website (https://groups.io/g/groupname) as the business website.
   • Add/attach a bank account and set up a Direct Debit, then set up a payment schedule.
4. At the bottom of the Stripe page, click or tap the Authorize access to this account button. You are then returned to the Donations page in Groups.io.

Creating a donation request

1. Desktop browser: In the left menu on the group’s website, select Admin > Preferences > Donations.
   Mobile device: At the bottom of a group page, tap the More icon and select Admin > Preferences > Donations on the More menu.
2. On the Donations page, click or tap the Create a Donation Request button.
   Note: The amount you enter in the Ask Amount field is the amount of the total donation, not an individual donation amount that you are requesting from each member. If you want to leave the total open-ended (not provide a specific amount), leave the dollar amount as 0.
3. Click or tap the Create button at the bottom of the page.

The donation request is now open, and members can submit donations.

Closing a donation request

When donations are complete, you can close the donation request:

1. Desktop browser: In the left menu on the group’s website, select Admin > Preferences > Donations.
   Mobile device: At the bottom of a group page, tap the More icon and select Admin > Preferences > Donations on the More menu.
2. On the Donations page, click or tap the donation request you want to close.
3. On the Donation Request page, click or tap the Close button.

All funds, including any excess above the requested amount (if one was specified), are forwarded to the Stripe account that was set up for the group.

Reopening a closed donation request

To reopen a closed donation request so members can donate to it again:

1. Desktop browser: In the left menu on the group’s website, select Admin > Preferences > Donations.
   Mobile device: At the bottom of a group page, tap the More icon and select Admin > Preferences > Donations on the More menu.
2. On the Donations page, click or tap the Open button at the top, and select Closed from the dropdown list.
3. Locate and click or tap the closed donation request that you want to reopen.
4. On the Donation Request page, click or tap the Reopen button.

Viewing open and closed donation requests

Desktop browser: In the left menu on the group’s website, select Admin > Preferences > Donations.

Mobile device: At the bottom of a group page, tap the More icon and select Admin > Preferences > Donations on the More menu.

The Donations page lists open donation requests by default. To see a list of closed donation requests, click or tap the Open button at the top of the page and select Closed from the dropdown list.

Reviewing donation request and payment activity

1. Desktop browser: In the left menu on the group’s website, select Admin > Activity.
   Mobile device: At the bottom of a group page, tap the More icon and select Admin > Activity on the More menu.
2. On the Activity page, click or tap the All Activity button and select Payment Activity on the dropdown menu. All activities related to donation requests are listed.
   Note: If the group allows sponsorships, the Payment Activity page lists sponsorship activities as well.
3. If you want to filter the activity results for donations, select one of the Donation options from the actions dropdown list:
   • Donation - Failed by member
   • Donation - Made by member
   • Donation - Request closed
   • Donation - Request created
   • Donation - Request reopened
   • Donation - Request updated
   • Donations - Stripe account disconnected 

If you have a Free group and you decide you want to upgrade it to a Premium group:

1. Desktop browser: In the left menu on the group’s website, select Admin > Preferences > Upgrade.
   Mobile browser: Tap the More icon at the bottom of a group page, then select Admin > Preferences > Upgrade on the More menu.
   Restriction: In the Groups.io mobile app, the Upgrade entry is not available due to rules imposed by Google Play and the Apple App Store. On a mobile device, you must use a browser to upgrade the plan.
2. On the Billing page that appears, click or tap the View/Change Plan button at the upper right.
3. On the Upgrade page that appears, in the Premium Plan panel, click or tap the applicable Upgrade button and follow the subsequent instructions.
   Tip: Use the Calculate Costs panel at the bottom of the Upgrade page to calculate how much your plan will cost.

Note: 

• It is not possible to change an existing Free group to a free Premium trial group.
• If no credit card is on file when the time comes for the group’s paid plan to be renewed, and the group has insufficient funds in its sponsorship reserve, the system sends an overdue notice to all group owners and moderators stating that the group has two weeks to pay the invoice (minus any sponsorship reserve amount) or the group will be automatically downgraded. Be aware that Groups.io currently has no mechanism to automatically pay an invoice if additional sponsorship amounts come in to cover it.

To upgrade to an Enterprise group, follow the instructions above, but, in step 3, click or tap the Contact Us button at the bottom of the Enterprise Plan panel, then complete and submit the subsequent form.

If you have a paid Premium or Enterprise group and you decide you want to downgrade it to a lower or free plan:

1. Desktop browser: On the left menu at the group’s website, select Admin > Preferences > Billing.
   Mobile browser: Tap the More icon at the bottom of a group page, then select Admin > Preferences > Billing on the More menu.
   Restriction: In the Groups.io mobile app, the Billing entry is not available due to rules imposed by Google Play and the Apple App Store. Therefore, on a mobile device, you must use a browser to downgrade the plan.
2. On the Billing page that appears, in the Current Plan panel, click or tap the View/Change Plan button (in a desktop browser, it is at the upper right).
   Note: You must be the payer for the group for this button to be visible. For more information about group payers, see Groups.io billing.
3. On the Upgrade page that appears, click or tap the Downgrade button for the plan you want to downgrade to.
4. Follow the subsequent instructions.

The downgrade will take effect after the currently paid period ends. At that time, the group will lose the features that are specific to its previous plan type (see the Groups.io Plans and Pricing page). For example, if you downgrade a Premium group to a Free group:

• The storage space allocation goes from 30 GB to 1 GB.
• Any subgroups are locked.
  Exception: If your group was created before January 15, 2020, subgroups will remain accessible because Free groups created before that date were able to have subgroups. (This exception applies to Free groups created before January 15, 2020 that were upgraded either before or after that date as well as to Premium groups created before that date.)
• All features become unavailable except those related to sending and managing messages. However, nothing is deleted in case you decide to upgrade again in the future.
  Exception: If your group was created before August 24, 2020, the downgraded Free group will retain the calendar, chat, database, member directory, files, photos, poll, and wiki features.
• If the group was created after February 8, 2021 at 9:00 a.m. U.S. Pacific Time and gained more than 100 members, no one else can join the group unless the member list is reduced to fewer than 100 members or the group is upgraded again.

An Enterprise group is a white-labeled version of Groups.io, on a unique domain, with its own logo and, optionally, its own home page. The color scheme is the same as for Groups.io’s website.

Enterprise groups have all of the features that are available to Free and Premium groups as well as these additional, Enterprise-only features:

• Custom domain
• Custom logo
• Fully customizable home page
• Custom enterprise-specific settings

You set up these features after creating an Enterprise group (or upgrading an existing group to an Enterprise group) and receiving a “welcome” email message from Groups.io.

Restriction: This feature is available only in Enterprise groups.

1. Decide which domain you want to use for the group.
   Tip: Consider using a subdomain for the group instead of a top-level domain because using a subdomain gives your organization more flexibility. See Setting up a custom subdomain.
2. Delegate the DNS server settings for the domain to dns1.groups.io and dns2.groups.io. You must complete this step with the company where your domain is registered. You can use either of these methods:
   • Contact your domain registrar’s support department for assistance.
   • Do it yourself by logging into your account at your domain registrar and replacing any existing DNS servers with dns1.groups.io and dns2.groups.io. You might be able to find instructions on your domain registrar’s website.
3. After the domain’s DNS server settings are changed, contact Groups.io Support and provide:
   • The name of the Enterprise group
   • The domain name

Groups.io Support then takes the necessary steps to complete the domain setup.

Restriction: This feature is available only in Enterprise groups.

Groups.io typically recommends that an Enterprise group use a subdomain for the group instead of a top-level domain (for example, groups.example.com rather than example.com). Using a subdomain for the group gives your organization more flexibility because you can continue hosting the top-level domain with your current provider, leaving any existing content in place. 

To set up a custom subdomain:

1. Decide which subdomain you want to use for the group.
2. Contact your domain registrar and ask for their assistance (or look for instructions on their website) in adding two name server (NS) record settings for the subdomain. The NS records should look like these examples:
   • groups.example.com in NS dns1.groups.io
   • groups.example.com in NS dns2.groups.io
     ! Important: Do not change the DNS servers of your top-level domain.
3. After the domain’s NS records are changed, contact Groups.io Support and provide:
   • The name of the Enterprise group
   • The subdomain name

Groups.io Support then takes the necessary steps to complete the subdomain setup.

Restriction: This feature is available only in Enterprise groups.

A custom logo graphic for the group's website must meet these requirements:

• Be in PNG format
• Have a transparent background
• Look good on a dark-colored background
• Have dimensions of 400 pixels wide x 100 pixels high 

Enterprise groups can also change the header and footer graphics that appear in digest and summary emails. Those graphics must meet these requirements:

• Be in JPEG format
• For a header, have dimensions of 800 pixels wide x 93 pixels high
• For a footer, have dimensions of 800 pixels wide x 86 pixels high

To have a custom logo, header, and footer graphic added to your Enterprise group, email the image files to Groups.io Support.

Restriction: This feature is available only in Enterprise groups.

With an Enterprise group, you can customize the home page that is displayed when someone who is not logged in to the group goes to the group’s URL. If you do not customize this home page, the normal main group home page is used.

To customize your this home page:

1. Create a wiki page in the group that has the content and format of your desired home page.
   Note: Because this page is displayed when someone who is not logged in goes to the group’s domain, it must contain links to the group’s /login page and /register page.
2. Contact Groups.io Support and let them know which wiki page to use as the home page. Groups.io Support then changes the applicable setting to display that page as the home page.

Enterprise groups have an additional entry, Enterprise Settings, on the group home page that you see when you are logged in to Groups.io.

Select Enterprise Settings to display the Enterprise Settings page, which contains these Enterprise-specific settings:

• Website panel:
  • Enterprise Title

    In this field, enter a title for your Enterprise group. This title is used on the group’s website to reference the enterprise.

  • Google Analytics Code

    If you want to use Google Analytics to collect data from your group’s website, enter the Google Analytics tracking code in this field.

  • Login Page Text

    If you want to replace the standard text provided by Groups.io at the bottom of the login page, enter the replacement text in this field.

  • No Account Text

    If you want to replace the standard text provided by Groups.io on the “send login link” page, enter the replacement text in this field.

  • Disable Signup

    Select this checkbox to prevent anyone who is not logged in to the group from registering through the group’s website or accessing any of the group’s web pages.

  • Disable +1 Functionality

    Select this checkbox to disable the automatic conversion of “+1” email messages to likes. (For information on likes, see Using the Like feature.)

• Member Defaults panel:
  • Language Preference

    Select the default language in which the group website and notifications will be displayed.

  • Timezone

    From the list, select the default timezone to use for displaying times on the group’s website. This timezone is applied to the accounts of users who simply register on the Enterprise domain and to those who join the group and register at the same time.

    Note: A change to this setting applies only to the accounts of new users of Groups.io; existing group members’ accounts are not affected.

• Single Sign On panel (specify these settings if you are going to use Single Sign On [SSO] for your group):
  • Provider

    Select your SSO provider from the list. The options are:

    • Test
    • Auth0
    • YourMembership
    • ClubExpress
    • NoviAMS
    • MiniOrange/Wordpress
  • Login Options

    Select the option you want to apply:

    • Only Allow Logging In via SSO
    • Allow Logging In via SSO for Moderators Only
  • Client ID

    Enter the client ID supplied by your SSO provider.

  • Client Secret

    Enter the client secret supplied by your SSO provider.

  • YourMembership Client ID

    If YourMembership is your SSO provider, enter your Client ID, which is found in the REST API Configuration Details.

  • Domain

    Enter the domain supplied by your SSO provider.

! Important: After you enter or change settings on the Enterprise Settings page, scroll to the bottom of the page and click the Update Settings button to save the settings.

Note:

• For the SSO callback URL, use https://groups.io/ssologin.
• If you enable Single Sign On and you need to bypass it for logging in, go to https://groups.io/login?nosso=1 to log in normally.