US Green Building Council, Northern California

Privacy Settings in Groups

Community Network Groups can have a wide variety of settings as to who can post, who can be a member, and who can read email archives, Wikis and other Group components.

When you set up a Group, you get to choose which type of privacy grouping you feel is appropriate. You can always customize it after choosing which basic setting you want. Below is a graphic that shows the various typical Privacy settings (taken from another Golightly community):

We will discuss the "custom" option later. Most Groups on the Community Network are "open." This means

• Anyone In Community Network Can Join
• Anyone In Community Network Can View Participant List
• Anyone In Community Network Can View Email, Library, Wiki Notepad
• Anyone In Community Network Can Send Email (Not Moderated), Add to Library, Edit Wiki Notepad

The next type of Group is the Open / Moderated type. This one can be read and enjoyed by anyone, but email messages are moderated. These are often for information dissemination only, or in Groups that want to limit the number of postings and stick to a very limited range of topics--the moderator can reject posts that fall outside the Group topic and let the poster know why this has been done. The settings are:

• Anyone In Community Network Can Join
• Anyone In Community Network Can View Participant List
• Anyone In Community Network Can View Email, Library, Wiki Notepad
• Anyone In Community Network Can Send Email (MODERATED), Add to Library, Edit Wiki Notepad

An "Announcement / Newsletter" Group is pretty straightforward. It is set up for using its email function for outgoing messages only, and rather than conversation. The Library and Wiki functions can be archival material, reference material, etc. Initial ettings for this type of Group are:

• Anyone In Community Network Can Join
• Anyone In Community Network Can View Participant List
• Anyone In Community Network Can Send Email (MODERATED)
• Only Moderators Can Add to Library, Edit Wiki Notepad

For "Part Open / Part Private" Groups let anyone participate, but keep the email among themselves. For example, a Group about personal health issues might choose this setting.

• Anyone In Community Network Can Join
• Anyone In Community Network Can View Participant List
• Anyone In Community Network Can View Library, Wiki Notepad
• Only Participants Can View Email
• Only Participants Can Send Email (Not Moderated), Add to Library, Edit Wiki Notepad

The most private option is the Private Group. Here, the default is to not show who the participants are, and you can only join with a moderator's approval. Why would anyone choose this option? Some kinds of committees need to work in private (though they might customize this Group type to let Community Network members know who the members of the committee are). Some topics of a sexual nature, or mental health issues might warrant a Group whose members aren't public. The default for this type of Group is:

• Invite Only
• Only Participants Can View Participant List
• Only Participants Can View Email, Library, Wiki Notepad
• Only Participants Can Send Email (Not Moderated), Add to Library, Edit Wiki Notepad

As the image at the top of this page showed, a moderator can customize any Group. Clicking Customize This Group takes you to the menu below that features a convenient matrix of choices:

You can customize:

• Who can join options again are all Community Network people or participants only)
• Who Can View the following Group components (options again are all Community Network people or participants only):
• Participant List
• Email Archive
• Library
• Wiki Notepad
• Who Can Edit (options are all Community Network people, participants only or moderator):
• Library
• Wiki Notepad
• Who can send email (options are all Community Network people, participants only or moderator)
• Email Moderation (options are Not Moderated or Moderator Approval Required)

These are a lot of options to think about! We recommend that, if you plan to change settings, you discuss it among Group members, or if you are starting a new one, the organizers think about their needs carefully. The Community Network is based on sharing of information as a community, so keep your Groups open, when possible!

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