Discuss, Share, and Collaborate with Others

Discuss, Share, and Collaborate with Others

Use Yahoo! Groups to set up a space to share information via email and on the Web.

The Web is redefining how groups of people can work together to achieve a common goal. At one time, forming collaborative relationships meant meeting in the same physical location. By collaborating online, people across the globe can come together to work on a project, exchange information, or simply chat. A family that's distributed across the country can share photos and stories, or a local club can plan meeting times.

Yahoo! Groups is a space that facilitates these kinds of relationships, and at its most basic, Yahoo! Groups provides an easy way to create a mailing list. A mailing list is simply a way to send an email to a number of specified email addresses. Some mailing lists are one-way, meaning the list owner sends email to everyone on the list but members don't communicate between each other; these are called announcement or distribution lists. A two-way list is called a discussion list and allows any of its members to send an email to the list; everyone on the list will receive the message. A Yahoo! Group can have either type of mailing list, but Yahoo! Groups are most often thought of as a place for discussion.

Group Features

In addition to its mailing list, every Yahoo! Group has its own group site. Here are the features you'll find at a Yahoo! Groups site:

Messages

Every message sent to the group via email is archived at the group site, where members can search through past messages or post new messages to the group.

Chat

A Java™ application that runs in the browser provides real-time chatting for members that are at the group site at the same time.

File, Photo, and Link Sharing

Members can upload files and photos to share with others. And there's a special section of the group site for sharing links to other sites.

Shared Databases

The group can work together on a database of information. You can even create your own structure for the data. Prebuilt options include a shared phone book, CD library, recipes, and contact list.

Group Polls

You can take the pulse of the group by creating a multiple-choice poll question and letting members vote on the choices.

Shared Calendar

Everyone can keep each other informed of important events by adding event descriptions to the group calendar.

Each Yahoo! Group site offers a number of features that aren't available via email.

Joining a Group

Though you might be tempted to rush into creating your own group, you might find that a group already exists for your favorite topic.

There are millions of public Yahoo! Groups, and you can search for groups or browse by topic at http://groups.yahoo.com. Say you're interested in robotics and want to see what people are discussing. You could browse through the categories to Science Engineering Mechanical Robotics and find a listing of around 500 potential groups, as shown in Figure.

Each Yahoo! Group listing shows the title and description, the number of members, and whether the message archive is open to the public. If the archives are public, you can read through past discussions to see if you're interested in the group. Otherwise, you might have to join the group and try it out.

When you spot a group you might like to join, click the group title and you'll visit the group site, like the one shown in Figure.

A listing of Yahoo! Groups

An individual Yahoo! Groups site

Across the top of the group page, you'll notice that it lists the group activity within the past seven days. This includes messages posted to the group and any files, photos, or links shared. This is a good way to get a sense of how active a particular group is. You'll also be able to read the entire group description and read through recent messages if the archives are public. Click Join This Group! to become a member. At this point, you'll need to log in with your Yahoo! ID if you're not logged in already.

After you decide to join a group, you'll need to decide how you'd like to receive messages. You can choose your preferred email address for the group and how you'd like to receive messages at that address:

Individual Emails

With this setting, you'll receive every individual email sent to the group. This is a good option if you want to be in the thick of daily conversation.

Daily Digest

A digest is a group of all the messages to the group for a day, joined together into one email. This is a good option if you'd like to keep close tabs on the group but don't want to participate heavily in the conversation.

Special Notices

With this option, you'll receive only messages that the group moderators mark as important. Use this option if you primarily read messages at the group site but want an occasional update.

No Email

You can read a group exclusively at the group site and avoid any extra messages in your inbox.

You can also choose whether you prefer plain-text or HTML-formatted email.

Once you're a member, you'll be able to post messages to the group, access the archives, and use the extended features of the group site. Keep in mind that some groups require approval from a moderator before allowing you to become a member, and some groups require that all messages sent to the group are approved by a moderator before they're sent on to the entire group.

Creating a Group

To start your own group, browse to http://groups.yahoo.com and click the "Start a group now" link. You'll need to log in if you haven't done so already. You can create a group in three steps:

Choose a Category

You need to place your group within a Yahoo! Groups category, even if the group is going to be private. If your group is for a family, you could place it in Family & Home Families Individual Families.

Describe the Group

Enter a group name, email address prefix, and description. This description is the group's public face to the world and will appear in the Yahoo! Groups directory if the group is public. The email address prefix will also determine the group site URL, so choose something short and memorable.

Confirm Your Address

Choose your preferred email address to receive messages at the group, and prove you're not a robot by filling out a captcha form, as you may have done when you created a Yahoo! ID [Hack #3].

With the group created, there's nothing more you need to do. You can start inviting people to join your group and start the discussion. You can view your group site by visiting its URL, which is in this format:

	http://groups.yahoo.com/group/insert email prefix

Even though your group is ready to go with the default options, click the Management link on the left side of the home page to see all of your administrative options. The links under the Group Settings headings will let you configure every aspect of your group, from public archives to the look and feel of the group site.