Overview

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Here is a UCSD quick start guide on using Google Groups.

 

Critical Concepts

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• Learn how to access, add members, and change permissions to Google Groups that you manage.
  
  

Steps to Take

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Accessing the groups that you own/manage

1. Login at: https://groups.google.com/my-groups. (Make sure you are logged out of any personal Gmail accounts first).
2. You will see all of your Groups. Click the gear icon to the right of a group to open the settings for a specific group

*You will need to be logged into your UCSD Google account. If you are logged into a personal gmail.com account, log out and log in to your UCSD account (you must use your “@ucsd.edu” login)

Adding Members or Owners to a group

1. Sign in to Google Groups with your UCSD account.
2. Click My groups on the left (if not already selected)
3. Choose a group.
4. On the left, click Members, under the People header
5. At the top, click the Add Members button (optionally add owners in the Group Owners box)
6. Enter the email addresses of the people to add.
7. Enter a welcome message.
8. Set how members will get email from the group (subscription settings)
9. Click Add Members

*You can add up to 10 people at once. In the new Google groups you should be able to add 200 members at once after completing the CAPTCHA. See more details of adding and inviting members in the Google documentation here. 

Changing Posting Permissions (Who can send to the group)

1. Sign in to Google Groups with your UCSD account.
2. Click My groups on the left (if not already selected) 
3. Click the gear icon to the right of a group to open the settings
4. In the lower right, select Group Settings > General
5. Scroll down to Who can post and select the appropriate permission.

Moderate Messages

1. Sign in to Google Groups with your UCSD account.
2. Click My groups on the left (if not already selected) 
3. Click the gear icon to the right of a group to open the settings
4. In the lower right, select Group Settings > General
5. Scroll down to Message moderation and select the appropriate setting.

*Once moderation is enabled, messages can be approved by clicking the Pending folder.

Allow people to Join or 'Subscribe' to a Group

1. Sign in to Google Groups with your UCSD account.
2. Click My groups on the left (if not already selected)
3. Click the gear icon to the right of a group to open the settings
4. Scroll down to Who can see group. Set it to the desired setting
   1. If you want anyone at UCSD to be able to find the group, set it to Organization Members
   2. If you want anyone on the internet to be able to find the group (like personal gmail.com addresses), set it to Anyone on the web
5. Next scroll down to the Who can join the group menu and set it to the appropriate access
   1. You can limit it to just ucsd.edu addresses by setting: Organization users only
   2. If you want anyone to be able to join, but you need to approve them first, set it to: Anyone on the web can join. This way you will be notified when someone asks to join and you can approve them first
6. Now you can share the link with your subscribers. The subscription link will always follow this format: "https://groups.google.com/a/ucsd.edu/g/[group address]". Just replace group address with the address of your group without the square brackets (do not include the “@ucsd.edu” though).
   1. So if your group address is lit-poetry-l@ucsd.edu, the link that you would post is: https://groups.google.com/a/ucsd.edu/g/lit-poetry-l
7. Now if a subscriber navigates to that URL, they will have a button that allow them to “Join Group” or “Request to Join” depending on your settings
   1. If the subscriber is not logged into a Google account, they will have to click the ‘try logging in’ link, and create a Google Groups membership. (Anyone can create a Google Groups membership even if they don’t use Gmail for their email) 

 

FAQ

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QUESTION:

Mailman allowed me to add “non-members who can still post to the group.” How do I do this in Google Groups? 

ANSWER:

Google groups doesn’t have this feature but you can add these senders as members with email delivery set to “off”

1. Follow the instructions shown above on “Adding Members.” 
2. After the member is added, navigate to Members and check the box next to the member you just added
3. Select the drop down that says ‘Each Email’ (this is the delivery disposition) Set it to No Email

 

QUESTION:

Mailman allowed me to modify the display name of my list members. But Google is only showing the email address of some of my members.

ANSWER:

Google groups will only show the full name for email addresses that have an identity in Google. If the member is an internal @ucsd.edu address, make sure the member’s email address is set to their primary address (instead of an alias). If the member is an external address, you can not change the display name. Only the member can change their display name in Google.

Group Members can change their display name by following these instructions:

1. Go to  https://groups.google.com/forum/#!myforums
2. Scroll down to the group you want to change your display name on
3. Click the edit beside your current display name
4. Change it and then click Save.