how to use our community Social Groups
please note that this FAQ is currently being updated and so content may change.
The imaginalCollective community offers social Groups for members to discuss, share content and interact with one another around specific topics. The groups generally function in a similar manner to Facebook groups.
Each time members interact with groups or group discussions, notifications are created by the website. You can read these by clicking on ‘My Notifications’ or by clicking on the ‘bell’ icon wherever you see them. These notifications are also sent to you by email using the email address you registered your account with.
- You can turn the email notifications on/off at: My Account –> Email Preferences
You can receive discussion notifications (ie each time a new discussion is created or a member replies to a discussion etc) by subscribing to that discussion (by default you will not be notified).
- Receive notifications by clicking on the discussion and then clicking on the ‘subscribe’ link/button.
- Stop receiving notifications by clicking on the discussion and then clicking on the ‘unsubscribe’ link/button.
Whenever a group is interacted with, a notification is sent to all the group’s members. This may be when…
- group information is updated
- you are promoted to a group organizer or moderator
- a member requests to join a private group you organize
- your request to join a group has been approved or denied
- you are sent a direct message from the group organizer or moderator
Again, as with other notifications, you can turn the email notifications on/off at: My Account –> Email Preferences
Group messages are direct messages sent between members. Like other forms of notification these can be read on the website as well as being received by email. Messages can be sent to either a selection of members or to the whole group.
Who can send group messages depends on how the group has been setup – often this is reserved just for organisers and moderators but can also be open to all members.
To send a group message…
- Go to the group that you wish to send a message to
- Click on the ‘send messages’ tab
On the left you will see a list of all the group’s members and on the right will be the message information (including the members you select to send to and the message text that you type). By default ‘Select All’ is ticked and ‘all group members’ is displayed on the right hand side.
To send a message to the whole group nothing more is required other than to type your message and then send it.
To send a message to a selection of members…
Click on ‘Select All’: this removes the tick and shows a ‘+’ icon next to each member in the left hand list. Simply click on this icon next to each member you want to select …their names will appear on the right hand side.
Sending the Message…
Once you have composed your message you need to select how the message will be sent – you have the choice between…
- Group Thread (Cc): this will copy each selected member in so that when an individual replies, the whole list can see the reply and then reply to it.
- Private Reply (Bcc): this sends a private message to each individual so that replies are only seen by the sender.
…now press the ‘Send Message’ button!
