Assistance with Technical Group Problems
Google has an excellent Help section for it's Groups - http://groups.google.co.uk/support/ Generally, if you use the MRGG you are expected to help yourself, we can only check that the email you requested to use the MRGG is correctly registered. Individual problems are just that, so please consult the above links before contacting the MRGG Owner or Manager(s). The Web Editor is no longer available to provide help (as of ARM March 2010).
How to be Useful (and Polite) to Other Members of the Group!
Once you have an account with Google and have joined the Morris Ring's Google Group, the next obvious questions are "what can I use it for, how can I use it effectively, and how can I use it with consideration for the other 400+ members?" Some simple do and don't suggestions.
- Use the Group email address, the-morris-ring [at] googlegroups.com, to send messages to everyone in the Group. Do not add attachments - pictures, documents, etc, these must be put into the Files section of the web site. {See any Bagman's newletter for the current Officers}
We are aware that 'unless it concerns something that the whole group is discussing' is open to varying interpretations, however, this is down to the individual respondent to assess. If you are opening any response with Hi Tom, Hi Dick or Hi Harry, it is perhaps possible that your communication could be more appropriately dispatched 'OFF GROUP' and direct to the individual or in some cases the 'target'. Please remember that, at this time, any and all submissions go to ALL 400+ members of the MRGG. Perhaps using 'Hi all' or 'Hello everyone' might serve to remind the respondent of the vast community you are addressing as opposed any individual Tom, Dick or Harry. Charlie Corcoran, Morris Ring Bagman, 24th Jan 2010
Thus, if you wish to contact any other individual in the Group, then please do so outside of the Group via personal email, Royal Mail, telephone or mobile.
- Please avoid sending 'one-liners' which amount to a 'me too' or 'nice one' either agreement or disagreement!
- A major reason to have the Group is to enable the Squire, Bagman, Treasurer and other appointed officers to contact a large group of members without resorting to a huge email list, or sending large attachments via an email list. The latter form of communication is increasingly treated as spam by recipient ISPs.
- When adding either a File please remember that not everyone has the latest software from Microsoft. It is often best to use plain text, a .doc file (not .docx) or Adobe .pdf, for a posting.
- For larger bits of information use Pages or Files. If you put one of these onto our Group web site, then only you or the Group Owner or Manager can delete it. See 3) again.
- Any complaints about any posting: email, these Pages, or a File, should be addressed outside of the Group to the person making the post and copied to the Morris Ring Bagman or Squire. Don't send it to the whole Group of several hundred members.
- Using Posts, Files and Pages: Posts and Pages can be seen in a Group Search, Files cannot. So a Page may be a better medium for an item with longevity and general interest than a File.
MRGG PRIVACY
The Morris Ring Google Group is private - that is it is not listed or indexed by the Google system - this means that the site contents are only visible to the group members [The Search mentioned in 7) is local to the MRGG]. Since each member of the group has to login under their own password and email, the system does not suffer from the security problem created whereby a common password has to be known by hundreds of members. Note that if you change your email address you will need to set up a new account with the Google Groups system, and, of course, set up a new password for the new address. Your old email can be removed from the MRGG by the Group Owner or Manager(s). You may also need to close the Google account associated with your old email. See the Google Help Section and note at the head of this page.