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About Groups

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myColby allows the creation of campus groups which provide a club or organization the opportunity to have an area within the portal where they can post announcements, news, display a calendar of events, have a bulletin board, forum or chat for their members and others. 
 
Authenticated users who are members of a group, will see a   My Groups link in the Quick Links section on the left side of the page.  Clicking on the  or My Groups will display a list of group links for the any groups of which you are a member.  Clicking on the name of a group will bring you to the main page for the group.
 
Group memberships are also displayed on My Pages, in the My Groups portlet and on the main page of the Campus Life tab, in the Campus Groups portlet.  In both these locations, you may manage your group memberships by dropping a group, browsing a list of public groups or requesting a new group.
 
A campus group needs to be requested, and if approved, the requester will become the leader of the group.  A group can be public (listed in the Campus Groups Directory) or private (not listed in the groups directory).  There are a number of enrollment options for members:  open (no application required), open by membership application, membership by invitation only, or closed to new members.  There is an option to limit the number of members.
 
At this time, group request approvals will be granted to official Colby clubs and organizations and academic or administrative departments.
 
All groups have a Public Page, which is viewed by people who are not members of the group, and a Main Page, for members.  Both have similar portlets, but the Public Page also has a Join Group portlet, where visitors can click a button to join the group.  NOTE:  Content must be separately maintained on both the public and main pages.

Join a Campus Group

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There are a few ways to join a campus group, depending on how the group has been set up to handle membership enrollment.  Go to either the Campus Groups portlet on the Campus Life or the My Groups portlet on the My Pages tab.
  • Click on the Browse Groups link at the bottom of the portlet.  This will open a list of public groups (or private groups of which you are a member), displayed by category. To the right of each group you will see either the word Member, if you are already a member or a Join link, if you are not a member. 
  • Click on the Join link.  You will get another screen with further instructions (see below).
    OR
    To find out more information about the group, click on the name of the group, which is a link to the public page of that group.  On the public page for a group is a Join Group portlet, with an option to join the group.
The process to join a group differs slightly, based on the membership enrollment option selected by the group leader:
 
Open - No Application Required
  • From the Campus Group Directory page, click on Join.
  • The screen will refresh with a welcome message from the group.
  • Click on the Join Group button at the bottom of the portlet.
    OR
  • From the group's Public Page, in the Join Portlet you will see "Are you interested in joining "group name?" with a Join Now button below.
  • Click on Join Now.
    NOTE:  It can take up to half an hour for new group memberships to be processed.  Until then, you will see the new group in your My Groups, but may not yet have access to the pages for the group.
Open - By Membership Application Only
  • From the Campus Group Directory page, click on Join.
  • The screen will refresh with a membership application form.
  • Fill out the application and click on Submit Application.
    OR
  • From the group's Public Page, in the Join Portlet you will see "Are you interested in joining [group name]? with a "Click here to apply to join" link below.
  • Click on the link. 
  • The screen will refresh with a membership application form.
  • Fill out the application and click on Submit Application.
    NOTE:  The group leader will be notified of your application.  You will be notified when your application is accepted or declined.  In the meantime, when you go to the Campus Groups Directory, you will be shown as a "prospective member" and on the group's public page, the Join Group portlet will indicate that "You have already applied to be a member of [group name]."
Membership by Invitation Only
 
On the Campus Group Directory page, a group who accepts new members by invitation only will show as "Closed".  On the group's Public page, in the Join Group porlet, it will read "[Group Name] membership is by invitation only." 
If you are invited to join a group, you will receive an email with an invitation from the group with instructions on how to join the group.
 
Closed to New Members
 
On the Campus Group Directory page, a group who is currently not accepting new members will show as "Closed".  On the group's Public page, in the Join Group porlet, it will read "[Group Name] is not currently accepting new members.." 

Request a New Campus Group

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All campus groups must be approved by the Campus Groups administrator, in ITS.  Currently, approvals will be granted for official Colby clubs, organizations, academic or administrative departments.  The request for a new group can be made on the Campus Life tab, in the Campus Groups portlet, or on the My Pages tab, in the My Groups portlet.
  • Click on the Create New Campus Group link at the bottom of the portlet (to the right of the Browse Groups link) to open the New Group Application.
  • Complete the following fields:
    Group Name - Enter the name of your group (100 characters max).  This will appear in the list of groups and at the top of the main page for your group.
    Category - Select the category that best fits your group. When someone clicks on the Browse Groups  link, groups are displayed under these category headings.
    Description - Enter text to describe your group to users who want to find out more about your group.
    Reason for the Group - Why do you want to create this group?  This is used by the Campus Groups administrator when reviewing your application.
    Maximum # of Members - If you wish to limit the number of members in your group, enter that number here.  If this field is left blank, there is no limit to the number of members who can join your group.
    Group Availability - Do you want this group to be Public or Private?  If you choose Private, your group will not appear in the list of campus groups in the Campus Group Directory.
    Membership Enrollment - There are four options for group membership:  Open, no application required; Open by membership application; Membership by invitation only; or Closed to new members.
  • Click on the Submit Application button at the bottom of the page.
  • The page will reload with a confirmation that  your application has been sent to the Campus Groups administrator.  You will be notified when your application has been accepted or denied.

Managing a Campus Group

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If you are a leader of a campus group, you have the ability to
  • Manage membership, including changing the membership enrollment settings, approving members for membership (if your enrollment requires an application), dropping members from the group and changing the role of a member to a leader and vice versa.
  • Update content on the group's public and main pages.
  • Manage any bulletin boards, forums or chats set up for the group.
  • Create new pages for the group.
Manage Membership
 
  • Navigate to your group's main page, by clicking on  My Groups on the left side of the page or by going to My Pages and clicking on the link in the My Groups portal.
  • Just above the Quick Links section on the left, click on  the Manage This Group link.
  • You will be presented with a list of current members, the member's role (leader or member), a "drop member" link, and the date the member joined the group.
    Change a member's role -  Select the new role and click Save Changes.
    Drop a member - Click on the "drop member" link.
  • You can Send an Invitation to somone to join your group by clicking on the Send an Invitation button below and to the right of the list of members.  You can select a user or users to invite to join your group.  The outgoing invitation message will be emailed to anyone you selected.
  • Click on the  Add Individual Users link. 
  • You can enter a user's last or first name in the corresponding search box to quickly find the user(s) you want to add.
  • Highlight the person's name and click on the Add --> button to move them to the list of selected users. 
  • When everyone has been added click on OK.
  • The outgoing invitation message is displayed below the number of users selected.  (To edit this message, see the Manage Menu section below.)  Below the outgoing invitation message, click on the Invite Selected User to Join Campus Group button.  Invited users will receive an email with this message.  Depending on your membership settings, users may be automatically added to the group, or users may need to join.
  • When you are done making changes, click on the Exit Group Manager button in the lower right corner of the page.
Using the Manage Menu
 
When you have clicked on the  Manage This Group link on the left side of the group's main page, you will see a blue    Manage    tab at the top of the window.  Mousing over the Manage tab will display a menu with the following options:
 
Edit Outgoing Messages
  • Select Edit Outgoing Messages to open the Edit Outgoing Messages page.
  • You may edit any of the following messages:
    Group Membership Acceptance Message - This message will be sent to a user whose application for membership has been accepted by a group leader.
    Group Membership Declined Message - This message will be sent to a user whose application for membership has been declined by a group leader.
    Application to Join - This message will be displayed along with the application form when a user clicks the link to join your Campus Group.
    Application Confirmation - This message will be displayed after a user has finished filling out the application to join the group, as a confirmation that the application has been submitted and will be reviewed.
    Invitation to Join - This message will be displayed in the email message that is sent when you invite users to join your Campus Group.
  • When you are done editing your messages, be sure to click the Save Changes button at the bottom of the page!
Edit Membership Settings
  • Select Edit Membership Settings to open the Edit Membership settings page.
  • You may edit the following settings:
    Campus Group Membership Settings - This allows you to change your membership enrollment.  (Open - no application, Open - by application, By invitation only  or Group is not currently accepting new members (Closed).
    Maximum # of Members - You can limit the number of members in your group.  If left blank, there is no limit on the number of members in your group.
    Privacy Settings - This allows you to change your group between Public (appears in the Campus Groups Directory) or Private (will NOT appear in the Campus Groups Directory.)
  • When you have made your changes, click on Save Settings.
Manage and Edit Pages
 
By default, when your group was approved, three pages were created:  a Public page (for non-members), a Main page and a Group Collaboration page (both only viewable by members).
 
The Public and Main pages contain the following portlets:
Custom Content - You can enter general information about  your group.
Announcements - You can display announcements related to your group.
Calendar - You can create and add events to a calendar of events for your group.  You can allow members to subscribe to this calendar.
Bookmarks - You can create a list of bookmarks to web sites of interest for your members.
Handouts (Main page only) - You can upload documents and create links to them for your members.
Join Group (Public page only) - This allows non-members to join your group.
 
Here are some very basic instructions for creating and editing pages.  Please refer to the individual help pages listed on the left side of this page for more detailed information about specific portlets.
 
 
Adding Pages

You can create additional pages, if you want, by clicking on the Add a Page' link  on the left side of the page. You'll be prompted to enter a name for your new page, and after you hit the ''Create'' button, your new page will be ready.

Default Page

One of your pages is always designated as the ''Default page.'' The default page will come up first whenever someone navigates to your group's context. You can't delete your default page, but you can always set another page as default first and then delete the page.

Editing Pages

Editing a page allows you to change the content and layout of a page, designate it as your default page, or delete the page. To edit a page, navigate to that page using the link in the sidebar, and then click the ''Edit Page'' link in the top right corner of the content area.

Deleting Pages
 
You can delete any page by navigating to the page, clicking the ''Edit Page'' link, and choosing the ''Delete the page'' option. Be careful:  deleting a page deletes all the content you had on the page and it cannot be undone.
 
 
Adding, Deleting and Customizing Portlets
 
All of the content on a page comes in the form of portlets.  Below are the basics of using portlets.
 
Managing Portlets on a Page

To manage portlets on a page, use the ''Edit Page'' link to get to the Page Manager for the page, and choose the ''Content'' tab. There you'll find the tools for managing which portlets are on your page.

Adding Portlets to the Page

To add a portlet to the page, use the ''Add a Portlet'' link. This brings up a list of all the portlets available to you to add to the page. Check off one or more to add them. You can also customize the display name of portlets you are adding.  This display name can be edited using the ''Edit'' icon (it looks like a pencil) next to the portlet's name on the main screen of the Content tab.

Deleting Portlets
To delete a portlet, click on the ''Delete'' icon (it looks like a trash can) next to the portlet's name on the Content tab. Be careful:  this cannot be undone and will permanently delete any content you have added within that portlet.

Customizing Portlets

To customize the settings of a portlet, you can click on the  (customize portlet) icon for that portlet.  NOTE:  Some of these settings are for your personal view of the portlet.  Others are for all users' view of the portlet.  See the individual help pages for portlets for more information.