Using the Groups Menu

Groups Menu

AVAILABLE TO: Administrators and Employees

In the Pulse dashboard, the Groups menu provides members of the Administrators and Employees groups with the ability to create and moderate special interest groups in Pulse.

Menu Commands

In the Pulse dashboard, the Groups menu contains the following commands:

• Find Groups Select to find a specific group.
• Followed by Me Select to see the groups that you are following.
• Owned by Me Select to see a list of groups where you have been assigned owner permissions.
• Create Groups Select this menu command to open the Create Group page.

Understanding Groups

You can create groups to communicate with a specific subset of users. This is helpful when you want to use Pulse as a vehicle for sharing Pulse content with a specific audience. For example, you might have a Flare community with a Pulse system for a project about pets and have a need to create separate groups for users with a specific interest in dogs or cats. This gives you the ability to post updates and articles, as well as ask questions specifically targeted for those members.

How to Find Groups

1. Log in to the Pulse dashboard using an account that is a member of the Administrators or Employees group.
2. Select Groups > Find Groups.

3. In the Find Groups page, the most recent groups display by default.

   to filter the find groups list

   You can filter the groups list by selecting one of these options from the drop-down list:

   • New Groups Shows the most recently created groups .
   • Most Followed Groups Shows the groups with the largest combined number of followers and tags.
   • Most Active Systems Shows the groups with the greatest number of user activities.
   • Followed by Me Shows the groups in which you are currently included. If you are an Administrator or Employee group, this is the same as selecting Groups > Followed by Me.
   • Owned by Me Shows groups where your permissions setting is set to Owner. If you are an Administrator or Employee group, this is the same as selecting Groups > Owned by Me.
   • All Groups Shows all groups that exist in the Pulse database.

   to search for a group

   To quickly find the group you are looking for, enter a query in the Search field in the upper-right corner of the Find Groups page.

   to create a group

   To create a group, click the Create Group link at the bottom of the page.

4. Click on any of the groups to open the Groups page.

Joining and Participating in Groups

You can join groups; chat with members; view recent updates, members, and tags; subscribe to group feeds; and add feeds to your favorites.

How to Create Groups

1. Log in to the Pulse dashboard using an account that is a member of the Administrators or Employees group.
2. Select Groups > Create a Group

3. In the Create Group page, click the Basic tab and enter the appropriate group information:

   To enter the group information

   1. In the Name field, type a group name.
   2. In the Description field, type a short group description.

   3. In the Audience field, select the desired audience. These settings correspond to the membership group permissions.

      • Employees Members of the Employees group can be invited to and join groups.
      • Employees and Customers Members of both the Employees and Customers groups can be invited to and join groups.
   4. (Optional) Place a check mark in the Moderation box if you want all group posts to be approved by a moderator before being displayed. See Moderating (Approving/Rejecting) Posts.
   5. (Optional) Place a check mark in the Visibility box. The group will be visible to users who perform a search for the group. If the check box is left blank, users must be invited to join the group.

   The check box "Allow Users to Find This Group" doesn't affect audience permission in the privacy tab.

4. Click the Privacy tab. Then do the following:

   To add users and groups

   1. Click the Add a user or group link.

   2. In the Add a user or group box, start typing a user or group name. Matches appear in the list.

   3. Place a check mark next to the users or groups that you want to add as members.

   4. Click Add.

   To remove a user or group

   To remove a user or group from the membership list, click next to the appropriate name(s).

   To set permissions for group members

   If you are the owner of a group, you can set access permissions for the group from the drop-down list:

   Role	Description
   Owner	Gives the user or group full access permissions to the group. Owners can comment, post, add and remove content, adjust group settings, and add group members.
   Moderator	Gives the user or group access permissions to moderate (approve/reject) posts and comments.
   Contributor	Gives the user or group access permissions to post to the group.
   Commenter	Gives the user or group access permission to comment on posts, but restricts the user from creating posts.
   Viewer	Gives the user or group access permissions to view posts and comments, but restricts the user from any other type of group participation.

5. Click Create this Group

Moderating Groups

If you are a group member who has been granted Owner permissions, you have the ability to moderate a group from the Pulse dashboard.

How to Join Groups

If you add a member of the Customers group to a discussion group, those users do not have the ability to accept or deny invitations. However, if you are a member of the Employees group, you will be notified and have the ability to join the group.

1. If you have been invited to join a group, you will be notified by email and when you log in to the Pulse dashboard.
2. Log in to the Pulse dashboard. Then click the link in the upper-right corner of the Pulse dashboard.

3. Open the group page by doing one of the following:

   • Click the group name.

     OR

   • Click View all notifications to open the Notifications page. Then click the group name.
4. In the group's page, click the Join this Group button. This option is only visible to members of the Administrators and Employees group.