I'm looking for an alternative that would allow non-group members to view content of a group without any membership...
I'm looking for an alternative that would allow non-group members to view content of a group without any membership at all. G+ allows it. I've tried MeWe and just don't see it there (maybe missing something): a group link always ends up demanding to sign up for MeWe.
What platform would you suggest that allow non-member viewing access to communities/groups? I need both text and graphics, URL preview - the standard stuff.
Thanks in advance.
What platform would you suggest that allow non-member viewing access to communities/groups? I need both text and graphics, URL preview - the standard stuff.
Thanks in advance.
As far as I know Openbook will be accessible via URL without an account to every public content.
ReplyDeleteCyrill Kunze Thanks for the recommendation. I just checked them out. Hard to say what they will be, but right now their front page exhibits some bad development choices: as soon as I switch to their web page's tab in my browser the CPU consumption jumps through the roof. I really hope they'll get better in that department.
ReplyDeletetumblr allows this LOL
ReplyDelete❨❨❨David C. Frier❩❩❩ Did you think about what I thought with LOL? Associative reputation? :)
ReplyDeleteThere are certain elements of the Fediverse (namely Friendica and Hubzilla) that natively support communities, and do not require membership to read public posts in those communities, but either the "community" mindset is not very big, or I just haven't found them yet.
ReplyDeleteHubzilla and Friendica both have forums which anyone can see (no account necessary). You need to be a member to post to them, of course.
ReplyDeleteBoth Hubzilla and Friendica federate with both the diaspora and Mastodon sides of the Federation/Fediverse. This means that people who only have a diaspora or Mastodon account can follow forums on them. Posting/commenting also works from diaspora, although it's not obvious how to do it. I think Mastodon is effectively read only, but honestly I don't think that's a big deal because Mastodon's not really suited to anything like Groups anyway.
On the diaspora side, though, it's more about hashtags and following hashtags. This is actually really cool - but it means that the diaspora equivalent of "Groups" don't have any membership requirements at all. Anyone can post to any hashtag, period.
I use Hubzilla. It has a steeper learning curve than Friendica, but it has a number of advantages. In particular, you can switch between your regular and forum channels without logging out/in. With Friendica, each log in equals a user or forum user. So you have to log out and log in as the other user to manage your forum.
Overall, though, I find I like diaspora the best. The use of following hashtags solves the big problem I've always had with G+ Communities, and the like - fracturing of discussion into silo'd Groups. With hashtags, everyone's in the same "group". But you can put up to five hashtags on your profile, which makes it easier for new users to find you (and vice versa). And also, following hashtags immediately gives you content in your Stream that you're interested in.
Fundamentally, I have found the diaspora experience (pluspora.com pod in particular) to give the most bang for the buck. You can find followees and followers more easily than other places.
With Hubzilla ... okay, the capabilities are great. But the problem is discovery. Almost no one sees me, and vice versa. Oh, there's a directory, and random suggested users. But heck no. I don't feel like checking out random user profiles on the off chance I'll find their content interesting to follow. I much prefer the diaspora way of hashtags. I'll only see users who have at least one shared interest.
So, if the hashtag thing sounds at all interesting to you as an alternative to a "Group", I suggest checking out pluspora.com - pluspora (a diaspora pod).
But if you really want a "Group", then I suggest checking out hubzilla or Friendica. The hubzilla pod I use is hub.toot.cat
Cake.co allows current of public content without logging in.
ReplyDeletecake.co - Cake
👂
ReplyDeleteKristin Moran Interesting, thank you. Looks like something descendant from a blogging platform. What I like about G+'s discussion arrangement are the 'tiles', the way topics are spread across the page.
ReplyDeleteMinds does. The Minds UI is pretty similar to G+. Here's a Photography & Art group which is open and has about 10,000 members: minds.com - Photography & Art
ReplyDeleteColman Fink Actually, just tried it. Could not create an account, none of my passwords, following all their guidelines (caps, special, >8 symbols), were accepted. Don't know how smart I should be to get in there, my college degree & 25+ years in the industry obviously did not count. :) Pass.
ReplyDeleteTake a look at Hubzilla, it's the most flexible in my opinion.
ReplyDeletePavel Cherenkov Reddit, Google Groups, Yahoo Groups, and Usenet are further options. Mailing lists can operate this way, with archives. Blogs are yet another choice.
ReplyDeleteFriendica and other federated solutions do not require membership to view content of any type including community forums (equivalent to G+ communities).
ReplyDeleteEdward Morbius Most of them, regretfully, have a rather mediocre visual interface. Google groups and Reddit, in particular. Neither are the 'tiles' there, the convenient way to arrange topics.
ReplyDeletePavel Cherenkov What would you prefer?
ReplyDeleteScreenshots or wireframes, if possible.
Edward Morbius Actually, MeWe would have been just fine, visually, if they allowed outside access. Facebook style would do, more or less. I actually most of all like the G+ style, but no one mimics them, as it seems.
ReplyDeleteSocialhome has a multi-column tiled Stream interface. It federates with the diaspora side of the Federation/Fediverse.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what you mean by "tiles", though.
Anyway, like diaspora, Socialhome uses hashtags rather than formal moderated Communities.
socialhome.network - #physics stream - Socialhome
Pavel Cherenkov likewise, spent ten minutes trying to pass through Mind's security hoops, mainly the captcha page, yeesh, got better things to do. Also, i noted that the minds link for a photo group left me at a login page, so that's not public.
ReplyDeleteSo, g+ [edit to add Friendica ] may in fact be about the only public group service in a new (streaming) UI style. Regular mail lists are effective, some of us grew up on them. Maybe tumblr, but do they have groups at all? I did read something about diaspora may have groups now, but haven't checked into it, but that would be good. And maybe Flickr groups if you can make that work for you. Lastly, try Isaac Kuo's hashtag approach by using a unique hashtag that only your group uses.
Pavel Cherenkov Oh, and did someone mention cake, it does have a strange discussion panel feature that may have some group use.
ReplyDeleteMight try groups.io - Welcome to Groups.io!
ReplyDeletePeggy K any ideas?
ReplyDeleteNot all, but most of the Discussion Forum sites based on phpBB/vBulletin have public, searchable archives.
ReplyDeleteDiana Studer I think people have covered the most obvious replacements. Dreamwidth or LiveJournal might be another option. I believe they offer both publicly visible and private communities.
ReplyDeleteI had a look at Tumblr last week — it seems likely. I was inspired to check it out after I read an article last week that claimed porn would be banned. Once it’s cleaned up, it might be okay.
ReplyDeleteSteve MacLellan I've been reading discussions about the policy change on Tumblr, and two issues that apparent haven't been resolved: rampant porn bots (who don't care about policy) and their automated adult content detection algorithms that have been flagging a lot of completely innocuous content as nudity or porn.
ReplyDeleteIt will be interesting to see how it's working a month or two from now, when enforcement is on full effect.
I simply cannot announce moving to Tumblr. The community is for my business, the reputational risk is too high.
ReplyDeleteI just created an account on Tumblr. Looks like you control what people see when they go to your url. Incidentally, I just saw the article about them banning porn last week so I assume they haven't had a chance to clean it up yet. What you would see on your dashboard, like your timeline on Google+ is controlled by you, and you can block anything you don't like.
ReplyDeleteHere is my test post. It's just part of an article I wrote a couple of years ago and had posted to my Wordpess website. I copied it from Wordpress and pasted it into Tumblr. Surprisingly it saved the formatting of the article — more or less.
I'm not set on Tumblr, just experimenting — but so far, so good. Here is the post: stevemaclellan.tumblr.com - Steve MacLellan
Socialhome.network looks like almost it (has tiles!), but it's hash-tag driven and looks rather unpolished. It's amazing that Google decided to flush such a unique and aesthetically pleasing platform down the toilet. I wish they just sold it to some company that would care.
ReplyDeleteSteve MacLellan your post on tumblr doesn’t look too bad. Rarely see well formatted text. Mostly pics of various kinds.
ReplyDeleteIt certainly seems to have some potential.
ReplyDeleteAfter they implemented their miserably failing censoring algorithms (that highly overblocks legit content) tumblr will die soon. I would not trust them one inch. Especially as they try to impose their medieval puritanian views onto users from the whole world.
ReplyDeletestefan holzhauer you should read some articles about FOSTA-SESTA which is just about to go into full effect. Providers are facing big fines if they fail to block anything that could be construed as sexual solicitation even if it has nothing to do with the sex industry.
ReplyDeleteFOSTA and SESTA may be relevant for US citizens. It is not for the rest of the world.
ReplyDeletestefan holzhauer The concept of regulation itself is non-localised. U.S. regs affect self-hosting initiatives.
ReplyDeletestefan holzhauer Tumblr is a USA company. And by law and by precedent, in the USA laws about sex trafficking have global scope, punishing conduct by USA citizens that occurs anywhere in the world. FOSTA and SESTA are framed as laws about sex trafficking but have very broad scope and assume that anything that looks vaguely like asking for sex is an outcome of someone being trafficked.
ReplyDeleteSo, by that logic a US 18-years-old should be arrested in the US for drinking a beer in Canada - for violating the US law on a foreign soil? Enlighten me, please.
ReplyDelete^This!
ReplyDeletePavel Cherenkov https://www.quora.com/Can-you-be-prosecuted-for-a-crime-committed-in-another-country-e-g-can-one-from-and-in-Canada-be-prosecuted-for-a-murder-they-committed-in-Zimbabwe?x
ReplyDeletequora.com - Can you be prosecuted for a crime committed in another country, e.g., can one from, and in, Canada be prosecuted for a murder they commit...
Edward Morbius Law is fascinating. Maybe that's why we all love Saul Goodman, in our hearts, a bit more than his big brother. :)
ReplyDeleteHubzilla allows users to see content of a group (forum) without membership, if it's a public group.
ReplyDelete