Anyone with experience of Groups.io ?
I manage three private G+ Communities of around 750-950 members each and we're obviously looking for a new home.
Groups.io looks great (especially the hashtags feature, which allows you to mute and/or follow topics).
I need a single private community and the ability to mute/follow topics is a must-have feature.
Anyone suggest any great alternatives to Groups.io that would give me that?
Anyone with good or bad experiences with Groups.io?
Any problems with it that I might be missing?
Thanks in advance ;-) !
I manage three private G+ Communities of around 750-950 members each and we're obviously looking for a new home.
Groups.io looks great (especially the hashtags feature, which allows you to mute and/or follow topics).
I need a single private community and the ability to mute/follow topics is a must-have feature.
Anyone suggest any great alternatives to Groups.io that would give me that?
Anyone with good or bad experiences with Groups.io?
Any problems with it that I might be missing?
Thanks in advance ;-) !
I havent used it. but Groups.io does look interesting.
ReplyDeleteFriendica may work, Shelenn Ayres has experience with it.
Reddit has some similar/analagous features.
Friendica does indeed support community forums and has categories that you can use for topics as well as the ability to delegate admin tasks to others that are members of the community forum. There are a lot more features but out of the box it should meet your needs alone.
ReplyDeleteI help run cisspforum at groups.io
ReplyDeletewhat specific questions do you have?
The added bonus of Friendica is your community members can interact with any of the >9,000 ex-GPlusser members of the diaspora pod Pluspora as well.
ReplyDeleteEdward Morbius sooo... and why not directly the goodol' newsgroups ? Back to the Roots :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks Edward Morbius and Shelenn Ayres - I've had a look at Friendica, a bit daunting but I'll have to look further ;-) !
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks ❨❨❨David C. Frier❩❩❩ -- specific questions, those above, really.
Groups.io looks good but I suppose the real question we all have is "Is this option a solid, good choice that is not going to dump me like G+ has just done, a year or two down the road?"
And if it did, could I export all my data easily and in a reusable format (it seems I can with Groups.io)?
groups.io - Help
ReplyDeleteTom Walton It actually is easier than it looks but the tutorials do need improvement to illustrate "how".
ReplyDeleteEssentially, you create your main user account, fill in the particulars, set it to allow multiple profiles, create the community account under your main user account, fill in the particulars, set the community account to advanced account type "community forum". Set up categories like you do with G+ communities and you are golden.
This process is not really different than creating a G+ account, filling in particulars, creating a community. filling in particulars, then establishing categories. It's the "how" that is different. But once you've done it one time, it is very easy to create another.
Di Cleverly I second that thought - federated is the way to go :)
ReplyDeleteMany thanks again, Shelenn Ayres
ReplyDeleteI'll have to give Friendica a proper try out. But a further doubt: for your average user, just your regular member of the community, is it also going to appear unusual or complex or different to what they are used to, say on G+ or Facebook?
How readily people "buy into" our new community is important, obviously: we don't want to lose too many in the switch.
ReplyDeleteTom Walton I did a lot of hand-holding and answering questions when my citizens switched from GPlus to diaspora. There is also many people to help. You are part of the federation. All they need to do is ask. Most people picked it up fairly quickly.
Tom Walton You wrote: "I suppose the real question we all have is 'Is this option a solid, good choice that is not going to dump me like G+ has just done, a year or two down the road?'"
ReplyDeleteThat's another point in favor of Friendica: you can host your own node -- the projected costs seem to be on the order of $25/mo, but I'm sure others who actually host their own federated nodes can give you a better handle on that -- and as long as you maintain the site, that site will keep going. Other nodes may come and go, and the code may even stop being supported (though, since you're in control of the code base that you run, you can freeze it on a version that works for you), but your site will keep going until you decide to shut it down.
Trevor Schadt to me that is one of the biggest selling points of the federation. And you have control over your users content and data and can protect them. So important right now.
ReplyDeleteThanks Di Cleverly (maybe my users are more tech-savvy than I give them credit for ;-) !)
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks Trevor Schadt -- that's certainly a major bonus
Trevor Schadt Agreed. The beauty of the federated web space is in its decentralization. As long as at least two nodes exist, the federated web space exists. If one hosts their own, they have 100% control over their existence. But if you create an account on a node someone else owns, you still have 99% control over your existence. The Fediverse is my forever social media home now.
ReplyDeleteShelenn Ayres Do you know of any turnkey Friendica hosting?
ReplyDeleteEdward Morbius Yes
ReplyDeleteMeWe is basically Google+ revamped with Nazis. Ignore and avoid the Nazis (pretty easy) and you should be fine
ReplyDeleteYour Handy Dandy Cumrag It does not support communities.
ReplyDeleteShelenn Ayres Of the various issues one might raise with MeWe, and there are many, including racist, Nazi, and generally xenophobic attitudes widely and overtly exhibited, not supporting groups is not one of them.
ReplyDeleteIt is entirely a group-oriented site. The main problems seem to be the groups, and the tacit or explicit encouragement of them by management.
Thanks Your Handy Dandy Cumrag -- but I ran into a problem with MeWe: I want my members to be able to post and comment but not to be able to invite others, but that doesn't seem to be an option.
ReplyDelete(Also one of the things I like about Groups.io: you seem to have lots of control and lots of options over who can do what)
Ah, no, OK, found it under "permissions". MeWe does look interesting!
ReplyDeleteGroups.io looks like it might be good also. I am already on mewe, friendica, youme . . . I am exploring. Maybe I will try that one also.
ReplyDeleteEdward Morbius groups in MeWe are not equivalent to communities in G+ (from a technical feature perspective)
ReplyDeleteShelenn Ayres Howso?
ReplyDeleteno categories, owner must post every 6 days to not be removed from search even though members have posted, event calendar not working properly, event cannot be reshared, hashtag substitution not viable for categories, it is groups not communities... many have tried and found it not equivalent... whereas in Friendica it is a fully compatible solution... if i make a post in MeWe with a hashtag, it is not limited to the community as a category would be - just like in Diaspora.
ReplyDeleteShelenn Ayres Thanks.
ReplyDeleteEdward Morbius Every solution depends on a use case. For people that use groups as groups, other suggestions including groups.io are viable. Based on the use case presented by the OP regarding a replacement for G+ communities, Friendica is a better option IMO.
ReplyDeleteI am trying Friendica at Social.isurf.ca user name ronkjeffries
ReplyDeleteNew platform is always a slog. So far I am pretty much lost in space. Friends advantage (I think) is smooth path to move from one mode to another. Not so on diaspora, right?
social.isurf.ca - iSurf Social (home)
Ron K Jeffries I just did a search for you and only found your presence on pluspora and mastodon. What is your identity address shown to you under your profile image in Friendica?
ReplyDeletePerhaps you have not completed your signup by checking for the credential email with your temp password and logged in.
Shelenn Ayres I would agree on both points wholeheartedly.
ReplyDeleteI'm not defending MeWe. Though I don't mind accurate description of its capabilities and shortcomings.
Check out LifeCloud: lifecloud.site - - LifeCloud
ReplyDeleteThanks, everyone, for feedback here. Still thinking Groups.io gives me the best option for members of the community to pick what topics they want to mute and/or follow...
ReplyDeleteThough Slack also lets you do that...