Our new forum software will allow us to create groups of users.
What are the advantages of Groups?
Groups of users can send private messages to the group and all users in the group will receive the message
Groups of users can have private (or even hidden) posting categories and subcategories that only they have access to.
Groups of users can receive higher than normal trust levels, giving them super-powers, or, whatever.
How will we use Groups?
One idea that I’m thinking of implementing is that of Overseas supporters. I think we’ll have an Overseas fans group that is visible to everyone but where posting is restricted to members of the group.
In time, if this proves popular, inside the Overseas group we could have subcategories for Middle-East, Australia, Liverpool, etc.
Another way that Discourse uses groups, and I shit you not, is that moderators have a Lounge area (it’s really called The Lounge) that is restricted to them. For years @bearsy and @tokyo-saint have been going on about the Mods’ Champagne Lounge and it’ll soon be here. Art imitating life?
Obviously, the Soviet will be a Group with its own private posting area, elevated permissions and private messaging facility.
The idea is that being a member of the group feels in someway private and valuable.
Come on Sotonians, what other groups might we have?
I want to have a group where only Baz can post and no-one can see it. He’s also excluded from posting in our group … bit like standing outside the sweet shop with no money.
I’ll be honest…having secret, closed off parts of the forum sounds like a terrible idea. Why do you want to create division? What are some people saying that others shouldn’t see?
I know you’re all talking about me, in secret…plotting. Well fuck you! Fuck the lot of you. I’m going to start my own secret forum and I’m going to talk about you lot.
But they can be exclusive - and we can set it up so anybody can request entry.
It’s more about special interest groups that only discuss specific topics, but if others want to join they can.
But then again, perhaps we need to keep some memberships controlled - people who suffer with mental health issues might want a closed part of the forum to share stuff?
Dunno, and I’ve had a few Punk IPAs so not sure of how Groups might work but I do know I hate @fatso so he’s not going to be in my group.
I like the idea that some members can have access to parts of the forum because they’ve
Surely there aren’t enough of us to create smaller sub-groups. It’ll be a bit like the Peoples’ Front of Sotonia, and we all know what we think of them(him)…
Just get the feeling that having groups could be devisive and potentially turn people off the site.
Introducing exclusivity on to the site just seems wrong and against the spirit of bellendness and general fuckwittery we all have access to at the moment
Maybe the Soviet could canvass opinion? Is there a soviet? Actually, you could just have a poll. See what the users want…there’s at least 3 people who have concerns about closed forums.
It needn’t be divisive at all. For example, I may start a “Full head of hair” group. I wouldn’t prevent folically-challenged types from joining it - this would be entirely a matter for them. Obviously, the photos we would share of luxuriant locks and fabulous haircuts may not be to everybody’s taste, Similarly, those who lack natural head cover may not like to see threads entitled “Look at these bald cunts”, or similar, still less contribute to them.
But this is entirely a matter for the bald cunts in question. Nothing divisive, exclusive or élitist there at all.
I don’t think being hirsute or follically challenged is an issue @fowllyd , it’s probably also partly about members having to actively join groups, which may be a blocker to the site - I’d suggest that a fair proportion of us are lazy sods and wouldn’t sign up thereby missing the bellendness and fuckwittery I mentioned in an earlier post.