Access to this group

[Brian]

Ok, a real topic to get the ball rolling. Right now this Google Group
is pretty well locked down, meaning only group members can view this
site, post messages, etc. I want to keep it this way until we get a
critical mass (half dozen?) of users liking the functionality.

But access is pretty tailorable. Ultimately if I roll this out to a
wider audience, do you want:

1) Only members to be able to view the site (message board + anything
else we throw up here)? Or anybody at all?

2) Members need to be invited to join the group? Or anybody at all can
add themselves to the group? (The first option means you get an email
like the one I sent out the other day.)

3) If we decide to upload other content to this site--say, race
calendars, training guides, etc.--should members be able to do this?
Or only "managers"? Right now, I'm the only manager.

4) Only members can post to the message board? Or anybody at all,
whether they've joined or not?

When I mention "site," "members," or "group," I'm only talking about
this Google Group. Not our regular CRC web site at www.chicorunningclub.org.
Not members of the actual club. And not the club itself.

[Susan J]

Here are my responses to the questions...
1) If we open up the site to be viewed by all, would that attract
others to join? If so, then that would be a good idea.
2) I don't know how we would send "invites" out...to all new/active
CRC members? It would be nice if we kept this message board/site as a
member benefit to attract others to join.
3) For uploading content, to keep things simple and organized, I think
it would be best if the "manager" was in charge of this. Brian, would
that be you? Members could request uploads, updates, etc. Or could
there be multiple "managers", with different people in charge of
different parts?...i.e. someone in charge of training plans, someone
in charge of the race calendar...
4) I think members only should be able to post on the board. It
doesn't take much to be a "member" of this Google Group. But I don't
have much experience with these type of sites...so I would like to
hear other people's points of view. I don't want the site to be too
limited in access, and again it might be a good way to attract new CRC
members.

[Brian]

> 1) If we open up the site to be viewed by all, would that attract
> others to join? If so, then that would be a good idea.

Yes I think so ... keeping it a "members only-viewable" board seemed a
little secretive and shortsided. But the option's there in Google to
keep it a private group, so I wanted to just put it out there.

> 2) I don't know how we would send "invites" out...to all new/active
> CRC members?

Yes, I'd need to get my hands on the email list to send out the
invites. There's also a feature on here that lets a passer-by ask me
for an invite--I get the request and then send out the invite in
response.

And this leads to another question: GGroup members have more
privileges than complete strangers, so should we allow anybody to join
the GGroup, whether they belong to CRC or not?

> 3) For uploading content, to keep things simple and organized, I think
> it would be best if the "manager" was in charge of this. Brian, would
> that be you?

Yep for now that's me, but like you suggest, there is a function to
make other people into managers. We can definitely do that down the
road.

> 4) I think members only should be able to post on the board.

That's my vote too. I suspect if anybody can post, then the board just
fills up with spam.

Thanks for the feedback!

[Brian]

Just took the first step of fine-tuning access. The group's now
visible to the public. Anybody can see it or search for it on Google.
Only members can post messages though--no spam!

Soon I'll put a link to it from the main club web site.