to keep spammers out

[JimH]

Hello again,

A few people lately have tried to post spam messages, and I have
banned those members from posting. (They have names like
macdonells...@gmail.com.)

I would rather not have those people as members of our group at all.

Would you pls think over your feelings as you were joining this group
and reply to silas...@googlegroups.com with your opinion and
preference about these two options:

1. Leave the group open as it is, so that anyone can join

2. Set the group so that anyone can request membership, and then a
group manager will approve or deny the request.

I think I would prefer option 2, but you might feel that for some
people who would benefit from our discussions, option 2 would
intimidate them from joining, and would slow down the process of
joining and having a question answered.

Looking forward to your responses,
Jim

[BobH]

I would leave the group open as it is so anyone can join. But just
make sure that, in the group settings, you have all these set:

Who can view members: Only managers can view group members list
Who can post messages: Members only
Message moderation: No moderation, except be sure to enable: Messages
from new members are moderated

Once new members prove themselves with appropriate posts, you can
release them from moderation.

Bob

[Steve Blewett]

Thanks, Bob,
I think these are the current settings for the group. As the "other
administrator,"
I don't mind banning these spammers when they appear; it's pretty obvious
who they are. So I'm OK with leaving things as they are.
Kim

[John Macaulay]

1. Leave the group open as it is, so that anyone can join

2. Set the group so that anyone can request membership, and then a
group manager will approve or deny the request.

[JBM] It seems to me option 2 is best. John Macaulay