Social Groups are subscriber-created forums that can be created for special interests away from the main forums. For example, a player can create a Social Group for his or her supergroup, RP group, badge-hunting group, PvP group, etc. Social groups allow players to discuss special interests away from other forums, and offers some flexibility and a little more privacy than a thread in a standard forum.
What can I do in a Social Group?
Inside of a social group, members can create new discussions just like they would create a new thread in a standard forum. In effect, a Social Group is like a subforum, where multiple discussions (threads) can take place within the group. Instead of creating one or more threads on one or more of the main forums, the social group can collect all of its discussions in one convenient location.
For example, an RP social group may have different discussions for different RP locations, storylines, or characters. A badge-hunting social group my have different discussions for hunting certain types of badges, or for different badge-related events. A PvP group might have a discussion for its roster, another discussion for arena PvP events, another for zone PvP events, etc.
When you create a Social Group, you must pick a Category. The only category at the time of this writing is Uncategorized (the CoH forum moderators haven't created any Social Group categories at this time).
You also have the option of adding a picture to your Social Group when it is created; this is in effect the Social Group's avatar. You can skip this step if you so desire.
After that, the Social Group is created, and you are set up as the moderator - the Social Group's owner.
How do I search for and join existing Social Groups that share my interests?
In your User CP, click on the Social Groups link on the left margin of the window. Near the top of the window there is a Search Groups function; just type in a search term and click Go.
There's also an Advanced Search function at the bottom of the Social Groups page, that allows you to search based off of a gamut of criteria (members, creation dates, keywords, etc.)
Once you find a Social Group that interests you, click on the Join Group link at the bottom of the group's home page. Depending on the group, you may have to wait until its moderator accepts your request before joining in their discussions.
As a group moderator, can I restrict membership to my Social Group?
Yes. When a social Groupo is created, there are three Group Type options:
Public - anyone can join and post in the Social Group
Moderated - people can request to join and then immediately post messages and new discussions even though they have not been accepted by the group owner.
Invite Only - Members must be invited by the Social Group moderator before they can participate in the group.
The Group Type can also be changed by the group's moderator at any time using the Edit Group link at the bottom of the Social Group's home page.
As a group moderator, can I add or remove members?
Regardless of the Group Type, social group members can be invited using the Pending & Invited Members link at the bottom of the Social Group's home page.
You can also use the Pending & Invited Members to revoke any invitations or kick any members. However, for Public groups, whereas anyone can join the group, kicking problem members will have no effect; you may want to consider changing the Group Type to Moderated or Invite Only for these situations.
Who can view a Social Group's activity?
Social Groups can only be viewed by subscribed members (CoH players with active subscriptions and forum privileges). They cannot be read by the general public (you must be logged into the forums to read or participate with a Social Group's activities).
This means that your social group's activities will not by hidden to other fellow CoH players who can post on the forums. However, depending on the Group Type (as described above), their participation in the group may be limited
In general, don't post anything that could adversely affect your membership on the CoH forums in general. Posts can still be seen by and reported to CoH moderators (AFAIK), meaning that anything you post in your social group can still result in action against your forum account.
Can I do all of the same posting actions in a Social Group that I can in a regular forum?
Not quite. Although you can still post images and links (raw or using the [url] tags) in Social Group discussions, some functions, such as using the [center] tag, changing font size, and other formatting functions are not available in Social Group discussion. You also have a limit of 1,000 characters per post, which will inhibit anything text-intensive, such as guides, multiple images or URLs, etc.
In addition, your normal forum avatar and signature will not appear in Social Group discussions.
If I created a Social Group and no longer want to moderate it, can I hand over moderation to another user?
Yes. At any time, the current moderator can elect another user to which to transfer ownership of the Social Group using the Transfer Group link at the bottom of the Social Group's home page. When sent, the recipient should receive a Private Message with a confirmation to take over moderation of the group. The transferring moderator can also cancel the transfer request before the transfer is accepted.
As a group moderator, can I delete a Social Group?
Yes, but only if the Social Group is empty. The moderator must remove all current members from the Social Group using the Pending & Invited Members link at the bottom of the Social Group's home page.. At that time, the Delete Group link will appear at the bottom of the Social Group's home page, allowing the moderator to delete the group permanently. There is also a confirmation before the group is deleted.
Posted
Yay! Will definitely look into this more. Thank you!
Posted
No problem. And if there are any discrepancies in the above info, please let me know.
What are Social Groups?
Social Groups are subscriber-created forums that can be created for special interests away from the main forums. For example, a player can create a Social Group for his or her supergroup, RP group, badge-hunting group, PvP group, etc. Social groups allow players to discuss special interests away from other forums, and offers some flexibility and a little more privacy than a thread in a standard forum.
What can I do in a Social Group?
Inside of a social group, members can create new discussions just like they would create a new thread in a standard forum. In effect, a Social Group is like a subforum, where multiple discussions (threads) can take place within the group. Instead of creating one or more threads on one or more of the main forums, the social group can collect all of its discussions in one convenient location.
For example, an RP social group may have different discussions for different RP locations, storylines, or characters. A badge-hunting social group my have different discussions for hunting certain types of badges, or for different badge-related events. A PvP group might have a discussion for its roster, another discussion for arena PvP events, another for zone PvP events, etc.
How do I create a Social Group?
In your User CP, click on the Social Groups link on the left margin of the window. At the bottom of the window, you'll see an option to Create a Social Group.
When you create a Social Group, you must pick a Category. The only category at the time of this writing is Uncategorized (the CoH forum moderators haven't created any Social Group categories at this time).
You also have the option of adding a picture to your Social Group when it is created; this is in effect the Social Group's avatar. You can skip this step if you so desire.
After that, the Social Group is created, and you are set up as the moderator - the Social Group's owner.
How do I search for and join existing Social Groups that share my interests?
In your User CP, click on the Social Groups link on the left margin of the window. Near the top of the window there is a Search Groups function; just type in a search term and click Go.
There's also an Advanced Search function at the bottom of the Social Groups page, that allows you to search based off of a gamut of criteria (members, creation dates, keywords, etc.)
Once you find a Social Group that interests you, click on the Join Group link at the bottom of the group's home page. Depending on the group, you may have to wait until its moderator accepts your request before joining in their discussions.
As a group moderator, can I restrict membership to my Social Group?
Yes. When a social Groupo is created, there are three Group Type options:
The Group Type can also be changed by the group's moderator at any time using the Edit Group link at the bottom of the Social Group's home page.
As a group moderator, can I add or remove members?
Regardless of the Group Type, social group members can be invited using the Pending & Invited Members link at the bottom of the Social Group's home page.
You can also use the Pending & Invited Members to revoke any invitations or kick any members. However, for Public groups, whereas anyone can join the group, kicking problem members will have no effect; you may want to consider changing the Group Type to Moderated or Invite Only for these situations.
Who can view a Social Group's activity?
Social Groups can only be viewed by subscribed members (CoH players with active subscriptions and forum privileges). They cannot be read by the general public (you must be logged into the forums to read or participate with a Social Group's activities).
This means that your social group's activities will not by hidden to other fellow CoH players who can post on the forums. However, depending on the Group Type (as described above), their participation in the group may be limited
In general, don't post anything that could adversely affect your membership on the CoH forums in general. Posts can still be seen by and reported to CoH moderators (AFAIK), meaning that anything you post in your social group can still result in action against your forum account.
Can I do all of the same posting actions in a Social Group that I can in a regular forum?
Not quite. Although you can still post images and links (raw or using the [url] tags) in Social Group discussions, some functions, such as using the [center] tag, changing font size, and other formatting functions are not available in Social Group discussion. You also have a limit of 1,000 characters per post, which will inhibit anything text-intensive, such as guides, multiple images or URLs, etc.
In addition, your normal forum avatar and signature will not appear in Social Group discussions.
If I created a Social Group and no longer want to moderate it, can I hand over moderation to another user?
Yes. At any time, the current moderator can elect another user to which to transfer ownership of the Social Group using the Transfer Group link at the bottom of the Social Group's home page. When sent, the recipient should receive a Private Message with a confirmation to take over moderation of the group. The transferring moderator can also cancel the transfer request before the transfer is accepted.
As a group moderator, can I delete a Social Group?
Yes, but only if the Social Group is empty. The moderator must remove all current members from the Social Group using the Pending & Invited Members link at the bottom of the Social Group's home page.. At that time, the Delete Group link will appear at the bottom of the Social Group's home page, allowing the moderator to delete the group permanently. There is also a confirmation before the group is deleted.