10 posts tagged “groups”
In a recent Question of the Day we asked you how many times you re-edit your posts, and many of you confessed that you often go back a time or three to fix typos, strangely worded titles, or other errors (surely caused by those gremlins that sneak in after you hit the "Save" button). Most of us on Team Vox go back and re-edit all the time too, which is part of the reason why we offer editing options right on your blog.
Here are a few ways you can edit right from your blog:
- When you're viewing your blog, you'll notice a lock icon with the privacy level of each post listed next to it. Click that area to change the privacy level at any time. If you notice you posted about your mother's surprise birthday party to the "friends and family" privacy level, it's a quick switch to put it back to the proper "friends" level so that your secrets (at least this one) are safe from Mom. To learn more about privacy on Vox, take a look at All About Privacy.
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Typos can be quite confusing, especially when your readers start commenting on your "clam"-digging adventures when you really meant to say it was the "calm before the storm". Take care of those typos by clicking "Edit" beneath your post's title.
- In case it slips your mind, we've made it easy for you to add a post to a Vox Group after it's posted to your blog. Just click "Add to group" to bring up a list of all the groups to which you belong so that you can add the post. You don't want your book group to miss your latest theories as you reread the Harry Potter series!
- You'll find editing options as you're viewing individual details pages for each post and media item as well. From there, you can edit the title of any item by clicking on it - it will change it into a text box for editing. You can also add descriptions to your media items from the detail page.
We've covered just a few of the major editing options here, and you can find out about these and others in Editing from the Blog.
Don't let the gremlins keep you down!
-- Brandy and the Vox Help Team
Many of you are eager to find a Vox Group where you can learn and share interests and meet some cool people. Today we're going to take you through an example of how to search for a group and then create a new group to fill a niche that hasn't yet been explored. We also have a few suggestions for sharing your groups with other Voxers.
For example, maybe you've combined your love of food and art and are creating food-based sculptures. You'd really like to connect with other people who can see the beauty in creating an edible landscape with mashed potatoes and broccoli, and you want to find others who are thinking beyond the plate. A Vox Group would give you a great place to share your own work and to discuss interesting themes for food-based art projects.
So how do I find the right group or start my own?
- Your first stop when looking for a new group should be the Groups link at the top of any Vox page. From there, you can search for groups by using keywords or tags. In the search results, read through the group descriptions to see if any of them grab your interest.
- If you find a group you like in the search results, just click the "Join group" link to become a member.
- If you don't find a group that's focused on your specific fusion of food and art, you can create your own group. Just head back to the Groups page and click the "Create a group" link. You'll be asked to set the privacy level for the group, choose a group photo, write your group description, and add some group keywords.
How can I get my new group off to a good start?
- Remember how you used the keywords to find groups, and then read the group descriptions to decide whether or not to join? Don't forget how important those areas are when you create your own group! Taking time to fill in group keywords and a description will help new members find you.
- In the group description, you should explicitly state what you want (and don't want) to see in that group. Food sculpture might seem like a really obvious topic to you, but it may not be to everyone else. Be specific about your group's focus, and that will make it easier for people to know what to share in it.
- To promote your group, start by posting about it on your own blog. The people who are already coming to your blog to see your latest projects might also be interested in a group devoted to food sculpture.
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Once you publish that post, you could use the Share feature to email the post to a few fellow food artists who aren't on Vox yet.
- You could also reach out to your friends on Vox directly to ask them to join. You can either use the "Invite to Group" button on your group's home page, or send them a private message. Keep in mind that private messages on Vox shouldn't be treated like bulk mailing -- you're much better off sending out a small number of messages to people you really think would be interested in the group.
- You could also consider posting about your new group in other closely-related groups. Make sure you check with the group hosts first to see if that kind of announcement is welcome in their group.
Remember, you're going to get a much nicer response to your group if you think carefully about how you want to share it with others. We hope these tips give you some ideas on how to get your groups going!
What are some of the "specialty" groups you've created? And how have you made sure that other Voxers are aware of them?
- Brandy & the Vox Help Team
We're back, did you miss us? We just launched some new features, so read all about 'em!
Personalized Sharing
You can now include a personal message
when you use the Share feature to send posts or assets to your
friends. Now they won't have to wonder why you're sending them that
photo of a chihuahua - you can tell them right in the message! You can
share with someone who's already on Vox, or send to any email address
and the message will include an opportunity for that person to join.
In the Groups tab, you'll now find a Featured Groups box below your invitations. To get started, we're featuring mostly Vox-related groups, but we'll be featuring more of your groups as time goes by. In the future, we'll add a way for you to nominate a group to be spotlighted.
Updates to Features in Beta
A big thanks to everyone who shared their feedback about the blog dashboard that we introduced in beta in our last release.
It was very helpful -- you've inspired us to re-work the dashboard a
little bit. We're pulling it off beta for now, but look for a new and
improved version to return at a future date.
Starting next week, you'll be able to sign up in beta to receive Vox digest emails which include the last five updates from your neighborhood. We'll tell you more about this next week, with full instructions on how to sign up, so stay tuned!
New Themes
This batch of new themes includes Comic Book,
Mondrian, several colors of Leaves, new Nokia themes and some sponsored
themes from Havaianas. Get the Haivaianas themes while they're hot
because they're only going to be around for a few months! Look for the
Latest Themes module on the home page that displays the most recent themes we've added -- just click the arrows to scroll through all the new designs.
Did someone ask for Sidebar Widgets? (Coming Soon!)
Good news for all of you who want to embed your crazy code and widgets -- in our next release we're bringing post embeds out of beta, so everyone will see the Embed button on the Compose page. Also in that release, you'll be able to add one embed module to your sidebar. We know you want more control over your sidebars and we're working on it, step by step. So hang on for just a few more weeks because we're launching these embedding features in June.
- Krissy
We really love the community that has formed on Vox, and we know it's a big draw for many of our fellow Voxers as well. As Vox grows, it's important for all of us to help the newer people learn the ropes and to remind each other of ways we can help Vox continue to be a fun and safe place.
The first tip for everyone is obvious: Treat people as you would like to be treated. We'd like to think that the Golden Rule applies to blogging too. :)
If you are new and not exactly sure about how to participate in the Vox community, we suggest you:
- Explore,
read and comment. As you read blogs and comments, you'll find new
friends and see what different parts of the community are like.
- Respect the boundaries of Vox Groups. If a group has been established to talk about their favorite hamsters, then they probably aren't as interested in your post about your latest knitting project (unless you're knitting outfits for your hamsters, which would be pretty amazing). On the other hand, a knitting group would love to see your knitting posts.
- Treat private messages like an email or letter to the person - not like junk mail or a place to post a flyer.
- If you have a question, just ask. This is a friendly community. And the Knowledge Base is always a great place to find more information about Getting Started With Vox.
More seasoned Voxers and group hosts can try to keep things running smoothly and on-topic as well. Here are some suggestions:
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If someone seems to be flailing or confused, give them a hand. Send
them a private message with advice, comment on their brand new blog, or
invite them to a group to make them feel connected.
- Group hosts should use the "About the Group" section of the group home page to clearly state what's appropriate to share in your group. Take a look at Creating and Managing Groups for information on that and other group management details.
- Group hosts can remove off-topic content from their groups by using the Remove from this group link on the individual page for the off-topic item. If you do remove content from your group, it might be nice to send a private message to the person to let them know why it was removed and tell them the kind of content you want to see in your group.
If you're not
getting through to someone who continues to add off-topic content to
your group, leaves inappropriate comments on your blog, or sends you
unwanted private messages, you do have the option to block that person.
We hope that's not an option that any of us feel the need to use, but
it's there if you need it. If you see spam or anything on Vox that
doesn't seem to fall within our Vox Community Guidelines, please take a look at Reporting Abuse or Spam for information on how to report it to us.
All of us play important roles in keeping Vox a welcoming place. What suggestions would you give to someone trying to find his/her way around Vox? And what do you think it means to be a good Vox citizen?
- Brandy & the Vox Help team
When Team Vox isn't busy making elaborate jokes involving candy, shamelessly exploiting the office dogs to win Webby Awards votes and popping over to Honolulu for Vox user meetups, we actually do get a lot of real work done around here. Here's what's new for you today:
[comments are good]
We've
heard your feedback that you want more open commenting, and today we're
releasing the very first step in making that happen. Now an
unregistered commenter can type up their comment and when they click to
post it, they'll be taken to a streamlined version of our registration
form. They'll still have to register, but hopefully this setup will
make it easier.
This is the first step in a longer plan we're working on to make commenting more open, while trying to keep control over comment spam and avoid some of the downsides of anonymous commenting. More details to come!
Post and Asset Links
You'll
notice we shuffled the links around your posts and assets. When you're
viewing your own blog, your admin links (the links only you can use or
see - such as edit, add to group and delete) have been moved to their
own line, separated to show they are not part of the post itself.
Links for readers, such as comment and share, have been moved to the
bottom of the post.
Growing Groups
We've added RSS subscription links for groups, so your feed reader can stay up to date on when new posts are added. Just scroll down to the bottom of any group's home page to find it.
Another addition to the groups home page is excerpts of all the latest posts. We hope this gives you a quick way to skim some of the latest updates, and also a nice way to preview a group before you decide to join.
New Themes
You asked for it, and
you got it: a few themes for new moms and moms-to-be! We've also added the
much-anticipated winning designs from the French banner contest.
New in Beta: Blog Home Dashboard
For those of you who have opted in to be beta testers, there are new changes for you to test drive.
There's a new dashboard module on Vox Home and on your own blog as you are viewing it. It's a dashboard that includes the QotD, a few handy links and some tips about new features. Our stats show that many of you enter the site through your blog, so this dashboard is meant to give you a snapshot of Vox Home right from your own blog. The dashboard is only visible by you (visitors will never see it) and you can collapse it by clicking the Hide button.
This same dashboard is reflected on Vox Home, which means that the columns (including QotD and Vox Hunt) have been swapped. This is just phase one of the feature, and we’re planning on adding more editing controls going forward.
Just as you saw with the navigation strip, your feedback will help us evolve this feature before it's launched to the entire site. Give it a spin and let us know what you think via the Feedback link. If you want to opt in to beta testing, follow these instructions.
Feedback
Remember, the best way to tell us your feedback is by following the Feedback link.
-- Mena
P.S. Don't forget to vote! :)
Thanks to the efforts of Team Vox
rock star developer and Japanese teen idol Tatsuhiko Miyagawa, basic authentication for feeds of Vox blogs was fixed a few weeks ago.
This means
that if your feed reader supports it, you can now supply your Vox login
information when subscribing to Vox blog feeds. This will allow you to see
non-public posts (only the ones to which you have access), so you don’t miss any
of the good stuff. Also, with our last release we began to support feeds of Vox
groups, including private groups.
If you want to get in on all of this, there are some things to note:
- Your feed reader must
support basic authentication. If you want to subscribe to a feed that contains
non-public posts, you should add “?auth=basic” to the end of the feed’s URL in
your feed reader. That should tell your reader to prompt you for your Vox login
information, if you haven’t already put it in.
- For private groups, you’ll also need to add “?auth=basic” to the end of the group’s URL. This is because proper credentials are required before Vox exposes information about private groups (including the discoverable feed URLs). Once your reader discovers the feed, you may still need to add “?auth=basic” to the end of the feed’s URL in order to get your reader to do the right thing.
Once you get your feeds configured, they should keep working without having to worry about all this URL altering and credential supplying nonsense.
Feed readers are a great way for you
to be actively notified when there's a new post or asset to a Vox blog or group. My favorite
feed reader is the rather creatively named FeedReader, which is available at for
free at www.feedreader.com. If you use a feed reader with Vox, let us know in the comments.
Read more in All About Feeds.
-- Steve
As we've highlighted before, you have a range of privacy levels available to you when you're adding content to your blog. From "anyone" to "you (hidden)", you control who sees your posts and media items. Take a look at All about Privacy to learn more about those privacy options.
With our recent addition of Vox Groups, there are additional privacy options to keep in mind if you're adding any of your content to groups. There are 3 types of Groups: Public, Public by Invitation, and Private. As you might expect, the content added to both types of Public groups is viewable by anyone who looks at the group. In a Private group, the group content is only viewable by the other members in that group.
To illustrate how someone might use the privacy options, let's walk through a short example. Imagine that you're a closet soap opera fan. You consider the Hortons and Bradys from "Days of our Lives" to be a part of your family, but you don't really want to broadcast that little piece of information to just anyone. You've been adding daily show recaps along with your witty commentary to your blog for your own amusement, setting the posts to be viewable by "you (hidden)".
Your best friend is also a Vox member and he, of course, knows your little secret and is also a soap opera fan. He's just a little more vocal about it than you are, so when Vox Groups were added, he immediately started a Public group for all soap opera fans to talk about their favorite daily dramas. He invited you to the group, but you declined because you didn't want to share your soap opera posts with the whole world as would happen if you shared them in a Public group.
You did like the idea of sharing the posts with a few people though, and you happened to know that you weren't the only person interested in a Private soap opera group, so you created a new private group and invited the other closet soap opera fans you knew well. Now you still keep your soap opera recaps private (viewable by "you (hidden)") on your own blog, but you also add them to your private group so the other group members can read and comment on them. It's brought some interaction to your soap opera habit while still keeping it just between you and some close friends.
There are many ways you can use a Vox Group together with the privacy settings on your individual blog to reach just the audience you want to reach. Take a look at Groups and Privacy for more examples.
How are you using the privacy options with Groups?
-- Brandy and the Vox help team
We're back with a new release with some features you're sure to enjoy.
Email Posts to Your Friends!
It’s a little-known fact, but not everyone reads their Vox neighborhood all the time. (In fact, we understand that some people have friends or family who aren’t on Vox yet!) But don’t fret – even if some folks haven’t accepted your Vox invites, you can share your life on Vox with them using good old-fashioned email.
We just added a feature where you can email an excerpt of a public post on Vox to anyone, whether or not they have a Vox account. Right after saving your post, you'll get the option to share it by entering in one or several email addresses. Right now the only way to access this option is after you save a post, so if you want to send something that you posted previously, just open it up to edit it, then save it to access the share option. (Don’t worry, we'll tweaking that part of the feature in future releases.)
So now there’s more ways to share your posts than ever! After you save your post, you can: choose your privacy level, send it to a Vox group using the still-in-beta Groups feature, and email it to those few remaining souls who haven’t yet discovered Vox for themselves. Around our office, we like to say [Vox is Love] and now we can say [Vox Loves Email]!
Group Design
If you’ve created a Vox group or are an administrator on a group, you can now pick from a bunch of Vox themes to customize the look of your group. Right now the available themes include Cityscapes and Clean/Minimalist. Personalized themes don’t work for Groups yet, but remember this is just the first phase – we’ll be adding new options for group designs in the future, in classic Vox style. (Tip: To pass the time while you wait for this feature, try inviting more members into your group, or discovering which groups you’ve missed out on, in the Explore tab.)
To pick your group’s theme, just go to any group you're an administrator of and click on the Settings tab.
Adding Friends and Neighbors
Humans! Humans in my Vox! Need another easy way to add friends and neighbors? Just do a search for people on the Explore page, and next to each person’s name, you’ll see a little link to let you add them to your neighborhood. If they’re already a friend, you’ll see a little icon reminding you about it. And these quick-add links show up in the About page of your friends’ blogs, too.
Full Cross-Posting
You can now choose a setting to allow for either cross-posting of full posts, or just cross posting of excerpts. Under the Account menu, click on Outside Services and find the check box under "Your other blog". The preference you set will apply every time you use the cross-posting option.
New Themes
Just because we've released personalized banners doesn't mean we're going to stop adding new themes to Vox. We've added some more themes from our banner contest winners (thanks Michael, Steven, Lynn & Katy!)
The Vox Groups beta was just announced yesterday afternoon, and it's great to see so many of you are already joining and creating new groups! We wanted to share a few quick tips that might help you if you want to:
Find groups to join
Visit the Explore page and click on Groups
to see all the latest groups that Voxers have created. To find a group
you'd like to join, just enter in a few tags or keywords in the search
box.
You can create a new group by clicking on the Groups link in the header. When you're creating a new group, be sure to spend a few moments adding tags to it so that people can easily find it when they're searching.
Now that you've joined a few groups, you'll want to keep up to date on what group members are sharing and saying. Just head to VoxWatch and click on Groups. Click through the tabs at the top to see all the latest posts, photos, audio, videos and books that have been added.
As Mena mentioned in yesterday's release notes, everything that you share with a group must first be added to your own Vox blog. But what if you want to share that hilarious chihuahua video with the Chihuahuas group, but not with your Neighborhood? Just set the privacy level on the post or asset to "you (draft)" and then select the group you'd like to share it with. That will let it be visible to the group, but not on your blog.
We hope those tips are helpful. Have you joined or created any groups you're really excited about?
-- Krissy
Psst. I have a secret to tell you: Vox Groups are coming.
With Vox Groups, you’ll be able to share anything from your blog with a group of Voxers who’d be interested in it. Create a group for your local cycling club, for an online book club, for a family reunion or a crafting circle -- the possibilities are endless!
Here’s a quick overview of some of the features of Vox Groups:
- You will be able to make your own group(s)
- Groups can be public or private
- Groups can be invite-only, or open for anyone to join
- You’ll be able to share posts, photos, videos, books and music with your groups
- To share with a group, you’ll upload to your blog as normal, and then choose which group(s) it goes to, just like you choose your privacy level
Next week we’re opening up a beta
version of Vox Groups. It is a work in progress, but you’ll see links in the header and in
the Explore page. Just like with all Vox features, we'll be making changes and improvements over time. Starting Monday you’ll be able to poke around in Groups and
check stuff out, join some and start your own.
We'll give you more details about
exactly how Groups will work in our next few posts. Stay tuned to Team Vox for a new set of
Release Notes next week. There are some very exciting things to
come!
-- Krissy
