You've started a group, settled on some Guidelines for your Members that your Moderators are now expected to, well, moderate.

How do they do that?

What are their guidelines?

Where do you start?!?!?!?

Below is an example to get your brain juices flowing. For most it is too much, for others it may just be a starting point.

Regardless of which camp you fall into, here's the Moderator Manual - An Example to Start From.

An introductory manual for moderators  

Based on material provided by Milt Baker the Nordhavn Owners Group who provided the base text this page was based on.

Groups.io definitions:

• Owner: A group owner is a moderator who has all possible permissions, and therefore, complete control over the group. A group may have more than one owner. 
• Moderator: A group moderator is a member of the group who has permission to perform certain actions to help run the group, such as approving messages or memberships, editing the archives, etc. A group may have more than one moderator.
• Member: A person or entity whose email is recognized as being accepted by the group. A Member's individual permissions are controlled by Owners and Moderators, including the ability to become a Member.
• Non-Members: A person or entity not accepted by the group. (They may be recognized but rejected). They may be allowed to see parts of the group's site (Messages (and Post), Calendar, Wiki depending on group's settings.

Placeholders and Abbreviations Used in this Document:

• [Your_Group_Name]: What you call yourselves, (Group Managers Forum) and can be different from
• [GroupName]: This is the actual text in your groups.io web address (GroupManagersForum)
• [Your_Group]: More who you are than what you are (Group Managers)
• YGN: Your Group Name
•  

[your group]  – what is it?……………………………….………………………..    5

Goals of YGN…………………………………………………………………………………………….    5

What is a moderator?.............................................................................................    6

Moderator code of contact………………………………………………………………………….    6

Moderator tasks and responsibilities…………………………………………………………..    7   

Guidelines for moderators………………………………………………………………………….    9  

Moderator files and instructions………………………………………………………………… 10

Membership criteria…………………………………………………………………………………. 11

Group rules……………………………………………………………………………………………… 11

Moderator team email address………………………………………………………………….. 13

Advanced preferences………………………………………………………………………………. 15

What to do when you become Duty Moderator…………………………………………… 15 

How to add members……………………………………………………….……………………….. 17

Admitting a pending member………………………………………………..………………….. 19

Adding a new member’s Display Name………………………………………………………. 19

Another way to add a member…………………………………………………………………… 20

Denying membership……………………………………………………………………………….. 22

Groups.io denial of membership (AKA rejection)…………………………………… …... 22

Member information………………………………………………………………………………… 22

Status badges…………………………………………………………………………………………… 22

Email status…………………………………………………………………………………………….. 23

Bounced………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 24

Bouncing, banned…………………………………………………………………………………….. 24

Not confirmed………………………………………………………………………………………….. 24

Role of member……………………………………………………………………………………….. 24

Posting privilege……………………………………………………………………………………… 25

Default group policy………………………………………………………………………………… 25

Override: not moderated…………………………………………………………………………. 25

Override: moderated……………………………………………………………………………….. 25

Override: new user moderated………………………………………………………………….. 25

Override: not allowed to post……………………………………………………………………. 26

Email delivery…………………………………………………………………………………………. 26

FAQs for members……………………………..…………………………………………………… 27

FAQs for moderators……………………………………………………………………………….. 28

Removed because of spam……………………………………………………………………….. 28

Email commands for YGN……………………………………………………………………….. 28

References and sources of help…………………………………………………………………. 29 

YGN Group Description

The YGN Home Page https://groups.io/g/GN

FROM ATLANTIC TO PACIFIC AND AROUND THE WORLD 

Bringing together [your group’s focus] from all corners of the earth

YGN Welcome Rules & Terms of Service

[Your_Group_Name] Welcome, Rules and Terms of Service for Members

Thank you for being a member of [Your_Group_Name] (YGN). If you received this message by email you are a member of the group and your membership is associated with the address where you received this reminder.  This is YGN's monthly reminder to members. 

With more than [xxx] members, this group exists for [your group’s focus]. We welcome posts from all members. 

The filter we use in moderating the group is "What's best for [your group’s focus]?" and we ask that every member keep that question in mind as well. If you believe something you propose to post is of interest to or to the benefit of other [your group’s focus], by all means, post it.  If not, don't. 

The group's focus is serving as a forum, a members’ clearinghouse for ideas, opinions, advice, counsel, and personal experiences for exchange of information and discussions involving all things [your group].

We invite you to post a short introduction to other YGN members, including your names, your [interest in our group], background, and perhaps where you hope to learn.   And don't be afraid to jump right into our forum with your questions, observations, and thoughts on [your group].  "Dumb questions" are always welcome! 

You have great [your group] adventures ahead and we look forward to having you as a YGN member!

Group Settings 

NOTE: These are up to you, below are creators standards, mine will be in {}

• All members can post to the group.

• Posts to this group do not require approval from the moderators. {After 1st or 2nd post}

• Messages are set to reply to group and sender.

• Membership in this group requires approval from the moderators.

• Archives are visible to members only.

• Wiki is visible to members only. {Public can view, Members can view and edit}

• Members can edit their posts.

• Members can set their membership to no email.

YGN Moderator Team 

List owner and chief moderator

       [Name], [Location], [email]  [Phone number(s)]

Senior Moderator

       [Name], [Location], [email]  [Phone number(s)]

Associate Moderators

       [Name], [Location], [email]  [Phone number(s)]

       [Name], [Location], [email]  [Phone number(s)]

Duty Moderator   YGN+owner@groups.io

Group Email Addresses

·       Post: YGN@groups.io

·       Subscribe: YGN+subscribe@groups.io

·       Unsubscribe: YGN+unsubscribe@groups.io

·       Group Owner: YGN+owner@groups.io

·       Help: YGN+help@groups.io

 INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the [your group]  (YGN) moderator team!  Thank you for volunteering to join the team that guides and manages the group.  You’ll definitely be giving back to the [your group], and I hope you’ll find it an interesting and rewarding experience. 

This manual aims to introduce you to the moderator side of the [your group]  and outline how the group is managed. The idea is to have a single document to provide orientation for new moderators and serve as a reference for everyone involved in moderating the group. Of course, much will depend on your own good judgment, not to mention the hands-on experience you gain as a moderator.

PLEASE, don’t be afraid to ask questions!  There are no dumb questions.

[YOUR GROUP] 

[your group]  (YGN) is an online community that serves as an important source of information, assistance, socialization, and, at times, entertainment for its members—[your group].  It’s hosted by Groups.io. 

In your work as a moderator please keep in mind is that YGN exists to benefit those of us who own [your group’s focus]. The filter we use in making decisions when moderating the group comes from asking a simple question: 

What’s best for [your group]?

First Management Principle in Your Role as Moderator.

It is important that each moderator be a good communicator, develop a good understanding of how to make Groups.io work for YGN, and gain a good understanding of how to encourage productive discussions on the group. Balance is the key to having good and open discussion while keeping conflict among members to a minimum. It’s also important for each moderator develop a good working knowledge of the group’s rules, understand the group’s policies and procedures, and be familiar with the group’s moderator files.  That’s all covered in this Moderator Manual.

Consistency in moderation is the cornerstone of an effective online community like YGN.  Effective moderation helps grow the group’s membership while providing a pleasant and welcoming environment for members and moderators alike.  That’s what we aim for.

GOALS

The goals of the [your group]  are:

1. To provide an upbeat, helpful and user-friendly forum for members to use for exchanging information on matters of interest to [your group’s focus], to stimulate interest in such matters by owners, and to promote the free exchange of such information. 

2. To encourage membership in the group by [your group], former [your group], professional [your group]  crewmembers, principals of Tomco Marine Group, and others members of the [your group]  family we wish to invite to join the group.

 3. To place a high priority on courtesy and on polite and civil discourse among members in the group’s posts and other communications.

4. To conduct surveys from time to time of the group’s membership on topics of interest, and share the results with all members.

WHAT IS A MODERATOR?

In the online group world, a moderator is a volunteer who assists in overseeing overseeing and managing the group’s affairs and answers to the group’s owner/chief moderator. Members of the YGN moderator team oversee all activity of the group and are responsible for keeping the group on course. 

In adding to the list of moderators we’re venturing into new territory.  Please understand that what I outline here is a first cut, and it will surely need modification and updates as we go down this road. Your additions, fixes, and recommendations for making it more workable are solicited and most welcome!

MODERATOR CODE OF CONDUCT

Each volunteer moderator of YGN agrees:

• To be respectful of all YGN members and the administration of the group, and to represent the group with honesty, diplomacy and professionalism.

• To be discreet and to maintain confidentiality regarding moderator activities and member information. To do its job well the group absolutely must have the trust of its members.

• Not to take criticism by a member or another moderator personally, and to keep moderator exchanges on a professional level.

• To consider the feelings of others before commenting on any post as either a moderator or a contributor.

• To use private emails and private messaging (instead of posting to the group) to communicate with the members of the moderator team when questioning or proposing changes to the group’s policies, rules or guidelines, or decisions on specific issues.

• To notify the group owner immediately if he or she is unable to fulfill his or her duties as duty moderator, needs a leave of absence, or chooses to resign as a moderator. 

MODERATOR TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The following are the principal tasks and responsibilities of YGN moderators, with the duty moderator taking the lead while he or she is “on watch”:

• Job one for YGN moderators is helping applicants join YGN and get up and running on the group.  That means watching for applications and requests from those who wish to be YGN members, vetting pending and potential members to assure that they are [your group], issuing invitations to qualified applicants, and helping them get up and running on YGN.  This generally takes more time than any other moderator activity.  It’s not difficult but it’s exacting and requires good management.  More on this below.

• Monitoring posts by members, either by checking the group online several times a day or having each post sent by email individually so it can be reviewed right after it’s been posted.  

• Assuring that posts comply with the group’s rules, and privately notifying members whose posts violate YGN’s rules, always using discretion in doing so.

• Making decisions regarding content and the direction of the group’s threads.

• Jumping into a thread as needed to help keep an exchange headed in the right direction, to help keep the discussion polite and civil, or to ask for or provide amplifying information.

• Deleting inappropriate posts, but this can be a slippery slope so proceed carefully and ask for help if you’re tempted to navigate this alone for the first time.

• Promoting interaction when activity becomes slow or inactive, often by posting questions.

• Closing discussion on a thread when appropriate.

• Taking care of administrative housekeeping to assure that YGN is well organized, orderly and easy to use.

• Calling to the attention of the chief moderator/owner any issues which appear to need attention or resolution.

• Other duties as assigned.

Moderating a group like YGN is a matter or personal style and can be done in many different ways. As YGN’s owner and someone who has been moderating groups like this for more than a decade, I have learned that the best moderation is done with a light touch.  I recommend that to everyone who is a moderator on YGN.  This is a case where less is more!

Some moderators may prefer to remain almost invisible, surfacing only when a topic grabs their attention or when there’s a need to jump in or close discussion. Others may enjoy being active participants in the group’s discussions. A good moderator can sometimes steer a discussion in different direction to increase participation—or to prevent a thread from becoming a train-wreck.  When the group is slow, a proactive moderator may want to introduce a new topic or pose questions in a post.  It’s your call!

No matter what approach you take, make every effort to remain objective and impartial. Resist the temptation to oversteer. Keep in mind that your goal as a moderator should be to maintain well-balanced discussions and encourage a sense of community among our group’s members.  It should also be to keep discussions on track and to avoid conflict, flaming, and open warfare.  

It is important for the duty moderator to monitor the group closely and, in a positive, diplomatic way, make sure the group’s rules are followed.  On the rare occasion when a member needs to be reminded that he or she is not following the rules, it is important to handle that privately (generally by email)—never with a “pubic” post to the group.  On the other hand, if a number of members are violating the rules a gentle reminder posted to the group at large (without naming names!) is usually in order. 

Unlike groups that require that every proposed post be “moderated”—that is, vetted and approved by a moderator before posting—YGN allows members to post directly to the group without moderator interference.  On rare occasions, however, it may become necessary to place an errant member on moderation, meaning his or her posts must be approved by a moderator before being posted.  Placing a member on moderation is not done lightly and should not be done without an OK from the group’s owner.   

Being a moderator requires commitment.  It may take 15‐30 minutes, occasionally more, each day you are “on watch” as “duty moderator”.  My aim is to have enough moderators to have one duty moderator on watch at all times without unduly burdening any single moderator.  And one backup duty moderator who can fill in if the duty moderator becomes unavailable.

As an online forum, [your group]  is open to members 24/7.  One moderator will normally be on duty at all times according to the Moderator Schedule established and maintained posted under Moderator Files in the group’s Files section.  In creating the schedule, we will ask each of you to let us have windows, dates when you would prefer to be on duty and then you would prefer NOT to be on duty, and then make up the schedule with those dates in mind.  As chief moderator, I stand duty moderator watches in rotation with other moderators.

Being duty moderator doesn’t mean you have to be available 24/7 when you’re on watch, but it does mean you should either check the group a few times a day or reset your membership so you receive each post at the time it’s posted during during your watch, so you can see if there’s anything that requires moderator attention. 

Be aware that all moderator activity is logged by Groups.io, so if you need to see whether or when something was done, either by another moderator or by you, as a moderator you can click on Activity>Moderator Activity in the left side menu on YGN or click here.

We use a system that’s worked well for YGN:  a duty moderator and a backup duty moderator on duty for a month at a time.  That means that the duty rolls around infrequently and there’s always a backup in case the duty moderator cannot respond promptly. 

For the most part, a group like this runs itself, but moderators are vital to help keep the group on course and to handle the group’s day-to-day business. 

In all your moderator duties you will be supported by other moderators and will have access to many resources to help you.  And I’ll be there to backstop everyone.

GUIDELINES FOR MODERATORS

Here are the working guidelines, the marching orders, for YGN moderators. 

• Develop a good working understanding YGN’s culture and its rules, and work within them to help keep the group on course. 

• Maintain an upbeat, friendly, non‐threatening relationship with YGN members and other moderators, using diplomacy rather than confrontation wherever possible. Experience shows that the group is best moderated with a light touch. 

• Meet the group’s goal of dealing with all membership requests, pending members and pending membership messages within 24 hours, and all other inquiries within 48 hours.  Sooner is better.

• Maintain the confidentiality of any information distributed via the list or shared with you in your moderator role.

• Be familiar with this Moderator Manual and the groups Moderator Files and use them as needed. The files are online here: https://groups.io/g/YGN/files/Moderator Files

• Be mindful of your position as a moderator and take care not to take advantage of it or abuse it. 

• If you are confronted with a tough moderating issue or you face making a moderating decision that runs the risk of offending one or more members, ask for help from the Group’s owner.  In such cases, your recommendation on how to proceed will be appreciated. 

• Perform other tasks as required or assigned.

MODERATOR FILES AND INSTRUCTIONS

One first step that should be taken by every new moderator is to become familiar with the Moderator Files posted in the Files Section of YGN.  When you need to send a form email to a member or would-be members, it’s often easier to cut and paste one of these files than to write a new email each time but you’re free to handle it in any manner you wish.

Here are some of the key files and instructions there now:

• Welcome Aboard and Guidelines for [your group] 

o https://groups.io/g/YGN/guidelines

o A welcome message sent automatically by Groups.io to each new member

o Also sent automatically as a reminder to every member every month

• Email sent by moderator to verify [your group’s focus]hip

o Format for an email to be sent from a moderator to a broker to confirm ownership of an [your group] 

• Denial of your request to join [your group] 

o An email sent by moderator to anyone denied membership

• Lost Password Instructions

o A member’s password for Group.io is between the member and Group.io, and YGN does not have access to user passwords.

• Change email address

o How to change your Groups.io email address

• Instructions for joining [your group] 

o Instructions for joining [your group] 

• YGN applicant E-mail

o Message to those applying for YGN membership

• YGN reminder to Applicants

o A reminder to those applying to become members of [your group] 

MEMBERSHIP CRITERIA

Membership in [your group]  is limited to the following: 

• [your group’s focus], including anyone who has a signed and accepted contract on a new [your group]  yacht.

• Specially selected Expert Members.

• Selected [your group] vendors. 

So the YGN moderator doesn’t have to send an email to each new applicant, we have arranged for Groups.io to automatically send [Pending Subscription message] to each applicant to YGN.  As you’ll note, the email requests that the applicant provide evidence of [your group’s focus].  You can access that message at any time by going to YGN then Settings>Member Notices>Your application to join [Your_Group_Name]

GROUP RULES

Here are the rules that govern the [Your_Group_Name].  Failure to observe the rules may result in a member's removal from the site.

1. Ownership. This group is privately owned and administered. It provides a no-cost, non-profit, non-commercial forum for communication and it exists for the benefit of [your group’s focus]. Subject matter should be limited to [your group]’s interests.

 2. Affiliation. {List any affiliations you might have or delete this point}

 3. Keep it [your group]. The forum is intended to be focused exclusively on matters [your group] and subjects of interest to [your group’s focus].  If you're considering a post, ask if it related to [your group] or [your group’s focus].  If not, is it of wide interest to [your group’s focus]?  If not, it has no place here.

 4. Polite and Civil. Please keep it polite and keep it civil. We ask that you respect the opinion and views of everyone. We have many differing opinions and YGN is a great forum for airing them, but it's not a place to pick a fight with another member.  If you choose to disagree with someone on YGN, please do so without being disagreeable about it.

 5. Promotion and Advantage. [Your_Group_Name] is not to be used to promote any product or service, though truthful and candid hands-on reports from users on products and services of interest to [your group’s focus] are actively encouraged. YGN is not to be used by any member to gain, or try to gain, financial advantage over any other member. {This is highly dependent on your group’s focus}

 6. Members Only. As in Las Vegas, what happens here stays here. Information posted on YGN is not intended for non-members and is not to be posted elsewhere or sent to anyone who is not a member of the group without permission in writing from the person who wrote it.  Likewise, the list of owners is not to be shared with anyone who is not a member of this list. {This is highly dependent on your group’s focus}

 7. Keep Repeats to a Minimum. To minimize bandwidth, do not repeat an entire post or series of posts you're responding to--instead, trim your posts by clipping out and using a sentence or two from the earlier post(s). Here's a quick example of how to trim

8. Archives. This group contains old posts going back to [Year], not to mention many files and photos. Often answers to a question or an issue that's new to you can be found by reviewing old posts in the archives. Searching the archives is easy: just click on the Search at the top of any post on YGN.  {I would recommend the Wiki at this point}

9. Responding. One mistake members sometimes make is thinking they're replying to a member but actually posting the response to all members. When responding to a post, decide whether you wish to respond only to the person who posted it or to the entire group. If you click on “Reply” your response will be posted to the group.  If that’s not your intent, use your email client to prepare and send an email instead. {or Reply Privately NL}

10. Discussion Closed. When a moderator closes discussion on a particular subject, it's closed. Period. You're welcome to correspond privately with other on it, but there will be no more posts on the board on the subject.

11. EMAIL Preferences. You can have [Your_Group_Name] posts sent to you in either a daily digest or a copy of each message posted sent “live” moments after it's posted. You can also unsubscribe, or you can modify your membership so that you receive no regular posts from the group yet retain access via the Internet. To do any of this, get started by going to the YGN Home Page https://groups.io/g/YGN then clicking “Subscription” at the top of menu on the left side.   

“[Your_Group_Name]” is a designated Service Mark of the [Your_Group_Name], protected and governed by trademark laws in the United States of America, and cannot legally be used without obtaining permission in writing from the moderators or owners of [Your_Group_Name]. {This is highly dependent on your group’s focus}

As always, we welcome any ideas you might have for making this a better or more useful resource for [your group’s focus].

Good cruising,

[Owner]

For the YGN Moderator Team

MODERATOR TEAM EMAIL

To make it easy for the moderator team to stay apprised of what’s happening in moderating the group, as a moderator you will receive a copy of each email sent to: YGN+owner@groups.io

We ask that you use your own personal for all emails you send while you’re acting as Duty Moderator, send a copy to YGN+owner@groups.io and sign with your own name followed by “YGN Duty Moderator”.  That way there’s a complete record of all duty moderator email available to any moderator who needs information on how a particular person or issue was handled and by whom.  

GETTING STARTED AS A MODERATOR

Notifications and Settings

Once a member is designated as a moderator, the owner changes the new moderator’s status from “Member” to “Moderator”, and the new moderator is notified of the change by email from Groups.io.  As owner/chief moderator, I set Group.io notifications and privileges for each moderator, and that’s what Groups.io uses to determine what notifications each moderator receives from Groups.io and what each moderator is permitted to do in moderating the group.  All YGN moderators have permission to approve pending members, and to invite and add members to the group.  Other privileges may be added as a moderator gains experience and as conditions demand.

Here’s a copy of the Advanced Preferences on my member page as group owner, showing the Groups.io notifications and privileges that I’ve set for myself.  As a moderator, your member page will look very much like mine, and at any time you wish you can change your own notifications, receiving different notifications when you are “on watch”, for example, than when you’re “off watch”.  To do that, go to the YGN homepage and on the left-side menu click on Subscription at the top.  You can then edit your own member settings.  

What to Do When You Become Duty Moderator

When you are ready to take the watch as Duty Moderator, go to Subscription on the left-side YGN menu and make some changes.  First, under Email Delivery select   Individual Messages   That means you’ll receive every message real time--as it’s posted.  

Second, scroll down to Advanced Preferences and Notifications . Under Notifications, make sure every box is checked.

Next, scroll down to Owner Email and make sure you have checked “All Emails”.

Finally, scroll down to the bottom of your Subscription page and click the blue Save button to save the changes you’ve made.

Making those changes assures that you’ll receive all the “automatic” emails from YGN/Groups.io that you need as Duty Moderator.  Once you’ve made the changes, send an email to the Duty Moderator (cc: YGN+owner@groups.io) saying that you’re relieving and telling him/her that you have taken the watch as Duty Moderator as of (date and time).

Now you’re all set to go!

At the end of your Duty Moderator watch, you might want to go back and turn those off.  

How to Add Members

Most [your group] who wish to join the group submit applications by way of the group website

When an applicant does that, the moderator receives an email that looks like this: 

Henerythe8th@Iam,Iam.com applied to join your groupYGN@groups.io. Because the group is restricted, you will need to approve their membership before they can join.

[Link to your Pending Member page]

The membership application came in via the +subscribe email address.

To approve this member via email, simply reply to this message.

To reject this member via email, forward this message to:

[Your group’s Owner]

NOTE: The pending subscription will expire after 14 days. If you do not take action within that time, the pending subscription will be automatically rejected.

Thank you for choosing Groups.io Groups.

Cheers,

The Groups.io Team

Admitting a Pending Member.  Once you have confirmation of Pending Subscription, admitting the pending member to the group is simple.  Go to the group homepage and click on Members to open a page like the one below.  Check the box beside the name of the member you want to admit, and the Actions box pops up.  Highlight Approve then press the Return key.  That’s all you need to do to admit the new member!

Adding a New Member’s “Display Name”.  When you add a new member, Groups.io generally adds only the member’s email in the member file.   It’s up to the admitting moderator to supplement that by adding what Groups’s.io calls a Display Name.  Ideally, the display name includes the member’s name that they add during their setup.

NOTE: This should not be their email.

If they don’t choose their own name, you can:

To add display names, go to Admin>Members> and click on the new member’s email address, which will normally be at the top of the list.  (If it’s not there, you can enter the email address in the Search box at the top of the page.)  Once you click on the email address, a member page pops up.  It looks like this:

Go to the Display Name box and click on it, then add whatever information you want the box to show.  When you finish, scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the Save key.  You’re all done!

Another Way to Add Members.  From time to time you may want to invite someone to join the group.  To do that, to the group website then on the left-side menu click on Admin and then Invite and you’ll see a page like this:

To send a “standard” invitation, just go to Emails near the bottom of the page add the email address for the person being invited, and press the Send Invitations key at the bottom.   If you wish to add a personal message to the invitee, type that into the Customize Message box before you send the invitation. 

When someone is admitted to the group, he or she automatically receives the letter of welcome from the group. 

Denying Membership

If you vet an applicant and find that he or she is not a real person or a known SPAMMER, the applicant should be denied membership. Likewise, if an applicant doesn’t respond to your requests for clarifying information, the applicant should be denied membership. As with all things on YGN we try to accomplish this with politeness and diplomacy.  

First, send the denial email below to the applicant, then follow through with the Groups.io denial.  

You can cut and paste the denial below or use denial email found on the YGN site at >Files > Moderator Files > Denial of your request to join [your group]  which takes you to the following file: 

[YOUR GROUP] 

Sorry,

Your request to join [your group]  has been denied because it appears that either you do not meet our eligibility requirements or you have not complied with our request.  As a matter of policy our group is open only to [your group’s focus].

(Your name)

Duty moderator

[your group] 

YGNmoderatorteam@gmail.com

Groups.io Denial of Membership.  To officially turn down a request for membership, starting at the YGN homepage, go to the left-side menu and click on Members then check the box beside the name of the member to whom you are denying membership.  Once you’ve done that, click on Actions at the bottom and then Reject.

MEMBER INFORMATION

Status Badges in the Members List

In the Members List some rows have status badges after the member's email address. These badges also appear on the Your Groups page at https://groups.io/

Here's what they mean.

Email Status

The email status of a subscribed email address is determined automatically by the system. There is nothing the group owners or moderators can do about the status other than encourage the member to take action.

(no badge) - Normal status.

  Bouncing - Groups.io has stopped delivering group messages to this address, but is attempting to contact the address.

  Bounced - Groups.io has given up trying to contact this address.

  Not Confirmed - User needs to respond to the email confirmation letter sent by Groups.io.

Bouncing, Bounced

For more about how delivery to email addresses is tracked by Groups.io see Bounce Handling on the Help page. The process is designed so that the group admins need not take any action to administer the addresses which have bouncing or bounced status. Removing the "bounced" addresses from the group is purely optional. Two things the group admins can do is generate extra "bounce probe" notifications to the address, in hope that one of these will be acted upon, or if the admins have an alternate means of contacting the individual who owns that address they can attempt to inform the person of the situation.

Not Confirmed

In certain circumstances an individual may attempt to join a group without having first confirmed to Groups.io that they are the legitimate user of the subscribing email address. In such case the email address is initially given Not Confirmed status, and no group messages will be sent to that address until the user confirms it.

1) When an individual attempts to join a group by using the group's +subscribe email address that person's email address is initially assigned NC status,Groups.io will send to that address a confirmation request notice by email, with the request that the recipient reply to confirm their desire to join the group. Replying to that notice will remove NC status. The group admins may have Groups.io send additional requests if desired.

2) When an individual who is not logged in to Groups.io attempts to join a group by using the group's home page button the address is initially assigned NC status. The Groups.io web site will prompt them to log in. Logging in, using any of the available methods, will remove NC status. In a Premium group with restricted membership the group admins may approve the member's subscription and that will also remove NC status.

3) When an individual who is logged in attempts to join a group by using the group's home page button their address is not assigned NC status.

4) In a Premium group addresses may be added to the group via Direct Add. These addresses are not assigned NC status.

5) Addresses added to a group via transfer from a Google Group or Yahoo Group are not assigned NC status.

Role of member

The individual who creates a group is initially assigned the Owner role. All individuals joining thereafter are initially assigned the Member role.

(no badge) - This user is a member of the group.

  Moderator - This user is a moderator of the group.

  Owner - This user is an owner of the group.

Owners may reassign the role of any member, including that of other owners, and may change the permissions granted to individual moderators.

Moderators may be granted the permission to "Set Moderator Privileges", such moderators may change the permissions of other moderators, and their own, and they may reassign members to moderators, or moderators to members.

NOTE: If you are logged in with an account that is a Moderator or Owner of a group, the corresponding badge will also appear on the Home button in the left-side menu bar.

Posting Privilege

The individual who creates a group is initially assigned the Default group policy as their Posting Privilege. All individuals joining thereafter are assigned an initial Posting Privilege that depends on the "New Member Moderated" checkbox in the Spam Control section of the group's Settings page. If that box is checked they are assigned New Member Moderated, otherwise Default group policy.

(no badge) Default group policy.

  Can Post - Override: not moderated.

  Moderated - Override: moderate.

  New User Moderated - Override: new user moderated, count of messages to approve.

  Cannot Post - Override: not allowed to post.

Default Group policy

Messages from members with this posting privilege are handled according to the "Moderated" checkbox in the Spam Control section of the group's Settings page. If that box is checked the message is held in the group's Pending list.

Override: not moderated

Messages from members with this posting privilege are allowed to post without requiring approval, without regard to the group's Moderated setting.

Override: moderate

Messages from members with this posting privilege are held in the group's pending list, without regard to the group's Moderated setting.

Override: new user moderated

If the group's New Users Moderated checkbox is checked an Unmoderate After option is available. That sets the number of messages approvals required to remove this override from a subscribed address. This count is displayed in a dark grey badge adjacent to the NUM badge (see above).

Messages from members with this posting privilege are held in the group's pending list, without regard to the group's Moderated setting. Each time a moderator approves a message form this address that number is reduced by one; if the message is rejected or deleted the count retains its current value. When the count for this address reaches zero the New User Moderate override is removed from this address and it is set to Default group policy instead.

Override: not allowed to post

Messages from members with this posting privilege are rejected, without regard to the group's Moderated setting.

Email Delivery

In accord with https://beta.groups.io/g/main/message/19069, a member who has chosen any of the Advanced Preferences for email delivery will display corresponding badges in this column. 

(no badge) No Advanced Preferences selected.

  Following only

  Following Only w/ First Message Also

  Auto Follow Replies

  Max. Attachment Size limit (any selection except Unlimited)

These Advanced Preferences can be found (and changed) in either the member record or the member's Subscription settings. See https://groups.io/static/help#suboptions for details.

FAQs

FAQs MEMBERS MIGHT ASK MODERATORS

Moderators are often viewed by YGN members as wise, computer-savvy people! Don’t be surprised to find that you’re helping members find answers to what may appear to you to be very simple questions.  When appropriate, please feel free to cut-and-paste from the FAQs below when assisting YGN members. Alteernatively you can link to the section in the Table of Contents (ToC)

How Can I Change My Email Address?

To change your email address, log into Groups.io. Then look for the dropdown in the top right corner of the page, which will be either your name or email address. Click that and then click Account.

On the edit profile page, you can change your email address. Once you do so, you will receive a new confirmation email. Once you reply to that, you will be all set.

If the email address you wish to change to is already a registered member on Groups.io, a page will come up explaining the account merge process and verifying that you would like to merge your accounts.

I Have Forgotten My Password/I Don't Have A Password

To log in without a password, go to the login page and click the 'Email me a link to log in' button. Once you enter your email address, you'll immediately be sent an email with a link that will automatically log you into Groups.io. You will stay logged in for up to 30 days, unless you log out. You can then set a password if you wish, or you can continue to utilize the Email me a link to log in function to log in when needed.

I Am On Gmail And I Don't Like Getting Copies Of My Own Messages

To turn off duplicate emails, log into your Groups.io account. Then look for the dropdown in the top right corner of the page, which will be either your name or email address. Click that and then click Account. From your Account page, click the Preferences sidebar tab. Look for the 'I always want copies of my own messages' checkbox and uncheck that. Then click the Update Preferences button.

I Never Received My Confirmation Email

Please check your spam folder to see if the confirmation email ended up there. We can confirm your account for you if you wish, but if you're not receiving emails from us, it won't do much good.

How Do I Set Up A Signature For My Account?

To set a signature for your account, go to the Subscription page for your group (it's the 'Subscription' tab in the left hand sidebar when viewing your group). On the subscription page, look for the 'Use Signature For Web Posting' checkbox and check that. Then you will be able to add a signature. Once complete, click the Save button at the bottom of the page to save your changes.

FAQs FOR MODERATORS

What Is Counted Towards The Storage Limits For Our Group?

The following are counted towards the storage limits for your group:

• Files

• Photos

• Images in databases

• Images in wiki pages

• Message attachments

Messages themselves are not counted towards the storage limits, only any attachments.

To check the amount of data YGN is using, a moderator can go to this link: [add link to you group’s billing]

How Can I Add Moderators To My Group?

Groups.io supports groups with multiple moderators and owners, along with a full permissions system. To add someone as a moderator, they must first be a member of your group.

Navigate to the group on Groups.io and click on Admin/Members in the left sidebar. From there, click on the member you would like to make a moderator. After opening the record of the person to be made a moderator, click on the selector "Role". It offers three options: Owner, Moderator, and Member. Select moderator. Click "save" at the bottom of the screen after making your selection. Each person can have only one role; the owner has all permissions, the moderator more limited permissions.

How Can I Invite People To Join My Group?

Groups.io provides an invite system, where you can submit the email addresses of your members. We will send an email invitation to each user. To join the group, each member simply has to click on the link within the invitation, or reply to the invitation.

You can track each invitation and see whether it's been accepted or not.

If you wish to directly add your members to your group without the invitation step, we offer that feature (called direct add) with our premium groups.

How Can I Download My Member List And Message Archive?

On Groups.io, navigate to your group. To download your complete member list, click on the Members tab under the Admin tab in the sidebar. From there you will be able to download your member list.

To download your complete message archive, click on the Settings tab under the Admin tab in the sidebar. From there you will be able to download your message archives.

Email Commands

To change the email being received from YGN, you (or any YGN member) can send a blank email to the following email addresses: 

To ask to join the group - YGN+subscribe@groups.io

To unsubscribe from the group - YGN+unsubscribe@groups.io

To receive an email containing a list of these commands - YGN+help@groups.io

To receive plain digests instead of individual YGN messages - YGN+digest@groups.io

To receive full featured digests instead of individual YGN messages - YGN+fulldigest@groups.io

To receive a daily summary instead of individual YGN messages - YGN+summary@groups.io

To only receive special YGN messages - YGN+special@groups.io

To only receive no email from YGN - YGN+nomail@groups.io

To contact the YGN owner - YGN+owner@groups.io

Removed Because Of Spam

Some email providers notify Groups.io when group messages land in someone's spam folder. We never want that to happen. It can lead to further emails landing in spam, it can cause Groups.io to be blocked by email providers, and it is a bad user experience when someone doesn't think they receive all the messages from their groups. Adding to this, unfortunately some people use the spam button instead of trying to unsubscribe from a group.

In any event, Groups.io automatically unsubscribes someone when notified about this. As part of that process, we send them an email with a link that lets them automatically and quickly re-subscribe if it was a mistake. The email lets them know to check their spam folders and mark any messages from us in there as not spam, which trains the spam filters to make fewer mistakes about our email.

REFERENCES AND SOURCES OF HELP

When I began this Moderator Manual, I started by looking for resources on moderating Groups.io.  Here are some links that I’ve found useful:

Help - Groups.io!

GroupManagersForum@groups.io | Wiki

Welcome to Groups.io!

Please let me have any questions, concerns, comments or fixes regarding this Moderator Manual.

Again, welcome to the YGN moderator team and thanks for your service!

[Owner Name], YGN owner and chief moderator