As many of you know, the Groups team is now conducting limited beta testing on new features and enhancements to the Groups product based on feedback we’ve heard from many of you. As you can imagine, when redesigning a product that touches a millions of users, there's lots to take into consideration. So that changes are not disruptive, we're using a methodical, phased approach to the testing, which we hope will help reduce inconveniences.
This means that as we test and make enhancements and improvements, the following features will be temporarily unavailable in the beta: Shared Calendar, Polls, Database, Scheduled Messages, Online Rich Text Editor. These features will be coming, but we want to test improved versions and we need more time to get them right.
The Groups Beta is a work-in-progress, which is why we’ve selected groups that do not use the temporarily unavailable features to participate in the beta. We hope these selected groups will share their thoughts with us and collaborate on ideas and recommendations for improving the beta.
We are sensitive to your concerns and are reviewing all of the feedback we receive from users testing the beta, although we might not be able to respond to it all.
Jami Heldt
Yahoo! Groups Community Manager
Frequently Asked Questions About Yahoo! Groups Beta
What is a beta?
A beta is the first version of a new product released publicly for the purpose of real-world testing. A beta version does not always include all the features and may include known issues and bugs.
What is the Yahoo! Groups Beta?
It's the version of Yahoo! Groups now being tested that gives owners and moderators new features and enhancements that include the ability for more customization, enhanced member management tools, improved message posting capabilities, and a new page layout and email template.
Must everyone move to the beta?
We will not require group owners to move to the beta until the final product is ready. We will give you plenty of advance notice.
Who can participate in the beta?
Group owners who were interested in participating responded to a communication the Groups team sent out in May. From those interested, for our testing purposes, we selected groups that did not use the features that are temporarily unavailable in the beta.
How can I participate in the beta?
1) Go here: http://new.groups.yahoo.com/yg_beta_forum
2) Top Left Corner of the medium blue banner line that says: The Official
Group ya da ya da , you will see a lighter blue splotch w/an black arrow that
says: MyGroups - click on that link.
3) At the bottom of that menu - NOT - in the white section that shows your
groups/lists, but in the light blue bottom section, you will see a link that
says: Start A Group
4) Click on that link... You will then be in the section to create a new
Beta Group list. It will not be connected in any way to your existing old
group/list(s).
5) Follow the instructions on creating your new Beta Group/list. It is
basically the same way you created your old group/list(s)
6) You must be signed in a YahooGroups before you can do the above.
Will future versions of the Groups Beta have a database?
Yes, and we hope to improve the current database feature based in part, on your feedback.
Will future versions of the Groups Beta have a calendar? How about rich text editor, auto- send files, etc.?
Yup, see the answer above.
What if I try the beta and realize it doesn’t yet meet my needs?
If a group owner is participating in the beta, they can switch their group back to original groups any time.
Comments
(58 total)Very nice explanation Jami! It's good to be kept up to date, as to the changes that are going on!
Thanks,
~Raenie
Tuesday July 10, 2007 - 09:44pm (EDT)
Below is an email I received that is circulating through the yahoo groups. Is this true? No Layouts, NO Pictures up, No Nothing..?
Thanks,
Doria
COPY OF EMAIL I RECEIVED:
Say bye-bye Yahoo groups, but this has been coming for years which is why I don't have any groups there and belong as a member to only one. Once was over 50.
This means that most Yahoo group members will be visiting Google and real soon.
This is the important part of the below email:
As you may know yahoo is making the yahoo groups into beta and that is meaning No Layouts, NO Pictures up, No Nothing.. So If you all don't like the New Beta Please Sign the Petition.. Thank you..
Sign the Petition to stop the Yahoo groups change
As you may know yahoo is making the yahoo groups into beta and that is meaning No Layouts, NO Pictures up, No Nothing.. So If you all don't
like the New Beta Please Sign the Petition.. Thank you..
http://www.petition online.com/ Alisha30/ petition. html
Wednesday July 11, 2007 - 12:13am (EDT)
Realy this type of e-mail also recived by me to, it says to sign a petation but I think that beta will improve the groups more as new yahoo mail os good. But I say that the old is gold. If you have taken my advice I have given you the best ideas that can lead it to the best, but I know you will not respond to invetation like this, its ok.
I am waiting for your beta release :-D
Wednesday July 11, 2007 - 02:14pm (IST)
I'm sorry Jami but you haven't really clarified anything in this post. What you have stated is that Beta around and is being tested by selected groups.... not the features what Yahoo is intending to change.
"Shared Calendar, Polls, Database, Scheduled Messages, Online Rich Text Editor" ???? What does this mean?
I agree that something needs to be done to the groups format, as currently it is nothing but restrictive and archaic in terms of functionality.
Please allow me to give you an example, referring to the 2000 character limit owners have available to create a front page....
Up until the last major change Yahoo made to it groups (The removal of the use of iframes within its front page) I had spent a substantial amount of time incorporating outside sources to produce something half decent for my Members and more importantly Potential Members to view and interact with.
Since then I have spent more hours converting URL's to "TinyURL's" to make something as simple as a nav bar(standard throughout the web), or producing group descriptions within Jpeg's and using it as a background to provide an adequate description of what my group is about without "popping" the character limit.
Now I do understand that in disclosing something that may happen and doesn't eventuate because a technical issues may a little embarrassing, however it would be nice to have some idea as to the end result you are trying to achieve. Please Jami, refrain from this nondescript PR nonsense and tell us what Yahoo plans to create, Provide us with a link or screen shots, so we at least then have some idea what we are getting before it happens and plan around these changes.
Regards,
g00gs.
Thursday July 12, 2007 - 12:18am (EST)
Thanks for the updated clarification, Jami!
Wednesday July 11, 2007 - 04:11pm (EDT)
Really glad to hear an update, but I;d love to see even some screen shots of what it looks like. Where can we go for that?
Wednesday July 11, 2007 - 02:49pm (PDT)
Here's a link to one of the beta groups...it looks pretty good.
http:// new.groups. yahoo.com /jrisevil /features
Just need to take out the spaces
Wednesday July 11, 2007 - 07:26pm (EDT)
We have been discussing the Beta groups on Modertors Central for months since it was announced. And you open by saying "Over the weekend, we noticed some conversations pop up around the Yahoo! Groups Beta and what features would be included — or not."
nuff said
Thursday July 12, 2007 - 12:05am (EDT)
Hello Team,
I am so inspired about the new Yahoo Groups Beta release and will wait for it, that to end all the queries and rumors about it I have started a new group "Y-GroupsBeta" the dedicated group and forum for support, help, discussion and queries regarding the New Yahoo Groups Beta release.
Go to> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Y-GroupsBeta/
So whats say?
Waiting for the beta :-D
~~Sidd~~
Thursday July 12, 2007 - 04:22pm (IST)
Hi –
I’ve been very busy reading through the various discussions related to the Groups Beta and I’ll do my best to respond to the bulk of your concerns, especially those that are recurring. First, I really want all of you to know that one of the main goals of adding new features and functionally to Groups is to develop a better product for our users. The last thing we want to do is build a product that isn’t going to meet the current needs of your groups.
I’ve seen a lot of concern over whether or not group owners and moderators will have the ability to archive photos and links in folders in addition to the new ability within the beta to include them in posts. My response to this would be to ask you to continue to tell us what you need. The great thing about a beta is that it’s a “work in progress” and there is opportunity to change things based on the feedback we receive. So here’s my advice: rather than ask what will be included or not, I think it’d be way more helpful for us to hear what you need and why.
It would also be great if you could become familiar with some of the new customize and management features in the beta and provide us with feedback about them. Here’s what I just learned that may help with that:
- if you join a beta group (like http://new.groups.yahoo.com/yg_beta_forum)
- then click on “My Groups” in the header to the left of the beta group name
- then click Start a Group
you can actually start your own new beta group. To be clear, by doing this you will not be linking or migrating any of your current groups to the beta; you’d actually be starting a new group in the beta so that you can test the features out as a moderator.
One other thing I wanted to clarify is that while we are in the process of beta testing, group owners who are participating in the testing can switch back to original groups at any time. However, when the beta ends and we introduce the new version of Groups, we’ll ask that all group owners migrate over. But that’s many months away (at the earliest), and we’ll give plenty of notice before bringing everyone on to the new platform (again months).
Best,
Jami Heldt
Groups Community Manager
Thursday July 12, 2007 - 08:44am (PDT)
Congrats on the launch of the Beta! It's really exciting to see all the team's hard work come to fruition. This is a radical change from what Groups users are used to, so I hope everyone will take Jami's words to heart and let the team know *what you want* from Groups and not just focus on what's not there currently.
Kudos on a gorgeous "rough draft"!
Thursday July 12, 2007 - 03:51pm (PDT)
Well the trouble is Carol it is difficult to focus on the good things when from what I can see (and correct me if I’m wrong) the new groups just looks like a glorified message board. There is no dedicated file or links sections which in our groups case will take away most of the appeal and functionality of the group. We use the file section to host all our faqs, click to copy blog layout tables, backgrounds, a chat room…all written as .html files which I very much doubt will work as it does now on the new system. Plus our members can browse a massive links section packed with resources for the 360 blogs. Try to dump all this in one place like a message board and however you make it searchable it still won’t be anywhere near as functional as the simple file and folder trees that we have now.
Nice Idea to try to improve the groups Jami, integrate this message board into the system we have now and you would be on the right track.
STU. Moderator/ Co-Owner MY360MI.
http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/makingyour360moreinteresting
Friday July 13, 2007 - 01:11am (BST)
Well Jami, took you up and checking out some of the beta test groups and even set up one to play around with. On the http://new.groups.yahoo.com/yg_beta_forum you can even keep track of what bugs the team is already aware of and are working on to resolve. Let's hope everyone remembers that a lot of what they are asking about aren't available yet and aren't include in the initial roll-out. Unfortunately some of those features such as the files and photos sections are probably going to continue to generate a lot of misinformation and gossip. Even though it's plainly stated these have not yet been implemented, it will give fodder to such things as that stupid petition that was circulating.
Keep up the good work and have enjoyed your personal updates so far and your post on the YG_beta_forum as well as the updates and posts at Moderator Central.
Friday July 13, 2007 - 01:14am (EDT)
My question is this...WHY IS IT BEING MESSED WITH?
Yahoo 360 has been in Beta now for 2 years and has PLENTY of problems for you all the be kept busy...why mess with something like Yahoo Groups when it WORKS FINE!!!
One thing I did not see ANYTHING mentioned about is links...are you taking the links section away? AND WHY MOVE THOSE OF US THAT DON'T WANT TO MOVE???!!!!
BTW...those petitions don't work...YAHOO does what they want to do, it's a free service for us to use and they have not listened thus far about any of the past ones going around so why waste your time making your voice heard!!
I do LOVE my group the way it is...you took the front page from us NOT your taking our beloved group and messing with the whole thing...WHY??????
Friday July 13, 2007 - 05:20am (PDT)
HA!!! Jami, you said "However, when the beta ends and we introduce the new version of Groups, we’ll ask that all group owners migrate over." I laugh because you won't be asking, it's something you will have us do even if we don't want to...it will be "you have until such and such date to convert or it will be done for you" kinda thing!
Friday July 13, 2007 - 05:26am (PDT)
Cool...
Friday July 13, 2007 - 09:15am (CDT)
People are often times afraid of change maybe it will be for the better. I like my site and what I am able to do there.
http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/radiobox
Keep up all your good work,
TfourL
Friday July 13, 2007 - 09:21am (CDT)
What do we suggest to those who can't see pictures posted in group messages that others can see?
Friday July 13, 2007 - 11:25am (EDT)
Friday July 13, 2007 - 01:51pm (CDT)
Thanks for the great information.
Does the new beta allow a "points system" for member's posts? It will be a great tool to motivate posters and to eliminate "free loaders". I am dreaming of a points system, which incorporates member's being able to rate posts based on their relevance and importance.
Sunday July 15, 2007 - 08:57am (EDT)
DATABASES:
- We need the ability to have more than 10 Databases (and please stop calling them Tables);
- Please include the ability to have clickable hot-links in Databases.
- Please include the ability to have thumbnail images in Databases.
Sunday July 15, 2007 - 11:13am (EDT)
Thanks For The Informetion...
Monday July 16, 2007 - 01:51pm (IST)
when will we start seeing beta more wide spred? I've never seen one!!
Thursday July 19, 2007 - 06:34am (PDT)
I still think as nice as new features might be, having the current features work properly and well needs dealt with before adding new things.
Thursday July 19, 2007 - 03:30pm (EDT)
Note for Jami: I'm sorry, I can not give you a better reply if you're blocking replies. The issue that I mentioned was a 360 Team problem and not likely a Groups problem. There are MANY of us in the 360 land who are getting notices of blog posts and messages that are up to 6 months old. Some of my more popular friends have received hundreds or thousands of such emails. Further more, deleting comments is sporadic as is the new messages notification. I've been notified 5 times of the exact same message. There are numerous issues going on with mail on 360.
Friday July 20, 2007 - 11:38am (CDT)
holy cow! no rich text editor in beta? no frikken database? how the heck is THAT an IMPROVEMENT? i hope they don't choose my group which i mistakenly volunteered for beta ( thinking it would be an improvement) because we actually USE database and rich text editor. heck we just got our members accustomed to it. man i gotta tell ya yahoo..... you people are REALLY SCREWING UP AGAIN! but it happens every few years. your new employees have to screw things up under the guise of "IMPROVEMENT" so they have job security.... wanna do IMPROVING? how about putting them to work ANSWERING MODERATORS communications. wanna improve yahoo groups? provide some method for active moderators to reclaim abandoned groups. TRIBE.NET did it. you can too. but then it would entail you actually doing something beside IMPROVING all our work out of existance! boy are you blowing it !
Sunday July 22, 2007 - 06:58pm (CDT)
One thing that I really really missed that they took away from groups was the chat feature. Is there any chance that the chat feature could be added back to beta? My group used to sponsor weekly group chats and we miss it.
Sunday July 22, 2007 - 08:33pm (PDT)
a small thing. but it's aggravating. did you notice that when you search messages and the list comes up... at the bottom where it says PREVIOUS and NEXT that they are BACKWARDS?. NEXT actually goes to previous message and PREVIOUS actually goes to the next message.and OLDEST is on the left while NEWER is on the right. should be the other way around.reminds me of the earliest days when the URL had GROUP and GROUPS reversed. at least they fixed that. maybe they can fix this.
Tuesday July 24, 2007 - 09:04am (CDT)
Tuesday July 31, 2007 - 08:52am (EDT)
I really love the new features in beta. I think it will be awesome when it gets done and I'm already enjoying it. Like the members search works really well, fast and I like it that when I'm searching for several members it clears the field... that saves mucho keystrokes - it also searches well for a partial string - great! I think you folks are doing a wonderful job!!!
Sue
Tuesday August 14, 2007 - 04:12am (MDT)
!Time to Leave yahoo! oh! YaAahOoo!
Tuesday August 14, 2007 - 05:06pm (PDT)
I have to tell you that I create a Beta test group to check out what it has to offer. As of right now the old groups are much easier to navigate and maintain. The old group version offers so much more, from photo section to Files section where everything is kept in order. the new Beta where you upload a file or photo in your message is nice for that period in time. But how does one go about viewing all photos and files and finding anything. Never mind the constant turn over of new members. New members will search the Files section and photos and databases. With the Beta that is not and option no longer.
Now are all groups going to be converted, or do all of us owners have to create beta groups to replace what we already have and is working. Never mind the membership being lost if we have to create new groups to replace the old groups.
I was always told if it is not broke don't fix it. It seems like the old groups are finally to a point of workability, and now yahoo has to go and change the complete system once again. It seems like someone is just trying to create a job for themselves and job security at others expense.
It takes longer for group owners now to manage the Beta group then it does to manage the existing groups, from approving messages to approving memberships and so on.
The format of beta does not seem to be user friendly at all. For those with limited computer skills it is going to be their worse nightmare, and memberships are going to drop off in the groups. The homepages have so much advertising on them, it eliminated room to make the homepage look neat and attractive to potential new members.
Just a few points from someone with 29 groups to maintain
Joe
Friday October 26, 2007 - 11:21am (EDT)
thanx a lot jami
Saturday November 17, 2007 - 02:16pm (PST)
My group is a blind list so accessability is an issue. So how will the beta version affect my members?
Tuesday November 20, 2007 - 03:58pm (CET)
Thanks and goodluck for all
Monday November 26, 2007 - 11:44am (GMT)
Saturday December 1, 2007 - 11:27am (PST)
Sunday December 2, 2007 - 04:57pm (IRST)
IJ restarted an old group called SanityMine2 in November but I am experiencing 2 problems with it. It can't be found when I do a Yahoo Group Search and it has no Chat features. Is this because my new group is the Beta Version?
Sunday December 2, 2007 - 11:59am (CST)
I just restarted...lol...
Sunday December 2, 2007 - 12:00pm (CST)
How long will Yahoo Groups be without Chat Features?
Sunday December 2, 2007 - 12:01pm (CST)
I like this concept. Can we start using this feature in other groups
Sunday December 2, 2007 - 01:35pm (CST)
i have a qs...why i dont see the message in my yahpoo grp: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/QueenOfHeartsDiana/
Even though i have posted 3 mess today..
Monday December 3, 2007 - 08:04pm (EST)
about yahoo groups beta... can my existing yahoo group shift to this one? the new beta looks good
Wednesday December 5, 2007 - 10:20pm (PST)
I own/run 'THE' largest Astronomy yahoo group for Australian advanced telescope users. Its works JUST FINE AS IS in the "old" format! PLEASE don't make us shift to a new style/group. We will loose most of our membership in the transfer and by the sounds of it much of our database and astro image storage functionality as well. I agree with many of the posts here that ask the question "..if its not broken, why the F fix it?" Dont doom a thriving and important resource for Aussie astronomers please Yahoo. Hands off our group ok?
Pete
MMSAATU
Melbourne Australia
Friday December 7, 2007 - 02:49pm (EST)
Personally, I need to be able to have people edit their own info in the database without being able to change others' entries. Thanks!
Friday December 14, 2007 - 10:32am (PST)
I have been using groups for a long time mow for our NGO Rotary International District 3230. One thing I would love to have is teams within groups. Group is a common interest. There should be facility to have teams (commitees) with specific interest within the same group. This will help not have post sent to all members but the specific team.
Thanks for all
Rtn.Mohanakannan P.
Webmaster RI District 3230
www.ri3230.org
Sunday December 16, 2007 - 03:11pm (IST)
thanks much beta
Sunday December 16, 2007 - 03:06pm (EST)
hi jami how can i decarate my home page
Tuesday December 18, 2007 - 12:29pm (IST)
Features that I would like to see...
<> Return of group chat - maybe as a messenger conference?
<> Polls: Something to show the polls that i have not voted in?
<> Polls: The ability to restart a close poll.
<> Polls: The ability to transfer a poll to another group, or to download and upload a poll.
<> Polls: Raise the 25 answer limit to some practicaly unlimited number. 32767?
<> Polls: Allow poll creator to allow voter write-ins. Voters after a seeing a write-in my vote for or change vote to the write in.
<> Polls: Allow voters to unvote.
<> Polls: Always show if voter identitity is displayed.
<> Polls: Allow poll creator to set a poll to restart automatically along some set of selectable time frames such as every N (>=2) weeks, the Nth of each month, the Nth of each Mth(1<=M<=12) Month, the Nth day of the Mth month each year.
<> Polls: allow the creator to make the poll results visible all the time, including before the voter votes.
<> Polls: On multiple section polls track the total number of voters and display percentages based on this number.
<> Polls: Creator given the option to send a notice to all members who have not voted in the poll N days and optionally M days before the poll ends(renews). Limit this to no more than 1/3 or the duration of the poll and place a minimum number of days for the duration of the poll.
<> Polls: Make polls folderable as files/photos/links are Adding a view showing all polls NOT yet voted.
<> Membership: Ways to screen profile information on admission and during membership. Such as age range, gender, presence of location.
<> Membership: Scan profile location of members with Yahoo maps and allow owners to screen members by location. N Miles/kM from a location or set of locations also scaned by yahoo maps.
<> Member feature: Allow owner to create a set of special polls that each member is to answer simular to profile answer blanks. EX: On a retired military group the owner could have his members select a list of retire ranks. The answers would be listed as a column in the members list. One such poll entry may be the text that the member typed on his application form.
<> Membership feature: Option to require the polls or selected polls to be answwered at application time to be used in application review. This would be like having prospective members fill out a membership application.
<> Membership feature: Option for the owner to select a specified period of time where if no activity has be performed by a member, said member would automatically be unsubscribed. The owner could multiply select from a list like (Sending a message, adding a file/photo, viewing the front page of the group, voting in a poll, voting in a selected reoccuring poll, usage of any particular group feature)
<> Membership feature: Allow the above information to be viewed/queried/sorted as a database table.
<> Membership feature: Allow 360 pages nad the profile information there to replace (be used instead of) profiles.
<> Membership feature: Let moderators limit the selectable delivery methods of members.
<> Messages: Allow the moderator to set the minimum length of a the text portion of a post.
<> Files/Photos: Allow these to ne moderated as messages are. Only a moderator and the poster would be able to see these objects until approved.
<> Member Files/Photos/Links/Polls: Allow owner at creation of the group, to confine files/photos to a folder created for the member.
<> Allow a folder (including the groups root folder) of links/photos/files/polls to be shared across multiple groups. A portion or all of a group's links/photos/files/polls could appear in read only forms in like minded groups.
<> Above but al polls to be vote
<> Above but allow the features to be not just read-only. Moderators could allow other connected groups to add and remove links/photos/files and add remove vote in polls as if they were members. This would be a sort of Mi group es su group.
Tuesday December 18, 2007 - 08:59pm (CST)
happy new year
Tuesday January 1, 2008 - 04:22pm (EET)