Yahoo Group Tutorial Part 5 Sage Advice And Conclusion
In this section I am going to go over some sage advice and concluding thoughts. One of the things I learned quickly with groups is to do everything in your power to keep your sanity and to not get stressed out about certain circumstances. No matter the size of your group having either another moderator and/or co owner will be very helpful to you especially if you get sick or have something happen. Depending on your group size you will want to extend the number. With this if you choose people you know you can trust, do not be afraid to give them the powers needed to help, and not just your basic inviting and approving spam powers you can always add more as you get to know someone longer.
Running groups themselves especially in the beginning can be a time consuming process this is another reason having other moderators and owners with a good amount of powers is useful. Another good thing is time management and if need to breaking down your groups on different days if you need to do work on them. I, personally, would suggest taking at least some time every month to update anything in your groups even if you have to break down certain groups to certain days. I would also pull together all moderators and owners to help you with certain things in the group especially things that can be done by anyone that has powers such as checking bouncing members, any databases, and certain files to make sure everything is up to date.
If you feel like you need to take breaks and put yourself on no mail other than vacations do it! Sometimes it is good to not worry about things and recharge one’s batteries. If you start feeling overwhelmed by the amount of groups you own even with other people helping or lack of activity think about deleting the group. Although it can be a hard decision for anyone sometimes one needs to cut back on things in order to be a better use and participate in the groups that matter. One thing I suggest is if possible to just combine some of the groups that are either lack of activity or you want to remove to another group you have, than invite any others that aren’t in the group you are choosing to that one. Do be sure if you do remove and delete a group even in a merge to give time to do so and give links as well as invites to the members that are not in the other group.
Never feel bad if you decide to merge or close a group, even if it is heartbreaking, remember to take care of yourself first and foremost and that your health is more important than other things. Be reachable! If you do own groups be sure that your contact information is listed somewhere on the group description as well as any main files on how to reach you by email at the very least, you can usually cut most problems in the bud if people know how to reach you and feel that they can be sure that members feel you are approachable this will usually cut most drama in the groups. Do not spread yourself too thin this goes on the portion of if needing to cut down on groups but if you feel that you are not able to handle and be an active participate of the group where you can post and be there for your group than cut down.
Even though groups can be addicting it is very important to figure out what your limits are and don’t be afraid to state them. Another important thing is when it comes to groups to find a good email program and stick with it, I personally like gmail because than if you are in several groups that have a lot of the same members that post the same thing on occasion because it goes to several groups you only get the one email and not several, not to mention it groups conversations together as well. Do, however, have a backup if need to so that if something happens or you are having small problems you can switch to another email if needed for your groups. Depending on how many groups you are in and other things you do I suggest if need to keeping your group email separate from everything else in terms of email used unless you have a good system.
Lastly, have fun! If you don’t enjoy the groups running them, doing various activities, and such than look into some things to maybe change some of what you are doing and make any changes to make them fun again. Groups are about friendship, learning new things, making new friends, and the like. If you dislike something about the group don’t be afraid to change it.
Hopefully in this tutorial you have learned the following: How to create a group and the steps of setting it up as you were creating the group, what your options are to customize your group, what group features are available to you in groups, and how to do some of the other odds and ends that come with the group. Hopefully, you have learned something new or been given another tip that will be helpful in the future of your owning and/or moderating a yahoo group even with its changes. Just remember to keep things fresh, enjoy your group, and that there are ways to deal with the harder times. Good luck with your groups and enjoy what there is offered in yahoo groups.
Running groups themselves especially in the beginning can be a time consuming process this is another reason having other moderators and owners with a good amount of powers is useful. Another good thing is time management and if need to breaking down your groups on different days if you need to do work on them. I, personally, would suggest taking at least some time every month to update anything in your groups even if you have to break down certain groups to certain days. I would also pull together all moderators and owners to help you with certain things in the group especially things that can be done by anyone that has powers such as checking bouncing members, any databases, and certain files to make sure everything is up to date.
If you feel like you need to take breaks and put yourself on no mail other than vacations do it! Sometimes it is good to not worry about things and recharge one’s batteries. If you start feeling overwhelmed by the amount of groups you own even with other people helping or lack of activity think about deleting the group. Although it can be a hard decision for anyone sometimes one needs to cut back on things in order to be a better use and participate in the groups that matter. One thing I suggest is if possible to just combine some of the groups that are either lack of activity or you want to remove to another group you have, than invite any others that aren’t in the group you are choosing to that one. Do be sure if you do remove and delete a group even in a merge to give time to do so and give links as well as invites to the members that are not in the other group.
Never feel bad if you decide to merge or close a group, even if it is heartbreaking, remember to take care of yourself first and foremost and that your health is more important than other things. Be reachable! If you do own groups be sure that your contact information is listed somewhere on the group description as well as any main files on how to reach you by email at the very least, you can usually cut most problems in the bud if people know how to reach you and feel that they can be sure that members feel you are approachable this will usually cut most drama in the groups. Do not spread yourself too thin this goes on the portion of if needing to cut down on groups but if you feel that you are not able to handle and be an active participate of the group where you can post and be there for your group than cut down.
Even though groups can be addicting it is very important to figure out what your limits are and don’t be afraid to state them. Another important thing is when it comes to groups to find a good email program and stick with it, I personally like gmail because than if you are in several groups that have a lot of the same members that post the same thing on occasion because it goes to several groups you only get the one email and not several, not to mention it groups conversations together as well. Do, however, have a backup if need to so that if something happens or you are having small problems you can switch to another email if needed for your groups. Depending on how many groups you are in and other things you do I suggest if need to keeping your group email separate from everything else in terms of email used unless you have a good system.
Lastly, have fun! If you don’t enjoy the groups running them, doing various activities, and such than look into some things to maybe change some of what you are doing and make any changes to make them fun again. Groups are about friendship, learning new things, making new friends, and the like. If you dislike something about the group don’t be afraid to change it.
Hopefully in this tutorial you have learned the following: How to create a group and the steps of setting it up as you were creating the group, what your options are to customize your group, what group features are available to you in groups, and how to do some of the other odds and ends that come with the group. Hopefully, you have learned something new or been given another tip that will be helpful in the future of your owning and/or moderating a yahoo group even with its changes. Just remember to keep things fresh, enjoy your group, and that there are ways to deal with the harder times. Good luck with your groups and enjoy what there is offered in yahoo groups.
Comments