Group owners and moderators can invite prospective members to join their groups by sending email invitations. In many cases, such groups will not be listed in the public directory on Groups.io.

If you receive an emailed invitation to join a group:

• The subject line of the email message will be “Invitation to join the groupname@groups.io group” (with the actual group’s name in place of groupname).
• A personal note from the group owner or moderator who sent the invitation might be included in the text of the message.
• You can accept the invitation by replying to the email or clicking a link to accept the invitation on the group’s website. Be aware that the link will expire 14 days after the invitation was sent.

Note:

• If you do not already have a Groups.io account when you accept an invitation to join a group, you will receive an email from Groups.io asking you to confirm your subscription.
• If a group owner or moderator informs you that they invited you to join the group, but you have not received the invitation email, check the spam folder in your email application. If the invitation ended up in that folder, ensure that you mark it as not spam so your email provider’s filters will start learning to accept messages from the groups.io domain as legitimate.

Groups.io maintains a directory of publicly listed groups that you can search to find groups you might be interested in joining. When you find a group you are interested in, you can submit a request to join it:

1. In the blue header at the top of any Groups.io page, click or tap the Find or Create a Group link in a desktop or mobile browser or the Find a Group link in the mobile app.
   Note: On a mobile device, you might need to use landscape orientation to see that link in the blue header. In portrait orientation, you can tap your profile photo (or the generic icon if you have not set a profile photo) on the right side of the blue header and then select Find or Create a Group or Find a Group from the dropdown menu.
2. On the Publicly Listed Groups page that appears, look for a group that you are interested in. You can use these methods to narrow the list:
   • Enter keywords in the Search field at the top and then click or tap the Search button.
   • Use the left menu options to filter the list of groups:
     • Most Popular
     • Most Active
     • Newest
     • By Name

     Note: In portrait orientation on a mobile device, scroll to the bottom of the page to see those options.

3. When you find a group that you want to join, click or tap its link to go to its home page on Groups.io.

   Restriction: Someone who has been banned from a group that they want to join will be unable to get to that group’s home page while they are logged in to Groups.io.

4. On the group’s home page, look for a button you can click or tap to join the group:
   • If it is an unrestricted group that anyone can join without requiring approval from the group’s moderators, the button is labeled Join This Group.
   • If it is a restricted group that requires membership requests to be approved by the moderators, the button is labeled Apply For Membership In This Group.
5. Click or tap the button and follow the subsequent instructions.

Tip: If the Group Settings section on a group’s home page states “Archive is visible to anyone,” the Group Information section on that home page will contain a link to the group’s RSS feed. (See the Group_Help group for an example.) You can subscribe to that group’s feed using your RSS feed reader/application of choice, without joining the group. However, you will not be able to add topics or reply to topics unless you become a member of the group.

If you have been given the subscription email address for the group, or you happen to know the group’s name, you can send an empty email message to the subscription address to join the group (or request membership, if the group is restricted). The format of the subscription email address is:

groupname+subscribe@groups.io

(Substitute the actual group name for groupname.)

! Important: After you send a message to a group’s subscription email address, you will receive a confirmation request message from Groups.io. You must respond to that confirmation request to complete your subscription and join the group.

Tip: For other email addresses you can use for actions related to your group membership, see Standard group email addresses.

In Premium and Enterprise groups, owners and moderators can add members directly without having to send invitations and wait for responses. If you receive an email message with a subject line of “You have been added to the groupname@groups.io group,” the group’s owner or a moderator has added you directly to that group.

Note: The email message contains a link that you can click to remove yourself from the group in case the addition was a mistake.

In certain situations, you will receive an email message from Groups.io asking you to reply to complete your subscription. The situations that generate this message are:

• You do not have a Groups.io account, and you click or tap a Join This Group button on a group’s website.
• You do not have a Groups.io account, and you accept an email invitation to join a group.
• You have a Groups.io account but you are not logged in to it, and you click or tap a Join This Group button on a group’s website.
• You are logged in to a Groups.io account but you do not yet belong to any groups, and you click or tap a Join This Group button on a group’s website.
• You send an email request to join a group that is restricted (that is, a group owner or moderator must approve membership requests).
• You change the email address in your Groups.io account.
• You create a new Groups.io account.

The subject line of the email message is “Confirm your Groups.io subscription.”

! Important: You must reply to that message to verify your email address and complete your subscription. You do not need to include any additional text in your reply.

Note:

• If you do not respond to the “Confirm your Groups.io subscription” message, you will not receive group messages or have access to the group’s website on Groups.io.
• After you belong to at least one group, you will not receive “Confirm your Groups.io subscription” messages for additional groups that you join by using the Join This Group button on those groups’ websites.

Tip: If you think you should be getting group messages but you are not receiving any, check the spam folder in your email application in case a “Confirm your Groups.io subscription” message was routed there mistakenly by your email provider.

Premium and Enterprise groups (plus Free groups that existed before January 15, 2020, 9:00 a.m. U.S. Pacific Time) can have subgroups. A subgroup is a group within another group and contains a subset of the members of the parent (main) group.

Subgroups have all the functionality of normal groups, but for you to be a member of a subgroup, you must first be a member of the parent group. If you join a group that has subgroups, the group’s owner or moderator will determine whether to include you as a member of any subgroups and invite or add you to them accordingly. You also might be allowed to join a subgroup on your own, depending on the group’s settings.

Note: If you receive an invitation to join a subgroup and you are not a member of the parent group, you will be added to the parent group automatically when you accept the subgroup invitation.

If you decide you no longer want to be a member of a group, you can use any of these methods to leave (unsubscribe from) that group:

• Click or tap the Unsubscribe link in the footer of an email message from that group.
• Send an email message to the group’s unsubscribe address (see Standard group email addresses).
• Go to the group’s website, display your Subscription page, go to the bottom of that page, and click or tap the Leave Group button.
• Go to the Your Groups home page, select the checkbox next to the group you want to leave, click or tap the Actions button at the bottom of the page, and select Unsubscribe.

A Groups.io account is identified by your email address and is an online record of this Groups.io information associated with that email address:

• Which groups you belong to at that address
• Your Groups.io password (if you set one) or social login method (if you use one) for that address
• Preferences and settings that apply to all the groups you belong to at that address

If you do not have a Groups.io account when you join your first Groups.io group, a Groups.io account is created for you automatically and associated with the email address you used to join the group. Alternatively, you can create a Groups.io account before you join any groups using that email address (see Creating a Groups.io account).

Note: If you use different email addresses to join different groups, you will have a different Groups.io account associated with each email address. However, you can be logged in to only one Groups.io account at a time—unless you use separate web browsers or special browser features to separate the cookies used in different browser windows.

! Important: With the exceptions of “Confirm your subscription” messages and “Your Groups.io Account is Bouncing” notifications, Groups.io will not send you unsolicited email messages asking you to authenticate your Groups.io account by clicking a link. If you receive an email that requests Groups.io account authentication and it is not one of the exceptions mentioned above, it could be a phishing email and you should not click any links in it.

Tip: A good practice is to examine the link’s underlying URL. If the URL is not from groups.io, the message could be a phishing attempt. (In desktop web browsers, the URL typically is displayed at the bottom left of the browser window when you hover your pointer over a link. In the message window of an email application, the URL might appear in a popup. If you are not sure now to display a link’s underlying URL, check your browser’s or email application’s online help.)

Restriction: This feature is available only through a desktop browser or mobile browser. It is not available in the Groups.io mobile app due to rules imposed by Google Play and the Apple App Store.

If you do not already have a Groups.io account, you can create one:

1. Go to https://groups.io/register.
2. On the Join Groups.io page, use one of these methods to create the account:
   • Complete the Email address and Password fields, then click or tap the Create An Account button.
     Note: Groups.io does not require you to set a password for your account. See Logging in without setting a password.
   • If you would prefer to log in to Groups.io through a Facebook or Google account, click the appropriate button (in a mobile browser, you might have to scroll down to see the buttons), and follow the subsequent instructions.

About Groups.io logins

To use any of the web-based features and have access to all the content of groups you belong to, you must be logged in to your Groups.io account. You can log in to your account using any of the methods listed below.

You can be logged in to your Groups.io account on multiple devices at the same time. You do not need to log out on one device before you log in on another one.

Logging in without setting a password

Groups.io does not require group members to set account passwords. If you create an account but do not set a password at that time, you can have Groups.io email you a link that you can use to log in to your account. The login is valid for up to 30 days if cookies are retained on that device (see the note below).

To log in to your Groups.io account using an emailed link:

1. In a web browser, go to https://groups.io/sendloginlink.
2. In the Email Address field, enter the email address of the account you want to log in to.
3. Click or tap the Email me a link to log in button.
4. When you receive the email message (the subject is “Link to log into Groups.io”), click or tap the login link provided in the message. You are logged in to Groups.io, and your Groups.io home page is displayed on the website.
   ! Important: The login link in the email message expires after 24 hours.  

After you log in to your Groups.io account on a particular device or browser, you stay logged in for at least 30 days. The login period is managed by a cookie stored in your browser. If your browser or device does not accept cookies, you will not be able to use individual group websites except to browse public areas.

Note:

• The login cookie expires in 30 days, but each visit to a group website extends the 30-day timeout period.
• If you delete your browser cookies (or your security software deletes them), you will be logged out.
• If your browser is set to delete cookies on exit, you will be logged out.
• If your browser is set to Private Browsing, you must log in again.

Logging in with your email address and password

If you set a password for your Groups.io account, you will not have to deal with your login cookie expiring every 30 days. For instructions, see Setting, changing, or deleting your password.

To log in to your account with your email address and password:

1. Go to the Groups.io website or open the mobile app, and click or tap the Log In link at the top right of the blue page header.
   Tip: 
   • On a mobile device, use landscape orientation to see the Log In link. Or in portrait orientation, tap your profile picture (or the generic profile icon if you have not set a picture) on the right side of the blue page header and then select Log In from the dropdown menu. 
   • You can use this link to go directly to the login page: https://groups.io/login 
2. On the resulting login page, enter your email address and password.
3. Click or tap the Log In button.

Logging in through Facebook or Google

Restriction: In the Groups.io mobile app, it is not possible to log in through Facebook or Google due to rules imposed by the Apple App Store and Google Play. To log in through Facebook or Google on a mobile device, use a mobile browser.

If you have a Facebook or Google account and prefer to log in to Groups.io through that account:

1. Go to the Groups.io website and click or tap the Log In link at the top right of the blue page header. 
   Tip: 
   • In a mobile browser, use landscape orientation to see the Log In link. Or in portrait orientation, tap your profile picture (or the generic profile icon if you have not set a picture) on the right side of the blue page header and then select Log In from the dropdown menu. 
   • You can use this link to go directly to the login page: https://groups.io/login 
2. On the resulting login page, click or tap the Log In with Facebook button or the Log In with Google button, as applicable.

Note: You might need to enable the setting in your Groups.io account that allows you to log in through Facebook or Google. See Setting or changing your social login preference.

You can use any of these methods to display your Groups.io account settings:

• In a browser, go to https://groups.io/settings. (If you are not logged in to Groups.io, you will be prompted to log in, and after you log in, your account settings will be displayed.)
• Desktop browser: When you are logged in to Groups.io, click your display name or email address at the upper right of a group’s web page, then select Settings from the dropdown menu. 
• Mobile device:
  • Landscape orientation: When you are logged in to Groups.io, tap your display name or email address at the upper right of a group’s web page, then select Settings on the dropdown menu.
  • Portrait orientation: When you are logged in to Groups.io, tap your profile picture (or the generic icon if you have not set a profile picture) in the Groups.io page header, then select Settings on the dropdown menu.

About Groups.io profiles

In Groups.io, you have a member profile for your overall account as well as a separate profile for each individual group that you belong to.

Information that is in your account profile is automatically applied to your individual group profiles, but you can change the information in your group profiles. For example, you might want to display different profile information for different types of groups you belong to such as hobby groups, community groups, professional interest groups, general interest groups, and so on.

Customizing your overall Groups.io account profile

1. Display your account settings.
2. Desktop browser: In the left menu, select Identity.
   Mobile device: Tap the Identity icon at the bottom of the page.
   A page appears with your overall Groups.io account profile information.
3. Complete your account profile as desired (all elements are optional except for Profile Privacy):
   • Profile Photo

     Use the Browse button to select a photo to associate with your profile.

   • Username

     Usernames can be @mentioned in Groups.io chat messages. If you want to have a username in Groups.io, enter a unique, short name with no punctuation or spaces. This name appears with an at sign (@) in front of it and is shown after your display name (if you set one) in individual group profiles.

     Note: This username applies to all your individual group profiles as well. You cannot change it in those profiles.

   • Display Name

     Enter the name you want listed with your messages (for example, your first and last names). In a dekstop browser, and on a mobile device in landscape orientation, this name also appears as your account name at the upper right of group pages.

     Note:

     • This field might be populated automatically with the name from your incoming email header (if the header contains that information) the first time you post a message to the group by email. You can change the name here and it will be used in all subsequent messages that you post to groups. Changes in this field do not affect the email header in your email application.
     • The name you enter here is displayed in all the groups you belong to at this email address. If you want to use a different display name in an individual group, customize your profile for that group (see below).
     • Group owners and moderators can change the display names of members in their groups. Such changes affect only those groups; the display names in members’ account profiles are not affected.
   • Profile Privacy (required)

     Select who can see your profile information:

     • Only group owners & moderators
     • Other members of your groups
     • Public

     Note: This setting also controls whether your profile is listed in the member directories of the groups you belong to. You can change it for individual groups by customizing your profiles for those groups (see below).
   • Bio

     Enter and format text that explains who you are (or whatever information you want to provide).

     Note: If you want to provide a signature that is added to messages you post to groups from group websites, you can do so on the Subscription page for each group.

   • Location

     Enter your location.

   • Website

     Enter the URL of your personal website.

4. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click or tap the Update Overall Profile button.

Note: Changes you make to your overall profile also are applied to the corresponding fields in your individual group profiles unless you previously customized those fields in those profiles. You can go to a group profile to edit those customized fields.

Customizing your profile for an individual group

1. Display your account settings.
2. Desktop browser: In the left menu, select Identity.
   Mobile device: Tap the Identity icon at the bottom of the page.
3. On the resulting page, click or tap the Overall Profile button at the top to display a dropdown list of your groups, then select the group for which you want to customize your profile.
4. Complete your group profile page as desired (see the instructions above for customizing your overall profile).
5. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click or tap the Update Group Profile button.
   Tip: You can click or tap the Reset Group Profile button to set all fields back to the information that is in your overall account profile.

Tip: Another way to get to your profile for an individual group is to go to that group and select Subscription > Group Profile from the left menu (in a desktop browser) or the More menu (on a mobile device). Then click or tap the Edit Group Profile button to customize that profile.

Setting or changing your password

If you did not set a password when you created your Groups.io account and later decide to set one, or if you want to change an existing password:

1. Display your account settings and select Login (if that page is not displayed already).
2. In the Login panel at the top of the page, in the New Password field, enter your new password. It must be at least 6 characters long.
3. Click or tap Set Password (if you are setting a password for your account) or Change Password (if you are changing an existing password).

Tip: The main advantage of setting a password for your Groups.io account is so you do not have to deal with your login expiring in 30 days (see Logging in without setting a password).

Deleting your password

If you have a Groups.io password and later decide you no longer want to use a password to log in to Groups.io, you can delete your password:

1. Display your account settings and select Login (if that page is not displayed already).
2. In the Login panel at the top of the page, under the New Password field, click or tap Delete Password.
   Groups.io deletes the password and displays a banner at the top of the page stating that your password has been deleted.

Note: It is not possible to delete your password if two-factor authentication (2FA) is enabled in your Groups.io account.

Setting or changing your social login preference

Setting your language, time, and date display preferences

Setting your preferred text editor

Setting dark mode

Setting the number of items to show on group web pages

Setting up or disabling 2FA

Seeing copies of your own messages that you email to groups

To change your email address:

1. Log in to your Groups.io account if you are not already logged in.
2. Display your account settings and select Login (if that page is not displayed already).
3. In the Login panel at the top of the page, in the New Email field, enter your new email address.
4. Click or tap the Change Email button.
5. In the Verify Email Change popup that appears:
   • ! Important: Carefully review the new email address, which is displayed in bold, and ensure that it is correct.
     (If it contains a typo or other error, click or tap Cancel to return to the Login page, then reenter the new address and click or tap Change Email again.)
   • If you are certain that the new email address is correct, click or tap Yes. Groups.io sends a confirmation email to the new address.
6. When you receive the confirmation email from Groups.io at the new address, reply to that email to confirm the change.

Note:

• This change applies to all groups you are subscribed to at the original email address.
  Tip: If you want to change the email address for only one group, you will need to create a new Groups.io account with the new address, then subscribe to the group from that address. You will also need to unsubscribe your old address from that group so that you receive its messages only at your new email address.
• If the new email address is already registered with Groups.io, a page appears that explains the account merge process and prompts you to verify that you want to merge your Groups.io accounts.

If the email provider you use for your Groups.io account sends your outgoing messages from an address that is different from your account address, or if you want to be able to send messages to groups from an additional address (for example, a work address) that is different from your account address, you can add an email alias to your account:

1. Log in to your Groups.io account if you are not already logged in.
2. Display your account settings and select Login (if that page is not displayed already).
3. At the bottom of the page, click or tap Advanced Settings for Email Addresses to expand that panel.
4. In the Email Alias field, enter the address you want to be able to send messages from.
5. Click or tap the Add Email Alias button. That address is now listed under Email Aliases.

Note:

• You will not receive group messages and notifications at addresses that you set up as email aliases. Group messages and notifications are sent only to the email address that is registered with your Groups.io account.
• If you add an email alias, you can log in to your Groups.io account using that alias, just as you would with your account address. You will be logged into Groups.io as though you had logged in through your account address. Logging in to Groups.io through an email alias that is linked to your account address does not create an additional Groups.io account.
• To delete an alias, click or tap the X next to it.

If you make an error (such as a typo) when you change the email address for your Groups.io account, you can try these steps to recover your account and correct the email address:

Note: These steps assume that you have a password set for your Groups.io account.

1. Log out of your Groups.io account.
2. Log in to Groups.io using the misspelled email address and your original password—that is, the one associated with your correct email address.
   Note: You cannot use the “Email me a link to log in” option on the Log In page because the link will be sent to the misspelled email address, which presumably does not exist (or possibly could belong to someone else).
3. Go to your Groups.io account settings and change the email address to the correct one.

Tip: If you are not sure what the misspelled email address is (for example, you do not remember what the typo was) so you can enter it in step 2 above, you can try contacting the owner of a group you belong to and asking them to tell you what email address is associated with your membership. Send an email to groupname+owner@groups.io (substituting the actual group’s name for groupname). If the group is a Premium or Enterprise group, you could ask the group’s owner to correct your email address for you. In Free groups, owners cannot change members’ email addresses.

If you have two (or more) Groups.io accounts, you can merge them into one account so you can access all your groups from one account. The merge will deactivate and delete all your accounts except the one you are merging the other account(s) into. 

Note: If you own any groups under an account you want to deactivate, your ownership will be moved to the account you are merging the other account into. That is, you will not lose ownership of groups you own under the account being deactivated.

To merge accounts:

1. Log in to the Groups.io account that you want to deactivate (that is, the account you want to merge into another account).
2. Display the account settings for that account.
3. In the New Email field, clear the address that is there, and enter the email address of the destination account (the one that you want to merge this account into).
4. Click or tap the Change Email button. The Verify Email Change popup appears.
5. In the popup, ensure that the email address of the destination account is correct, and click or tap Yes. Groups.io displays a page that says: 

   “You have specified an email address, [destination address], that already has an account at Groups.io. If you wish to merge this account, [address to be deactivated], into that account, click the Merge Accounts button. An email will be sent to [destination address] with a link that, when clicked, will cause the accounts to be merged and this account to be deleted.”

6. Click or tap the Merge button under that text. Groups.io displays a notification that an email has been sent to the destination address you entered.
7. In the email application for your destination email address, open the email from Groups.io (the subject is “Confirm merging accounts”). Click the link in that email for merging the accounts. The link opens the Groups.io Log In page.
8. Log in to Groups.io under your destination email address. Groups.io displays the Merge Accounts page, which says:

   “Do you wish to merge the account associated with the email address [address to be deactivated] with your account? This will cause all subscriptions associated with [address to be deactivated] to be moved to your account and the [address to be deactivated] account will be deleted.”

9. Click or tap the Merge button under that text. Groups.io completes the merge process and displays your Feed home page with a green banner at the top that says “Your accounts have been merged.”

You can download (export) copies of your contributions to any groups that you belong to (including your own messages), photos and files that you uploaded to Premium or Enterprise group websites, and other group content.

To export your Groups.io account data:

1. Display your account settings.
2. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click or tap the Export My Account button.
3. On the Export Account Data page, select the checkboxes for the groups (and subgroups, if applicable) that you want to export data from.
4. Click or tap the Generate Export button. Groups.io displays a green banner at the top of the page stating that your request has been submitted and that you can expect an email with a link to download a zip file (a compressed archive file) within 10 minutes.
5. When you receive the email (the sender is Groups.io User Export Service, and the subject is “Export of [your email address]”), click or tap the Download User Export link, and open or save the zip file.
   Note: The download link in the email is valid for 24 hours.

Premium and Enterprise groups can request donations from their group members, and all groups can enable a sponsorship feature. If you have made donations to or sponsored a group, you can review your donation or sponsorship history in your Groups.io account:

1. Go to your account settings.
2. Desktop browser: In the left menu, select Billing.
   Mobile browser: Tap the More icon at the bottom of the page, then tap Billing on the More menu.
   Restriction: In the Groups.io mobile app, the Billing entry is not available due to rules imposed by Google Play and the Apple App Store. Therefore, on a mobile device, you must use a browser to see the Billing page.
3. On the Billing page, review the Donation History panel and the Sponsorship History panel. 

Your account’s Billing page also allows you to specify a credit card to keep on file with Groups.io. If you already used a credit card to make a donation or payment, that card’s information is shown here.

Note: If you are the designated payer for any paid groups, your Billing page shows your Groups.io payment history on the Group Payment History panel.

Overview of bouncing

When group messages cannot be delivered by email to a group member for some reason, the nondelivery events are called bounces. Those events put that member’s Groups.io account into a bouncing state that affects all the groups the member belongs to with that account’s email address.

Groups.io tries to notify a bouncing member by sending them an email message that has the subject line “Your Groups.io Account is Bouncing.” Also, when a bouncing member logs in to the Groups.io website, a red banner at the top of the page informs them that their account is bouncing.

Note: When a Groups.io account is bouncing, the member can still log in to group websites and read and post messages there. Bouncing affects only email delivery; it does not affect the member’s ability to use group websites.

Checking recent email bounces

If you realize that you have not received any group email messages for a while, but you have not received an email notification that your account is bouncing, you can check your account to see whether group email messages are bouncing:

1. Go to your account settings.
2. Desktop browser: In the left menu, select Bounces.
   Mobile device: Tap the More icon at the bottom of the page, then tap Bounces on the More menu.
3. Review the Bounces page to see whether any messages are listed there and, if so, what the associated error messages are.

Tip: You can also check your email delivery history in individual groups you subscribe to. See Checking your email delivery history for a group.

What to do if your account is bouncing

When your Groups.io account is bouncing, you can try to “unbounce” your account using any of these methods:

• If you received a “Your Groups.io Account is Bouncing” email notification, click or tap the link in the email to unbounce your account.
• Make sure you are not logged in to Groups.io, and go to the Groups.io Log In page. Click or tap the Email me a link to log in button, then click or tap the login link in the email you receive. 
• Go to the Groups.io website (and log in if necessary). You will be directed to a web page with a red banner at the top stating that your account is bouncing. The page shows the most recent bounce messages and gives you the option to either change your email address or send an email (also known as a bounce probe) to the bouncing address with a link to unbounce it.

! Important: Group owners and moderators cannot do anything to unbounce their group members’ accounts. When your account is bouncing, you must address the underlying problem yourself, which might involve contacting your email service provider for assistance or investigation.

What to do if members in your group have bouncing accounts

From time to time, group owners or moderators might want to review their group’s member list to check whether any members are being reported as bouncing. 

! Important: Other than try to contact members and make them aware of their bouncing status, group owners and moderators cannot do anything to “unbounce” members’ accounts. Members must address the underlying problem themselves.

To check a group you own or moderate for bouncing members:

1. Display the member list.
2. In the list, review the Email column. Next to their email addresses, bouncing members have either a red B badge (“Bounced”—the system received no response to any bounce probes for 15 days) or a blue B badge (“Bouncing”—the system is sending bounce probes every 3 days).
   Tip: To see a list of only the members who are bouncing, click or tap the Filter button above the list, select the Bouncing checkbox in the filter list, then click or tap Apply at the bottom of the filter list. The page is refreshed and displays a list of only the bouncing members.
3. Review the email delivery history of each bouncing member to try and determine the reason why the account is bouncing:
   • On the Members page, click or tap in the row (anywhere except the checkbox) of a bouncing member. The Membership page for that member appears.
   • Click or tap the Membership button at the top of the page, then select Email Delivery History from the dropdown list.
   • On the resulting page, review the Bounces panel. It lists all recent bounces and the reasons for them.
     Note: This panel displays activity from only your group. Because the account’s bouncing status could have resulted from failed deliveries of messages in another group the member belongs to, you might have to direct the member to look up their own bouncing activity to see what is going on. An individual member can find that information on the Bounces page for their account. See What to do if your account is bouncing.

Tip: In the Bounces panel on a member’s email delivery history page:

• 400-level errors usually indicate a temporary condition, and the affected message could subsequently get delivered.
• 500-level errors are considered permanent.

These resources on SMTP error codes provide information that you might find helpful:

• What Those SMTP Error Codes Mean and Why You Should Care
• SMTP errors and reply codes

If the group’s owner has set up integrations with GitHub or Trello and you are a member of either of those services, you can view your authenticated logins to those services:

1. Display your account settings.
2. Desktop browser: In the left menu, select Other Services.
   Mobile device: Tap the More icon at the bottom of the page, then tap Other Services on the More menu.

The resulting page lists the services for which you have authenticated your logins. You can click or tap the Log Out button to log out of a service.

To log out of your Groups.io account:

1. On any group page, click or tap your display name or email address at the upper right in the blue page header.
2. Select Log Out from the dropdown menu.

Note: On a mobile device, you might need to use landscape orientation to see your display name or email address. In portrait orientation, you can tap your profile picture (or the generic profile icon if you have not set a picture) on the right side of the blue page header and then select then select Log Out from the dropdown menu.

If you want to delete your Groups.io account:

1. Display your account settings.
2. Scroll to the bottom of the page.
3. Click or tap the Delete My Account button at the far right.
4. On the Delete Your Account page, enter I understand to verify that you want to delete your account, then click or tap Delete My Account.

! Important: Your account cannot be deleted if you are the only owner of at least one group. In that situation, you should either transfer ownership of the group to someone else or delete the group before you delete your account.

Options for controlling email delivery

If a group you belong to is particularly active and you want to reduce the number of email messages you receive from it, you have these options:

• Receive messages in all topics except for topics that you explicitly mute, including topics with hashtags that you mute. (Muting means that you are not sent any further messages associated with that topic or hashtag.)
• Receive messages only in topics that you explicitly follow, including topics with hashtags that you follow. (Following means that you are sent messages associated with that topic or hashtag.)
• Receive a digest or daily summary instead of receiving individual messages as they are sent.
• Set your email delivery method for the group to No Email. You can still log in to the group’s website and read messages there at your convenience, but you will not receive group messages by email.

Note: Muting and following affect email delivery only. Any topics and hashtags that you mute or are not following by email are still visible to you in the message archive on the group's website.

Tip: If you have set your email delivery method to No Email but you still would like to receive notifications about new messages or for topics that have specific hashtags, you can enable web/app notifications for new messages (see Member notification settings) or for those particular hashtags (see Hashtag uses and notes). Those notifications will be sent to your web browser or mobile device but will not generate emails.

Setting your email delivery method

1. Desktop browser: On any page at the group’s website, select Subscription > Settings from the left menu.
   Mobile device: On any page in the group, tap the More icon at the bottom, then tap Subscription > Settings on the More menu.
2. On the Subscription page, in the Email Delivery panel, select the option you want to use for the group. See Email delivery settings.
3. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click or tap the Save button.

Tip: You can set the email delivery method for several groups at once from the Your Groups home page.

Muting topics or hashtags

To be able to apply muting, you must select All Messages in the Message Selection area of your Advanced subscription preferences. However, be aware that group owners or moderators might set some hashtags so they cannot be muted.

If you receive individual email messages from the group, the footer in each message contains a Mute This Topic link as well as links to mute any hashtags associated with that topic. If you receive message digests, a Mute Topic link is at the end of each message in the digest. Clicking or tapping these links takes you to the group’s website, where you can confirm or cancel the action.

When you are viewing messages on the group’s website, in either Topics view or Messages view, you can click or tap the Mute button that is displayed at the top of each topic page or individual message’s page to mute that topic.

For hashtags: To mute specific hashtags (so you stop receiving messages in topics that are tagged with those hashtags), you can use any of these methods:

• In a group email message, click or tap Mute for any hashtag listed in the message footer.
• On the Hashtags page on the group’s website, click or tap the Mute/Notify button (or link, if you are viewing the page in List View) for the hashtag. On the resulting page, in the Email panel, select the Mute Topics checkbox, and select a length of time from the Mute Duration list. Then click or tap the Update button at the bottom of the page.
• On an individual hashtag’s page, click or tap the Mute button under the hashtag’s name near the top of the page. On the resulting page, select the Mute Topics checkbox, and select a length of time from the Mute Duration list. Then click or tap the Update button at the bottom of the page.
• When you are viewing a topic on the group’s website, hashtags are displayed next to the topic’s subject line. In that view, you can click or tap the down arrow in a hashtag to display a dropdown menu, then select Mute from that menu. On the resulting page, select the Mute Topics checkbox, and select a length of time from the Mute Duration list. Then click or tap the Update button at the bottom of the page.

Tip: Consider setting a specific duration limit (as opposed to leaving the hashtag muted forever) because the same hashtag could be used in future topics that you might be interested in.

Note: If a moderator has set a hashtag to Special (meaning messages with that hashtag are sent as special notices), you cannot mute that hashtag because special notices cannot be muted.

Unmuting topics or hashtags

To unmute topics or hashtags that you have muted, use any of the methods mentioned in Muting topics and hashtags above. The button or link will be labeled “Unmute” instead of “Mute.”

Following topics or hashtags

To be able to follow or stop following (unfollow) topics or hashtags, you must select Following Only in the Message Selection area of your Advanced subscription preferences. With this preference set, you receive messages only in topics that you choose to follow and messages in topics with hashtags that you choose to follow.

To receive the first message in each new topic that is posted to the group—so you can then decide whether to follow that topic—select the First Message Also checkbox when you set the Following Only preference for your subscription.

If you receive individual email messages from the group, and you selected First Message Also in your subscription preferences, the footer in those messages contains a Follow This Topic link and links to follow any hashtags associated with that topic. If you did not select First Message Also, you can select which topics to follow using the Groups.io website.

Email messages other than the first one in a topic include an Unfollow This Topic link and links to unfollow any hashtags associated with that topic. If you receive message digests, the follow or unfollow links are at the end of each message in the digest. Clicking or tapping these links takes you to the group’s website, where you can confirm or cancel the action.

Note: If the owner has set the group’s Reply To setting to “Topic Followers Only,” you will, by default, be following any topics you create in that group. Therefore, regardless of whether you set the Following Only preference in your email subscription for that group, you will see an Unfollow This Topic link in the email footers of topics that you create.

When you are viewing messages on the group’s website, in either Topics view or Messages view, you can click or tap the Follow This Topic button that is displayed at the top of each topic page or individual message’s page to follow that topic.

For hashtags: When you have selected Following Only in your email subscription for the group, you will see a Follow/Notify button (or link), instead of a Mute/Notify button (or link), on the group’s Hashtags page and on individual hashtag pages. To follow specific hashtags—so you receive messages in topics that are tagged with those hashtags—you can use any of these methods:

• In a group email message, click or tap Follow for any hashtag listed in the message footer.
• On the Hashtags page on the group’s website, click or tap the Follow/Notify button (or link, if you are viewing the page in List View) in the hashtag. On the resulting page, in the Email panel, select the Follow Topics checkbox, and select a length of time from the Follow Duration list. Then click or tap the Update button at the bottom of the page.
• On an individual hashtag’s page, click or tap the Follow button near the top. On the resulting page, select the Follow Topics checkbox, select a length of time from the Follow Duration list, and then click or tap the Update button.
• When you are viewing a topic on the group’s website, hashtags are displayed next to the topic’s subject line. In that view, you can click or tap the down arrow in a hashtag to display a dropdown menu, then select Follow from that menu. On the resulting page, select the Follow Topics checkbox, and select a length of time from the Follow Duration list. Then click or tap the Update button at the bottom of the page.

Tip: Consider setting a specific duration limit (as opposed to following the hashtag forever) because the same hashtag could be used in future topics that you might not be interested in.

Unfollowing topics or hashtags

To unfollow topics or hashtags that you are following, use any of the methods mentioned in Following topics or hashtags above. The button or link will be labeled “Unfollow” instead of “Follow.”

Managing muted and followed topics

The Topics home page on the Groups.io website provides a place where you can manage the topics that you have muted or are following in all of your group subscriptions:

1. At the top of any group page, click or tap the Groups.io logo on the far left in the blue header. This action takes you to the most recent Groups.io home page that you viewed.
2. Desktop browser: On the resulting page, select Topics from the left menu to display a submenu. In the submenu, select Muted or Followed, depending on which topics you want to manage.
   Mobile device: On the resulting page, tap the More icon at the bottom. On the More menu, select Muted Topics or Followed Topics, depending on which topics you want to manage.
3. On the resulting page, find the topic you want, and click or tap its link to open it.
4. At the top of the topic’s page, click or tap the applicable button to take the associated action:
   • Mute This Topic

     Stop email delivery of messages in that topic.

   • Unmute This Topic

     Resume email delivery of messages in that topic.

   • Follow This Topic

     Start email delivery of messages in that topic.

   • Unfollow This Topic

     Stop email delivery of messages in that topic.

Managing muted and followed hashtags

The Hashtags home page on the Groups.io website provides a place where you can manage the hashtags that you have muted or are following in all of your group subscriptions:

1. At the top of any group web page, click or tap the Groups.io logo on the far left in the blue header. This action takes you to the most recent Groups.io home page that you viewed.
2. Desktop browser: Select Hashtags from the left menu to display a submenu. In the submenu, select Muted or Followed, depending on which hashtags you want to manage.
   Mobile device: Tap the More icon at the bottom of the page. On the More menu, select Muted Tags or Followed Tags, depending on which hashtags you want to manage.
3. On the resulting page, you can:
   • Remove a hashtag from the list by selecting the checkbox next to it and then clicking or tapping the Remove button (for muted hashtags) or Delete button (for followed hashtags).
   • Add a hashtag to the list by clicking or tapping the Mute A New Hashtag link (for muted hashtags) or Follow A New Hashtag link (for followed hashtags) at the upper right of the page.

About web/app notifications

In your Groups.io account, you can enable web/app notifications about group activity on your mobile device and desktop web browser. A web/app notification is an automated alert message about displayed by a website or mobile app outside of the web browser or app user interface (even when the website or app is not open). The location and style of these notifications depend on the device’s operating system and the browser.

In Groups.io, members who are not group owners or moderators can opt to receive web/app notifications on their mobile or desktop device when:

• New messages are posted to a group
• New messages are posted to a chat they are participating in
• Messages that contain specific hashtags are posted to a group

Group owners and moderators have additional options for controlling the web/app notifications (and email notifications) they receive about group activity. See Moderator notifications about group activity. 

Enabling web/app notifications

Before you can receive any web/app notifications, you must enable them in your Groups.io account. Follow these steps on each device and in each browser where you want to see the notifications:

1. ! Important: Ensure that the browser or app allows notifications from Groups.io. The instructions depend on your specific browser and device. See your browser’s or device’s settings and help information.
   Note: If private browsing mode is enabled in your browser, push notifications might not work. In that situation, you must disable private browsing to receive web/app notifications.
2. Display your account settings.
3. Desktop browser: In the left menu, select Notifications.
   Mobile device: Tap the Notifications icon at the bottom of the page.
4. On the Notifications page, click or tap the Enable Notifications button (the full label varies depending on whether you are using a mobile device). If a popup appears asking you to confirm that you want to allow Groups.io to show notifications, click or tap the option that allows notifications. The Notifications page then lists the device (operating system) and browser for which you enabled notifications.
5. If desired, click or tap the Send A Test Notification button to check that Groups.io notifications appear in the browser or on the mobile device.

The steps above enable web/app notifications from all your Groups.io groups. To control the web/app notifications that you see from an individual group, see Member notification settings and also Hashtag uses and notes (for notifications about messages tagged with specific hashtags).

Disabling web/app notifications

To disable web/app notifications from all your groups:

1. Display your account settings.
2. Desktop browser: In the left menu, select Notifications.
   Mobile device: Tap the Notifications icon at the bottom of the page.
3. On the Notifications page, click or tap the Disable Notifications In button (the full label varies depending on whether you are using a mobile device). Or, if you want to disable notifications on all your devices, click or tap the Disable Notifications on All Devices button.
4. When the Verify Disable Notifications popup appears, click or tap Yes.

For each group you belong to, you can set individual email subscription and notification preferences on your Subscription page for that group.

To display the Subscription page:

1. Log in to your Groups.io account if you are not already logged in. See Logging in to your account.
2. Go to the group for which you want to edit your settings.
3. Desktop browser: Click Subscription > Settings in the left menu.
   Mobile device: Tap the More icon at the bottom of a page then tap Subscription > Settings on the More menu.

On the Subscription page, you can set or change these elements:

• Email Delivery settings
• Signature
• Member notification settings
• Moderator notification settings (group owners and moderators only)
• Owner email setting (group owners and moderators only)

! Important: When you finish making your selections, scroll to the bottom of the page and click or tap the Save button.

Location in desktop browser: Left menu > Subscription > Settings > Email Delivery panel on Subscription page

Location on mobile device: Bottom of page > More icon > Subscription > Settings > Email Delivery panel on Subscription page

! Important: When you finish making your selections, scroll to the bottom of the page and click or tap the Save button.

The group owner sets a default email delivery option for their group. If you want to use a different delivery option, go to the Email Delivery panel on your Subscription page and select the option that specifies how you want to receive the group’s messages by email:

• Individual Messages

  You receive each message individually as soon as it is posted to the group.

• Full Featured Digest

  You receive a fully formatted (HTML) digest containing the day’s messages. For more information, see Message digests and summaries.

• Plain Digest

  You receive a plain text digest containing the day’s messages. For more information, see Message digests and summaries.

• Daily Summary

  You receive a once-daily list of topics that were posted that day. Unlike the digests, the summary does not include the text of any of the messages. It contains only a list of topics.For more information, see Message digests and summaries.

• Special Notices Only

  You receive only the messages that moderators have designated as special notices.

• No Email

  With this setting, you do not receive any group messages by email. You can still access messages and other group features on the group’s website. You might still receive individual notifications from the group (for example, a message sent directly to you by a group moderator) and system messages from Groups.io.

  Tip: If you would like to be notified when new messages are posted to the group, you can opt to receive web/app notifications for new messages. See Member notification settings.

  Note: If the No Email setting is not available, the owner decided to disable it for the group.

Note: Some options might not be available, depending on how the group is set up.

Tips:

• You can also set your email delivery option by email. See Standard group email addresses.
• If you belong to multiple groups and you want to use the same email delivery setting for several or all of them, you can change the setting for all the groups at once from Your Groups home page.

Location in desktop browser: Left menu > Subscription > Settings > Signature panel on Subscription page

Location on mobile device: Bottom of page > More icon > Subscription > Settings > Signature panel on Subscription page

! Important: When you finish making your selections, scroll to the bottom of the page and click or tap the Save button.

In the Signature panel on the Subscription page, you can enter and format a signature to be included with your posts to this group. To specify where you want your signature included—web postings or email postings—select the applicable checkbox. You can select both if desired.

Location in desktop browser: Left menu > Subscription > Settings > Advanced Preferences panel on Subscription page

Location on mobile device: Bottom of page > More icon > Subscription > Settings > Advanced Preferences panel on Subscription page

! Important: When you finish making your selections, scroll to the bottom of the page and click or tap the Save button.

Message Selection

In the Message Selection section of the Advanced Preferences panel, select the preference that specifies which messages you want to receive by email:

• All Messages

  You receive every message (individually or in digests, depending on your Email Delivery setting) posted to the group except those that are in topics you have specifically muted or that are tagged with one or more hashtags you have specifically muted. (This setting is the default.)

• Following Only

  You receive only the messages (individually or in digests, depending on your Email Delivery setting) posted to the group that are in topics you are specifically following or that are tagged with one or more hashtags you are specifically following.

• First Message Also

  You receive the first message of each new topic, regardless of the fact that you have not yet followed that topic. This setting helps you to manage the amount of email you receive from a very active group. It allows you to know that a given topic has been posted so you can then decide whether to follow any additional messages in that topic.

  Note: You cannot select this checkbox unless you select Following Only.

• Auto Follow Replies

  You receive all replies to topics that you start or reply to. This setting marks any topic that you start or reply to as one that you follow.

  Note: This checkbox is selected automatically when you select Following Only.

Note: The Message Selection preferences do not apply if you select Special Notices Only or No Email in the Email Delivery panel. Be aware that:

• If your Email Delivery preference is set to either Special Notices Only or No Email and you change the Message Selection preference from All Messages to Following Only, your Email Delivery preference will be changed automatically to Individual Messages.
• If your Message Selection preference is Following Only and you change your Email Delivery preference to either Special Notices or No Email, your Message Selection preference will be changed automatically to All Messages.

Max Attachment Size

If you want to specify a default maximum size for attachments that you receive in group email messages, expand the Advanced Preferences panel and select an option from the Max Attachment Size list. The default maximum attachment size is Unlimited.

This setting is useful if you have a metered or limited Internet connection or you have limited storage space for attachments. When an attachment exceeds the maximum size you selected, you will receive a link to it (instead of receiving the actual file) so you can open the attachment from the group's website.

Location in desktop browser: Left menu > Subscription > Settings > Member Notifications panel on Subscription page

Location on mobile device: Bottom of page > More icon > Subscription > Settings > Member Notifications panel on Subscription page

! Important: When you finish making your selections, scroll to the bottom of the page and click or tap the Save button.

In the Member Notifications panel on your Subscription page, use the dropdown lists to turn on or turn off web/app notifications about new group messages or new chat messages.

Note: To receive web/app notifications, you must enable them in your Groups.io account. For more information, see Enabling or disabling web/app notifications.

Location in desktop browser: Left menu > Subscription > Settings > Moderator Notifications panel on Subscription page

Location on mobile device: Bottom of page > More icon > Subscription > Settings > Moderator Notifications panel on Subscription page

Restriction: The Moderator Notifications panel appears only if you are an owner or moderator of the group.

! Important: When you finish making your selections, scroll to the bottom of the page and click or tap the Save button.

For each activity type listed on the Moderator Notifications panel, use the associated dropdown list to select your preferred notification method for that activity:

• Email and web/app

  When the activity occurs, you receive both an email notification and a web/app notification (if you have enabled web/app notifications in your Groups.io account). This method is the default.

• Email only

  When the activity occurs, you receive only an email notification.

• Web/App only

  When the activity occurs, you receive only a web/app notification.

• None

  You receive no notification of any kind when the activity occurs.

Note:

• To receive web/app notifications, you must enable them in your Groups.io account. For more information, see Enabling or disabling web/app notifications.
• Email notifications sent to moderators as a result of their Moderator Notifications settings do not include system hashtags.
• With email notifications, a delay of 4 to 8 minutes occurs between when the action is taken and when the corresponding email notification is delivered. This delay allows the system to combine multiple actions of the same type that occur within a short period of time into a single notification, which prevents a barrage of individual email notifications.
• Web/app notifications are always sent individually; they are not delayed or combined.
• If you are the one who performs an activity that you have chosen to be notified about, you will not receive a web/app notification or email notification for it.
  Exceptions:
  • If an unauthorized (spam) unsubscription occurs, you will receive a web/app notification if you were unsubscribed as a result.
  • You will receive a web/app notification about reaching the group’s storage limit even if your upload or post was the one that caused the limit to be reached.

Location in desktop browser: Left menu > Subscription > Settings > Owner Email panel on Subscription page

Location on mobile device: Bottom of page > More icon > Subscription > Settings > Owner Email panel on Subscription page

Restriction: The Owner Email panel appears only if you are an owner or moderator of the group.

! Important: When you finish making your selections, scroll to the bottom of the page and click or tap the Save button.

The Owner Email panel on your Subscription page contains options for receiving emails that are sent to the group’s owner email address (groupname+owner@groups.io). Select your desired option:

• All Emails

  You will receive all email messages that are sent to the owner email address, including from nonmembers and possible spammers.
  Note: If your group uses a Pending Subscription notice, at least one owner or moderator should select the All Emails option.

• Members Only

  You will receive only email messages that are sent to the owner email address by group members. This setting is the default.

• None

  You will not receive any email messages sent to the owner email address.

Be aware that all moderators and owners who select the All Emails option or the Members Only option will receive email messages that are sent to the group owner email address. If your group has several moderators, not all of them might need (or want) to receive owner emails. In that case, some of them could select the None option.

Direct link: https://groups.io/feed

This page lists recent activity in your groups. The group that had the most recent activity is listed first, followed by the group with the next most recent activity, and so on.

You can click or tap a group's icon to go to that group. You can also click or tap other links in the list to go to those elements (topics, calendar events, and so on).

Direct link: https://groups.io/groups

This page displays a list of the groups (and subgroups, if applicable) you belong to and any badges associated with your group membership status, your email delivery preference, and the group’s status (locked or unlocked). 

Columns on the page show the email delivery method you set in each group, the number of members in each group, and the time or date of the latest message in each group. You can click or tap a column heading to sort the list by that column. (On a mobile device, use landscape orientation to see the columns.)

Note: Group owners and moderators also see an Approvals Needed column.

Blue text indicates a link you can click or tap to go to (based on the column) a group’s Topics page, your Subscription page for that group, or the member list for that group (if you are an owner or moderator, or if the group’s owner has made the member list available to all group members).

Tip: You can use the Actions button at the bottom of the Your Groups page to change your email delivery option for a group (or more than one group) directly from this page, instead of going to your Subscription page for each group:

Note: On a mobile device, use landscape orientation to see the checkboxes and the Actions button.

1. Select the checkbox (or checkboxes) next to the desired group (or groups).
2. Scroll down and click or tap the Actions button.
3. From the dropdown menu, select the option you want to apply to the group (or groups):
   • Unsubscribe
   • No Email
   • Individual Messages
   • Plain Digest
   • Full Digest
   • Summary
   • Special Notices Only

Desktop browser: On a Groups.io home page (not an individual group’s home page), click Topics and select the option for the topics you want to see.

Mobile device: On a Groups.io home page (not an individual group’s home page), tap the More icon at the bottom, then, on the More menu, select the option for the topics you want to see.

The options are:

• All (desktop) or All Topics (mobile): Displays the All Topics page (direct link: https://groups.io/topics), which lists the topics in all the groups you belong to. By default, the topics that have the most recent replies are at the top of the list.
• Muted (desktop)or Muted Topics (mobile): Displays the Muted Topics page (direct link: https://groups.io/topics?m=1), which lists any topics that you have chosen to mute in any of the groups you belong to.
• Followed (desktop) or Followed Topics (mobile): Displays the Followed Topics page (direct link: https://groups.io/topics?f=1), which lists all the topics that you have chosen to follow in any of the groups you belong to.

Tip: By default, Groups.io displays 20 items per page. You can increase the number of items displayed per page in the display preferences for your Groups.io account. See Setting the number of items to show on group web pages.

Desktop browser: On a Groups.io home page (not an individual group’s home page), click Hashtags and select the option for the topics you want to see.

Mobile device: On a Groups.io home page (not an individual group’s home page), tap the More icon at the bottom, then, on the More menu, select the option for the hashtags you want to see.

The options are:

• Muted (desktop) or Muted Tags (mobile): Displays the Muted Hashtags page (direct link: https://groups.io/mutedhashtags), which lists any hashtags that you have chosen to mute in any of the groups you belong to.
  You can mute a new hashtag from this page by clicking or tapping the Mute A New Hashtag link at the upper right of the page.
  You can unmute a hashtag from this page by selecting the checkbox to the left of the hashtag and then clicking or tapping the Remove button. You can select multiple hashtags and unmute them all at once.
• Followed (desktop) or Followed Tags (mobile): Displays the Followed Hashtags page (direct link: https://groups.io/followedhashtags), which lists all the hashtags that you have chosen to follow in any of the groups you belong to.
  You can follow a new hashtag from this page by clicking or tapping the Follow A New Hashtag link at the upper right of the page.
  You can stop following (“unfollow”) a hashtag from this page by selecting the checkbox to the left of the hashtag and then clicking or tapping the Delete button. You can select multiple hashtags and stop following them all at once.

Tip: By default, Groups.io displays 20 items per page. You can increase the number of items displayed per page in the display preferences for your Groups.io account. See Setting the number of items to show on group web pages.

Direct link: https://groups.io/calendar

This page displays a consolidated calendar that contains events from the calendars in all your groups (if the Calendar feature is available in the groups and enabled for group members to use). Buttons and other controls on this page allow you to:

• Show only the events for which you sent RSVPs.
• Display calendar events in Month, Week, Day, or List view. The default is Month view, but if you select another option, that view will be used in your future visits to this page.
• Add an event to any of your group calendars that members are allowed to add events to.
• Subscribe to your Groups.io calendar from another application that supports iCalendar format (such as Google Calendar, Microsoft Outlook, or Apple Calendar).
  Note: The subscription (synchronization) is only one way, from Groups.io to the other calendar.
• Select a different timezone for displaying calendar events.

Direct link: https://groups.io/chats

This page displays the chats you created or are participating in across all your groups (if the Chats feature is available in the groups and enabled for group members to use). You can click or tap a chat’s link to go directly to that chat.

Direct link: https://groups.io/activity

This page lists all the actions that you personally have taken in all of the groups you belong to. If you are a group owner or moderator, the page includes your owner or moderator actions.

You can filter your activity by using the Any Time button, the actions list, and the Search option.

Direct link: https://groups.io/pendingmsgs

This page lists all pending messages that are in any of the groups of which you are an owner or a moderator with at least the Approve Pending Messages privilege.

Note: This page is available only if you are an owner or moderator in one or more of your groups.

About topics and messages

In Groups.io, a topic is a collection of messages about a particular subject. The topic includes the initial message that was posted along with any replies to that message (including replies to those replies).

In the message archive on a group’s website, when you click or tap a topic’s link to open it, the topic is displayed with the initial message at the top of the page and replies expanded underneath it (unless you clicked or tapped the Date link to display messages in reverse date order).

Note: In the archive, certain icons might appear on topic subject lines. For a list of these icons and their descriptions, see Topic icons.

Topics view, Messages view, and Expanded view

When you visit a group’s website, the initial page that is displayed is the Topics page, also referred to as Topics view. By default, the topics are listed in order from newest to oldest, after any “sticky” topics that were pinned to the top of the page by a group owner or moderator. You can click or tap the Date link at the upper right to list the topics from oldest to newest. Click or tap a topic’s subject line to view the full topic as well as any replies to it.

To view a list of individual messages (Messages view) instead of topics, click or tap the Topics button at the top left of the page and select Messages. By default, the messages are listed in order from newest to oldest. You can click or tap the Date link at the upper right to list the messages from oldest to newest. Click or tap a message’s subject line to view the full message.

When you select Expanded from the Topics button or Messages button, messages are listed in order of their message numbers (shown at the far right next to the date), with the full text of each message displayed. Groups.io assigns message numbers according to the dates and times the messages are posted. By default, messages are displayed from newest (highest message number) to oldest (lowest message number). Click or tap the Date link at the upper right to list the messages oldest to newest.

Note: On a mobile device, you might need to rotate the device to landscape orientation to see the message numbers in Expanded view.

The default number of topics or messages listed per page is 20. You can change that number in the display preferences in your Groups.io account. See Setting the number of items to show on group web pages.

About the Show quoted text button

When you are viewing messages on a group’s website, you might see a Show quoted text button below some replies.

That button appears when a reply contains the text of a quoted message and that quoted text is located at the bottom of the message. In other words, the reply’s author entered the content of their reply above the message they quoted (either using their email application or when composing their reply on the group’s website). In those cases, Groups.io adds the Show quoted text button on the group’s website to conserve screen space.

When you click or tap Show quoted text, the quoted text is expanded under the reply, and the button label changes to Hide quoted text. You can click or tap Hide quoted text to collapse (hide) the quoted text.

If you do not see a Show quoted text button in a reply, then that reply does not include any quoted text at the bottom.

Note:

• Email applications have their own settings or preferences for whether messages are quoted in replies and how quoted text appears.
• Different email applications quote replies in different ways. The Groups.io system does its best to determine whether quoted content is a reply based on message headers or lines that contain certain text (such as “--Original Message--” or “On [date] [name or email] wrote:” and so on). Because of those email differences, quoted text on the group website might not generate a Show quoted text button.
• Quoted text at the bottom of replies is not included in message digests, to save space. If you receive digests, you will need to view those messages online if you want to see the quoted text.

Options for controlling email delivery

If a group you belong to is particularly active and you want to reduce the number of email messages you receive from it, you have these options:

• Receive messages in all topics except for topics that you explicitly mute, including topics with hashtags that you mute. (Muting means that you are not sent any further messages associated with that topic or hashtag.)
• Receive messages only in topics that you explicitly follow, including topics with hashtags that you follow. (Following means that you are sent messages associated with that topic or hashtag.)
• Receive a digest or daily summary instead of receiving individual messages as they are sent.
• Set your email delivery method for the group to No Email. You can still log in to the group’s website and read messages there at your convenience, but you will not receive group messages by email.

Note: Muting and following affect email delivery only. Any topics and hashtags that you mute or are not following by email are still visible to you in the message archive on the group's website.

Tip: If you have set your email delivery method to No Email but you still would like to receive notifications about new messages or for topics that have specific hashtags, you can enable web/app notifications for new messages (see Member notification settings) or for those particular hashtags (see Hashtag uses and notes). Those notifications will be sent to your web browser or mobile device but will not generate emails.

Setting your email delivery method

1. Desktop browser: On any page at the group’s website, select Subscription > Settings from the left menu.
   Mobile device: On any page in the group, tap the More icon at the bottom, then tap Subscription > Settings on the More menu.
2. On the Subscription page, in the Email Delivery panel, select the option you want to use for the group. See Email delivery settings.
3. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click or tap the Save button.

Tip: You can set the email delivery method for several groups at once from the Your Groups home page.

Muting topics or hashtags

To be able to apply muting, you must select All Messages in the Message Selection area of your Advanced subscription preferences. However, be aware that group owners or moderators might set some hashtags so they cannot be muted.

If you receive individual email messages from the group, the footer in each message contains a Mute This Topic link as well as links to mute any hashtags associated with that topic. If you receive message digests, a Mute Topic link is at the end of each message in the digest. Clicking or tapping these links takes you to the group’s website, where you can confirm or cancel the action.

When you are viewing messages on the group’s website, in either Topics view or Messages view, you can click or tap the Mute button that is displayed at the top of each topic page or individual message’s page to mute that topic.

For hashtags: To mute specific hashtags (so you stop receiving messages in topics that are tagged with those hashtags), you can use any of these methods:

• In a group email message, click or tap Mute for any hashtag listed in the message footer.
• On the Hashtags page on the group’s website, click or tap the Mute/Notify button (or link, if you are viewing the page in List View) for the hashtag. On the resulting page, in the Email panel, select the Mute Topics checkbox, and select a length of time from the Mute Duration list. Then click or tap the Update button at the bottom of the page.
• On an individual hashtag’s page, click or tap the Mute button under the hashtag’s name near the top of the page. On the resulting page, select the Mute Topics checkbox, and select a length of time from the Mute Duration list. Then click or tap the Update button at the bottom of the page.
• When you are viewing a topic on the group’s website, hashtags are displayed next to the topic’s subject line. In that view, you can click or tap the down arrow in a hashtag to display a dropdown menu, then select Mute from that menu. On the resulting page, select the Mute Topics checkbox, and select a length of time from the Mute Duration list. Then click or tap the Update button at the bottom of the page.

Tip: Consider setting a specific duration limit (as opposed to leaving the hashtag muted forever) because the same hashtag could be used in future topics that you might be interested in.

Note: If a moderator has set a hashtag to Special (meaning messages with that hashtag are sent as special notices), you cannot mute that hashtag because special notices cannot be muted.

Unmuting topics or hashtags

To unmute topics or hashtags that you have muted, use any of the methods mentioned in Muting topics and hashtags above. The button or link will be labeled “Unmute” instead of “Mute.”

Following topics or hashtags

To be able to follow or stop following (unfollow) topics or hashtags, you must select Following Only in the Message Selection area of your Advanced subscription preferences. With this preference set, you receive messages only in topics that you choose to follow and messages in topics with hashtags that you choose to follow.

To receive the first message in each new topic that is posted to the group—so you can then decide whether to follow that topic—select the First Message Also checkbox when you set the Following Only preference for your subscription.

If you receive individual email messages from the group, and you selected First Message Also in your subscription preferences, the footer in those messages contains a Follow This Topic link and links to follow any hashtags associated with that topic. If you did not select First Message Also, you can select which topics to follow using the Groups.io website.

Email messages other than the first one in a topic include an Unfollow This Topic link and links to unfollow any hashtags associated with that topic. If you receive message digests, the follow or unfollow links are at the end of each message in the digest. Clicking or tapping these links takes you to the group’s website, where you can confirm or cancel the action.

Note: If the owner has set the group’s Reply To setting to “Topic Followers Only,” you will, by default, be following any topics you create in that group. Therefore, regardless of whether you set the Following Only preference in your email subscription for that group, you will see an Unfollow This Topic link in the email footers of topics that you create.

When you are viewing messages on the group’s website, in either Topics view or Messages view, you can click or tap the Follow This Topic button that is displayed at the top of each topic page or individual message’s page to follow that topic.

For hashtags: When you have selected Following Only in your email subscription for the group, you will see a Follow/Notify button (or link), instead of a Mute/Notify button (or link), on the group’s Hashtags page and on individual hashtag pages. To follow specific hashtags—so you receive messages in topics that are tagged with those hashtags—you can use any of these methods:

• In a group email message, click or tap Follow for any hashtag listed in the message footer.
• On the Hashtags page on the group’s website, click or tap the Follow/Notify button (or link, if you are viewing the page in List View) in the hashtag. On the resulting page, in the Email panel, select the Follow Topics checkbox, and select a length of time from the Follow Duration list. Then click or tap the Update button at the bottom of the page.
• On an individual hashtag’s page, click or tap the Follow button near the top. On the resulting page, select the Follow Topics checkbox, select a length of time from the Follow Duration list, and then click or tap the Update button.
• When you are viewing a topic on the group’s website, hashtags are displayed next to the topic’s subject line. In that view, you can click or tap the down arrow in a hashtag to display a dropdown menu, then select Follow from that menu. On the resulting page, select the Follow Topics checkbox, and select a length of time from the Follow Duration list. Then click or tap the Update button at the bottom of the page.

Tip: Consider setting a specific duration limit (as opposed to following the hashtag forever) because the same hashtag could be used in future topics that you might not be interested in.

Unfollowing topics or hashtags

To unfollow topics or hashtags that you are following, use any of the methods mentioned in Following topics or hashtags above. The button or link will be labeled “Unfollow” instead of “Follow.”

Managing muted and followed topics

The Topics home page on the Groups.io website provides a place where you can manage the topics that you have muted or are following in all of your group subscriptions:

1. At the top of any group page, click or tap the Groups.io logo on the far left in the blue header. This action takes you to the most recent Groups.io home page that you viewed.
2. Desktop browser: On the resulting page, select Topics from the left menu to display a submenu. In the submenu, select Muted or Followed, depending on which topics you want to manage.
   Mobile device: On the resulting page, tap the More icon at the bottom. On the More menu, select Muted Topics or Followed Topics, depending on which topics you want to manage.
3. On the resulting page, find the topic you want, and click or tap its link to open it.
4. At the top of the topic’s page, click or tap the applicable button to take the associated action:
   • Mute This Topic

     Stop email delivery of messages in that topic.

   • Unmute This Topic

     Resume email delivery of messages in that topic.

   • Follow This Topic

     Start email delivery of messages in that topic.

   • Unfollow This Topic

     Stop email delivery of messages in that topic.

Managing muted and followed hashtags

The Hashtags home page on the Groups.io website provides a place where you can manage the hashtags that you have muted or are following in all of your group subscriptions:

1. At the top of any group web page, click or tap the Groups.io logo on the far left in the blue header. This action takes you to the most recent Groups.io home page that you viewed.
2. Desktop browser: Select Hashtags from the left menu to display a submenu. In the submenu, select Muted or Followed, depending on which hashtags you want to manage.
   Mobile device: Tap the More icon at the bottom of the page. On the More menu, select Muted Tags or Followed Tags, depending on which hashtags you want to manage.
3. On the resulting page, you can:
   • Remove a hashtag from the list by selecting the checkbox next to it and then clicking or tapping the Remove button (for muted hashtags) or Delete button (for followed hashtags).
   • Add a hashtag to the list by clicking or tapping the Mute A New Hashtag link (for muted hashtags) or Follow A New Hashtag link (for followed hashtags) at the upper right of the page.

If you are not receiving email messages from a group that you are subscribed to, you can check your email delivery history for the group:

1. Log in to Groups.io and go to the group’s website.
2. Desktop browser: In the left menu, select Subscription > Delivery History.
   Mobile device: At the bottom of a page in the group, tap the More icon and then select Subscription > Delivery History on the More menu.
3. On the resulting Email Delivery History page, review the information to see whether you can determine why messages from the group have not been delivered to you. (On a mobile device, use landscape orientation to see the page more clearly.)

Tip: If the Bounces panel at the bottom of the Email Delivery History page shows that email to you has been bouncing, see Dealing with bouncing accounts.

! Important: Make sure you are sending email from the email address that is registered with your Groups.io account (or from an email alias that you added to your Groups.io account).

To send a new group message (create a topic) by email, create the message in your email application as you normally would, provide a descriptive subject line, and enter the group’s address in the To field. A group’s email address typically has the format groupname@groups.io. The group’s email addresses are listed on the group’s home page on Groups.io.

To reply to a group message by email, you can use either of these methods:

• Use the Reply function of your email application.
• In the footer of the message you want to reply to, click or tap the applicable Reply link. The links available in the footer depend on the text format of the message and on how the Reply To option is set for the group (or for a specific topic or hashtag). 

Tip: To reply privately to the original sender of the message and not to the entire group, click or tap the Reply To Sender link in the message footer.

Note: 

• The size limit for an individual email message sent through Groups.io is 100MB. But be aware that some recipients’ email systems might have smaller message size limits.
• If you send 40 or more messages within 30 minutes to the same group from the same email address, the system will bounce those messages, and you will receive a notice from the system that says: “We have received more than 40 messages in 30 minutes from you. To guard against autoresponder mail loops, we must reject additional messages from you temporarily. Please try again later.” This limit is in place to circumvent, for example, an incorrectly configured vacation responder where one message to a group the member is subscribed to could set off a chain reaction. It also serves as a spam prevention measure.

Text editor tips

You can set your preferred text editor (HTML, Markdown, or Plain Text) in your Groups.io account preferences. See Setting your preferred text editor.

In the HTML editor, in a desktop browser, you can display another toolbar with additional editing options by clicking the More options icon (...) at the far left on the formatting toolbar. On a mobile device, all of the HTML editing options are on the toolbar, and you can scroll the toolbar to display them.

Posting a new topic

1. Desktop browser: On the group’s website, in the left menu, select New Topic.
   Mobile device: In the group, tap the New Topic icon at the bottom of a page.
2. On the New Topic page, enter a descriptive subject line, and enter and format the text of your topic. If applicable, use the Add Tags list to select hashtags to add to the subject line.
   Note: If you are the group owner or a moderator, you can also select a checkbox to send the topic as a special notice or to lock the topic immediately after it is posted (or both).
3. Click or tap the Send button at the bottom of the page.

Replying to a message

1. In the group, locate the message you want to reply to.
2. Click or tap the Reply link below that message’s text.
3. In the To list above the subject line, select the recipient of the reply:
   • To send your reply to the entire group, select Group.
   • To send your reply only to the message’s sender, select Sender. If you want to blind copy yourself, select the BCC Me checkbox below the text editor box. 
   • To send your reply only to the group’s moderators, select Moderators. If you want to blind copy yourself, select the BCC Me checkbox below the text editor box.

   Note: The default option might be either to reply to the group or reply only to the sender of the message you are replying to, depending on the settings the owner specified for the group. If the owner has not disabled the other reply option, you can select the applicable option on the list to choose where to send your reply.

4. In the text editor box, enter and format the text of your reply.
   Note: If you are the group owner or a moderator, you can also select the Lock Topic After Posting checkbox to lock the topic immediately after the reply is posted.
5. Click or tap the Send button.

Quoting messages you are replying to

Note: This topic covers quoting messages that you are replying to on a group’s website. If you are replying to messages via email, the method for automatically including quoted messages in replies as well as where quoted text is placed (for example, at the top or bottom of the message) depend on the specific email application you are using.

When you are replying to a message on a group’s website, you can automatically include (quote) all or part of that message in your reply.

To quote the entire message you are replying to:

1. Under the message you want to reply to, click or tap the Reply link.
2. On the text formatting toolbar above the text editing box, click or tap the Quote post icon at the far left (in a desktop browser, it is to the right of the More options icon). The message text is inserted automatically at the top of your reply’s text editing box, along with the message’s posting date and time and the author’s name.

To quote only part of the message you are replying to:

1. While viewing the message you want to reply to, select the specific text that you want to quote. (You do not need to use a copy function.)
2. Click or tap the Reply link under the message. The text you selected is inserted automatically at the top of your reply’s text editor box, along with the message’s posting date and time and the author’s name.

Working with draft messages

When you are composing a message on a group’s website or on a mobile device, Groups.io automatically saves a draft of the message periodically. If you click or tap outside the message editor or even leave the page, Groups.io saves the draft up to that point and adds a Drafts entry for that group to the left menu in a desktop browser and the More menu on a mobile device. You can click or tap Drafts to see the drafts that the system has saved, and from there you can open and send a draft or discard it.

Note:

• The system automatically deletes drafts that are older than two weeks.
• If you create too many drafts, Groups.io displays a notice at the top of the page that you must delete some drafts before more drafts can be saved.
• Messages that have hashtag issues (such as containing a restricted hashtag) are bounced by the system, not held as drafts to be corrected. To avoid this situation, make sure that you are familiar with the group’s rules and guidelines for using hashtags.

Similar to social media apps and websites, Groups.io has a feature allowing group members to indicate they like messages that are posted to the group. You can use either of these methods to like a group message:

• When you are reading a message on the group’s website or in the mobile app, click or tap Like at the bottom center of the message.
• By email, reply to the message you want to like and enter either +1 or the word like as the text of your reply. (If your reply automatically quotes the message you are replying to, delete all the quoted text so your reply contains only +1 or like.) This reply will not be sent to group members or appear in the message archive on the group’s website, but your like will be included in the count of likes under that message on the website.

Note: Enterprise groups can opt to disable the function that converts “+1” email messages to likes.

Searching by keyword

Desktop browser:

1. Go to the group’s Messages page.
2. In the Search box at the upper right of the page, enter the keywords you want to search for.
3. Click the magnifying glass icon at the right of the Search box.

Mobile device:

1. Go to the group’s Messages page.
2. Tap the magnifying glass icon at the top right of the page.
3. In the Search popup, enter the keywords you want to search for, then tap Search.

You can filter the search results by clicking or tapping the Tools button at the top of the page to display tools that allow you to:

• Specify a date range: Click or tap the Any Time button and select a range from the dropdown menu.
• Group the messages into their topics: Select the Collapse Topics checkbox.
• Exclude any message signatures that contain the keywords: Select the Exclude Signatures checkbox.

Tips:

• The message search engine uses the standard Boolean operators AND, OR, and NOT. If you include these operators in your search query, you must put them in all uppercase (otherwise, the search engine assumes you are looking for those actual words). If you enter more than one word in the Search box, the AND operator is implied.
• You can search for exact phrases by putting them in quotes. Example: “message formatting”
• The search engine matches only whole words. However, you can include the wildcard character, an asterisk (*), to find variations of a word. Example: A search on telescop* will find telescope, telescopes, telescoping, and so on.

Searching by posted date

1. Go to the group’s Messages page.
2. Click or tap the Filter button at the top of the page.
3. Click or tap the Any Time button and select a date range from the dropdown menu.

Searching for messages from a specific group member

The Groups.io message search engine does not include message From and To fields in its searches. If you want to search for all messages that were posted by a specific group member:

1. Go to the group’s Messages page.
2. Find and expand a recent message that was posted by the member in question.
3. Click or tap the member’s display name and select All Messages By This Member from the dropdown list. 

When the search results are displayed, you can click or tap the Tools button at the top of the page to filter the results further, if desired.

Searching by hashtags

You can use these methods to search for messages by hashtags: 

• When you are searching for messages by keyword, include a hashtag in your search string. Ensure that you include the hashtag character (#).
• On the Topics page or the Messages page, click or tap the Filter button at the top of the page, then click the Hashtags button. Select one or more hashtags from the dropdown list, then scroll to the bottom of that dropdown list and click or tap Search.
  Note: If you select more than one hashtag, the system searches for topics that have all the selected hashtags (that is, the search is an AND operation, not an OR operation).
• Go to the group’s Hashtags page. You can then click or tap a hashtag on that page to display the messages that have it.

Searching by message number 

To search for a message using its ID number:

1. Go to the group and display posts in Messages view or Expanded view.
2. In the Msg # field that appears at the upper right next to the Date link, enter the number of the message you are searching for.
   Note: On a mobile device, you might need to use landscape orientation to see the Msg # field.
3. Press or tap Enter.
4. In the search results, the message will not be at the top of the page unless it happens to fall on a page break. If the message is not at the top of the page, you must scroll to find it:
   • In Messages view, the message you searched for will have a vertical blue bar on its left edge. Scroll down the page until you see that blue bar.
   • In Expanded view, scroll until you come to the message with the number that you searched for. (Expanded view does not include a vertical blue bar indicating the specific message.)

In a Premium or Enterprise group, the owner can allow members to repost messages to the group and can specify the maximum number of times that a message can be reposted. For example, a group that posts classified ads might allow members to repost ads after a specified period of time if items are not sold.

Note:

• Reposted messages are tagged automatically with the #repost hashtag.
• You can repost only your own messages.
• The message you repost must be the first one in the topic. Replies cannot be reposted.

To repost a message in a group that allows reposting:

1. After the number of days before reposting is allowed have elapsed, go to the group’s website and display the message that you want to repost.
   Note: The group’s owner or a moderator sets the number of days before messages can be reposted.
2. Look for and click or tap More at the lower right of the message.
3. In the popup menu, select Repost [subject to group limits].
4. In the Verify Repost confirmation popup, click or tap Yes.

Instructions for group members

A group’s owner might allow members to make changes to the content of their own messages in the message archive (that is, after the messages have been posted to the group).

Group members who are not owners or moderators can edit only messages that they have posted.

! Important: In this situation, edited messages are emailed to all group members automatically. Think carefully about whether you really need to flood other members’ email inboxes with minor corrections such as fixed typos.

To edit the content of a message that you posted:

1. On the group’s website, locate and open the message you want to edit.
2. Click or tap More at the lower right of the message and select Edit Message from the popup menu.
3. On the Edit Message page, make your changes. In addition, it is good practice to include a short note that explains your edits. Enter the note in the text box under the body of the message. That note will be included in the updated message that is sent to the group.
   Note: You cannot change the subject line because it appears in all messages that are in that topic. Only group owners and moderators with the appropriate permissions can change a topic’s subject line.
4. Click or tap the Save And Send To Group button. The edited message is sent to all group members.

In the archive, a blue Edited badge appears next to the message, at the far right under the original timestamp. All group members can click or tap that badge to see the message’s history and, if desired, compare revisions.

Instructions for group owners and moderators

Owners, and moderators with the appropriate permissions, can edit the content of all messages that are in the message archive on the group’s website.

Note: 

• To edit messages before they are delivered by email and posted to the archive, you need to use some form of moderation on members or messages.
• To change a topic’s subject line or hashtags, you need to edit the topic’s properties. See Editing the properties of topics in the archive. 

To edit the content of a message that has already been posted to the group:

1. On the group’s website, locate and open the message you want to edit.
2. Click or tap More at the lower right and select Edit Message from the popup menu.
3. On the Edit Message page that appears:
   • Make your edits to the body of the message.
   • In the text box after the message body, add a brief note about the change.
     Note: This note is optional but recommended so the reason for the change is documented. The note appears in the edited message if you choose to send it to the group by email. The note also can be viewed by members who click or tap the blue Edited badge that appears next to edited messages on the group's website.
4. Click or tap the appropriate button:
   • Save and Send to Group: Use this button if you want to send the edited message to the group by email. The message will include a statement that the message was edited along with the note you entered.
   • Save Without Sending: Use this button if you want to just save the edited message in the archive without emailing it to all group members. A copy will be sent to the original poster.

The message is sent or saved, according to the action that you took. In the archive, a blue Edited badge appears next to the message, at the far right under the original timestamp. All group members can click or tap that badge to see the message’s history and, if desired, compare revisions.

Group members can delete their own messages in the archive. Group owners and moderators with the appropriate permissions can delete any messages in the archive.

To delete an individual message within a topic (not the entire topic):

1. On the group’s website, display the message you want to delete.
2. Click or tap More under the message at the lower right.
3. Select Delete Message from the submenu that appears.
4. When the Verify Delete confirmation popup appears, click or tap Yes.

Note: Members who received the message by email will still have a copy (unless they deleted it from their email applications).

To report a message to the group’s moderators (for example, because you think it is not appropriate for the group) or to Groups.io Support (for example, because you think it violates the Groups.io Terms of Service):

1. On the group’s website or in the the mobile app, open the message you want to report.
2. Look for and click or tap More at the lower right of the message.
3. In the popup menu, select Report This Message.
4. In the Report Message popup, enter the reason you are reporting the message.
5. Select Report to Moderators or Report to Groups.io Support, as applicable.
6. Click or tap Report. An email message with the subject “Content flagged as objectionable” is sent to the group moderators or to Groups.io Support. Your email address is included in that message.

Note: The sender of the message you reported is not notified about the complaint. It is up to the group’s moderators or Groups.io Support to determine how to act on your complaint.

Some email providers notify Groups.io when group messages end up in the provider’s users’ spam folders. Most likely, the group messages were automatically flagged as spam by the email provider rather than having been specifically marked as spam by the users.

When Groups.io receives such a notification from an email provider, the system automatically unsubscribes that member from the group. Groups.io also sends the member an email with a link that lets them automatically and quickly resubscribe to the group if the spam flagging was a mistake.

If you receive a notification from Groups.io that you were removed from a group because of reported spam:

• Click the link in the notification message that automatically resubscribes you to the group.
  Note: The link expires 7 days after the notification was sent.
• Check the spam folder in your email application, and if that folder contains messages from Groups.io, mark those messages as not spam. Doing so will help train the email provider’s spam filters to make fewer mistakes about Groups.io emails.
  ! Important: Do not delete the messages from the spam folder or allow them to be automatically deleted from it. Otherwise, the email provider will likely continue flagging Groups.io messages as spam.

For additional information about this situation, see the wiki in the GroupManagersForum group.

If the group’s owner has allowed it, you can download the message archive for the group:

1. At the top of any message view page, look for and click or tap the Export Group Data button.
   Note: 
   • On a mobile device, you might need to use landscape orientation to see the button.
   • If you do not see this button at all in a desktop browser, mobile browser, or the mobile app, the group’s owner has not allowed members to download the message archive.
2. On the resulting page, in the Data to Export panel, select the Messages checkbox (it will be the only option).
3. Click or tap the Export Group Data button below the Data to Export panel. Groups.io displays a green banner at the top of the page stating that your request has been submitted and that you can expect an email with a link to download a zip file (a compressed archive file) within 10 minutes.
4. When you receive the email (the sender is Groups.io User Export Service, and the subject is “Export of [the group’s email address]”), click the Download Group Export link, and open or save the zip file.
   Note: The download link in the email is valid for 24 hours.

The zip file contains the message archive in mbox format, which you can open using an email client such as Mozilla Thunderbird or Apple Mail.

About digests

Group members who receive group messages by email can choose to receive digests of messages rather than receive each message individually as it is sent. You can choose to receive digests in HTML (full-featured) format or in plain text format. Alternatively, you can choose to receive daily summaries that list the topics and replies that were posted to the group the previous day. These settings are under Email Delivery on your Subscription page for the group.

To generate digests, the system groups a day’s messages into batches of 12 and delivers each batch in one digest message when the twelfth message is posted. The digests include the full text of each message, omitting any quotes of previous messages.

Note: If a digest had not been generated in the previous 6 hours and messages were posted to the group since the last digest, a digest is created at 6:00 AM local time for each member, based on the timezone in the member’s account preferences.

Full-featured digests

The top of a full-featured digest includes a list of the topics it contains. Each topic listed is a link you can click to go directly to that topic within the digest. If a topic has a number after it, that number is the count of messages in the topic that are included in the digest.

Example

After the list of topics are the messages that were posted, with a footer after each message. For more information, see Footers in digests.

Note: In a full-featured digest, the number of images included per message is limited to two. All other message attachments are included as links to the group’s website.

Plain text digests

The top of a plain text digest includes a list of the topics it contains. The topics in that list are not links. If a topic has a number after it, that number is the count of messages in the topic that are included in the digest.

The group’s email address, group web address, and unsubscribe web address might appear as links (as in the example below) if your email application automatically creates links from text that appears to be email addresses or web addresses.

Example

After the list of topics are the messages that were posted, with a footer after each message. For more information, see Footers in digests.

Daily summaries

A daily summary contains a list of messages (topics or replies) that were posted the previous day. Unlike the digests, the summary does not include the text of any of the messages. For replies to an existing topic, the summary contains a link to the topic, not to the individual reply.

The summary is created at 6:00 AM local time for each member, based on the timezone in the member’s account preferences.

About hashtags

A hashtag is a word or phrase that contains no spaces and is prefixed with the hash character, # (also referred to as pound sign, number sign, or octothorpe). If the group’s settings allow members to add hashtags, you can “tag” a message with a hashtag by including it somewhere in the message’s subject line.

Examples:

• My name is Inigo Montoya #intro
• Seeking #advice for a #rosebush with blackened leaves

Hashtag uses

Hashtags have several uses within Groups.io, including controlling certain behaviors of topics and messages. Moderators can apply various settings to hashtags, and those settings are then applied to topics that are tagged with those hashtags.

Group members can use hashtags for:

• Searching for messages

  On the group’s website, you can search on hashtags to easily find all messages tagged with them. See Searching by hashtags. 

  Example: If a group uses a hashtag called #intro for new member introductions, clicking or tapping on #intro in the hashtag list on the group’s website displays a list of all messages in which new group members have introduced themselves. 

• Muting topics

  You can stop receiving email messages in topics that are tagged with a particular hashtag. See Muting topics or hashtags. 

  Note: If a moderator has set a hashtag to Special (meaning messages with that hashtag are sent as special notices), you cannot mute that hashtag because special notices cannot be muted. 

• Following topics

  If you have selected “Following Only” on the Advanced Preferences panel of your Subscription page for the group, you can follow (that is, receive messages posted in) topics that are tagged with a particular hashtag. See Following topics or hashtags. 

• Receiving notifications for specific topics

  If you have enabled web/app notifications in your Groups.io account, you can turn on web/app notifications for individual hashtags:

  1. Display the group’s Hashtags page.
  2. Locate the hashtag you want to receive notifications for and click or tap Mute/Notify.
     Note: The button or link is labeled Follow/Notify, instead of Mute/Notify, if you have selected “Following Only” on the Advanced Preferences panel of your Subscription page for the group.
  3. On the resulting page, in the Notifications panel, select the Web/App Notify checkbox.
  4. Click or tap the Update button at the bottom of the page. 

Owners and moderators can also use hashtags for:

• Setting automatic topic timeouts

  If a hashtag’s Topic Duration is set, topics tagged with it will be deleted (or, if specified, locked) after that period of time. This feature can be useful when a topic will be obsolete after a certain amount of time—for example, topics about items for sale.

• Sending messages as special notices

  When a hashtag is set to Special, all messages tagged with it, including the original message in the topic and all replies from owners/moderators, are sent as special notices.

  Note: Hashtags set to Special cannot be muted. Also, only moderators and owners can send special notices. If a regular member replies to a special notice, their message is sent as a normal message. 

• Posting messages only on the group website (not through email)

  When a hashtag is set to No Email, all messages tagged with it are posted to the group’s website but not sent out as email messages.

• Moderating messages

  When a hashtag is set to Moderated, messages sent to topics that are tagged with it require approval by a moderator.

• Unmoderating replies to topics

  When a hashtag is set to Replies Unmoderated, replies to topics that are tagged with it will be unmoderated, even if members who reply are moderated or the group itself is moderated.

• Locking topics on creation

  When a hashtag is set to Locked, new topics that are tagged with it are locked immediately after the initial message that creates the topic is posted.

• Overriding the group’s Reply To option

  A hashtag with a Reply To setting other than Same as Group overrides the group’s Reply To setting.

Hashtag notes

• The hashtag limit is five per topic. (The system allows message subject lines to contain more than five hashtags, but only the first five hashtags are saved in the message archive.)
• The system treats uppercase and lowercase letters as the same and will not let anyone create the same hashtag with different capitalization. For example, if you create a #Question hashtag, the system will not allow you to then create a separate #question hashtag. After the #Question hashtag is created, if a message is sent with a hashtag of #question in the subject line, the system will change that hashtag to #Question before posting the message.
• Hashtags can contain numerals along with other characters, but they cannot consist of only numerals.

If a group uses hashtags, you can view the list of hashtags using any of these methods:

• Desktop browser: On the group’s website, in the left menu, select Hashtags. The resulting Hashtags page lists all the hashtags that are used in the group. You can use the Gallery View and List View buttons at the upper right to change how the hashtags are displayed on the page.
• Mobile device: Tap the More icon at the bottom of a group page and then select Hashtags from the More menu.
• When you are viewing the group’s Topics page or Messages page, click or tap the Filter button at the top of the page, then click or tap the Hashtags button to display a dropdown list of the hashtags used in the group.

On the group’s Hashtags page or in the Hashtags dropdown list, you can click or tap an individual hashtag to display a page containing all the messages tagged with that hashtag.

When you are creating a new topic on the group website, you can apply existing hashtags by following these steps on the New Topic page:

1. Click or tap the Add Tag button at the right of the subject line.
2. In the Add Hashtags popup, select the desired hashtags. Be aware that some groups require every topic to include at least one hashtag.
3. Click or tap the Add Hashtags button at the bottom of the popup.

When you are writing an email message to send to the group, you can simply enter hashtags on the subject line. If a hashtag you enter on the subject line does not already exist in the group, and the group allows members to create new hashtags, the hashtag is created.

Note: The system treats uppercase and lowercase letters as the same and will not let anyone create the same hashtag with different capitalization. For example, if you create a hashtag of #Question, the system will not allow you to create another hashtag of #question. If a message is sent with a hashtag of #question in the subject line, the system will change that hashtag to #Question before posting the message.

If you email a new topic to a group that requires hashtags but you do not include any hashtags on the email’s subject line, the system returns the message to you with a delivery failure notification that contains the statement “Messages to this group require at least one hashtag to be specified in the subject.” You must resend your message and include at least one of the required hashtags on the subject line. You can find out what hashtags are available by logging in to Groups.io and checking the group’s website. See Viewing the hashtags in a group. 

Note:

• Hashtags take effect only if they are placed on the first message in a topic, and they will be applied to all messages in the topic.
• It is possible to add a hashtag to an emailed reply by editing the subject line, but this addition has no effect. The hashtag will be included in the reply’s subject line for members receiving messages through email, but it will not be included in the subject line of the archived message or of any other messages within the topic.
• Some hashtags might be reserved for moderator use only.
• The hashtag limit is five per topic. (The system allows message subject lines to contain more than five hashtags, but only the first five hashtags are saved in the message archive.)

The Groups.io system automatically adds hashtags to certain notification messages (see the list below). Be aware that all the listed hashtags except for #guidelines-notice and #monthly-notice apply to features that are available only in Premium and Enterprise groups and in legacy Free groups.

Note: If the hashtag does not already exist in the group, the system creates it the first time the associated notice is posted. Owners and moderators can edit the properties of these hashtags if desired.

Tip for owners and moderators: If you want to set some properties before a hashtag is created systematically, such as setting it to No Email or to Moderated, you can manually create the tag—make sure you use the name as it is shown below—and apply the desired properties. Your properties will be retained when the system creates the hashtag. Exception: In the #guidelines-notice and #monthly-notice hashtags, the “Special” checkbox is set each month to match the “Send monthly as special” checkbox in the Group Guidelines notice and Monthly Reminder notice.

Click or tap a system hashtag name to see its associated notification:

• #cal-cancelled

  This hashtag is included in the notification that a calendar event was deleted (cancelled).

• #cal-invite

  This hashtag is included in the notification that members are invited to a calendar event.

• #cal-notice

  This hashtag is included in the notification that a calendar event is happening.

  Note: Because the noticification is time sensitive, this hashtag bypasses the group’s Message Moderation setting if it is set to moderate messages.

• #cal-reminder

  This hashtag is included in the notification that a calendar event is coming up.

  Note: Because the noticification is time sensitive, this hashtag bypasses the group’s Message Moderation setting if it is set to moderate messages.

• #cal-summary

  This hashtag is included in the notification that multiple calendar events (up to the next 20) are coming up.

• #chat-notice

  This hashtag is included in the notification that a chat was created. This notification is sent when someone selects the “Send an announcement to the group” checkbox when creating a chat.

  Note: This hashtag appears with the notification only in the message archive (Topics view or Messages view). The hashtag is not displayed on the group’s Chats page.

• #donation-request

  This hashtag is included in the notification that a donation request was created. 

• #file-notice

  This hashtag is included in the notification that a file, folder, or link was created, uploaded, updated, moved, or deleted in the group’s Files area. This notification is sent when someone selects the Notify Members checkbox during a file, folder, or link action.

• #guidelines-notice

  This hashtag is included in the notification with the Group Guidelines notice, if that notice is set up for the group and is sent out automatically. The “Use by Mods Only” and “Replies by Mods Only” properties are applied to this hashtag by default.

  Note: Because the noticification is time sensitive, this hashtag bypasses the group’s Message Moderation setting if it is set to moderate messages.

• #monthly-notice

  This hashtag is included in the notification with the Monthly Reminder notice, if that notice is set up for the group. The “Use by Mods Only” and “Replies by Mods Only” properties are applied to this hashtag by default.

  Note: Because the noticification is time sensitive, this hashtag bypasses the group’s Message Moderation setting if it is set to moderate messages.

• #photo-notice

  This hashtag is included in the notification that a photo or album was created, uploaded, updated, moved, or deleted in the group’s Photos area. This notification is sent when someone selects the Notify Members checkbox during a photo or album action.

• #poll-notice

  This hashtag is included in the notification that a poll was created or updated.

• #wiki-notice

  This hashtag is included in the notification that a wiki page was created or updated. This notification is sent when someone selects the Notify Members checkbox when they are creating or updating a wiki page.

To make hashtags stand out clearly in the archive, any hashtags placed at the beginning or in the middle of a message’s subject line are duplicated at the end of the subject line, using whatever background color was chosen for the hashtag.

Example: A subject entered as “Seeking #advice for a #rosebush with blackened leaves” would be displayed in the archive as “Seeking #advice for a #rosebush with blackened leaves #advice #rosebush.”

A group owner can choose whether to allow the members of the group to see the directory of members’ profiles. If a Directory entry appears in the left menu on the group’s website (desktop browser) or on the More menu (mobile device), the owner has allowed group members to see the directory. Click or tap the Directory entry to view the directory. 

On the Directory page, you can click or tap an individual member’s display name to view their individual profile.  

Note:

• The directory of members’ profiles is different from the group’s member list.
• The directory does not necessarily contain all group members. Only members who have chosen to make their profile visible can see other members who have opted to be included in the directory.
• From the directory, you can send an email directly to another member by clicking or tapping the Message button in their entry. The limit is two emails per day to the same person, with a total limit of 10 emails per day per group.
• If you think an individual member’s profile it is inappropriate for the group or violates the Groups.io Terms of Service), you can report it to the group moderators or to Groups.io Support using the Report This Profile button at the lower right on that member’s profile page. 

In a restricted membership group, the group owner can choose whether to allow the members of the group to see the member list. If a Members entry appears in the group’s left menu in a desktop browser or on the group’s More menu in the mobile app or a mobile browser, the owner has allowed group members to see the member list. Click or tap the Members entry to view the list.

Note: The member list is different from the directory of members’ profiles.

The member list contains group members’ display names, email addresses, email delivery methods, and the dates they joined (or were approved to join) the group. In Premium and Enterprise groups, the member list might contain additional member data fields added by group owners.

Certain colored badges (icons) might appear in the entries in the member list. For a list of these badges and their descriptions, see Member badges.

You can filter the member list to display only the members who are in certain categories or who have a certain status:

1. At the top of the Members page, click or tap the Filter button.
2. When the filter list appears, select the checkbox for the category or status by which you want to filter the member list. You can select more than one checkbox.
3. ! Important: Go to the bottom of the filter list and click or tap Apply.

About group calendars

Viewing a group's calendar

Subscribing to a group's calendar

Adding calendar events

Editing or deleting calendar events

Downloading event iCalendar (ICS) files

Adding events from outside calendar invitations

Using the RSVP feature

About group chats

Creating a chat

Editing a chat

Joining a chat

Contributing to a chat

Leaving a chat

Deleting an individual chat message

Closing or reopening chats

Viewing open and closed chats

Deleting a chat

About group databases

Viewing databases

Creating a database

Editing a database

Importing JSON or CSV files

Database columns

Database rows

Database properties

Changing a database's owner

Exporting a database

Deleting a database

About the Files feature

Viewing files

Uploading files and folders or adding links

Creating folders

Updating files, folders, and links

Moving files, folders, and links

Deleting files, folders, and links

Reporting files or folders to moderators or Groups.io support

About the Photos feature

About the Emailed Photos album

Viewing photos

Creating albums

Editing albums

Adding photos

Editing photos

Moving photos

Deleting photos

Deleting albums

Reporting photos to moderators or Groups.io support

About the Polls feature

Viewing the list of polls in a group

Creating a poll

Editing a poll

Voting in a poll

Viewing the results of a poll

Exporting the results of a poll

Sending email to poll respondents

Closing or reopening polls

Deleting a poll

About the Wiki feature

Viewing a group's wiki

Displaying a specific wiki page

Viewing a wiki page's revision history

Creating and editing wiki pages

Adding a table of contents to a wiki page

Adding, editing, or deleting wiki footers

Adding, editing, or deleting wiki sidebars

Deleting wiki pages