Keeping Track of Conversations
Often, you do not wish to read every post in an online group, but you do
want to keep track of the conversation. The simplest way to do this is
to glance at the subject and sender information, and then
delete the emails. You can usually tell
what is being discussed in the group without reading every post,
especially if members
write good subject lines.
You can always go to the web interface to read the conversations in
detail. If you prefer not to use this method, you can
filter the emails or
use the topic digest or
a web feed
to keep track of the conversations.
Delete the Emails
You may receive a lot of email via your Online Group. The point of
this is to increase communication but to do so effectively. You
should be able to tell whether a post is relevant to you or not just
by reading the subject line. If it isn't relevant, you have still
gained information about what is going on in the group. If you do
open and skim or read the email, you can then delete it, unless you
want to respond to or act on it. You don't need to worry about
finding it again later, because you can always go to the Topics area
of the group to locate it.
Advantages
-
You can keep track of what is going on in the group while only
reading emails that are relevant to you.
-
You do not have to manage a lot of stored email.
Disadvantages
-
To read a message again later, you must visit the website.
How To
-
Look at the subject line and sender of the email message, and
decide whether or not it is relevant to you.
-
If the message is relevant to you, open and read the email.
-
Delete the email.
-
To read the message again later, visit the Topics area of the
group and navigate or search for the relevant topic or post.
Filter the Emails
Some people find it useful to keep all of the posts from an online
group in a separate email folder. You can even set up a rule or filter
to put them there automatically. If you prefer, you can delete the
emails from your Inbox as you receive them and read them in the Topics
area when you are ready.
Advantages
-
Group posts are kept separate from the rest of your email.
How To
-
In your email client, create a folder with the same name as the
group.
-
Create a rule or filter to put all messages from the group email
address into that folder.
Use the Topic Digest
GroupServer.org can send you an email
summarising the top ten topics in the group. For each topic, the
title, number of posts, date of the last post, and location of the
topic on the web are displayed. The digest is sent once per day so
long as there is activity in the group, or once per week if there is
no activity in the group.
Advantages
-
You will not receive more than one email per day from each online
group that you have set to digest.
-
Based on the topic title and the number of posts, you can decide
whether a topic is of interest before reading any of the
posts in that topic.
Disadvantages
-
If you are interested in a topic, you must visit the website before
you can read any of the posts in that topic.
-
You may not see some posts for up to 24 hours after they are
posted.
Use a Web Feed
GroupServer.org provides a web feed for
all posts in a group. You can subscribe to the
web feed
of posts, and then your
feed reader
will show you the most recent posts in the group.
Advantages
-
You will be notified as soon as a post has been added to the group.
-
You can read the full text of a post directly in your feed reader,
without needing to visit the website.
Disadvantages
-
You must have either an internet browser capable of functioning as a
feed reader, or an account with a web-based feed reading service.