It seems the contact list from that last Big Update has been pretty popular, with nearly 3000 contacts already being listed. That feature was mostly just a quick and dirty implementation to replace the lack of exchanges on the profile page, but one of the things I wanted to do for a long time with it was to allow people to create groups and let them send a message to everyone in the group at once.

I finished a rough draft of the feature mere minutes ago and just uploaded it. It's not very refined--an even more quick and dirty implementation than version 1.0 was. =) I'll probably fix it up to look a bit nicer during the next few days and fix any bugs that turn up, but the feature IS available for those who wish to make use of it.

Now when you go to your contacts page, there are two sections--one for the "individual" contacts you've made, and one for "groups" which is the new section. Click onto the Groups link to create and send stuff to groups of people.

A couple of things to note.

To write an AQ mail message to a group, preface the group name with an asterisk (*) so AQ can identify it as a group name and not a trail name. It's a hack, and not really a particularly pretty one, but I figure most people will likely click the "Contact Group" buttons to send a message to a group which will automatically include the asterisk.

Also, there are two types of groups: public and private. A private group means that it's something you created for your own use. Nobody else will see it or be able to use it. A public group means that anyone who is a member of that group WILL be able to see the group and sent AQ mail to the entire group. You might be entered into a public group and not even realize it at times! (Although, of course, you can drop out of it at any time.)

The reasoning behind the public group is to try to get people off using trackers solely as a means of communicating with each other even when no postals are involved. That's not what trackers were designed for, but public groups are intended for that purpose. =) Most people shouldn't need to use public groups, but they're there for those that do. In general, though, you shouldn't add someone into a public group unless they want to be in it.

I think that's all for now. =)

-- Ryan

that is so cool. thanks for all the bells and whistles.........

could i ask at this time ;0.............for another bell...........

that we could organize our archived mail............... ;D

condo

could i ask at this time ;0.............for another bell...........

that we could organize our archived mail

No problem. Change your preferences to forward your AQ mail to your real e-mail address, then use whatever program you want to organize the messages. =)

-- Ryan

Thanks, Ryan!
You are always thinking of new things to help us.

This seems like just the thing for the Toad Hollow group.
I have set up a public group, and put all the folks that are in the postal tracker in it, and we'll be the guinea pigs ;)

One question was raised by someone more perceptive and far-sighted than I am - how do people find the public group to join it? If someone is interested in Toad Hollow, and they do a search for Toad Hollow, the postal tracker will show up, and they can add themselves to the group.
The public group contact does not show up as a group you can join.
So how do prospective members locate a public group they want to join?

For now I'll leave the postal tracker up, and if I get a notification that someone has signed up for the postal, then I'll add them to the group contact list.

Mariette

So how do prospective members locate a public group they want to join?

It's a different kind of "public" you're talking about. The person who created the group adds all the members of the group, and if the group is public, everyone you included in the group will automatically see it show up as a group for them. They don't have to "join" the group--they're already in it!

As far as comparing it to trackers, it would be like a limited tracker where only the owner can add people. Don't let that public word fool you--it's not the same as an open tracker. It works like limited tracker.

You can send a message to the group to let everyone know they're in it and what it's purpose is, but it should already show up in their list of groups.

-- Ryan