Discovering groups in social collaboration

Groups in social collaboration provides people with shared goals and common interests a platform to share information, such as documents, images, accounts, workspaces, and external links, conduct discussions, review checklists, as well as share updates about departments, project, and office locations.

The group timeline page displays all posts related to the specific group, allowing members in that group to engage in interactive discussions.

Everyone who is able to access ESE can make full use of this feature. Groups are not available to customers, resellers, and suppliers.

This document comprises the following chapters:

1.1 Types of groups

1.2 Participants in a group

1.3 Settings for groups

1.4 Group-related roles

• 1.4.1 Role 971 — Social collaboration administrator
• 1.4.2 Role 970 — Handle group Everyone
• 1.4.3 Role 972 — News manager

1.5 How do I …?

• 1.5.1 Create a group
• 1.5.2 View or search for a group
• 1.5.3 Modify a group
• 1.5.4 Add a person to a group and notify the person
• 1.5.5 Add everyone to a group simultaneously
• 1.5.6 Add people in a division or cost center to a group simultaneously
• 1.5.7 Assign a member to be the manager of a group
• 1.5.8 Remove the manager rights from a manager
• 1.5.9 Transfer ownership of the group to another manager or member
• 1.5.10 Remove a member from a group
• 1.5.11 Leave a group
• 1.5.12 Delete a group
• 1.5.13 Embed group feeds to workspaces and/or websites
• 1.5.14 Change the order of the groups

1.6 What happens when...?

 

• 1.6.1 The status of the group owner becomes Inactive

1.7 Related topics

1.1   Types of groups

There are two types of groups in ESE: private and public. You can set the type during the creation of the group, or when modifying existing groups.

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1.2   Participants in a group

There are three types of participants in a group.

Only the owner of the group or someone with role 971 — Social collaboration administrator at the Corporate level can transfer the ownership to another person or delete the group.

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1.3   Setting for groups

For easy access to the creation and search of groups, ensure that Groups is located on the right column at Preferences, in the My work, create & search section under the Menu tab.

The following will then be available:

• The My groups menu item in the general navigation menu. More on this in Viewing catalog of groups.
• The Group option in the +Create hyperlink. More on this in section 1.5.1 How do I create a group?.
• The Groups entity in the search feature. More on this in section 1.5.2 How do I view or search for a group?.

When the Groups option is moved to the left column, the menu item, option, and entity mentioned will not be available.

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1.4   Group-related roles

There are three roles associated with this feature:

1.4.1 Role 971 — Social collaboration administrator

With this role at the Corporate level, you can perform all actions on all groups regardless of whether you are the member of the group or not. This role can be assigned to you only if you have the Professional role.

1.4.2 Role 970 — Handle group Everyone

With this role at the Corporate level, you can set a group as mandatory or add all employees with the Active status (using the Everyone entity) as members of a group.

1.4.3 Role 972 — News manager

With this role at the Corporate level as well as being the manager or owner of a group, you can enable the news feature for the respective group.

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1.5   How do I …?

This section provides a step-by-step guide on a list of actions.

1.5.1 Create a group

You can create a person entry, account, request, document, group, or workspace via the +Create hyperlink at the top menu of your workspace. As this document revolves around groups, only the creation of groups will be explained. More on the creation of other entities in Creating entries.

To create a group:

1. Click +Create at the top menu, and then click Group. You will see the following:

   

2. Hover your mouse over the default picture of the group to add a picture for your group.
3. Type the title of your group at Name. This is mandatory.
4. At Description, type a description for your group.
5. At Group type, select either Private or Public. The type will determine the visibility of the group during a search and accessibility to the group timeline page by non-members. More on this in section 1.1 Types of groups.
6. At Who can post?, specify the people who can post updates to the group. You can select either:

·        All members — This option allows all members in the group to post updates to the group timeline page.

·        Group managers & owner — This option allows only the owner and managers of the group to post updates to the group timeline page.

7. At News, select the News can be posted check box to enable news to be posted to the group timeline page (News tab). This is enabled only if you have the Social collaboration administrator role, the Administrator role and you are the manager or owner of the group, or the News manager role and you are the manager or owner of the group.
8. Select the Approval needed check box if you want the news posted by members who are not the group owner or managers to require approval before being displayed on the group timeline page.
9. Select the Mandatory check box at Membership to prevent members from leaving the group involuntarily. This check box is available only if you have the Handle group Everyone role at the Corporate level.
10. Click Create to save the group.



11. You have the option to modify details of the group (by clicking Edit) or add members to the group (by clicking Add members). More on those in sections 1.5.3 How do I modify a group? and 1.5.4 How do I add a person to my group?.
12. Click Close to exit. You will be redirected to the group timeline page. More on this in Overview of group timeline page.

 

1.5.2 View or search for a group

You can easily search for groups that you have created or other existing groups to join via the following ways:

To view my groups via the general navigation menu:

1. Click , and then click My groups. You will see the Groups catalogue page with a catalog of groups (in the form of group cards) of which you are the owner, manager, or member.
2. Click the title of the group on the group card. The group timeline page will be displayed. More on this in Overview of group timeline page.

 

To search for a group via search box:

1. In the search box at the top menu of your workspace, type the full or partial title of the group.
2. On the left of the search box, click the arrow to display a list of entities, and then select Groups.
3. Click . The Groups catalogue page will be displayed with a catalog of groups (in the form of group cards) that match the text entered.
4. Click the title of the group on the group card. The group timeline page will be displayed. More on this in Overview of group timeline page.

 

To search for a group via Groups catalogue page:

The Groups catalogue page displays groups in the form of a card. It offers a quick way for you to view the groups of which you are a member, owner, or manager, and public groups that are available for you to join. More on this in Viewing catalog of groups.

 

1.5.3 Modify a group

You can modify the details of a group only if you are the owner or manager of the group.

1. Go to the Groups catalogue page.
2. Search for the required group. Groups in the form of group cards that match the search criteria will be displayed.
3. Click the title of the group on the group card. The group timeline page will be displayed.
4. On the right side of the group timeline page, click , and then select Edit. You will see the following:

   

5. Make the changes to the details in the General tab, and make changes related to group members in the Members tab.
6. Click Save.

 

1.5.4 Add a person to a group and notify the person

You can add a person or people to your group during the creation of the group, or later on after the group has been created. Both ways are similar, with the difference being the access point to the group. You can add a person to a group only if you are the owner or manager of the group.

1. Go to the Groups catalogue page.
2. Search for the required group. Groups in the form of group cards that match the search criteria will be displayed.
3. Click the title of the group on the group card. The group timeline page will be displayed.
4. On the right side of the group timeline page, click , and then select Edit.
5. Click the Members tab.



6. At the Add members field, you can add members via the following ways:
   • Search box — Type the name of the person. The top three people who match the text entered will be displayed. The list can be expanded when there are more results to be displayed. Select the required person.
   • Search icon — Click Search. In the pop-up page, select the check box of the required person, and then click Add to add the selected person to the group. Close the pop-up page.
7. Select the Notify check box. Note that this is required if you want the selected person to receive a notification when the group is created or saved. This notification will be displayed as a post on the group timeline page. When no notification is required, skip this step and go straight to step 9.
8. In the message box displayed, type a personal message for the selected person to be included in the post on the group timeline page.

   

9. Click Add.



10. Click Save to save the group.

 

1.5.5 Add everyone to a group simultaneously

You can add everyone to a group at once during the creation of the group, or later on after the group has been created.

1. Go to the Groups catalogue page.
2. Search for the required group. Groups in the form of group cards that match the search criteria will be displayed.
3. Click the title of the group on the group card. The group timeline page will be displayed.
4. On the right side of the group timeline page, click , and then select Edit.
5. Click the Members tab.
6. Type “everyone” at the Add members field, and then select the Everyone entity.
7. Click Add.
8. Click Save to save the group. When everyone is added to a group, the entity will be displayed on the group timeline page, and the Members section will be renamed Members (Everyone).

 

 

1.5.6 Add people in a division and/or cost center to a group simultaneously

You can add people belonging to a division or cost center to a group at once during the creation of the group, or later on after the group has been created.

1. Go to the Groups catalogue page.
2. Search for the required group. Groups in the form of group cards that match the search criteria will be displayed.
3. Click the title of the group on the group card. The group timeline page will be displayed.
4. On the right side of the group timeline page, click , and then select Edit.
5. Click the Members tab.
6. Type the name of the division and/or cost center at the Add members field, and then select the division or cost center.
7. Click Add.
8. Click Save to save the group. The division(s) and/or cost center(s) added to the group will be displayed in the Members section on the group timeline page.

   

 

1.5.7 Assign a member to be the manager of a group

A manager of a group holds the manager rights, which allows the manager to add or remove members, and modify the details of the group. You can assign a member to be the manager of the group only if you are the owner or manager of the group.

1. Go to the Groups catalogue page.
2. Search for the required group. Groups in the form of group cards that match the search criteria will be displayed.
3. Click the title of the group on the group card. The group timeline page will be displayed.
4. On the right side of the group timeline page, click , and then select Edit.
5. Click the Members tab.
6. On the card of the person, click .

   

7. Select Make group manager. A confirmation message will be displayed.
8. Click Continue to make this person the manager of the group.

   

 

1.5.8 Remove the manager rights from a manager

You can remove the manager rights from a manager only if you are the owner or manager of the group.

1. Go to the Groups catalogue page.
2. Search for the required group. Groups in the form of group cards that match the search criteria will be displayed.
3. Click the title of the group on the group card. The group timeline page will be displayed.
4. On the right side of the group timeline page, click , and then select Edit.
5. Click the Members tab.
6. On the card of the person, click .

   

7. Select Remove group manager rights. A confirmation message will be displayed.
8. Click Continue to remove the manager rights from the selected person and make this person a normal member of the group.

 

1.5.9 Transfer ownership of the group to another manager or member

1. Go to the Groups catalogue page.
2. Search for the required group. Groups in the form of group cards that match the search criteria will be displayed.
3. Click the title of the group on the group card. The group timeline page will be displayed.
4. On the right side of the group timeline page, click , and then select Edit.
5. Click the Members tab.
6. On the card of the person, click .

   

7. Select Make group owner. A confirmation message will be displayed.
8. Click Continue to transfer the ownership.

 

1.5.10 Remove a member from a group

You can remove a member from a group only if you are the owner or manager of the group.

1. Go to the Groups catalogue page.
2. Search for the required group. Groups in the form of group cards that match the search criteria will be displayed.
3. Click the title of the group on the group card. The group timeline page will be displayed.
4. On the right side of the group timeline page, click , and then select Edit.
5. Click the Members tab.
6. On the card of the person, click .

   

7. Select Remove from group. A confirmation message will be displayed.
8. Click Continue to remove the selected person from the group.

 

1.5.11 Leave a group

You can leave a group only if the Mandatory group check box is not selected for the group, if you are not the owner of the group, and the group is not mandatory. In order to leave a group of which you are the owner, you will have to transfer the ownership beforehand. More on this in 1.5.9 How do I transfer ownership of the group to another manager or member?.

 

To leave a group via Groups catalogue page:

1. Go to the Groups catalogue page.
2. Search for the required group. Groups in the form of group cards that match the search criteria will be displayed.
3. On the group card, click , and then select Leave.

 

To leave a group via group timeline page:

1. Go to the group timeline page.
2. On the right side of the group timeline page, click , and then select Leave.

 

1.5.12 Delete a group

You can delete a group only if you are the owner of the group.

1. Go to the Groups catalogue page.
2. Search for the required group. Groups in the form of group cards that match the search criteria will be displayed.
3. Click the title of the group on the group card. The group timeline page will be displayed.
4. On the right side of the group timeline page, click , and then select Edit.
5. Click . A confirmation message will be displayed.
6. Click Continue to delete the group from the system.

 

1.5.13 Embed group feeds to workspaces and/or websites

You can embed group feeds in your group timeline to various locations, such as your workspaces and websites.

1. Go to the group timeline page. This is the group that you want the group feeds to be embedded to your workspace or website.
2. Click the </>  Embed this feed hyperlink. The code will be displayed in a pop-up page.
3. Click Copy to copy the code.
4. Paste the code to the desired location. For an example, you can paste the code to the Embed widget to have the group feeds displayed on your workspace.

 

1.5.14 Change the order of the groups

You can change the order of the groups in your main timeline under the My groups section, in your personal timeline, and on the group timeline page.

To change the order of the groups from the group timeline page, do the following:

1. Go to the group timeline page.
2. Click My groups.
3. Click Reorder list.
4. Drag and drop the group. You can also click the icon to sort the groups alphabetically from A to Z, or click the icon to sort the groups from Z to A.
5. Click Done.

To change the order of the groups from the main timeline page, do the following:

1. On the Timeline page, click Reorder list under the My groups section.
2. Drag and drop the group. You can also click the icon to sort the groups alphabetically from A to Z, or click the icon to sort the groups from Z to A.
3. Click Done.

To change the order of the groups from your personal timeline page, do the following:

1. On the Timeline page, click My timeline.
2. Click the Groups hyperlink.
3. Click Reorder list.
4. Drag and drop the group. You can also click the icon to sort the groups alphabetically from A to Z, or click the icon to sort the groups from Z to A.
5. Click Done.

Note: The changes will apply to your own groups. The other users will see the group list in alphabetical order when the users access your timeline.

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1.6   What happens when...?

1.6.1 The status of the group owner becomes Inactive

When the status of a group owner is changed from Active to Inactive, an automatic transfer of the ownership of the group will take place. The automatic transfer process will be as follows:

1. If the group consists of several group managers, the first one sorted in alphabetical order will be promoted as the group owner.
2. If the group does not have any group managers, the first group member sorted in alphabetical order will be promoted as the group owner.
3. If the group does not have any group managers or members, the group will no longer have an owner.

The following flow chart illustrates the automatic transfer process:

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1.7   Related topics

• Creating entries
• Overview of group timeline page
• Viewing catalog of groups
• Viewing timeline