The European IDMS User Group (of the IUA/EIUA Community) recently held it's business meeting with CA. The following questions came up at the meeting, CA suggested we try to get answers at CA Communities - here goes:
For its apparent simplicity there are some subtleties and nuances to using the Communities which can be confusing for existing users, and baffling for new users. For example:
- What is the difference between a Group and a Community?
- What is the difference between Join and Follow? It appears that you only need to “Follow” to become a part of a Community, but that you need to “Join” a Group? Just a procedural note - if you "Join" a Group you must then remember to "Follow" to start getting e-mails - shouldn't this be a one-step process?
- It appears that “Join” becomes a request which must be approved – but it is not clear who can approve such requests – nor is it clear who should approve such requests. For example, it looks like sometimes CA approves a “Join” request, but should this be a decision for somebody from the Community (for example IUA/EIUA a Board member)?The question is whether or not it is appropriate for CA to be able to do this for Groups such as we have in the IUA/EIUA? There is a feeling that this should be up to the “chair” or “president” of the “Group” – at least where there is a structure in place such as with IUA/EIUA (Global), UKIA, BIUA and AID (Regional Groups) who all have formal structures in place to “run” the Community / Group.
- It seems that CA perhaps has too much control over Community Management as a whole. This may be appropriate for “newer” Communities, but may not be for “older” Communities (we have a 25-30 year history) who have existing By Laws and Procedures and Practices. Are there any other Communities who feel this way?
- At IUA/EIUA we sometimes need to do a mass mailing to members – this is not possible as there is no such function at Communities, and we do not have access to member’s e-mail addresses to do a manual mailing. It looks like it is possible to do “Group Mailings” from a Group – but not for a Community!Is that right? Why can we do "Group Mailings" but not "Community Mailings"?
The reason we have the "Groups" at all is to provide a forum for "Regional" Community members to raise issue of "local" concern, whether the issues are related to language, local events, local support, etc. But we have to encourage our Group Members to participate in the "Global Community" - as that is where the relevant, technical questions and discussions are posted. Also we post documents, images and videos on the Global Community portal - so to ensure some "Group" members who may not be Following the Global Community do not miss out - we have to "Share" these posts with each of the Groups. We were wondering if any other Communities have similar issues - and whether this is something you have more elegant solutions to or whether it is something that should be addressed somehow at the Communities level?
Thanks in advance for any feedback you are able to provide - take care - cheers!
Gary Cherlet