Yahoo! Groups

The Writers On The Plains Project uses Yahoo! Groups as the communication tool for participants to share and comment on each others writing. Below are instructions for logging in and using the tools in Yahoo! Groups.

Getting Started

• Logging in is simple. If you already have a Yahoo account, click on the Join This Group! button and sign in with your Yahoo ID and password. The group coordinator will approve your membership within the next few business days.
• If you are new to Yahoo, then you will need to create an account. To do this, click on Sign Up in the login page. You will need to fill out the information and set your preferences.
• Be sure to read the Terms of Service.
• Once your account has been created and you have clicked the Join This Group! button, your membership to the group will be approved by the group coordinator within the next few business days.

Using Yahoo! Groups Tools

Once you have created an account and logged in, you will have access to a number of communication tools. Many of the privileges are set by the local author who acts as the moderator for each group.

• Messages: Click on this header for a list of the messages sent by members in the group. You can then view each message by clicking on the message subject line.
• At the bottom of the list of messages, under View:, click Simple to see just the message subjects, Summary to see a brief summary of each message, or Expanded to see the full text of all messages. Click Thread to see the messages in a tree structure: lines connect original messages with all related replies.
• At the top of the page, click Edit Membership to change how your messages are delivered. Under Message Delivery, you can choose to receive individual e-mails, a daily digest to receive all of a day's messages in a single e-mail, or no e-mail to read messages from the web site only.
• Post: Click on this header to send a message to everyone in your group. This tool is best for announcing meetings, asking for quick advice, or any other relatively short message. For larger messages or attachments, such as posting a draft, see Files.
• Chat: This tool allows group members who are logged in at the same time to have conversations. It may take a moment to load the Chat tool. You will be able to see who is in the Chat room and join in conversations about writing. In addition to joining ongoing conversations, you can select another Chatter from the list on the left and have a private dialogue by selecting the person’s screen name, then More at the bottom of the window, then Private Message.
• Files: This is the organizational tool for Yahoo Groups. It consists of three components: Add File, Create Text File, and Create Folder.
• Yahoo recommends using the Create Folder option first. This creates a place to put other files and text files. Click on this option, name the new folder (your screen name would probably be most logical), give it a brief description such as “drafts,” then click the Create Folder button. You can then open the folder and use the Add File and Create Text File options.
• Use the Add File option to place a previously written document into the folder. When you click on this header, locate the file you wish to upload and provide a brief description such as “first revision.” Check "Send a message to the group announcing this file" in the Notification area to e-mail information about the file to group members. Click the Upload button and your file is ready to be viewed by other group members.
• The Create Text File tool is similar to the Post tool. This tool uses less space and would better serve a genre such as poetry.
• If you decide to move files into different folders, simply choose the Cut action, open the folder you wish to place the file, and choose the Paste action to insert it into the folder.
• Photos: To use this tool, you must first click Create Album. Name the album and decide whether you want the album to be Personal (only you and the moderator can add or remove images) or Group (anyone in the group can contribute to your photo album). Once this album is created, simply click the Add Photo tool, which allows you to upload multiple photos at the same time, and locate the image(s) you want to load.
• Links: To share writing-related links first select Add Folder. Name the folder and add a description. Open the folder and select Add Link. You will be prompted for the title of the page and a description. Enter the URL and click the Add Link button when finished.
• Member: This feature shows all of the group members, their status within the group (i.e. moderator, owner, member, etc.), and their direct email address. If you prefer to send someone in the group a private message, this is the tool to use.
• Calendar: Use this tool to remind yourself of tasks and events coming up. Choose a day out of the week, month, or year. Click Add Event or Add Task and enter the information. You can set a reminder for events by clicking on that option.