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This morning we pushed up a beta for the groups functionality on ActiveRain.  It's still pretty rough but we like to just put stuff out there, so we can get feedback and quickly improve on it.  Please let us know what you think and if you have any suggestions.  A couples issues that will be resolved shortly:

  • Upload of a group logo is not working (will be fixed very soon)
  • List of all groups on the groups page should order by number of subscribers by default.
  • We need to provide a way to order/filter groups by a geographic area as the list grows.

Anyways let us know your thoughts and we'll make improvements quickly.  I'm writing a summary on how to use the groups right now.

 
Posted by ActiveRain Real Estate Network on 11/28/2006 11:38 AM   Comments (65)   activerain, groups  

65 Comments on ActiveRain groups (beta) - Feedback and issues

I think this is a great idea. 

I've already created a couple of groups, one focusing on a category of real estate and the other a region, neither of which had a way to be 'grouped' and identified until now outside of tags.

I would appreciate more guidance on group conduct, responsibilities, as I realized that after creating the group, I'm now the "administrator". 

One of my groups is for the "Delaware Valley Region", which incorporates at least 3 states, depending on your definition.  I'm concerned that geographic filtering will force it to a specific state, such as the administrator's.  Would prefer being able to designate a radius, multi-states, etc.

Would like to have groups listed by name and by size, and more ideally be able to seach on Title/Description.

Anyway, keep up the good work!

11/28/2006 12:09 PM by Lawrence Yerkes - Broker Associate, Southern New Jersey Real Estate Services (RE/MAX Suburban)

I like it. Looking forward to the list. Many folks are a little confused. TLW...ROAR!

11/28/2006 12:18 PM by "The Lovely Wife"...Broker Bryant's Wife... (Co-Owner Tutas Towne Realty, Inc.)

So far so good... I have created 3 groups... one geographic (Florida), one industry (Mortgage) and one for general relationship building (Comedy)...  As peopl join and post, I will begin to see what needs to be fixed or not fixed. 

11/28/2006 12:18 PM by Knightlines Mortgage Services, LLC

I think it's a great enhancement. Already there are about 50 groups - are we going to end up with thousands? What if every active participant decides to have a group. Will there be categories of groups (e.g., topical, geographic, etc.) so it will be easier to find ones of interest? The thought of scrolling down a list of hundreds makes me squirm. :)

This is probably clear to everyone but me, but can the posts you write in your blog also be categorized in a group as well (if you choose) or are they completely separate? Judst curious.

Looking forward to continued improvements. Thanks for all you do! 

11/28/2006 12:42 PM by Jeff Dowler ~ Carlsbad Real Estate ~ 760-840-1360 (RE/MAX Associates)

I think what will happen with groups based off of looking at similar communities is this.  Initially people will start a ton of different groups, but only a small percentage will gain any traction the rest will basically fall into disuse.  Getting a group off the group requires having a leader involved who will put in the effort of nurtering it in the beginning.

11/28/2006 12:48 PM by Matt Heaton (ActiveRain Corp.)

I like the idea.  Still a bit confused on how it works, but it seems like it will be beneficial

11/28/2006 12:48 PM by John Hruska (Re/Max Professionals Select)

Is there going to be a function to "contact all group" members  .... maybe by the administrator?

Loving it so far!

11/28/2006 12:49 PM by Mariana Wagner ~ Colorado Springs REALTOR® (Wagner iTeam -Keller Williams Clients' Choice)

Matt, is there a way to post a blog ONLY within the Group? I haven't quite figured that one out yet if there is.

11/28/2006 01:10 PM by Rich Jacobson ~ ActiveRain Community Builder (ActiveRain Corporation)

Mariana: Yes, I like the idea of a contact all members function for the administrator.  We removed it from associates because it got abused from a spam perspective.  But if its only a group administrator and the people have joined the group it should be fine then.   You'll probably see this appear within the next day or two.

 

11/28/2006 01:11 PM by ActiveRain Corp.

Rich: No there isn't yet a way to post ONLY within the group, it's tied to blogging but we will add it soon.  The plan is to roll the forums functionality into groups and do away with the seperate forums (they will just become groups)

11/28/2006 01:13 PM by ActiveRain Corp.

Good idea about morphing the forums into groups. Makes alot more sense. Incorporating them into our profiles reminds us that they exist and makes it easier to access them. I just think it would be helpful to have the ability to generate a post and direct it solely to the Groups. It just seems like the posts in the Groups will be more informal and shorter in length. You may not want them cluttering the other venues.

11/28/2006 01:19 PM by Rich Jacobson ~ ActiveRain Community Builder (ActiveRain Corporation)

Matt...Good answer to Jeff Dowler. I was just getting ready to share those same thoughts. So we need leaders to make this really work. Okay. I gather that without leaders this group concept will go off the deep end and be lost in space...TLW...ROAR!

11/28/2006 01:19 PM by "The Lovely Wife"...Broker Bryant's Wife... (Co-Owner Tutas Towne Realty, Inc.)

My first kneejerk when joining and accessing these groups was that I had to go "outside" of the group to post an entry. That's kind of clumsy. It would be nice to go into the Group and make an entry from there. Guess it will just take some gettin used to.

11/28/2006 01:22 PM by Rich Jacobson ~ ActiveRain Community Builder (ActiveRain Corporation)

Sorry... I didn't have enough time to read all the comments like I usually do before adding one... so in case this suggestion has already been made, forgive me.  My suggestion is to list who the members/subscribers to each group are so that when you go to the group's homepage you see who else has joined.

11/28/2006 01:33 PM by South Florida Real Estate • Leanne Paynter (HomesCo.com)

Matt,

Is there a way to screen who joins your group? And on the same note, can you make a group private?

11/28/2006 01:45 PM by Karen Hurst ~ Real Estate Broker ~ Warwick ~ Rhode Island (Storm Realty LLC)

First there were Groupies.  Then there were Bloggers. Then there were Active Rainers.  Now there are Active Rain Groupies - and TLW - I don't think we need to call them ARG!

11/28/2006 02:05 PM by Tony Marriott, Associate Broker, CRP, CLHMS, CRB, CRS ~~ Phoenix Arizona (Keller Williams Realty Professional Partners)

It was like a feeding frenzie for GROUP R.E..  It is so much fun, It is like haveing a new toy.  We have been on all morning, kind of obsessive don't you think.  LOL

 

Lance & Elaine
The "Wells Team"

 

11/28/2006 02:09 PM by Lance & Elaine Wells (Connect Realty Boise Eagle Idaho)

Were going to ad a post button to groups shortly, will probably be online tomorrow.  Groups can not be made private at this time but an administrator can choose who has permissions to post.

11/28/2006 02:09 PM by Matt Heaton (ActiveRain Corp.)

Excellent! Thanks, Matt

11/28/2006 02:19 PM by Rich Jacobson ~ ActiveRain Community Builder (ActiveRain Corporation)

Rich J -- it does appear that you can post info only for a particular group.

When you post a blog, you can now select which groups it gets seen by, in addition to the previous Members/Consumers/Region choices we had before.

I just joined a few groups, then edited my blogs to include the appropriate groups.

Seems like another great feature from the staff at ActiveRain!

(Now if we could just get a "Printable Version" button and a "Email this Article" button...)

11/28/2006 03:27 PM by Rich Schiffer, REALTOR, e-PRO (Weichert, Realtors)

Rich: Thanks for the suggestions, I've gotten the same ones from a couple other members, they will be prioritized onto the list.

11/28/2006 03:36 PM by Matt Heaton (ActiveRain Corp.)

The morhping that AR is doing today is absolutely astounding! TLW...ROAR!!!!!

11/28/2006 03:48 PM by "The Lovely Wife"...Broker Bryant's Wife... (Co-Owner Tutas Towne Realty, Inc.)

The groups should help make things easier to find. Hopefully consumers will like it as well. -Charles

11/28/2006 04:02 PM by Jacqulyn Richey - Las Vegas Real Estate (Prudential)

you might want to index these by state....

the list might get a little long... too long to search thru

11/28/2006 05:11 PM by Tom Burris | FHA VA & Conv. Texas Mortgage Loans (DallasLoanGuy.com)

I join the confusion club - but I'm sure I"ll get used to it.  It looks as if Real Estate Virtual Assistants talk to each other? Not to our clients? Or can we join someone else's group, such as SEO or Blogging, or Real Estate?

11/28/2006 05:17 PM by Deb Salkeld- - Your Real Estate Virtual Assistant (Diversified Data Solutions, L.L.C.)

Matt...Caleb....or anyone else... I read these comments. Curious... when I joing a group, will there be a place where we, as members, can see the other members? I know the moderator will be able to, but what about each other.... seeing everyone else. thanks.... and another thing... as someone else said... I think too many groups are going to be formed in the beginning.... making it hard to find everyone and a good group. Myspace did this..... and ..well, it is okay. My group survived, mainly because the other groups had BS in them... stupid people advertising BS... etc etc I think we might have some fall out with the normal blogging because of these groups. Just my opinion.

11/28/2006 06:12 PM by Jeff Belonger -- The FHA Expert.com -- FHA Loans -- FHA mortgages -- Mortgages (Infinity Home Mortgage Company, Inc)

another question..... I noticed that there are already blogs that have been written in these groups. Are these blogs just seen in the group. Will they also be seen in the community as a whole? 2nd part of this as a question...depending on the first question. Will these blogs within the group still count towards the total of 10 per week? Do you still get your 200 pts per blog even if it's in the group? thanks

11/28/2006 06:14 PM by Jeff Belonger -- The FHA Expert.com -- FHA Loans -- FHA mortgages -- Mortgages (Infinity Home Mortgage Company, Inc)

It's cool.  

Found a 'bug'.  I wnet back to relcassify some posts to add them to groups.  I've only written on or two posts this week.  I just got a message that "this post will not be scored-limit 10 blogs per week."  Of course, I didn't get any points for reclassifying these posts, so that is not the issue.

Now does that mean anything that I actually write this week will not be scored?   

11/28/2006 06:55 PM by Maureen Francis & Dmitry Koublitsky, SKBK Sotheby's - Metro Detroit (SKBK Sotheby's International Realty)

marueen.... huh? LOL English.... lol Or am I just tired....

11/28/2006 07:02 PM by Jeff Belonger -- The FHA Expert.com -- FHA Loans -- FHA mortgages -- Mortgages (Infinity Home Mortgage Company, Inc)

Hey matt or caleb...or the Active Rain god.... I have noticed all day today.... everytime I click submit, it takes a little longer, may it be a post, a comment, or sending an e-mail. Is that because of the new additions? Or is the server running slow today? Too many members on? All of these new groups that people are making, is this slowing things down? thanks

11/28/2006 07:05 PM by Jeff Belonger -- The FHA Expert.com -- FHA Loans -- FHA mortgages -- Mortgages (Infinity Home Mortgage Company, Inc)

Jeff, that was Ukrainian. My translator is asleep already ;-> 

I went back and added some of my posts to groups.  After doing that to a number of posts I got a message that I had hit the limit for posting 10 blogs in a week.  None of these were new blogs.  They were old blogs that I was adding to groups.  So now I am wondering if any new posts I write this week would still get scored, since I got a message saying they would not because I had hit my limit. At this point I only have one or two actual new blogs this week.  

How's that, Jeff?  Still sounding slavic? 

 

11/28/2006 07:44 PM by Maureen Francis & Dmitry Koublitsky, SKBK Sotheby's - Metro Detroit (SKBK Sotheby's International Realty)

Maureen, Me understand mucha better now.... lol I am just laughing now... that sounds a lot better. Thanks. And these are questions that I sent to Matt and mentioned here, in this post. I am a very positive person..... but I am very leary about these groups. I have noticed comments down big time... wondering....are people going to spend more time jumping from group to group? what about the bigger picture, the community as a whole. ??? Last..... many bugs now. And that is another thing... I have already noticed soooo many small posts before today.... many posts with 3 to 4 sentences... and yes, for points. But I am wondering.... how many more of these will we see in the groups... so they can pump out 10 a week.... again, just curious.... it feels like some things will get a little out of hand.... and like I said... if I wrote a blog within my group or another group, will it be seen in the whole community? The rules and everything else is very vague.

11/28/2006 07:58 PM by Jeff Belonger -- The FHA Expert.com -- FHA Loans -- FHA mortgages -- Mortgages (Infinity Home Mortgage Company, Inc)

All great suggestions - Groups are great - Keep up the good work!

11/28/2006 08:34 PM by Carl Guild - Central Connecticut Real Estate (Prudential Connecticut Realty)

I go where you take me! Lead on!

11/28/2006 09:33 PM by Michael Mackey (R) ABR, CRS, GRI (CENTURY 21 All Islands)

What about adding a way for all the members of a group to contact each other?

11/28/2006 09:56 PM by Maureen Francis & Dmitry Koublitsky, SKBK Sotheby's - Metro Detroit (SKBK Sotheby's International Realty)

this is getting confusing.... and like I said... I have noticed more people spending time with the groups and not commenting in the community or the blogs that have been done in the last 12 hours..... Besides... how do you post a blog in a certain group. Just too many unknowns..... and I have spoken to a few people on here that have been around for a while and several have strong voices.... but I seem to speak for them and myself and everyone.... we aren't feeling the warm and fuzzy about these groups.... I think we will lose people in certain groups ...meaning... they will spend time from jumping to group to group... and again, the posts in general, for the community to see, will be lost and not commented on as much. Why can I say this as my opinion. It's hard enough to watch blogs in general...between the featured posts, the blog dashboard, and my favorites.... by adding these groups, there just aren't enough hours in the day to hit them all.... and again, it's my opinion, but I think this is going to distract a lot of people. Question..., if I do a good blog for everyone to see....post it on the community board.... for all to see... but everyone is so busy going from group to group.., and then featured blogs... and then maybe the dashboard. Well....if it doesn't get featured, then you might never see it. I guess I bring this up for a main reason. I think I wrote a very good blog.... one of my better ones...very detailed... I wrote it this afternoon....late. Well, it didn't get featured... okay, I can live with that. But I can tell by these groups that it's not getting looked at as much. This is what I fear.... but I guess I will be a small voice in this. ??????

11/28/2006 10:05 PM by Jeff Belonger -- The FHA Expert.com -- FHA Loans -- FHA mortgages -- Mortgages (Infinity Home Mortgage Company, Inc)

ok first, if you have joined a group already then go to your 'new entry' for your blog, and post; then when you are done, you scroll down to decide where you want to place this blog post; an additonal option over and above the consumer and realtor possibilities will be all the groups you have joined, with a check box next to them; then you can post it in there

also, if you have alredy written a post you want to add to a group because you are joining it and it fits with the group purpose, you join the group, then go back hit edit, and you can add the post to your new group.  Comprenez?

As for the bugs, I don't see bugs; I see a new system that is terrific and can be tweaked as it goes along; just my humble opinion

11/28/2006 10:26 PM by Carole Cohen Realtor®, ePRO (Howard Hanna Cleveland City Office)

There has been talk about making post "only" to group. Though I feel it would be okay I really dont feel it is necessary for the simple reason that a post will be accessable from multiple location. It seems logical to that the more pages a post can be viewed on the better. Maybe an opt-in opt-out feature.

It did take me a moment to figure out how to get post added to a group after I joined. I enjoy the simiplicity of having the check box in the categories section of a post. It doesnt make things more complex then they need to be.

I love the groups features and so far everything is smooth for Toby :)

11/28/2006 11:29 PM by Barnett Associates Real Estate, LLC

Maureen....Toby.... yes, this actually looks good.... I thought it was going to be different. Basically, more exposure because of the smaller groups... kudo's to the AR team and for Maureen answering my questions and Toby's feedback. carole's attitude? hhhhmmmm another story. She might need sleep..... lol

11/28/2006 11:33 PM by Jeff Belonger -- The FHA Expert.com -- FHA Loans -- FHA mortgages -- Mortgages (Infinity Home Mortgage Company, Inc)

Toby I agree with you completely about the 'group only' thing. It wouldn't be a bad thing; but technically, can you just write a blog and only include it in a group now? I think you can.  I still have to go through tomorrow and take all my posts and see where they will fit, if anywhere; but I like that it can be in multiple categories at once. Oh, and thanks for explaining the 'sticky' thing to me lolol

11/28/2006 11:40 PM by Carole Cohen Realtor®, ePRO (Howard Hanna Cleveland City Office)

 Hi Matt

I tried to start a group for Coldwell Banker Agents, but keep getting an error messae that says:

1 error prohibited this blogger group from being saved

There were problems with the following fields:

  • Name must be a-Z and/or 0-9, no spaces or any other characters

what does this mean?

thanks, Ginger

11/28/2006 11:50 PM by Wilmington NC Real Estate Ginger & Roger Sala Keller Williams (Keller Williams Wilmington North Carolina)

and.... the toolbar for bold words/letters and adding pictures when doing the comments. also something that I just noticed. I went in to a blog of my to edit.... but there were all of these symbols and such. Such i didn't want to lose this. Besides....since everything was globbed together, I could find where to add what I wanted to..... help.... lol

11/29/2006 12:02 AM by Jeff Belonger -- The FHA Expert.com -- FHA Loans -- FHA mortgages -- Mortgages (Infinity Home Mortgage Company, Inc)

I'm a little concerned too, about our blogs getting lost within our own specialities - that's not really networking with the industry - it's networking solely with our own peers.  That's a good idea in itself so will be a nice feature - but how does it fit in with the bigger picture - each group (real estate agents/mortgage brokers/virtual assistants/staging/SEO Optimization/Blogging) interacting with each other?

11/29/2006 12:20 AM by Deb Salkeld- - Your Real Estate Virtual Assistant (Diversified Data Solutions, L.L.C.)

Jeff , Hope you can get the glob fixed.

Do you think we should co-start a night owl group?

We would never get to sleep! lOL

I have some concerns about all this grouping, I would hate to see AR become a clicky club

 

11/29/2006 12:26 AM by Wilmington NC Real Estate Ginger & Roger Sala Keller Williams (Keller Williams Wilmington North Carolina)

Ginger/Roger.... I agree.... I have already seen 2 groups that are private... and one is a click..... this will happen. It was already happening as one community....but able to break it up.... and keep a group private.... it will go more clickish. now that is a good idea... a night owl. I am on the east coast and the last 4 out of 5 nights, my earliest to bed has been 2 am.... latest... 3:30 am and I will be crashing hard this weekend., that's if I make it through our company Christmas party this Friday evening.... and yes.... I can't add pictures in my comments or even bold my comments.... HELP

11/29/2006 12:30 AM by Jeff Belonger -- The FHA Expert.com -- FHA Loans -- FHA mortgages -- Mortgages (Infinity Home Mortgage Company, Inc)

I think this is a great idea, but you're going to need to limit the number of groups or it will just be a very broad subset of the blog tags. 

11/29/2006 01:20 AM by Jeff Turner (Real Estate Shows)

So... OK ... If I join a Group, and if I'm at the Group Home page for that group ... I don't see a way to make a post to that group without first going back to My Home/My Blog to write the post....by that time I've forgotten what I intended to say.  :-)

With Groups, I think we'll see more of a Forum/Blog hybrid emerging.....

11/29/2006 06:35 AM by Cheryl Johnson, Bob Taylor Properties, Inc., Los Angeles, CA

yea...  THANK YOU MARY MCKNIGHT...  I had a browser issue and she helped me really quick. I can now bold and upload pictures.

 

11/29/2006 08:31 AM by Jeff Belonger -- The FHA Expert.com -- FHA Loans -- FHA mortgages -- Mortgages (Infinity Home Mortgage Company, Inc)

It looks like no one has either noticed it or mentioned this "bug" here yet, but when you click on a group's homepage, there is a list of the "Top Contributing Members" on the right side.  This is a nice addition, however (c'mon, you knew there had to be a "but"), the top contributing members are listed backwards... in order of least contributing to most contributing.  Those who contribute the most posts to the group should be at the TOP just as those with the most points are listed at the top of your state/county/city pages.

11/29/2006 10:13 AM by South Florida Real Estate • Leanne Paynter (HomesCo.com)

i'm getting the same thing as Maureen-it says i've already contributed my 10 posts, even though i haven't-just been moving some blogs into the appropriate groups....is this on the list to get corrected?  thanks!

11/29/2006 12:54 PM by Leigh Brown Charlotte NC Broker/Owner (RE/MAX Signature Properties)

Cheryl,

The way it works is the same as when you do a regular blog post. Do your post and check off where you want it to go. You can check off a single group if you wish. After you have signed up to the group it will appear under your options under the blog you just wrote.

11/29/2006 03:57 PM by Karen Hurst ~ Real Estate Broker ~ Warwick ~ Rhode Island (Storm Realty LLC)

Ginger,

The URL for the group cannot have spaces.  Does that help?

11/29/2006 05:32 PM by Caleb Mardini (M2M)

Jeff, you're right we should have it so that you can see all group members.

11/29/2006 05:38 PM by Caleb Mardini (M2M)

Kay Van....  you can make the groups private. There are already a few on here.....

11/29/2006 07:09 PM by Jeff Belonger -- The FHA Expert.com -- FHA Loans -- FHA mortgages -- Mortgages (Infinity Home Mortgage Company, Inc)

Caleb,

I tried again with no problem, thanks

Now is there a way to make these tiny comment boxes bigger when we type? 

ginger

11/30/2006 01:29 PM by Wilmington NC Real Estate Ginger & Roger Sala Keller Williams (Keller Williams Wilmington North Carolina)

bigger comment boxes...hmm...I'll make a note.

11/30/2006 01:59 PM by Caleb Mardini (M2M)

and Caleb.... can I super size those Fries and my drink... like a big Martini?   lol

11/30/2006 02:02 PM by Jeff Belonger -- The FHA Expert.com -- FHA Loans -- FHA mortgages -- Mortgages (Infinity Home Mortgage Company, Inc)

Caleb, I have a question too; if a group is established and you set aside one post in that group to be the 'sound off' or 'organizational' post.....while all the other posts are the 'real' ones for people to learn about and discuss the issue of the group....I'm wondering how many comments can be supported on one post. Technically, a 'standing group post' could be up for perpetuity....but not sure posts can support 1000 comments? Just curious

11/30/2006 02:58 PM by Carole Cohen Realtor®, ePRO (Howard Hanna Cleveland City Office)

Carole,

 

Thanks for the question. 

1,000 comments? That's how we'll do it, unless we find a way that works better.  But until that happens things will be as they are.

11/30/2006 03:43 PM by Caleb Mardini (M2M)

Caleb.... did you see my super size comment?  Sorry... it's just been a busy day, but a good day.  Trying to have some fun also...

11/30/2006 04:09 PM by Jeff Belonger -- The FHA Expert.com -- FHA Loans -- FHA mortgages -- Mortgages (Infinity Home Mortgage Company, Inc)

Thank you Caleb. :) I was waiting for the answer to that. I am on 251. I least now I know that I will not blow up AR! lol...TLW...ROAR!

11/30/2006 07:48 PM by "The Lovely Wife"...Broker Bryant's Wife... (Co-Owner Tutas Towne Realty, Inc.)

Caleb...

These spams are all over the place on AR. They are coming in one after and another. My email is packed with them.

TLW...ROAR!

06/26/2007 07:26 AM by "The Lovely Wife"...Broker Bryant's Wife... (Co-Owner Tutas Towne Realty, Inc.)

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