Groups
The VCP allows collaborators to create and manage their own ‘groups’ to which other collaborators can subscribe. Each group maintains its own homepage where collaborators can communicate amongst themselves. Below is the homepage for the DVAS group. Subscribers can create new content, invite collaborators to join the group, view a full list of members, find the manager, or unsubscribe to the group using the navigation menu in the lower left column. The center screen shows a list of recent postings to this group. In the right column a subscriber can search the content from this group. Some of the most recently added members are displayed below that. RSS feeds and email subscriptions are also available for groups.
For non-subscribers, a group homepage has a restricted view as shown in below.
Collaborators can view get a summary of all content that they have not yet viewed by selecting “My Unread” in the navigation menu, as show below.
A group directory listing can be accessed by following the “Groups” link in the primary menu found in the upper right corner of the all pages. A sample directory is shown below. An RSS feed is available for this listing so that Collaborators can monitor new groups.
The creation of a new group is illustrated below. When collaborators create new groups they must provide a group name (Title), a brief description for the group listing, keywords (Tags) that describe the group, and a mission statement. The creator can indicate whether on or not users should have the opportunity to join the group at the time they create an account. There are several privacy options to choose from. The creator must indicate if this group is Open - any registered collaborator can join at any time, Moderated - all membership request must be approved by an administrator, Invite-only - members must accept an invitation initiated by an administrator, or Closed – only administer can create a membership. The creator can decide if the group should be listed in the Group Directory and the group can be set to private (provided it is not Open and unlisted) which makes visible to only its members.
