Who Can Create a New Group?

Members can create new groups to moderate topics they choose and meet other members who share their interests.

How to Create a New Local Interest Group

1. To create a new Local Interest Group hover over the Community section in the navigation bar and click “Groups”
2. To create a new regional group, click on “Browse by Location”.
3. By default the group will be created in an area closest to the location you’ve set in your profile. You can also use the links in the header to navigate to a local group that is close to your location, for example “United States > California > San Francisco & Bay Area > San Jose/Silicon Valley”.
4. Click on the “Create a Group” link.
5. Fill out the form to create a new group then click “Create”. Group Descriptions are key to drawing attention to your group. Make sure that your group description clearly states a specific interest to be shared, the type of people with whom you’d like to share that clearly defined interest, and what goals outside the discussion (if any) you have for the group. Your group will be visible to other members once our review team has approved it.

How to Create a New Local Topical Group

1. To create a new Local Topical Group hover over the Community section in the navigation bar and click “Groups”
2. To create a new topical group click on “Browse by Topic”.
3. Click on a topic that best describes the group you are creating on the topic page.
4. Click on the “Create a Group” link.
5. Fill out the form to create a new group then click “Create”. Group Descriptions are key to drawing attention to your group. Make sure that your group description clearly states a specific interest to be shared, the type of people with whom you’d like to share that clearly defined interest, and what goals outside the discussion (if any) you have for the group. Your group will be visible to other members once our review team has approved it.

What is a Group Moderator?

A Group Moderator is a member who oversees the group and have the ability to set group restrictions, add or remove the group chat room, and also ban members who become abusive towards others. Moderators can also remove posts and comments. If you are a moderator of a group you can click on “Edit Group Settings” to adjust the group settings or add associate moderators.

What is an Associate Moderator?

Group Moderators can enlist other members to help moderate their group. Associate moderators are able to respond directly to posts, ban members and delete posts.

How to Ban Members as Moderator

Moderators and Associate Moderators can ban members who become abusive towards others in the group. To ban a member click on “Ban Member” under their thumbnail in the group member section.

1. Moderators and Associate Moderators can allow banned members back into the group by clicking on “View All Members” in the group member section.
2. Click on “Show banned members” in the top right corner
3. Enter the members handle in the “Unban Member by Username” field then click “Unban”

How to Enable a Group Chat Room as a Moderator

Group moderators have the option to enable Group Chat Rooms within the group. Click on “Join Chat Room” to chat with other members in the group.

How to Customize Look and Feel as a Group Moderator

1. Group moderators can add flair to their group by adding background colors. Some of the colors are reused in different parts of the group pages so try to make all the colors in the primary and secondary tables complimentary. To change the colors of the group click on “Colors” next to Edit Group Settings.
2. Click on the color icons to display a color palette. Click on the desired color within the palette and click “OK”
3. Click on “Revert” to undo the last color change. If you want to start over and revert back to the original colors click on “Use Default Colors”
4. After editing the colors click on “Update Colors” to use them in your group.

How to Join a Group

When you find a group you want to join click on the “Join this Group” button. Once you join a group you will be able to participate in discussion boards and join the group chat room if one has been enabled.

How to Leave a Group

If you want to leave a group you have joined go to the group page and click on “Leave this group”.

How to Look Up Group Members

1. A list of group members will be displayed in the right pane of the group page.
2. Click on “View All Members” to display members who have joined the group.
3. You can sort the list by clicking on one of the options listed next to the “Sort By” field. Click on the same filter again to reverse the way the list is sorted.
4. You can also search for a specific member by entering their handle in the “Search by Username” field then click on “Search”.

What are Associate Members?

If you are listed as an associate member of an Interest Group, it means that you have not fulfilled the activity requirements for that group as set by the group’s moderator. To view the activity requirements for any group see the group’s main page.

Associate members of a group do not show up in the normal member list for that group, and they cannot access that group’s chat room.

What are Group Restrictions?

Group moderators can set restrictions so only specific members who meet the criteria are allowed to join the group. Moderators also have the ability manually allow members who do not meet the criteria and bypass the access restrictions. If you are a moderator of a group you can set the access restrictions or add members by clicking on “Edit Group Settings” on the group page.

What are Activity Requirements?

If an Interest Group has Activity Requirements, it means that in order to have full member status, you must make a certain number of posts within a pre-determined time period, as set by the group’s moderator. If you do not comply with the activity requirements of a group your status will be changed to that of an associate member.

If you are the moderator of an Interest Group, you have the ability to select activity requirements for your members by clicking on “Edit Group Settings” for that group. Under “Activity Requirements” you can update requirement options so that members have to post a certain number times within a 1-30 day period and within 1-12 months to remain a full member of your Interest Group. Changes to your group’s settings will become active within 24 hours.

If you do not want to have activity requirements as part of your Interest Group settings, enter “0” for required posts.

What are Discussion boards?

Within each group you will find discussion boards where members can add comments to various topics. To view a discussion board click on the title under the Post column.

Once you have joined the group you can post new topics by clicking on “Post a Topic” in the discussion board section.

How to Add a comment to a Discussion Board

You can add comments to the discussion board, assuming the author has allowed it. Follow the instructions below to add a comment:

1. To add a comment in a discussion board click “Post A Reply” at the top of the page or scroll to the bottom of the page.
2. Enter your comment and click the “Post your reply” button. For more information about formatting visit the Message Toolbar
3. You can add an image by clicking “Choose File” next to the Photo/Icon field. Put [image] where you want the uploaded photo displayed in your comment. If you do not position your photo, then it will replace your blog’s main photo (or silhouette). Note that this step is optional.
4. Click on the “Post your reply” button when you are ready to submit your comment. Your comment will be visible to other members once it has been approved by our review team.

How to Respond to a Comment

1. You can respond to another members’ comment by clicking on the “Respond” link to the left of the members’ comment.
2. Enter your comment in the comment box. For more information about formatting your comment visit the Message Toolbar
3. Click on the “Post your reply” button when you are ready to submit your post. Your comment will be visible to other members once it has been approved by our review team.

How to Quote another member’s comment

1. You can quote another members’ comment to give your own comment more context. Click on the “Quote” link next to the comment you want to reference.
2. Enter your comment in the comment box. For more information about formatting your comment visit the Message Toolbar
3. Click on the “Post your reply” button when you are ready to submit your post. Your comment will be visible to other members once it has been approved by our review team.

What are Interest Groups?

The Interest Group section is a forum where members can get together to discuss topics of shared interests. Interest Groups are sorted into two main categories:

• Local Interest Groups are used to find members within the same region to discuss common interests.
• Topical Interest Groups are used to find members with common interests based on topics of discussion.

There are many ways to find members that interest you. You can use your Cupid Reports, the Who’s Viewing Me page, and the Search and Browse pages to name only a few.

Browse is a ‘general’ function that lets you check out other members by state or country while searching allows you to ‘target’ very specific locations or body types, even things like last visit date and willingness to relocate. The most powerful searches are available to Gold members.

How to Search for Interest Groups

To search for interest Groups hover over the “Community” section in the navigation bar and select “Groups”. From here you can browse groups by Location (Local Interest Groups) or browse by Topic (Topical Interest Groups) do a Search by following the instructions below:

1. You can search for Interest Groups by typing the Group Name in the search field. If you are viewing the Interest Group page in list view the search field will be located in the left pane towards the bottom of the page. If you are viewing the Interest Group page in Group view click on “Search Groups” at the top of the page.
2. Enter a Group Name and click on “Search”.
3. You can also search by topics and keywords by clicking on the “Advanced” to expand the search criteria.
4. Enter the group name, topic or keywords in the appropriate fields.
5. Click the “Search” button to display a list of groups that meet your search criteria.

Browsing Local Interest Groups

1. To browse groups by location click on “Browse by Location” at the top of the Interest Groups Page. You will be taken to your local Interest Group page based on your profile location.
2. If you’d like to search for interest groups in another region click on the appropriate navigation link located under the navigation bar. You can start by clicking on “World” then narrow your search by clicking on a Country.
3. A map of the Country is displayed in the upper right corner. Click on a region within the map to narrow your search to a specific state or region.
4. You can narrow your search even further to a specific city or region by clicking on a location displayed on the map in the upper right corner.
5. Once you have found the desired region you can click on any interest group listed in the left pane.
6. Clicking on a group will bring you to their group page where you can join the group and participate in discussion boards.

Browsing Topical Interest Groups

1. To browser for groups by topic click on “Browse by Topic” at the top of the Interest Groups page. You will be taken to a page that lists the main topical groups in alphabetical order.
2. Click on a link to a topic you’re interested in. You will see a list of groups created under the topic you selected.
3. Clicking on a group will bring you to their group page where you can join the group and participate in discussion boards.

Browsing by Top Keywords

1. To search for interest Groups hover over the “Community” section in the navigation bar and select “Groups”.
2. From here you can browse groups by Keywords by clicking on the “Browse by Keyword” link.
3. You will be presented with the list of Top Keywords being used on the community groups.