There are three area of information to provide when creating a new Google group: Group description, Basic access, Advanced settings. To create a new Google group:

From the Home screen, click on the New group button. The “Create a group” page is displayed.
Describe the group. Refer to Describing your group for further information these options.
(optional) Click on the Basic access heading to modify basic permissions for group members. Refer to Setting Basic access for further information on these options.
(optional) Click on the Advanced settings heading to modify several advanced settings. Refer to Configuring Advanced settings for further information on these options.
Click the Create group button. The group is created.

Describing your group

The Description section contains group name, description, and email settings for your group. These settings are presented when creating a group or from the Settings menu on the Topics screen. Refer to Understanding permissions for information on permissions in Google Groups.

Group description settings follow:

Group name

Type a Group name in the 'Group name' field. Consider searching for existing groups to help you determine how to name your group (you’ll want a name that distinguishes your group from other groups).

Group description

Type a group description in the 'Group description' field. The description should clearly identify the purpose of the group for prospective members.

Group email address

The group email address can be used by members to receive and respond to posts. By default, the group email address is generated from the group name. Modify this address if you do not like the default address.

Group’s primary language

Select a language from the 'Group’s primary language' drop-down list.

Setting basic access

The Basic access section contains several settings and permissions for your new group. These settings and permissions are presented when creating a group or from the Settings menu on the Topics screen. Refer to Understanding permissions for information on permissions in Google Groups.

Basic access settings follow:

Who can view the group’s content

Click on this menu if you want to change who can read group posts. By default, anyone (members and non-members) can view a group’s content.

Who can join the group

Click on this menu if you want to change how people join the group. By default, anyone can ask to join a group, requiring a user with administrative permissions to approve each new member.

New member question

Type a question into the 'New member question' field that can be used to determine if an applicant should be granted access to the group. For example, “What are three Android applications you have helped to release?” might be a good question for a group of experienced Android software engineers. This field is only applicable if you have chosen "Anyone can ask to join" in the previous menu.

Refer to Handling pending members for information on handling requests to join your group.

Refer to Inviting people to your group for information on inviting members to private groups.

Who can post messages

Click on this menu if you want to change who can post messages to the group. By default all members of a group can post to the group.

Note: A private group is a group where "All members of the group" is selected from first menu in this section, "Only invited users" is selected from the second menu in this section, and "All members of the group" is selected from the third menu in this section.

A public group is a group where anyone can and group topics and posts but only members can create new topics and post. Public groups are also open for anyone to join.

Configuring advanced settings

The advanced settings section contains several settings and permissions for your new group. These settings and permissions are presented when creating a group or from the Settings menu on the Topics screen. Refer to Understanding permissions for information on permissions in Google Groups.

Advanced settings follow:

Profiles and identity

This sub-section of settings affects how members appear within a group (text-only, picture, and so on).

Members need to identify themselves when posting. Which forms of identity are required?

This option allows you to choose whether members can use their display name (can be a pseudonym), Google profile name (real name), or either when posting. The default setting is “Either display name or Google profile.”

Are display names required to be unique within this forum?

This option allows you to require each user to create a unique display name for the group (no members will have duplicate display names). The default setting is “No.”

Keep email addresses private?

This option allows you to keep all email addresses private from other members. The default setting is “No.”

Creating a welcome message

One of the first things you might do to set up a new group is to create your welcome message welcoming visitors and new members. To create a welcome message:

From the Home screen, click on My groups button. A list of your groups appears.
Click on the group to create or change its welcome message. The Topics screen appears with a list of all current topics. If your group does not have a welcome message, “This group does not have a welcome message” is displayed below the group name.
Click on the Add welcome message link. A field appears with a formatting toolbar at the top.
Type your welcome message in the field.
(optional) Format your welcome message using options in the formatting toolbar.
Click the Save button. Your welcome message appears at the bottom of the list of responses.

Add members to your group

Inviting people to your group

One way to encourage group participation is to invite people to join your group. To invite people to your group:

From the Topics screen, click on the Settings menu. A list of menu items appears.
Click on the Manage members menu item. The Manage members screen appears.
Click on the Add button at the top of the screen. The Add/Invite members screen appears.
Type the email addresses in the 'Enter email addresses' field of people to invite to your group. Separate each email address by a comma.
(optional) Type an invite message in the 'Write an invitation message field.'
Click the Send invites button. The invite(s) are sent.

Directly adding members to your group

One way to increase the number of group members is to directly add people to your group. To directly add people to your group:

From the Topics screen, click on the Settings menu. A list of menu items appears.
Click on the Manage members menu item. The Manage members screen appears.
Click on the Add button at the top of the screen. The Add/Invite members screen appears.
Click the Add members directly tab. The Add members directly panel is displayed.
Type the email addresses of the people to add, separated by commas, in the ‘Enter email address to add as members’ field.
Type a welcome message welcoming each person to the group in the ‘Write a welcome message' field.
Click on one of the options under “Email subscription options” to set how users will use email to interact with the group. Refer to the About group and Join group dialog boxes for further information on email settings.
Click the Add button to directly add the people to your group.

Group and membership group permissions

Understanding permissions

Permissions in Google Groups dictate what actions people (members and visitors) can and cannot perform in the group. It is critical that administrators understand the permissions available in Google Groups and how they affect the options available to people using a group. Just about every action a person can perform in a group is controlled by a permission.

Permissions are assigned to Anyone (Group-wide permissions) and to membership groups (groups of people with specific permissions, such as all “Members” or all “Owners.”).

Group-wide permissions

Group-wide permissions affect every person (members and visitors) trying to access a group. These are permissions assigned to "Anyone" when a group is created and can also be modified through the Manage Group screen under the Settings menu.

Refer to Creating a group for more information on the permissions set when you create a group. The more permissions assigned to "Anyone," the more public your Google group.

Refer to Permissions for a list of all permissions.

Membership Group permissions

Membership group permissions are permissions set on a grouping of people within a Google group. For example, the membership group "Owners of the group" or “Owners” will have certain permissions given to all its members while the membership group "All members of the group" or “Member” will have another set of permissions for its members. Three membership groups (Owner, Manager, and Member) are automatically created (with a set of default permissions) for every new Google group. These membership group permissions can be edited through the Manage Group or Manage Member screens under the Settings menu.

Refer to Default membership groups for more information on the Owner, Manager, and Member membership groups.

Refer to Permissions for a list of all permissions.

Permissions

Following is a list of all permissions in Google Groups:

Access

The access section of permissions contains permissions affecting person's ability to access certain data within group.

Filter Topics

A person with this permission can use the Filters feature to filter topics that match a specific criterion.

View Member Email Addresses

A person with this permission can view email addresses of forum members in certain places, such as when assigning topics to other members.

View Members

A person with this permission can view the forum membership list.

View Topics

People with this permission can view topics in the group.

Posting

The posting section of permissions contains permissions affecting posting to the group.

Abuse Reporting

A person with this permission is immune from abuse reporting.

Add References

A person with this permission can add references to topics.

Assign Topic

A person with this permission can assign topics to another person. The assignee must have the “Take Topic” permission, which is explained further down.

Attach Files

A person with this permission can attach files to topics.

Enter Free Form Tags

A person with this permission can add or edit free-form tags on their own topics.

Mark Favorite Reply On Own Topic

A person with this permission can mark any reply to a topic that the member originally posted as a “best answer” (for topics that are questions) or "completed" (for topics that are discussions). This permission is similar to the “Mark Favorite Reply” on “Any Topic” permission, except it is restricted to the original poster’s own topics only.

Me Too Topic

A person with this permission can click on a "Me too!" link on a topic to indicate you had the same question or problem.

Post

A person with this permission can post a new topic or reply to an existing topic.

Post Announcements

A person with this permission can post announcements to the forum.

Post Moderated

A person with this permission can post a new topic or reply, but the topic or reply must be moderated.

Post Rich Text Format

A person with this permission can post in Rich Text format.

Post Trusted

A person with this permission is immune from abuse reports. This permission is useful as it allows community administrators to avoid abuse attacks by malicious users.

Reply to Author

A person with this permission can reply directly to the author of a post using private email.

Moderation

The moderation section of permissions contains permissions affecting moderation of posts and members.

Add members

A person with this permission can directly add new members to the group.

Approve Members

A person with this permission can approve pending members.

Approve Messages

A person with this permission can approve moderated messages.

Ban Users

A person with this permission can ban current members from participating in the group.

Change Any Tag or Category

A person with this permission can add, remove, or change categories on a topic. Users can change the categories on their own topics without this permission.

Delete Any Post

A person with this permission can delete individual posts. Users can delete their own posts without this permission.

Delete Topics

A person with this permission can delete entire topics.

Edit Welcome Message

A person with this permission can edit the welcome message.

Hide Abuse

A person with this permission can cause a post or topic to be removed immediately after abuse is reported.

Invite Members

A member with this permission can invite other users to become members.

Lock Topics

A person with this permission can lock or unlock a topic.

Mark Duplicate

A person with this permission can mark or unmark a topic as a duplicate of another topic.

Mark Favorite Reply on Any Topic

A person with this permission can mark or unmark any reply to any question topic as a “best answer.” Note that you cannot unmark a reply that was marked by another member who has this permission.

Mark No Response Needed

A person with this permission can mark or unmark a topic as not needing a response.

Modify Members

A person with this permission can manage members (subscription type, membership type, posting permissions, unsubscribe, ban).

Modify Membership Groups

A person with this permission can create and modify membership groups, modify the members in a membership group, and modify the permissions in a membership group. Owners set up in the old Google Groups get this permission by default.

Warning: A manager will have only a partial ability to use this permission; managers cannot add permissions that they don’t have as managers in the old Google Groups.

Sort Topics

A person with this permission can sort topics.

Sticky Topics

A person with this permission can set or unset a topic to display at the top of the topic list.

Take Topic

A person with this permission can take or be assigned a topic. These members can also drop a topic that has been taken or assigned to them.

Unassign Topic

A person with this permission can unassign topics that have been assigned to another user. A person who has assigned a topic can unassign the same topic. A person who has had a topic assigned to him or her can drop that assignment. This permission allows the person who has it to unassign topics that were assigned by someone else.

Unmark Favorite Reply On Any Topic [Best Answer]

A person with this permission can unmark any reply to any question topic as a Best Answer, even if they were originally marked by someone else.

Default membership groups

Membership groups are groups of members who have the same permissions within your group. For example, you might have a membership group for all members who just read questions and another membership group to read and respond to questions. A member can belong to multiple membership groups.

There are three default membership groups created for every Google group. These default membership groups are: Owner, Manager, Member.

The Owner membership group

The Owner membership group has the highest level of permissions and contains only the creator of the group when the group is created. Other characteristics of this membership group are:

Owners have the most permissions of any member.
Owners can add other membership groups and even delete the group itself.
Permissions for the Owner membership goup can’t be modified.
Owners don’t have all of the permissions. If an owner needs more permissions, add the owner to an additional membership group with the needed permissions.
You can add additional owners or remove owners from the Owner membership group.
This membership group cannot be removed.

Note: The Owner membership group should be kept small because it’s members have the greatest control over the group.

The Manager membership group

The Manager membership group contains all elected managers of the Google group. Managers generally have more permissions than members, but fewer permissions than owners. Other characteristics of this membership group are:

Managers primarily have member and message management responsibilities.
Managers can add or remove managers.
This Membership group cannot be removed.

Warning: Do not change permissions for the Manager membership group. If a manager needs more permissions, add the manager to an additional membership group with the needed permissions.

The Member membership group

All members of a group belong to the Member membership group by default. Other characteristics of this membership group are:
Any permission set on the Member membership group is automatically set on all other membership groups.
Permissions set in the Member membership group are selected and grayed out in the other membership groups.
This membership group cannot be removed.

Creating a new membership group

Any member with the Modify Members Sets permission can create a membership goup with specific permissions and members.

Note: Only three membership groups can have the Take and Assign permission.

To create a membership group:

From the Topics screen, click on the Settings menu. A list of menu items appears.
Select Manage members. The Manage members screen is displayed.
Click on the Membership Groups tab.
Click on the Create button. The Create membership group screen is displayed.
Type a name in the 'Name' field. Your membership group name will be the alternative text displayed for the group’s badge. Ensure you are using a good, publicly sharable name for the membership group. Also ensure your group name is singular (for example, Top Contributor, not Top Contributors).
(optional) Type a description in the 'Description' field.
(optional) Type domains in the 'Domain restriction' field to restrict members with email accounts in those domains.
(optional) Click 'Add badge' to include a badge for the membership group. Badges must be 16 by 16 pixels and .png or .gif file format.
(optional) Click the Display badge next to member names checkbox if you want to be able to identify members by their membership group.
(optional) Type a name in the 'Members' field to search the current members of the group.
(optional) Click the Add Members button to add a current group member to this membership group.
(optional) Click 'Edit' to edit permissions for the membership group. Refer to Assigning permissions to a membership group for further information.
Click Save to save your new membership group.

Assigning Permissions to a Membership Group

To assign permissions to a membership group:

From the Topics screen, click on the Settings menu. A list of menu items appears.
Select Manage members. The Manage members screen is displayed.
Click on the Membership Groups tab.
Click on an existing membership group, such as Owner. The membership group's settings screen is displayed.
Click the 'Edit' link, next to "Permissions" at the bottom of the screen. A list of all permissions is displayed.
Check the checkboxes next to the permissions to grant to the membership group. Refer to Group-wide and membership group permissions for a complete list of permissions.
Click the Save button. Your changes are saved to the membership group.

Note: Owners can assign any permission to any membership group. Other members (who have the Modify Member Sets permission) can assign only the permissions they have received.

Removing a Membership Group

To remove a membership group:

From the Topics screen, click on the Settings menu. A list of menu items appears.
Select Manage members. The Manage members screen is displayed.
Click on the Membership groups tab. All of your membership groups are displayed.
Click on one of the membership groups. All information about the membership group, including a members list, is displayed.
Click on the 'X' next to each member to remove each member from the membership group.
Click the Delete button to remove the membership group.

Editing Permissions

You can edit permissions for membership Groups in two ways: Using the Manage Group screen under the Settings menu. Using the Manage Members screen under the Settings menu. Permissions that that affect "Anyone" (members and on-members) can only be edited through the Manage Group screen under the Settings menu.

To edit permissions:

From the Topics screen, click on the Settings menu. A list of menu items appears.
Click on Manage Group. The "Settings for groupname" screen appears. This screen has three tabs: Basic, Advanced, Information.
Click on the Basic tab to change basic access permissions.
Scroll down to the Basic access section. There are four permissions settings here: Who can view the group's content, Who can post messages, Who can join the group, and New members cannot post. Some permissions settings are represented by drop-down lists where you choose the groups of people to grant the permission. Other permissions settings are checkboxes that affect one single group of people.
Modify these permissions as desired.
Click on the Advanced tab. Four categories of permissions appear: Profiles and identity, Directory, Advanced access, Moderation, Email delivery, Customize web view, and Content control.
Click on the arrow to the right of any of the categories to view all settings and permissions.
Modify these permissions as desired.
Click the Save button. All permissions and settings are saved.

Administrative tasks

Moderating posts

You will have to approve forum posts if administrators of the group have turned on moderation (either when creating a group or editing group settings). To approve a post:

From the Topics screen, click on the Settings menu. A list of menu items appears.
Select Manage messages. The Manage messages screen is displayed.
Click on a post to read its contents.
Click on the checkbox next to the post. Four buttons appear at the top of the screen.
Click one of the four buttons:

Post
Post and always allow future messages from author
Report spam and ban author(s) from this forum
Remove

Tip: You can click the checkbox next to multiple posts and then click on a button to perform the same action on those posts.

Note: A post requiring approval triggers an email to you to approve or deny the post.

Taking, assigning, and viewing assigned topics

You might have the permissions to take topics (discussions or questions) or assign topics to other members. When a question is taken or assigned, it is given an internal label that identifies the owner (you or someone else you assigned it to). You can then use Google Groups filters to view topics with specific labels, such as “Unresolved - assigned to me.”

Note: You must have the Take Topic permission to take a topic. You must have the Assign Topic permission to assign a topic to another member. You must have the Filter Topic permission to view the topics assigned to you.

Taking a topic

You must have the Take Topic permission to take a topic. To take a topic:

Tip: You can also click on the Take button while viewing a topic to assign that topic to yourself.

From the Topics screen, select one or more topics in the topic list by clicking on the checkbox to the left of the topic name.
Click on the Actions menu. Several menu items are listed.
Select the Take menu item. The topic will be assigned to you. The yellow area within the topic shows that the topic is assigned to you.

Assigning a topic

You must have the Assign Topic permission to assign a topic to another member. To assign a question to another group member:

Tip: You can also click on the Assign button while viewing a question to assign the question to another group member.

From the Topics screen, select one or more topics in the topic list by clicking on the checkbox to the left of the topic name.
Click on the Actions menu. Several menu items are listed.
Select the Assign menu item. The Assign selected topic to member screen appears.
Click on the Assign link next to the name of the member to assign the topic(s). The topic(s) are assigned to the other group member. The yellow area within the topic shows that the topic is assigned to the other group member.

Viewing assigned topics

You must have the Filter Topic permission to view the topics assigned to you. To view topics assigned to you:

From the Topics screen, click on the Filters menu. A list of filters appears.
Use the scroll bar to scroll down to the "Assigned to me" filter.
Click on the radio button next to the the “Assigned to me” filter.
Click on Apply selected filters. A list of topics assigned to you is displayed.

Note: Select Clear all filters (display all topics) from the filters list to return to the complete list of topics in the topic list.

Controlling visibility of the group posts

To control whether your group's posts appears in Google Groups search results and under the Recent Discussions section on the Google Groups Welcome screen:

From the Topics screen, click on the Settings menu. A list of menu items appear.
Click on Manage Group. The settings for your group appear.
Click on the Basic tab. The group description and basic access settings appear.
Click on Who can view the group's content?
Select the people who can view Group posts in search results and under Recent Discussions.
Click the Save button. Your settings are saved.

Listing a group in the Google Groups directory

The Google Groups directory is a browsable listing of all Google groups. To list your group in the Google Groups directory:

From the Topics screen, click on the Settings menu. A list of menu items appears.
Click on Manage Group. The settings for your group appear.
Click on the Advanced tab. The Advanced settings appear.
Select the Directory section. Several settings appear below the Directory heading.
Click Yes below "List this group in the Groups directory."
Click the Save button. Your settings are saved and your Group will appear in the Google Groups directory (accessed when you click on the Browse All button from the Home screen.

Note: This setting doesn't affect whether your group's posts appear in search results. Refer to Controlling visibility of the group posts for further information.

Embedding a group into Google Sites

You can easily embed a group into a Google Site using a gadget:

Create or open the Google group you want to embed and the Google Site where you'd like to embed the group.
Navigate to the page where you'd like to put the group.
Click Edit page button.
Select More gadgets... from the Insert menu. The "Add a gadget to your page" dialog box appears.
Click on the Add gadget by URL item on the left side of the dialog box.
Enter http://www.gstatic.com/sites-gadgets/forum/forum_content.xml in the 'Enter the URL for a gadget you want to add' field.
Click the Add button. The configuration page for the gadget appears.
Type in the name of your group into the 'Default forum' field. For example, if your group's URL is http://groups.google.com/group/samplegroup, your group name is samplegroup.
Leave the 'The domain containing the content to display' field blank.
Type the width and height for the group's window in the width and height of the gadget.
Click Preview Gadget to preview your google group.
Click OK when you are satisfied with your group's appearance.

Use the table of contents gadget if you have multiple group gadgets and want your visitors to be able to scan all of them at once.

Embedding a forum into a webpage

You can embed a group into your website by using an iFrame and specifying the group's URL.

Setting up the iFrame

To embed a group in an external web page, copy and paste the following iFrame HTML into the web page's HTML source (make sure to change forum-name to your group name:

src="javascript:void(0)"

scrolling="no"

frameborder="0"

width="900"

height="700">

</iframe>

document.getElementById("forum_embed").src =

"https://groups.google.com/forum/embed/?place=forum/forum-name" +

"&showsearch=true&showpopout=true&parenturl=" +

encodeURIComponent(window.location.href);

</script>

In the above example, you would want to change forum-name to the name of the group you want to pull into the iFrame. In addition, if you are pulling a group from a Google Apps domain (a site owned by an organization or a company), you will have to add a parameter at the end of the URL:

&domain=yourdomain.com

In the above example, you would replace yourdomain.com with the domain name for your group.

Customizing the display of your group

You can use other URL parameters to change the behavior of your iFrame and the display of your group:

showsearch: true if you want to show a search box, false if you don't want the box to show
showtabs: true if you want to show the view selector tabs, false if you don't want to show tabs
theme: A value of default will use the default Google Discussions Forum theme instead of the monochrome embedded theme
hideforumtitle: true if you want to show the forum title and description, false if you don't want to show the title or description
hidesubject: true if you want to hide the subject of the last post in My Forums view, false if you want to leave the subject visible
hl: The default language for the forum (if left out, Google will try to detect the user's chosen language)
fragments: true if you want to use fragments instead of query parameters for permalinks (for example, http://parenturl.com/path#forum instead of http://parenturl.com/path?place=forum), false if you want to use query parameters
parenturl: The URL of the page embedding the iFrame (used to generate permalinks)

You can string together these parameters by separating them with an ampersand, &. For example, if you wanted to have an iFrame with a forum that showed the popout icons and had the Google Discussions Forum theme, your URL might be:

https://groups.google.com/forum/embed/?place=forum/forum-name&domain=yourdomain.com&showpopout=true&theme=default

Join and post to a group

Marking a post as “best answer” or "completed"

Members with the "Mark Favorite Reply On Any Topic" permission can identify the “best answer” (for questions) or "completed" (for discussions) on other member’s post. Members with the "Mark Favorite Reply On Own Topic" permission can identify “best answer” or "completed" only on the post they create.

To mark a post as the “best answer" or "completed:"

From the Topics screen, click on the post to mark it as “best answer” (questions) or "completed" (discussions).
Click on the Mark as best answer button for questions or Mark as complete button. The word “answered” appears after the question's title in the topic list. The phrase "completed" for discussion topics.

Highlighting the importance of a post

It’s common for someone to post a question or statement in a group that you have or agree with. Use the "Me too!" feature to increase the priority of questions or statements you agree with. To increase a post's priority:

Read the entire first post of a topic.
If the post is a question, and you also would like an answer to the same question, click on the "Me To!" link. The topic will rise in the topic list.
If the post is a statement, and you agree with the statement, click on the "Me To!" link. The topic will rise in the topic list.

Reading and responding to group posts

As a Google Groups user, one of the first thing you might want to do is read and respond to posts in your favorite groups. Depending on how a group is configured (and your personal settings), you will be able to read and respond to posts either through the web interface and (optionally) using email.

Reading and responding to posts using the web interface

To read and respond to posts using the web interface:

Click on the 'My Groups' button on the Home screen. A list of all your subscribed groups appears.
Click on a group name. The Topics screen appears with a list of all current topics. Notice that all of the unread posts for a topic are listed (in bold).
Click on the topic you want to read. The first post in the topic (created when the topic was created) is displayed on top followed by all responses.
Click on the Post reply button to the right of the time for the post. A reply field appears with a formatting toolbar at the top.

Tip: Click on the Post reply button (or the red Post Reply) in the first post to reply to the original topic creator. Click on Reply to Author, under the Post reply menu, to reply to the poster through private email. Click on Forward, under the Post reply menu, to forward the post to an email address.

(optional) Click the Quote original link to display the original message above your response.
Type your reply in the reply field.
(optional) Format your reply using options in the formatting toolbar.
Click the Post button to reply to that post.

Reading and responding to posts in email

To read and respond to posts using email:

Click on the email in your inbox. The contents of the email are displayed.
Type a response to the email.
Select reply (to respond only to the poster) or reply to all (to respond to the whole group). The response is posted.

Note: This process assumes that you have "Email" checked in the "How do you want to read this group?" section of the my Membership settings (you are receiving an email for every post to the group).

Creating a new topic

When you create a new topic you are also, simultaneously, creating the first post in the topic. To create a new topic in a group:

From the Topics screen, click on the New topic button. A "New topic in "[group_name]" screen appears.
Select the type of post (discussion, question, or announcement).

Discussion - A general post and response interaction usually available to all members of a group.
Question - A formal type of discussion. Questions can have a workflow associated with and can be assigned to other members to answer, for example.
Announcement - A topic containing important information from the administrators for all members.

(optional) Check the Display at the top checkbox to create the new topic at the top of the topic list. This option is only available for group owners.
(optional) Check the Lock checkbox to block users from replying to the topic. This option is useful if you are making an announcement and do not want any replies to the announcement. This option is only available for group owners.
Type the subject of the topic in the 'Subject' field.
(optional) Click on the 'Attach a file' link to attach a file to the initial post. The Select a file dialog box appears.

Click on the Choose files to upload button.
Navigate to your file.
Click the Open button. The file is uploaded to Google Groups.

Type the introduction to the topic. Add formatting as needed by clicking on the buttons above the topic body.
Click the Post button to post the topic. The topic appears in the list of topics for the group.

Deleting a post

If you're the author of a post, you can remove it, as long as you're logged in through the same account you used to create the post. Group moderators can also remove any post from other members of that group. Replacing the text of the message will be, "This message has been deleted."

To delete a post simply select Delete post under the message you want to remove. Once you see the confirmation message, click "OK" to permanently remove the post.

Highlighting code syntax

A group must have code syntax highlighting turned on highlight code syntax in a post. To highlight code syntax in a post:

Respond to a post.
Type in your code syntax.
Select all of the code syntax.
Click on the Highlight code syntax in the post's formatting bar. A code syntax box appears around your code and the code is formatted with code formatting rules.
Click outside the code syntax box to add additional information to your post.

Organize groups, topics, and posts

Clearing Recently viewed and Recently posted sections

The navigation tree on the left-hand side of Google Groups has three pre-defined (and auto-populated) groupings of groups: "Recently viewed," "Recent searches," and "Recently posted to." To clear the contents of these groupings:

Click on the drop-down menu to the right of "Recently viewed," "Recent searches," or "Recently posted to" in the navigation tree. A list of menu items appears.
Select Clear. All of the groups are cleared from the list.

Organizing Favorite Groups

You can also manually organize your groups within the Favorites section of the navigation tree.

Note: Click on the show/hide navigation button in the upper left of the screen to display the navigation tree on the left of the screen.

Creating a folder within Favorites

You can place all your favorite groups directly in the Favorites section or create separate folders inside of the Favorites section to further organize your groups. To create a folder:

Click on the drop-down menu to the right of “Favorites.” A list of menu items appears.
Select New folder. The New folder dialog box appears.
Type the name of the new folder in the field.
Click the OK button. The new folder is created.

Adding a group to Favorites

You can use Google Groups "starring" mechanism to quickly add group to Favorites. To add a group to Favorites:

Click on the star to the left of a group name. A pop-up dialog box appears indicating that the group was added to Favorites. The star to the left of the group name is solid to indicate it is a Favorite group.
(optional) To move the group into a sub-folder under Favorites:

Click on the Change folders button to select a different folder under Favorites for the group. A list of folders appears.
Click on a folder to move the group into that sub-folder or click New folder to create a new sub-folder.

Tip: Click on a star next to a group name to display a pop-up dialog box . Click on the 'Remove from favorites' link to remove the group from Favorites.

Moving a group within Favorites into a folder

You can place all your favorite groups directly in the Favorites section or create separate folders inside of the Favorites section to further organize your groups. Refer to Creating a folder (above) for information on creating a folder. To move a group from the Favorites section into a sub-folder within Favorites:

Click and hold the left mouse button on a group name within the Favorites section.
Move the cursor over a folder within the Favorites section:

If you are dragging a group into a closed folder, groups will be placed in the order they are added.
If you are dragging a group into an open folder, a horizontal bar appears to show you where it will be placed within the folder.

Release the left mouse button. The group is moved into the folder.

Removing a group from Favorites

To remove a group from the Favorites section:

Hover the cursor over the group name. The group name is highlighted and a drop-down menu appears to the right of the group name.
Click on the drop-down menu. A list of menu items appears.
Select the 'Remove from favorites' menu item. The group is removed from Favorites.

Removing a folder from Favorites

To remove a folder:

Move any groups you want to keep in Favorites out of the folder.
Hover the cursor over the folder name. A drop-down menu appears to the right of the group name.
Click on the drop-down menu. A list of menu items appears.
Select 'Delete folder.' The Delete folder dialog box appears.
Click the OK button. The folder is removed.

Warning: All of your favorite Google Groups stored within this folder will be removed from Favorites. You will have to star these groups again to move them back into the Favorites section.

Tagging topics

Tags are special words used to associate topics with subjects. Tags are created by a group administrator for the group and then applied by members to individual topics. For example, an administrator of a group called “Smart Phones” might create a tag called “android.” Group members can assign this tag to topics in the group to identify the subject as relating to “android.” Refer to Creating tags for a group for further information on creating tags for a group (system administrators only).

To tag a topic when creating a topic:

From the New topic screen, click on the tags (at bottom and in blue) you want to add to the topic. Tags appear in the field as they are added. Refer to Creating a new topic for further information.
Click Post to post the topic.

To tag a topic after a topic has been created:

From the Topic screen, click on the ‘add tags’ link next to the topic’s title. The Edit Tags dialog box appears.
Click on the tags (in blue; next to ‘suggested tags’) you want to add to the topic. Tags appear in the field as they are added.
Click Save changes. Tags are added to the topic.

NOTE: You must be the creator of a topic to add tags to it.

Viewing topics with a specific tag

To view a topic with a specific tag:

From the Topics screen, click on the ‘Tags’ link. The main area displays two fields; “View topics with tags” and, for administrators, “Add tags.” A list of suggested tags is also displayed.
Click on a tag whose associated topics you want to view. For example, click on ‘android’ to view all topics whose subject relates to “android.” Or, type a tag’s name into the ‘View topics with tags’ field and press Return (MacOS X) or Enter (Microsoft Windows) to search for topics associated with that tag. Topics related to the tag are listed (if topics related to the tag are available.)

If not topics are found, the message “No topics available in this group” is displayed. You can click on another tag (under the group name) to search for topics associated with that tag.

Creating tags for a group

To create tags for a group:

From the Topics screen, click on the ‘Tags’ link. The main area displays two fields: “View topics with tags” and “Add tags.”
Type a comma-separated list of tags in the “Add tags” field.

Press Return (MacOS X) or Enter (Mircosoft Windows) after your list of tags. The new tags are listed below the two fields.

Starring topics

Use stars as a way to categorize topics that you want to track. Click on the star next to a topic. Starred topics appear in the “Starred” category near the top of the navigation tree.

Tip: You can also star a Group to place the group in the Favorites section of the navigation tree. Refer to Organizing groups for further information.

Search and filter

Filtering topics on the Topics screen

You can apply several filters to the list of topics on the Topic screen to show only specific topics.

Note: You must have the Filter Topic permission to filter topics

To apply a filter to the topic list:

From the Topics screen, click on the Filter menu. A list of filters appears.
Click on the radio button next to the filter(s) you want to apply to the topic list.

Note: if you pick options under “Any of these,” then the filter will display topics that meet any of your selections. If you pick options under “All of these,” then the filter will display only the topics that meet all of your selections combined.

Click Apply selected filters. A list of topics assigned to you is displayed.

Note: Select Clear all filters (display all topics) from the filters list to return to the complete list of topics in the topic list.

Searching for a group, topic or post

Google Groups offers a variety of search terms to help you quickly find groups, topics, or posts. Refer to Search terms for a list of all the search terms you can use.

Searching for a group

To search for a group:

From the Home screen, type a group name area of interest in the search field at the top. For example, type "Lego."

Tip: Alternatively, you can use the groupname: group search tag to search for groups. For example, groupname: Lego

Press the Enter or return key. A list of groups with the word "Lego" appear followed with a list of posts in public groups.

Note: Searching for groups from within a group only yields a list of posts, not groups.

Searching for a topic or post

To search for a topic or post:

From the Topics screen, type a word or phrase in the search field at the top. For example, type "Lego."
Press the Enter or return key. A list of topics and posts with the word "Lego" appear.

Search Terms

Using search terms is a helpful way to more easily find groups, posts, and posts from a particular person. Insert a search term in the search field and then type the rest of your query. Following is a list of search terms:

YYYY/MM/DD

Display all the messages created after the YYYY/MM/DD date. For example, after: 2011/11/02.

author:"name"

Display all of the messages created by a specific author. For example, author: jonsmith@gmail.com. This option only works within a closed domain, such as the google.com domain and you must have the "view member emails" permission.

authorname:"name"

Same as author:"name".

before:YYYY/MM/DD

Display all the messages created before the YYYY/MM/DD date. For example, before: 2011/11/02.

category:URL

Display all the messages with the given category (the keyword in the category URL, not the category display name). For example,

from:"name"

Display all of the messages created by a specific author. For example, from:"jonsmith". This option only works within a closed domain, such as the google.com domain.

groupname:"group"

Display all of the messages with a specific group name. For example, groupname:"soccer".

has:attachment

Display all of the messages that have attachments.

is:answered

Display all of the question-style topics that have been marked “answered.”

is:bestreply

Display all of the messages that have been marked as “best reply.”

is:closed

Display all of the messages in closed topics.

is:firstpost

Display all of the initial posts in a topic.

is:sticky

Display all of the messages in “sticky” topics (topics that always appear at the top of the topic list).

subject:"subjectname"

Display all of the messages with the provided subjectname. For example, subject: How do I turn off my Android phone?

tag:"tagname"

Display all of the messages with the provided tagname. For example, tag:"Android phones".

Tip: You can also reverse a particular search by putting a '-' in front of the search query. For example, the search author:me -category:example will return topics authored by you that are not in the "Example" category.

Adjust your group membership settings

About group and Join group dialog boxes

Click on the My Membership link while visiting a group's forum to see your current membership. These options also appear in the Join group dialog box when you click on the Join group link to join a group. The following image shows the options in these two dialog boxes:

How do you want to read this group buttons
Google profile
Display name buttons
Avatar

How do you want to read this group

There are four email delivery options under the "How do you want to read this group?" heading. These are:

No email
Do not receive email for group posts. Participate in this group through only the web interface.

Abridged email

Receive one summary email of new activity per day.

Digest email
Receive one email for every 25 new messages.

Email
Receive an email for every post.

Subscribe me to email updates on topics that I post to

Google profile

Click the Link to my google.com profile checkbox allows you to use your google.com profile, including its photo, in your posts. If you do not use your google.com profile, your Avatar will be generic.

Display name buttons

Click the Use this nickname radio button if you want to use a different nickname than the one in your google.com profile.

How will I look to others?

The avatar that appears in Google Groups will be the avatar from your google.com profile (if you choose that option), otherwise, it will be a generic "ghost" avatar.

My membership settings

The My membership settings appear when you join a group or when you click on the My membership button from the Topics screen. These settings define how you, as a member of a group, will participate group discussions. The settings on the My membership screen follow:

Description

The description for the group.

Group email

The email address for the group. You can post to the group using this email address if the administrator of the group allows email posting.

Membership status

This section identifies whether you are a member or the only owner of the group.

Use the Leave group button to unregister from the group as a member. You must transfer ownership to another user if you are the only owner of a group.

How do you want to read this group?

Select how you would like to receive email from the group using one of the following five settings:

No email
Do not receive email for group posts. Participate in this group through only the web interface.

Abridged email

Receive one summary email of new activity per day.

Digest email
Receive one email for every 25 new messages.

Email
Receive an email for every post.

Subscribe me to email updates on topics that I post to

Which address do you want to use for this group?

Click on this button to select a different Google email address to associate with this group.

Google profile

Click this checkbox to link your Google Accounts profile to your activity in this group.

Display name

You can either select your Google Accounts name to display next to your messages, or you can create a new display name specifically for this group.

Update settings

Select Update settings to save changes, or select Cancel to revert back to your previous settings.

Unsubscribing from a group

You can do any of the following to remove yourself from a group:

Reply to an email from the group with REMOVE ME as the subject of your message.
Send an email to groupname+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com. For example, if you want to leave the group myfriends@googlegroups.com, you could remove yourself by sending a blank email to myfriends+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
Click the Leave Group button from the My Membership screen for the group. Refer to My Membership settings for further information.

Please note that if you unsubscribe from a group that only allows members to see group content, you might not be able to read that group's pages anymore. If you want to continue your membership in a group but don't want to receive group email, select the No Email option on the Edit My Membership page, then click "Save these settings".

Note: if you unsubscribe from a group that only allows members to see group content, you might not be able to read that group's pages anymore. If you want to continue your membership in a group, but don't want to receive group email, select the No Email option on the My Membership screen. Refer to My Membership settings for further information.

Understand your Google account

Using Google Groups with a Google account

Some tasks in Google Groups require a Google Account while others do not require an account. The following Google Group tasks do not require a Google Account:

Reading posts in a public group.
Searching for groups, posts, or authors.
Posting to a group using email (if the group is unrestricted or you're already a member).
Joining a public Google Group using email.

The following Google Groups tasks require a Google Account:

Creating and managing your own Google Group.
Posting to a group using the web interface.
Subscribing to a Usenet newsgroup and receiving posts through email.
Joining a Google Group using the web interface.
Changing your subscription type.
Reading a restricted group's posts online.

Tip: Gmail users can use their Gmail Google Account with Google Groups.

Note: Click on the "create an account for free" link on the Google Accounts homepage to create a new Google Account.

Linking your Google profile to your Groups account

If you've used Google+, written a review on Google Maps, or added books to your Google Book Search library, you probably have a Google Profile. A Google Profile contains information about you such as a photo, location, occupation, school, and birthday. You can link your Google Profile to your appearance in a Google Group:

Sign in to Google Groups.
Go to the group you would like to join or have joined.
If you have not yet joined the group, click Join group next to the name of the group. If you are already a member of the group, click My membership.
Check the box next to "Link to my Google profile and show my photo on posts." If you are a Google Apps user, your profile might be specific to your organization.
Select your other choices for joining the group, including if you would like to use a nickname instead of your full name when posting to this group.

If you choose "Use the full name from my Google Profile", your name in your Google profile will be used the group. For example, "Joe Smith."
If you you choose "Use this nickname," your nickname followed by your name in your profile, in parentheses, will be used in the group. For example, "BigJoe (Joe Smith),
If you choose "Use this nickname," and you don't have a profile linked to Google Groups, your nickname will be used in the group. For example, "BigJoe."

If you have not yet joined the group, click Join this group next to the name of the group. If you are already a member of the group, click Update settings.

Note: Refer to Create a profile if you do not have a Google Profile.

Deleting or restoring a Google account

Before deleting your Google Account, review the data associated with your account on the Google Dashboard. Keep in mind that deleting your Google Account will affect each product differently. We've put together a short list describing the behavior of a few products, but be sure to read up on specific information about other products that you're using.

If you've joined any Google groups, you'll continue to receive emails in your inbox after you've deleted your Google Account. To stop receiving emails, unsubscribe from a group by sending an email to [Groupname]-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com. For example, if you wanted to leave google-friends, you'd send an email to google-friends-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com

You'll permanently remove the Google products associated with that account, such as your orkut profile, your iGoogle page, and your Web History.

If you use Gmail with your account, you'll no longer be able to access that email. You'll also be unable to reuse your Gmail username.

To delete your Google Account, follow these steps:

Sign in on the Google Accounts homepage. (If you forgot your password, you can reset it).
Click Close account and delete all services and info associated with it to delete your account. If you don't see this link near the bottom of the page, your account was likely created through an organization or company. To delete your account, talk to your domain administrator.
Confirm your account deletion. To do so, you'll need to select these two options: "Yes, I want to delete my account," and "Yes, I acknowledge that I am still responsible for any charges incurred due to any pending financial transactions." (You can safely select the latter option if you haven't used any of Google's paid products, such as AdWords and Google Checkout, or if you have no pending financial transactions related to these products.)

Restoring a Google Account

If you accidentally deleted your Google Account, you can attempt to restore it by going to our password assistance page within a limited window of time after deletion.

Abuse and spam

Report abuse or legal issue

You can report abuse and/or any legal issues in a message, a profile or a page. To do so, please follow the steps below:

To report a Group for abuse

Go to the homepage of the Group you want to report. (If the group’s email address is example@googlegroups.com, then the URL for the group will be http://groups.google.com/group/example.)
Click on the Report this group link at the bottom of the homepage.
Choose the radio button next to the Type of Abuse you want to report.
Click "Report Abuse."

To report a message for abuse

Go to the message you want to report.
Click "More options" near the top right of the message.
Click "Report this message."
Choose the radio button next to the Type of Abuse you want to report.
Click "Report Abuse."

To report a profile for abuse

Go to a message written by the owner of the profile you want to report.
Click "View profile," next to the author's name.
Click Report this profile.
Choose the radio button next to the Type of Abuse you want to report.
Click "Report Abuse."

To report a page for abuse

Go to the page you want to report.
Click Report this page, near the bottom right of the page.
Choose the radio button next to the Type of Abuse you want to report.
Click "Report Abuse."

To report illegal activity

Google has a tool that will guide you through the process of reporting content that you believe warrants removal from Google's services based on applicable laws. Go to the Google Groups help page online to find the tool. Completing this form will help ensure that we have all of the information necessary to investigate your specific enquiry and resolve it as quickly as possible.

Spam spoiled email addresses

When your message is posted to a group, Google Groups masks your email address on the Web to prevent automated computer programs from harvesting it for spamming purposes. When you see an email address in a message on the Google Groups webpages, it will look something like 'add...@example.com' instead of 'address@example.com.'

Please note: this masking occurs only on the web. If your message leaves Google Groups, your email address will be visible. Messages leave Google Groups in two ways:

You post a message to a Google Group where members receive messages via email. Only the group members will see your email address.
You post a message to a Usenet newsgroup. If you post to a Usenet newsgroup (not a Google Group), your message is sent to Usenet servers all over the world, some of which are controlled or used by spammers. Spammers extract the email addresses from these messages when they arrive on their servers.

If you'd like to continue posting, you may want to use an anonymous email address. We do require a valid email address to post to Google Groups, so if you'd prefer that your normal email address not be sent with your posts, we encourage you to sign up for a separate email account. Many free email services are available on the web. You can find a list of such services by conducting a Google search, or visiting http://directory.google.com/Top/Computers/Internet/E-mail/Web-Based/

Banned Content Warning

If you come across a Google Group with a Banned Content Warning, you have three options:

You can choose "I do not wish to view spam", which takes you to the Google Groups homepage
You can choose "I would like to view this content", which will allow you to view the Group despite its suspected spam status
Or you can request a review by clicking "This content is not spam", which will communicate to Google that you think the Group isn't actually spam.

It's important to note that while Groups with Banned Content Warnings may still be viewable by clicking on the "I would like to view this content" link, no email from the Group will be sent. If there's any content within the Group that is indeed spam, it's the responsibility of the group owner to clear out the offending content prior to requesting a review. Any Groups containing adult content but which are not explicitly marked with an adult content warning will be permanently banned.

If you're a Google Group owner and feel that other members posted unwanted spam or adult content, this is likely a good indication that you need to tighten your Group's security settings by doing one or more of the following:

Make pages editable only by managers
Moderate all new members
Delete spam-like messages that are on the front page as well as any spam-like links or files

Fix a problem

Duplicate messages

If you're receiving duplicate messages from a Google Group, first, try these troubleshooting tips:

Make sure you're subscribed to the group in question with only one email address. If you have a second email address subscribed to the group, try unsubscribing one to see if this resolves the problem.
If you have email forwarding set up on one of your other email accounts, make sure that this other email address isn't forwarding emails to your current address. If this is the case, unsubscribe the forwarding address from the group.
If you have only one email address subscribed to the group, unsubscribe, and then re-subscribe that address.

If you're still receiving duplicate messages from your group after trying the tips outlined above, please send us a copy of each of the duplicate emails you're receiving, with full message headers attached. Please follow the instructions below to view the message headers in your email program.

Gmail

Select the conversation containing the message affected by this issue, and open the individual message.
Click the down arrow next to Reply, at the top-right of the message pane.
Click Show original.
Copy and paste the contents of the new browser window into a separate document.
Attach this document to your reply.

Microsoft Outlook

Open the message in Microsoft Outlook.
Select View, then Options.
You'll see the headers in the Internet Headers box.
Copy all of the headers and paste them into your reply to us.

Microsoft Outlook Express

Select the message affected by this issue.
Right-click the message, and select Properties.
Open the Details tab in the dialogue box.
When the new window opens, click the Message Source button.
Copy the data that appears in the new window and paste it into a separate document.
Attach this document to your reply.

Yahoo Mail

Open the email message in your Yahoo Mail inbox.
Click the Full Headers link located in the lower-right corner of the email message.
Copy the entire message, including all of the headers, and then paste the contents into your reply to us.

If instructions for your email program aren't listed above, please check your program's help information for instructions on viewing message headers.

Posts not appearing

In groups that aren't moderated, postings usually appear in seconds. Your posting will also show up in search results minutes after you submit it. All in all, it's pretty fast.

But when you submit a post to a moderated group, it won't be posted to the group until the moderator has approved it, and that's a lot less predictable.

I can't post messages to my group

If you're unable to post any messages to your group, please try the following troubleshooting tips:

Clear your browser's cache and cookies.
If you're posting via email, visit the group's About page and confirm that you're sending your posts to the correct address.
If you belong to a group with restricted membership, sign in to your account and visit the group's homepage. If you're not recognized as a member, you might belong to the group with a different email address.
Check the posting settings of the group. To do this, visit the group's homepage and click Discussions. If you see the message "This group is announcement-only," only group managers will be able to post.
If you're a manager/owner of the group, make sure your ability to post hasn't been overriden by another owner. You can do so by clicking Management tasks on your group homepage. From there, click Manage Members and find your email address in the Managers section. Under Posting you should see "Allowed." If you see "Not allowed - override," you can change your posting permissions by clicking the Edit link next to your address.

I'm not receiving my group's emails

If you've stopped getting email from your group, you may have changed your subscription option to "Web only." To start receiving email again, go to the group's homepage and click "Edit my membership" on the left navigation bar. There, you'll see your current subscription settings for this group; make sure you haven't selected the "No email" option. Make changes if you need to, and then click the "Save these settings" button.

It's also possible that the emails are getting caught by your system's spam or bulk mail filter. If you know your subscription settings are correct, you may want to check your spam or bulk folders to see if the emails are there.

Another option is that your email service provider is blocking all mail from Google Groups. We work with email service providers to remove blocks as they occur. When a block is lifted, all of the mail that was held during the block will be delivered, so you may see a surge of email. Please note that email blocks for some service providers occur frequently. We are working on methods of preventing these blocks and resolving them more quickly in the future. We appreciate your patience during a block.

A final suggestion you may want to try is to subscribe to this group using a different email account. We suggest using an email account hosted by an alternate provider, as this problem may be related to your current email service provider.

If you've tried all of these suggestions and you continue to not receive email, please report the problem.

How to unmask the email addresses when viewing a topic on the web

To remove the email masking from a topic, click the three dots (...) in the middle of any masked email address in that topic. You may need to click the "More options" link to view an author's masked email address. On the page that appears, simply type the squiggly word into the box that appears below it and click "OK." You'll return to the same topic, but all the email addresses will be fully visible. Please note that you'll need to repeat this process each time you visit a topic, even if you're returning to one you've already unmasked.

Note that Google Help Groups (e.g. Gmail Discussion Group) use full email masking. As a result, the three dots will not appear, making it not possible to unmask an email address in one of these groups.

Unable to unsubscribe from a group

If you're unable to unsubscribe from a group that's sending you emails, it's likely that you're subscribed with a different email address from the one you're trying to unsubscribe. Common culprits:

Email forwarding: You're reading an email at bob@gmail.com but the email is actually being forwarded to this address from your bob@fakeemailaddress.com account.
Multiple Google Accounts: You know that you're receiving the email at bob@fakeemailaddress.com, but you just can't log in to Groups to unsubscribe that address; it thinks you're bob@gmail.com.

In either case, you'll just need to make sure you're unsubscribing the address that's actually subscribed to the group. Check message headers to see if these emails are being forwarded. If you don't have an account for that address, create one so you can use it to log in. While you're on the site, you might want to set your preferences so that other group owners can't add you to their groups without your consent.

Can't access groups

If you're having difficulty accessing your group online, please try the following troubleshooting tips:

Clear your browser's cache and cookies.
Verify that you're signed into the group with the correct email address.
Make sure you're an active member. If you were invited to the group, double-check that you've accepted the invitation. If you requested an invite, wait for the email that states your request was accepted.
Confirm that the group is active and hasn't been deleted. You may need to contact the group owner to find out whether a group has been deleted or its URL changed.
If you're using a bookmark or external URL to access the group, try signing into your Google Account and accessing your group via the Google Groups homepage.

Trouble accessing a group through the website

Groups that are restricted require you to sign in with your Google Account username and password. If the email address that was registered to the group isn't associated with a Google Account, please visit http://www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount to create an account for this email address.

Regaining access to your group after removing self as group owner

We all make mistakes. If you owned a group and accidentally removed yourself as an owner, there might still be a way for you to regain access to your group. Here are two common scenarios and possible solutions:

Your group has another owner: Just get in touch with the other owner and see if they can restore your ownership privileges.
You transferred ownership to another of your accounts, but it's not working: If you're unable to log in with the account you attempted to make owner of your group, it may just mean that you need to set up another Google Account for that address. As long as you entered one of your valid email addresses as group owner, you can create an account and use it to access the management features of your group.