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• See which Groups/Communities you own, moderate and are a member of, via My Communities

• How to make your group a success...
• Making Changes to your Group Settings
• Features of mc² Groups / Communities
• What Else to Consider
• Changing Ownership

How to make your group a success...

• Be sure to provide some interesting content in your new group straight away,
  before inviting people to join it!

• A "shop with empty shelves" isn't very enticing!
  "Disappointed customers" may not return a second time...

• If you leave your group without content & members, you risk having it deleted!
  See the Code of Conduct re Removal of Inactive Groups

• Use all the features of mc² to create a Group Webpage, post a couple of Forum threads of discussion, place a welcome message in the Guestbook and import a banner to your group's opening page. See more on Providing Content.

• Ensure members know how to register and use mc² - get them to attend a free training session!

• Nobody can post a link until you create the categories, so you need to do this first - more on Links

• Don't just rely on the Owner to maintain the group - get Moderators to share the load! That way the group doesn't grind to a halt or go unattended when the owner is sick, on leave, or really busy.

• As the moderators have the power to delete and approve members and content, ensure they fully understand the purpose of your group; are properly trained, and understand how to carry out these responsibilities. Vicnet can also provide training and manuals.

• Remember to give your members information about your group, such as finding the web site and registration. Use the Invite a Friend feature.

• Check your email regularly to approve new members, as well as the events and links they submit for approval

• To make your group a dynamic one it is important to encourage participation amongst your group's members, after all, an online community should be just that - a community!

Making Changes to your Group Settings

• Group Settings
  When you created your community, you typed a Group Description, specified whether new members go through an Approval stage, what Group Access is allowed, which Category it belonged to, etc. As your community develops, & your own skills improve, you may want to edit some of this information (eg. change your Group Welcome Message, include the URL of [your] Group Banner etc.). You can do all this by going to the Group Settings option in your group [grey box towards the bottom left of any group you own or moderate]

• Customising Group Settings
  You can customise the Features of your Group in Group Settings, by selecting YES or NO to each feature. I.e. if you don't wish to confuse your members with a range of options they won't use, you can disable them for your group. Disabling a feature doesn't delete any data. E.g. if you turn off Polls, then enable it again later, any previous polls that have been held will not be lost when the Polls option returns. You can do all this by going to the Group Settings option in your group [grey box towards the bottom left of any group you own or moderate]

• Changing Ownership

What Else to Consider...

• How to Promote your Website
  Promotion basically means increasing the exposure of your content, so that people know it is there and can find it when they look

• How to make your group active and successful
  

  You must consider your members Access to an Internet-enabled Computer

  Potential members must have online Skills

  You must provide compelling Content, that will make them want to return

• Ensuring Active Communities (and deleting inactive ones!)
  

  Ensure any group you set up is not like a shop opening with empty shelves. To make it inviting for members to join and participate, remember to populate each section of the community with content - "stack the shelves" before opening...

  If you can't think of any interesting content, or anyone to invite to join the group, maybe it wasn't such a great idea in the first place? Please delete any unused, or test groups ["delete group" option on bottom left of group, when owner logs in].

• Why do groups need Moderators?
  

  Why do groups need Moderators?

  What are the Moderators Tasks?

  What is the difference between a Group Owner and Moderator?

• Monitoring your Group / Community - Notes for Moderators
  

  Approving New Members

  Approving content

  Deleting content

• How to organise a successful mc2 chat session
  

  Organise regular chat sessions on topics of interest

  Use the all the features of mc² to publicise chat times & topics

  Why not invite a guest speaker?

  Keep a transcript of the chat

• Training Manuals Available
  Want to get the most from mc²? Looking for help with using mc², for yourself, for other group members, &/or group Owners or Moderators? Help is at hand! You can download copies of the latest manuals online, in the DOCS section, linked from the top of every page. Hard copy manuals are available at $3.30 each, of free when you attend a Training Workshop.

• mc2 Communities: Success & Sustainability
  Creating an online community at mc2 takes just a couple of minutes
  - making it successful and sustainable takes a little longer...

  Four important factors to consider in creating a successful online community: Cooperation - are the members needs being considered? Principles - development of guidelines, codes of conduct, privacy Sustainability - moderator role, maintaining momentum and relevance Purpose - why an online group? goals, directions, outcomes Read these thoughts on mc2 Communities: Success & Sustainability

• Help, "How to" & Problem solving
  A full list of HELP topics

• Tips & Ideas for Group Owners & Moderators
  A great resource! Also view the complete list of Quick Tips