Mergath Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 Why does anyone use these, as opposed to starting up a regular message board? It takes forever to search back to the beginning of any particular thread and read through all of the replies. The whole setup is awkward and impossible, but it seems like every group I'm interested in only has a yahoo group, not a message board. Is there any way to make my yahoo groups easier to use? You'll have to forgive me if I'm a little cranky- my dh thought it would be a fine idea for dd to play with SUGAR WATER atop a stack of books in the living room while I was making dinner. :glare: :cursing: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 Why does anyone use these, as opposed to starting up a regular message board? It takes forever to search back to the beginning of any particular thread and read through all of the replies. The whole setup is awkward and impossible, but it seems like every group I'm interested in only has a yahoo group, not a message board. Is there any way to make my yahoo groups easier to use? A friend and I tried to convince our local group to go with a forum. While there were a number of people for it, and quite a few willing to give it a try, the ones in charge just don't want it. Some people were concerned about privacy, but forums can be private, and nothing online is truly private anyway. Others like that messages come to their inbox and they don't have to go to the site to read them. I was beyond frustrated at the response to our attempts to bring our hs group to a more user friendly platform. Aren't there some "new" options that are supposed to make it somewhat forum-like? Or kind of like social media? I don't know of any way to really make yahoogroups easy. I hate it. Sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bookfiend Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 And super, non-techy people can easily set one up and maintain it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenCat Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 I like getting the emails. I hate having to remember to go look for updates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faithseed Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 The emails is the only thing I can see. People hate change. Personally, I can't stand yahoo groups either. There are so many other options that are easy to use, and free. Cubits.org is my fav. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LidiyaDawn Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 Anyone who "likes getting the emails" must belong to a small group… with a lot of members, you either get swamped with hundreds of individual emails or you get the garbled confusing digest. BLECH. I can't stand yahoo groups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LidiyaDawn Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 Others like that messages come to their inbox and they don't have to go to the site to read them. yeah because it takes so long for the website to load…. oh wait, hi there 2011. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frontier Mom Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 Anyone who "likes getting the emails" must belong to a small group… with a lot of members, you either get swamped with hundreds of individual emails or you get the garbled confusing digest. BLECH. I can't stand yahoo groups. :iagree: I just went to all my yahoo groups and changed the notifications to Web only. Not to be snarky, but everytime somebody hears or reads something about home schooling, college, etc. on the yahoo groups I am involved in, they feel like they have to send it out as a forward in a yahoo group email. I hate forwarded emails. :banghead: I just couldn't stand getting all that in my email. I am much better with less privacy and user friendly. And, anyone who tells you it is really private isn't techy at all I'm sure. Nothing on the 'net is private so just don't, as my Mom likes to say, "Air out your dirty laundry for the world to see." Another yahoo group dislike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WIS0320 Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 And super, non-techy people can easily set one up and maintain it. :iagree: I've been a member of a very small, private online book group for over 10 years. We migrated there after meeting on a huge, public book forum. We joined Yahoo! because it was "easy" and free. It is shocking that in 10 years the format and technology have not changed or gotten easier to manage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenCat Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 Anyone who "likes getting the emails" must belong to a small group… with a lot of members, you either get swamped with hundreds of individual emails or you get the garbled confusing digest. BLECH. I can't stand yahoo groups. Used to moderate a group of about 400, with about 15 messages a day. I'm still in the group. I just hit delete without even opening if the subject line doesn't interest me. For another group, which averaged about 40 messages a day, I used the digest option. Didn't find it confusing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted November 15, 2011 Author Share Posted November 15, 2011 Sorry, fell asleep at, like, eight last night without replying. I think I'm getting old. If you're part of a group from the beginning, it wouldn't be as bad. I'm newly joining several groups though, and trying to get caught up somewhat is a nightmare. If it were a message board, I could search for the topics that interest me and just read through those, but with the Yahoo groups, I'd have to skim through hundreds of pages. I tried to find some sort of options setting to magically turn it into a message board, but that doesn't seem to exist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 The main reason people use it? It is free and there is a relatively small learning to curve to figure out how to use it. If you want to set up something for your group, then phpBB software might be your best option. But, you would still need a domain and server space. A tiny local board might be able to get away with one of the registration/server packages offered by companies like yahoo for $10/month. A big forum like this one would be more expensive to maintain due to the server space and bandwidth required. There is a learning curve to loading the software, using it, making sure it works on all platforms, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 I just hit delete without even opening if the subject line doesn't interest me. For another group, which averaged about 40 messages a day, I used the digest option. Didn't find it confusing. I like the digest format for Yahoo groups which is much less confusing than another group I am on that sends a digest but isn't Yahoo. I like how they combine all the topics together in the digest. I like getting the emails...sometimes I don't have time to go to websites and remember to check posts I was interested in but can quickly check my email. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chepyl Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 I use yahoo groups for local HS groups. I think the set up works better than a forum. It is used more like an event calendar. Notices of activities are automatically sent out. I don't need another forum to log into and search. I prefer to get remimders by mail. It never occurred to me to go back and read all the topics from the beginning. Everything is time sensitive, no need to go back. I am in 2-3 local yahoo groups. I get 10-15 emails a day total. Everything is prayer requests, items for sale, or reminders. No reason to have a forum where someone can pull up old messages. The yahoo groups serve a different function. At least in my mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momofkhm Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 We started them with our church groups because it's an easy way to disseminate information. They are easy for those who are not tech savvy to use. It comes right to your inbox. The moderators even sign people up and out. I won't change your email preference though. I've been known to delete one account and add you again when your email changes. People just won't do it themselves. The calendar option is great! I can put things on the calendar and tell it to send out reminders so then I don't have to do it close to the event. And really, for the church groups, it's mostly just the mods who send notes. We've basically said it's not for use to tell everyone that the berry patch down the road is open now. There isn't a lot of discussion either. It's usually a question asked and the reply goes back to the mods. (Sorry, that would be me.) The one problem I have is when a certain member of the church, who is tech savvy, hits reply all and has a rather caustic reply. She tends to come across as "holier than thou" in her email replies. I guess I could put her on "moderate all" status or something like that. Then my blood is the only one that would boil. :tongue_smilie: But yeah, the main reason is the non-tech people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LND1218 Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 The main reason people use it? It is free and there is a relatively small learning to curve to figure out how to use it. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
athena1277 Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 I hate yahoo groups also. Bleh. Bleh. Bleh. I wonder if some of the groups wouldn't work as well if changed into a private FB group. I actually keep up with discussions on the FB groups I'm in. I avoid all but one yahoo group I'm in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 I hate yahoo groups also. Bleh. Bleh. Bleh. I wonder if some of the groups wouldn't work as well if changed into a private FB group. I actually keep up with discussions on the FB groups I'm in. I avoid all but one yahoo group I'm in. We tried that, but there are some people who don't do (and don't want to do) facebook. I hate all the emails. We have a chatty group with people sending a lot of me toos or emoticons. What looks like an important thread could quickly change to rabbit trails, but then have important information sprinkled throughout. So, just deleting emails isn't always an option. I hate digest. It has too many bugs. I'll just have to resign myself to hating yahoogroups but knowing I have no choice. I love my support group, and yahoogroups is where they want to be. Ugh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZooRho Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 I agree people find it easier. there are times I wished it was in a forum there would be some easier things. but yes the learning curve is low and ease of use is high for most. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murmer Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 I use yahoo groups...and actually just set one up for a group I am in. I like getting the emails....and I get lots in some...I just delete what doesn't apply. That said...I have found that having gmail which links up all the emails from the same thread really helps in understanding and following the group because I don't have to go searching to find the first post it is at the beginning of my email group. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LidiyaDawn Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 Anyone who "likes getting the emails" must belong to a small group… with a lot of members, you either get swamped with hundreds of individual emails or you get the garbled confusing digest. BLECH. I can't stand yahoo groups. Used to moderate a group of about 400, with about 15 messages a day. I'm still in the group. I just hit delete without even opening if the subject line doesn't interest me. For another group, which averaged about 40 messages a day, I used the digest option. Didn't find it confusing. Those are small(ish) groups. ;) One of the groups that I was in for a long time has over 3000 members - and that's AFTER they split and made a few smaller related groups. My poor little inbox. :scared: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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