Gaia: Gaia Networking - Enhance Your Community Experience - New to Gaia! - New to Gaia? Keep up with new posts/replies in a Group/pod

Re: New to Gaia? Keep up with new posts/replies in a Group/pod

http://Meenakshi.gaia.com — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 03:15:23 GMT

An explanation about why notifications are so important in the Gaia experience:
New to Gaia? Change your "Send Notifications" settings. Posted on May 18th, 2009 by Yancey

"This one change is great for new people on Gaia to do so they will stay connected to the conversations going on in the groups without having to navigate to each group.

Stay connected quick and easily, change your "Send Notifications" settings!"

The link above gives the How To as well.

Re: New to Gaia? Keep up with new posts/replies in a Group/pod

http://ADLIAC.gaia.com — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 06:55:55 GMT

Amber, a couple of little points re your great post.

If you only read a post in Notifications, you will not see the "final version" of it after any editing that the poster did. Thus, when I got here and read your post just above, I discovered a whole paragraph that I didn't get in the Notification !!!

I too rely on Notifications, but when I am going to respond to a post, I make sure I actually read the version that appears in the thread, before composing my response. Most times, we can get away with not taking that extra step, but sometimes it's a real disadvantage not to. This is the downside of relying on Notifications.

Another little point. There is something else that the word "topics" means, which is the subjects of threads. So when you say

Am I correct in seeing that we have 11 'topics'?

I think you actually mean we have 11 Boards.

The difference in terminology might not be important, except for someone who is new and gets confused and therefore frustrated. I am trying to forestall that suffering !!!

See, isn't this pod wonderful, we get to share tips like this that go beyond How To info !!!

Blessings, OM Bastet

[Mod note: the boldfacing daemon strikes again! Meenakshi 7/7/08]

Re: New to Gaia? Keep up with new posts/replies in a Group/pod

http://Meenakshi.gaia.com — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 22:27:39 GMT

Amber, I think you meant that you were happy about the message I'd sent to all members, right? Thank you for your kind words!

And re notifications; I think that when we're pressed for time, it's best to continue whatever works for us. But still, it's nice to press that "home" tab below the group's name once in a while and see what's new in the pod description!

Re: New to Gaia? Keep up with new posts/replies in a Group/pod

http://ambersbug.gaia.com — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 21:35:21 GMT

Meenakshi,

I'm SO GLAD you wrote this! I realize that the only way I go to our pod is thru Notifications. I have been missing the whole experience of our site because I haven't seen it thru the 'home page' if that's what you call it! It was so cool to see the little 'networking guy' typing away! You've made our site so COOL! We even have a group sitting around the world all connected! I love it! Am I correct in seeing that we have 11 'topics'? Can you believe I'm THIS SLOW! LOL

I LOVE YOU SO MUCH! You make this the best world, the best site, the best pod to belong to, just an all around BEST of everything! I guess I have to answer the Notification method is my ONLY method I use in getting around Gaia! It's a very self centered way of navigating I'm realizing as it's all about who is responding to ME instead of ME looking around and finding people to respond too.

I'm looking forward each day to exploring our Gaia more so by the time I'm back to work I can be fully geared up with all the great ways to communicate here! Uh oh... I've fallen back into my 'old ways'! I opened up my Gmail and Gaia and started with my 1st message at Gmail which was Meenakshi re routing me to our pod. LMAO! I just tattled on myself didn't I?

Oh dear, here comes a P.S.... I realize that while there are many ways to navigate the Gaiasphere, I LOVE the randomness of going thru my Gmail notifications! It's newest to oldest and so I get an email in my inbox at Gaia notification but the next thing is MIKEY_DEE'S POET TREE! A shameless plug for his wonderful Alice In Wonderland meets Dr Seuss poems!

I don't know if I want to read blog after blog then message after message, then grapevine after grapevine...

Hugs!
amber

Re: Keep up with new posts/replies in a Group/pod-My Groups tab

http://Meenakshi.gaia.com — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 02:21:30 GMT

My favorite setting for group/pod posts, is the My Groups tab.

Reasons for liking it:

It shows up new messages quickly, almost immediately after they're posted. However, the notifications email comes at unreliable times [I use gmall or yahoo]
I don't need to keep checking my non-Gaia email while I'm on Gaia; and can look into my My Groups page easily. It is my home page on the browser.
I can click on the "New" button and see all recent posts; or the green arrow and see the most recent post, and who made it.
I can see which of my groups [ones I administer, and ones I"m a member of] have not had posts for a while; and decide if I want to start or revive a discussion

What I don't like:
Long-name groups, like our Gaia Networking, don't show the sign easily, at least, not on my browser. So, I have to look for the .Right now it's on

Today, 7:34 PM
by 1Vector3 !!!

The good thing is, that as your post shows us; we have many options---so, members, I hope you have chosen your Settings so that you know when you get new messages on this group!

New to Gaia? Keep up with new posts/replies in a Group/pod

http://ADLIAC.gaia.com — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 07:22:58 GMT

New members of groups always wonder how they will find out what's new, or whether someone replied to something they posted.

Here's the scoop.

First the easiest, no-brainer way:
On the upper right of your top of every page in the Gaia Community is your nickname. That is a link. If you "hover" your mouse over it, just put the cursor there and leave it for a second or two, you will see a drop-down menu that says Messages, Profile, Settings.

Click on Settings. On the lower left of that page is a section called Subscriptions and Notifications. Click on the Group Discussions.

The first item is separated at the top, labeled Post on Thread I've Posted to. That one you absolutely want, because it will give you right away all your own posts plus any replies to your posts. Use the dropdown menus to select which email address you want the notices to go to. We recommend Daily Digest, which is sent to you right after midnight your time. "Individually" notifications soon clutter your regular email inbox !!

Also be sure Full Content is checked, so you don't have to go to the Group to see the content. Each notification will give you a link to View/Reply, so you can reply in one click if you choose.

Then look down through all the Groups you belong to, and make your choices. These notifications will give you not only all your own posts, and replies to your posts, but also all the new posts to that Group that day, whether they are on threads you have posted to, or not. These are the same posts you would see if you went to the Group's Discussion page and clicked on Recent Posts in the Discussions sub-menu, and looked at that one day.

None of this entering will do you any good unless you scroll down to the bottom of the page and click SAVE !!!!!! :)

These Group Notifications are indeed somewhat redundant to the Post on Thread I've Posted to, but if you belong to more than 3 Groups you will soon come to appreciate the Notification that puts all YOUR stuff from ALL your Groups in the same email, not scattered across the notifications from 3 or 25 Groups !!!!!!

Detail: The Notification you receive is the FIRST version of the post. If the author edited it later, you don't receive the edited version. So, if you are going to give a serious reply to a post, it's best to read the posted version in the Group itself; that will be the current version.

Here are several other ways to keep up, but they are NOT no-brainer, and they don't gather stuff so nicely.

Second: on the Group Discussions Notifications page you are making your choices, you can also or instead of emailed Notifications, subscribe to an RSS Feed of the Group's posts. Then - if you are "doing" RSS Feeds, these will appear among them whenever you decide to check your feeds. But your stuff and the Groups will be harder to separate out, and you gotta remember to check.

Third: another way to keep up is to frequently go to your own My Groups (under the Groups tab) or Groups (in your menu bar along with blog, photos, etc.) display - or just check the display of your Groups on the lower right side of your Profile - and look for the red-orange New little sign by the Group Name. This is a link that will take you to the Group where you can look at Recent Posts. But this method requires a lot of initiative on your part, and you'll be kept hopping by every individual new post which creates the little red-orange sign!!!!

Detail: If you only read posts from a Group via Notifications, and don't actually visit the Group for a few days, the little red-orange sign will stay up til you visit, because it doesn't know you have read your Notifications !!!

I'm not sure what else a new Gaian might want to know about this matter, but feel free to ask here or in the How Tos and FAQs Group where the above info is also posted in several posts across many months. Get all the details by doing a "search this group" for such phrases as reply to post, or replies to post, or new posts, or notifications, or group discussions.

Remember to include Gaia Networking Group so you can keep up with all the great posts in THIS Group !!!!!

This topic is discussed in a couple of other places in the Gaia Networking Group:
http://pods.gaia.com/z_network/discussions/view/214331#214331
and
http://pods.gaia.com/z_network/discussions/view/210871 This also says you can subscribe to a notification or feed right from any Group's homepage !!
and
http://pods.gaia.com/z_network/discussions/view/211395

I have cross-posted this post to the How Tos and FAQs pod, in an appropriate thread:
http://pods.gaia.com/how_tos_and_faqs/discussions/view/48025

Blessings, OM Bastet

[Mod note-some items have been bold-faced and "New" image added - Meenakshi]
[And this edit will NOT show up in Notifications or New]