Suggestion: Move from Google Groups to Circle.so?

Newsgroups Archive Prior to 2025
41

Hi Roger,
It appears, from the screen capture that you posted, you are using a cell phone and your email app to participate in the INA Google group. A choice that is different than some of the other group participants. I feel your pain and respect your tolerance for the poor user interface via email complicated by the small screen of a cell phone.

A new platform that offers a dedicated mobile app would improve your specific user experience and would probably be worth an extra $10 a year added to the membership fee, given your choice of device. Folks like me would be indifferent to the change in platform but would pay the higher membership fee in support of the fleet and the volunteers who donate their time and talent.

I prefer to browse the group with my laptop using the URL https://groups.google.com/g/INA-Nonsuch-Discussion-Group. I find the user interface satisfactory, and consistent with my expectations of something that is free and isn’t polluted with advertising and spam. I don’t have trouble posting video or images because I share links to my content via either google drive or dropbox.

I receive email notifications when new content is posted, but I don’t reply from my email client ( although gmail seems to do a decent job formatting the reply unlike some email clients ). Instead of replying from within the email, I click a link ( in each email ) to navigate to the group which opens in a separate browser window and deep links to the post referenced by the email.

Yes I make lots of accommodations to stay happy with this tired old tool called Google Groups… which reminds me of some of the old tools in my shop. When they break I’ll replace them but I gotta tell you some of the new tools I’ve bought lately are expensive and pure crap compared to the old ones.

Given how I choose to use the group, my inclination is to invest any available $ or volunteer hours to improve the curated information on the website.

Curated content is an important way to preserve knowledge that will be eventually lost if it is only preserved by word of mouth and or forum discussions.

If INA decides to pay for better collaboration tools and raises membership fees to pay the license fees, I hope we provide complementary memberships for our top 25 contributors ( selected by quality of posts not quantity ).

For me, the tool is less relevant than the content. As a new owner I truly appreciate the groups key contributors.

Happy Holiday and Soave sia il vento,

Rob Cohen
s/v SOAVE
NS33 #009
Westport, CT

42

Part Aransas is next to the body of Christ!

43

The Navy sent me to Port Aransas for an exercise on the local USCG base back in the early 90s. I remember the off base bars and clubs being fun.

Joe Valinoti
S/V iL Gatto NS30U #221
Sea Harbour YC
Oriental, NC USA

44

Joe, do you recall “Shorty’s”?

Cheers and happy holidays!

Roger

45

I think this is a good idea. Rob’s suggestion to have a 2nd platform to get started would be a good option.

I could find an intern (sponsored by me) to manually move all the images from the groups to Discourse. I previously paid $500 to a freelancer on fiverr.com to scrap all 5500+ email threads from Nonsuch GG to build the AI search bot for Nonsuch. I still have those emails which can be used to train/add data to the new platform.

We could do all this without leaving GG for now.

Siva Surendira

Inner Peace, NS26C
Jersey City

46

Good evening,

There is a script written in Ruby to import the content from a GG export. From the thread that I read it works most of the time with an occasional hiccup. It’s a start.

I requested a 15 day trial instance of Discourse but have not heard back yet. The plan was to get a look at the admin side of it, import some documents, and see how the forum and email interaction worked. Once there was something to work with, I (and an unindited co- conspirator) were planning to get a few more people to help get something reasonable enough to show to the group. If you could actually get the GG postings loaded that would be great.

Jon

47

FYI, the cheapest Discourse plan is $20/mth, but they offer a 50% discount for non-for-profit groups such as INA. So the cost per member is small. Even at the next level of $100/mth with a 50% discount, it’s only about $1 per member annually.

I prefer the ability to receive and respond to discussion topics by email. I only go to the Google Groups to post a new topic.

Ho, ho, ho,
Don

48

I suggested Discourse! As supplement to groups! Please revise attribution. Thanks

Roger Peebles
Tranquility 30C
Mostly Aransas, TX

49

Hello everyone,
I had the opportunity to use a software initially intended for gamers, for an association defending healthcare workers in France : DISCORD.
https://discord.com/
I was one of the admins, it’s quite easy to use. You can easily create thematic sections (sails, electronics, mechanics, etc.) with sub-sections according to the NS model. You can create a “tavern” with live chat. Another advantage is that you can see who is connected in real time.
In addition, it’s compatible with Windows, App Store and App Play…

David R-L
S/Y Kilredenn 2 - NS30U #468
BRITAIN (BRETAGNE) - FR

50

I have an iPhone and Mac. Am I excluded?

51

Hi Richard,
Not to worry, this thread is to talk about possibilities and hear about options. Our stated goal is to make participation as easy as possible.

What do you think of Google Groups ? Is it adequate for our purposes ?

Rob Cohen
s/v SOAVE
NS33 #009
Westport, CT

52

Richard,
App Store = Apple…
It’s in the section :
https://discord.com/download
I could have added Linux.

What else?

David R-L
S/Y Kilredenn 2 - NS30U #468
BRITAIN (BRETAGNE) - FR

53

To build a little on what Rob said, the application we are currently looking at is web based, and also has apps for both iPhones and androids. That will be the case if we move on to something else.

Jon Lewit
N26C #115 - Inua
Kingston, NY

54

Hi David,

Welcome aboard!

Discord looks like a pretty solid app for doing group chats. I don’t know if any of our subgroups have used chat sessions to help plan things, etc but I could see how we might schedule chat sessions around specific topics (Q&A about sail trim, etc) or event planning.

Looking at a possible next platform, we should have chat as a desirable feature.

Healthy new year all,

Jon Lewit
N26C #115 - Inua
Kingston, NY

55

Not sure if I understood the comment correctly Having to long into a separate tool or download an app to engage in the group is. awkward. Can’t speak for others but email is something I check regularly. Not sure I would be as engaged in a timely way otherwise being app or web based.

Getting a summery in your email every day is useful

56

Well said, Thor!!

Joe Valinoti
S/V iL Gatto NS30U #221
Sea Harbour YC
Oriental, NC USA

57

Thor,
Email notifications are easily supported on all of the platforms we’ve looked at. Posting or replying to posts is the thing that gets complicated.

The rub is, we’d like a better way to organize posts… Most approaches for organizing content involve creating topics for folks to post into. When users post from email we don’t have control of the interface and therefore can’t offer them the topics to choose from. We can disable posting from email but then we disadvantage many of our participants. We can forgo using topics, but then we forfeit some of the benefits of moving to the new platform.

I’ve run a few of these use cases through my head, and am thinking that ( at this time ) the convenience, flexibility, and freedom offered by email is generally more appealing to our participants than improved organization of information. Looking at tech options from a multi-generational perspective, I see other fleets landing on different platforms. At our club ( CPYC ) , it’s clear to see Atlantics and Aero’s attract different sailors each with different tech preferences.

I’m intentionally replying from email… although I generally use the web interface for GG… and personally will use whatever platform INA decides to endorse.

58

I don’t have any problems replying to posts. I just do a return email.

Joe Valinoti
S/V iL Gatto NS30U #221
Sea Harbour YC
Oriental, NC USA

59

I agree, with GG reply works… I dislike when folks reply to the summary emails because GG… but I consider that operator error not a platform issue.

The reason I raise the “posting from email issue” is that new platforms that support topics are inconsistent with the idea of posting from email.

60

I agree- in my experience moving to a forum or other sort of app over email groups ends up lowering engagement/participation, even if things are more organized.

Rob Kilburn
Mary Speed
30U
Oriental NC
(Lurker)