Create, manage, and participate in Google Groups at IU

• Overview
• Create a Google Group
• Manage a Google Group
  • Review and update group settings
  • Add members
• Participate in a Google Group
• Recover your group's email address
• Share Google resources with a Google Group
• Learn more
  • For group managers
  • For group members
• Get help
  • Teaching and learning centers
  • UITS Support Center

Overview

At Indiana University, you can use your Google at IU account to create, manage, and participate in Google Groups, a Google tool for online discussion and collaboration. Google Groups combine the functionality of a traditional mailing list with an online discussion forum. Group members can participate in the discussion via email or via a web-based interface that organizes discussions into threads. You can also use Google Groups to share many types of Google resources with the entire group. This ability to share Google resources with groups is what makes Google Groups especially powerful.

Create a Google Group

To create a new Google Group:

1. Open a browser and navigate to the Create a Google Group form.
2. Enter the requested information in each field. All fields are required.
3. Read the agreement at the bottom of the page, check the box to consent to it, and select Review and Confirm.
4. On the confirmation page, review your data. If you are satisfied, select Create Google Group. If you wish to edit the group information before proceeding, select Go Back.
5. When the creation process is complete, you'll see a confirmation message on the screen, and you'll receive a similar confirmation message in your IU email account. Both messages will include the URL for accessing the group via the web and the email address for sending messages to the group. Keep this information in a safe place so you can share it with the people you add to your group.
   Important:

   There may be a 15-30 minute delay before Google recognizes you as the owner of the group. If you are unable to add members of the group, try again later.

Manage a Google Group

After you create your Google Group, you can customize the settings for the group and start adding members.

Review and update group settings

By default, your Google Group is visible only to group members, and the group's full membership is visible only to owners. Before adding members, you may wish to review and customize the group's settings to better suit the purpose of your group. To access, review, or update settings:

1. Navigate to your group by selecting the URL in your confirmation message, or by going to groups.google.com, locating the group in the list, and selecting the group name.
2. At the bottom of the left menu, select Group Settings.
3. Review the settings for the group and make changes if desired; see Settings Reference for New Groups.
4. If you made changes, select Save Changes.

Add members

You can add members to your Google Group either by inviting them or by adding them directly. When you invite members, they receive an email invitation and must accept it before participating in the group; recipients are not members until they accept. When you add members directly, they are added to the group and receive notification. To invite or add new members:

1. Navigate to your group by selecting the URL in your confirmation message, or by going to groups.google.com, locating the group in the list, and selecting the group name.
2. In the left menu, under "People", select Members.
3. On the "Members" page, select Add Members.
4. On the "Add Members" page, enter the Google account IDs of the people you want to add into the field that corresponds with the desired role (for example, Group members, Group managers, Group owners).
   Notes:

   • To add someone who has a Google at IU account, enter the person's primary IU email address (such as username@indiana.edu, username@iupui.edu, username@iuk.edu, etc.), or enter username@iu.edu (this format will work regardless of campus affiliation).
   • To add a non-IU individual, enter the person's Gmail address.
   • Account names can be separated by spaces or commas. You can also paste a list of account names with one name per line.
   • There may be a 15-30 minute delay before new direct-add members display in the member list. If you don't see your newly added members, try again later.
5. In the "Welcome message" field, enter an optional welcome message. Sending a welcome message is highly recommended when adding users directly.
6. Use the "Subscription" drop-down to select the default email subscription settings for the new members.
7. By default, new members will be added directly to the group. To send invitations instead, move the "Directly add members" slider at the bottom to the left.
8. To finish, select Add members (for direct adds) or Send invites (for invited members).

Participate in a Google Group

Group members can create, read, and reply to messages via email or by using the Google Group web interface. For step-by-step instructions, see Create & respond to posts in the Google Groups Help documentation.

Recover your group's email address

If you lose track of the email address associated with a specific group, you can find it on the "About" page for the group:

1. Navigate to the group by selecting the URL in your confirmation message, or by going to groups.google.com, locating the group in the list, and selecting the group name.
2. In the menu at the left, select About. The group's email address will display at the top of the "About" page.

Share Google resources with a Google Group

You can use the email address for your Google Group (groupname-iu-group@iu.edu) to share many types of Google resources (such as Google at IU My Drive files and folders, Google Sites, a Google Calendar, etc.) with your group. To do so, when adding users via the sharing screen, enter the email address for your Google Group instead of individual usernames and choose the permission (such as View, Edit, Comment, etc.) that should apply to group members.

To learn about how to share specific Google resource types, see:

• Share files from Google Drive
• Share folders in Google Drive
• Invite others to edit your [Google] site
• Share your [Google] calendar with someone
• Create a [Google Chat] room
• Share [Google Keep] notes, lists & drawings

Learn more

To learn more, consult the Google Groups Help documentation below.

For group managers

• Create a group & choose group settings
• Add people to your group
• Set who can view, post, & moderate
• Take & assign topics
• Organize events with a group
• Make it easier to find your group & posts
• Delete a group or stop members from posting

For group members

• Find and join a group
• Create & respond to posts
• Use keyboard shortcuts in Google Groups
• Use Google Groups with a screen reader
• Unsubscribe from a group

Get help

For pedagogical or technical assistance with Google Groups, consult the resources below.

Teaching and learning centers

UITS Support Center

For help using Google Groups, email the UITS Mission Critical team. You can also contact your campus Support Center directly.