Groups: How to create one
Daily Kos Groups help organize content for readers and support site members who create such content.
This resource explains the two basic considerations for a site member seeking to create a new group.
First, a site member must have achieved Trusted User status (3 bars of mojo, and also indicated by the Trusted User badge on their profile) to create a group.
Second, a would-be group creator—who will automatically be the Administrator for that group—must have a clear idea of the new group's username before embarking on the creation process. Group usernames cannot be changed, and it is the username that will appear within the URL for that group's profile page.
A Trusted User who wishes to create a group has two easy ways to initiate the process. A logged-in Trusted User will see this in the top right corner of the right sidebar of their profile page, as long as they already belong to at least one other group:
The next page displayed will look like this, with annotations in blue:
Long-time users will recall a different path for reaching the Create a New Group page displayed with annotations above. This route is the ONLY path available to Trusted Users who do not belong to any other groups. To access it, visit the the Groups page and click on the Create New Group link to the right of the Groups heading.
Take special care in choosing a group USERNAME. Like an individual username, a group's username is unique. PLEASE KNOW it is NOT possible to change a group username. As is the case for individual usernames, a group username may only include letters, numbers, and spaces, but no special characters. The permanent URL associated with the group’s Profile Page will be https://www.dailykos.com/groups/{group%20username} (where {group%20username} stands in for the name of the group, the %20 being the substitute for a space within a URL).
This is the only mandatory and fixed part of group creation. Everything else--group name, group description, group banner, even other group members--is optional, and can be added and changed later. Once you’ve chosen a group username and decided whether to add the group name and description immediately or to defer those steps, click the Save New Group button.
There's no required sequence for taking any of the optional steps.
Note that group NAMES are not subject to the same constraints as group USERNAMES. A group's NAME may be identical to its username, but it is not required to be the same. Group names can contain special characters, for example, and they can be edited post-creation. This difference permits a shorter, or longer, or more distinctive name to be associated with a group's blog presence. The group name is displayed in the banner at the top of the group's profile page.
Confirmation of the group means that it is ready to go, and all publication and communication options can be utilized. Specifically, that means these categories of actions are available to you as a group Administrator.
- You can add and modify the group's name (distinct from the group username), the group's description, and the group's banner.
- You can invite new members to join the group, and you can change their roles within the group once they accept the invitation. This ability, and the comparable one of removing members from the group, is reserved for group Admins. (Yes, an Admin can remove another Admin. Choose your group collaborators with care.)
- You or any other group member can queue a draft post to the group's queue, where it can be edited by group Admins and Editors, and published from it.
- You can read and reply to any Kosmail messages sent to the group, whether they come from some other member of the group or from someone out of it. Group Kosmail is delivered to all Editors and Admins within it, and anyone receiving a group Kosmail can reply to it, which will be sent to both the individual sender and all the group Editors and Admins.
One more key point: Group usernames, like individual user names, cannot be deleted. It does happen, however, that some groups lose all their Administrators due to death, site inactivity, or banning. In the event a group to which you belong is left without an Administrator and you want to regain full use of it, ask for assistance at Help Desk.