Joining, creating and managing/editing parent groups

This article will cover groups created by parents, whether they are closed groups or open groups. A closed group means that people who want to join have to apply, and one of the group owners (usually the person who created the group) has to approve the request. Groups are accessed and managed from the parent side of Classlist, even if you have an Admin account.

If you have an admin status you can send an Announcement or Community Event invitation to any group from the green admin side of Classlist. Only the group owner or appointed group admin can make changes to group names etc (see below). 

Creating a new group

If you wish to set up a parent group of your own, simply tap the 'Create Group' button. You can enter a Group name, description, and cover photo, as well as deciding if it will be open for anyone to join or closed (ie other parents can join only by request). Add members from your Classlist community if you want, tap 'create' and your group will appear on the Groups page! Only a group owner can delete a group. Whenever a parent creates a new open parent group other parents will be notified via the weekly digest. 

 NB: You cannot change the status of a group from open to closed or vice versa once it has been created. If you decide to change the status you will need to delete the group and create a new one, remembering to re-add all the previous members if you want. 

Visiting a group's page

The 'Discover' section under the school groups displays all the parent groups which are available to join. You can join any open parent group by tapping the group name. The group's home page shows you only the posts made to that group, rather than all posts on the Parent Board. If you want to join a closed group, simply tap the group name and a box will pop up asking you to confirm you want to send a request to join. When the group owner has approved your request you will receive a notification letting you know.

Posting to a Group

You can post to a Parent Group from the Group's home page or from the Parent Board, just as you would post to a School Group like your class or year group. Tap the following link for help with creating a post. Posts are limited to 1,500 characters. You can add a photo but not an attachment to a post (we are looking into this!).

Tip: if you have an admin account you can send an Announcement to any group, even if you are not a member of it. Announcements can be much longer, with a 10,000 character limit, and there are more options for formatting and adding attachments such as a PDF or document. You need to be in the green admin side of Classlist to send an Announcement.

Admins can also invite any group to a Community Event.

Open groups - viewing other group members and leaving

If you want to know who else is in an open group, tap on 'show group details'. 

This brings up a page like the image below: you can view the group owner, the other members, and you can tap 'leave this group' if you no longer want to be part of the group. You cannot add or remove other members unless you are the group owner.

If you want to leave a closed group you will need to message the group owner and ask them to remove you from the group. 

Managing or editing a group as the group owner (group admin)

The person who created the group is the owner. Group owners can also access a 'manage group' page - hover over 'manage group' and select one of the options. You can add another group owner, add/remove members or delete the group from here. Note that if you are the only group owner you will not be able to leave the group until you add another owner. If you add another owner that person will then be able to add, remove members and delete the group.

To rename the group, change the photo or edit the description, tap 'show/edit group details'. This will enable editing as shown in the image below. When you have finished you can tap 'hide group details' to revert to the view mode.

Deleting a group

You can only delete a group if you are the group owner (see section above), or as an Ambassador.  To do this the Ambassador must be in the Admin Mode. Open the group from the groups page in Admin Mode, tap on 'More...' at the top right, and select 'Delete' from the drop down. You will be asked to confirm you want to delete, after which there will be no record of the group or its posts.