What about their URLs?  If they lose the /groups/ some would have the same address a current lens.

Well that's a good start. At least we know something will be happening

And the url will remain the same?

I cannot see how a lens will be the same as a Group.....yes I read this...but often times when people "fix" things they "break" it for the platform users.  When I started here I joined only a couple Groups, but I do know they are a good way to be found when you are swimming alone in this big sea.  So, will Travel remain a Group or will it be in a lens?

May I pick a nit?

Want to join this group? Just post your lens below.
If the groupmaster likes it, he will add it to the featured lenses lists above

Gasp!

Could it be ..

If the groupmaster likes it, your lens will be added to the featured lenses lists above

susannaduffy wrote:

Kathy, did you look at the example?

Yes I did....I think I did (the link above).  I stick to my comment though, at least the part about fixing and breaking

Last edited by KathyMcGraw (10/23/2009 9:22 am)

Well, I would guess that this is one way HQ is discouraging those big groups that don't mean anything anyhow.

I will be waiting for the"new, smaller, lighter “Follower 2.0"  grouping tools over the next few months." Should be exciting. Like the New Discovery, themes, New Giant Challenge etc. This building on what we started with is excellent. Few months, so about end of January?  Thanks for the info it will be interesting to see the temporary conversion to lens.

spirituality wrote:

My first response is that this at least saves groups as a legacy of the past: links created etc.

I guess the lenses we've presently got featured will no longer be featured? Or is it just that the intro is reformatted in a way that the headers we put in are automatically lost? Meaning: the rest will just be shunted further down?

As I understand it the group page will turn into a lens and have exactly the same modules and content that it does today.  Then there will be two extra modules added just after the intro module - the top 100 plexo, and the sub-100 link list.

So it should look better and you won't lose any content.

xtnshun wrote:

spirituality wrote:

My first response is that this at least saves groups as a legacy of the past: links created etc.

I guess the lenses we've presently got featured will no longer be featured? Or is it just that the intro is reformatted in a way that the headers we put in are automatically lost? Meaning: the rest will just be shunted further down?

As I understand it the group page will turn into a lens and have exactly the same modules and content that it does today.  Then there will be two extra modules added just after the intro module - the top 100 plexo, and the sub-100 link list.

So it should look better and you won't lose any content.

That's correct.

Naturegirl7, if there are any pending group submissions you should approve or decline them now. After the switch you won't be able to see the group management screens anymore.

We're pretty serious about what Megan called Follower 2.0. Tighter integration with facebook and twitter and new ways to build communities around lenses.

Would it be conceivable that /groups/ had a special lens template with 2 content columns? (I hear Josh groan, sorry.)

It's just that with Top 100 lists some of the bigger groups will get very long. That way, a group would also be easily distinguished from regular lenses and it could be more fun for groupmasters to spiffy up their groups.

Unless, of course, you have something way more awesome on the way for us

Interesting. Trying to wrap brains around the concept of "Groups"...  I never saw a problem with allowing a lens to join a bunch of different groups--as long as the group was relevant to the lens.  I myself am a member of a bunch of different groups (within LinkedIn, FaceBook, YahooGroups, eBay Sellers, etc.)--because they appeal to different aspects of *ME*.   I like nature photography when I'm traveling. So, it makes sense that many of my Squidoo lenses involve nature photography in various places around the world...  so, it sometimes makes sense that one of my lenses might be equally at home in a photography group, a nature group, and a travel group... because it's part of each of those endeavors.  I'm a homeschooler parent as well... so not only do my travel lenses help with teaching, but they also can be a part of a travel group, and a nature group.

What bugs me is that after a while I found out that folks were commenting on my lenses or inserting stuff in my plexo modules things that were NOT relevant at all to my lenses. They were blatently using my lenses as platforms for their own marketing schemes... and were quite obnoxious and inept about it. So, although I'd like to help out fellow lensmasters by letting them post their links on my lenses... because folks were being obnoxious, I now automatically block folks from posting HTML links on ANY of my modules, I block folks from adding things to my plexo modules, I require signed in Squidoo users to have pictures on my lens comment pages, and I must be notified if they want to comment and I have the option of blocking them if I see that they are just spamming me and my loyal followers (not that I have that many, but hey, it's the principle of the thing). 

I've also noticed that folks snapped up the common URLs/keywords for many, many topics... but they are just sitting on these URLs and sort of doing nothing with them. In the meantime, they are blocking those of us who have an inspiration to create a lens on that topic... so we must come up with less than optimum URLs for our lenses.  I do this... because I'm not THAT concerned about the "best" URLs..  If I have an idea, I'll generally go with it and create a lens... and if I have to use a weird URL to get there, I guess that's not a big problem.

Thanks.... for all the cool stuff you guys are coming up with!

Dave

The more I think about the change the better it looks.
There was always a problem with editing the groups and of late well-nigh impossible. So that's one problem off our backs