Google Groups

Google Groups allows you to manage and archive your mailing list and provides a method for communication and collaboration with group members. Members can read and post messages online or via email as well as search archives of your group's messages.

Background

As of April 26, 2010, PLU will be moving from our current Distribution List Management Tool to Google Groups for creating and maintaining campus listserves, distribution lists, and forwards.  Transitioning to Google Groups will provide added functionality as well as better integration of these services with Google Apps for Education.  Once this new tool is turned on, all current distribution lists will automatically be viewable in Google Groups and they will maintain their current naming structure.  All current access levels to the lists will be preserved and no changes will need to be made for the lists to continue to work.  The key changes and new features to be aware of with this transition are:

• Management of current groups and creation of new groups will now be done in Google Groups
• Old groups will have the same suffix at the end as they had before (ex. -d or -f) while newly created groups will have a -group suffix
• As a member of a group you can choose how you want to receive messages/notifications from the group
• Forwarding lists for your account will now be available for you to create and edit without assistance from a I&TS staff member
• History of messages/posts will have a fully searchable archive
• Group members can unsubscribe from the groups they belong to

The link to the old Distribution List tool at newepass.plu.edu will be changed to point to Google Groups and the old tool will be removed.  Groups will also be accessible from within your Gmail account in the upper left corner alongside PLU's other Google Applications.  We encourage you to take a look at this tool once it is in place to ensure that all groups are listed that you would expect to be a member of.  This will also give you a chance to make any modifications that you would like to your group privacy and notification options for each group.  Once logged in to Google Groups, all of your current groups should be listed on the page.

Open Lab Sessions for Google Groups are also available for additional support.  Please visit www.plu.edu/google-apps/transition/Workshops-and-Open-Labs.php for dates, times, and scheduling.  Questions can also be answered by emailing the Help Desk at helpdesk@plu.edu or by calling 253-535-7525.