What's new in Groups

The new Groups release has a fresh look, including controls that match Gmail and other Google services.

New Groups

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What you need to know about new Groups

Highlights

New Groups includes most popular Groups features as well as:

• Improved navigation—Group settings are consolidated into one section for easy access.
• Streamlined group creation—A three-step wizard simplifies group creation.
• Powerful search options—New filtering and search options help you find content.
• Simplified My groups page—When you’re signed in to Google Groups (groups.google.com), you can find all your groups on the same page. If you're signed in to an account managed by your work or school, the groups and features available depend on the settings for your organization.
• Standardized messaging—Topics are now called conversations and match Gmail patterns.
• Enhanced member management—The updated Members page provides quick access to group member subscriptions and permissions.

Key features now available in new Groups

The new Groups release offers many of the key features you use in Groups, including the following:

Feature	Description
Mobile readiness	The Groups UI refined for use on mobile devices. See Using new Groups on mobile.
Collaborative Inboxes	Creating Collaborative Inboxes, using Collaborative Inbox features such as assigning topics, and changing a group’s type to Collaborative Inbox. Collaborative Inboxes you’ve created in classic Groups are accessible in new Groups.
Labels	Replacement for tags and categories.
Multiple domains: Group creation	Creating groups in multiple domains. To use this feature, you must be signed in to a work or school account. The options you see might be different. To learn more, contact your administrator.
Favorite conversations	Viewing all of your favorite conversations (topics) on a single page.
Custom group roles	Creating and managing custom roles.
Welcome messages	Adding or changing the group welcome message that appears above group conversations.
Global settings	Viewing or changing preferences and settings that apply to all of your groups.
Signed-out users	Allowing users who aren’t signed in to a Google Account to work in Groups. If a group is publicly visible, you can search for the group and view conversations without being signed in. However, you must sign in to perform any actions in the group.
Show original message source	Viewing the source code of a message, including its headers.

Using new Groups on mobile

You can use Groups on your mobile device to search for and view groups, conversations, and your membership settings.

To perform tasks such as creating a group or posting to a conversation, use the full desktop version of Groups. Many popular browsers let you view the desktop version of a site on a mobile device. For example,  in Google Chrome, in the top right, click More select Desktop site.

Performing common tasks in new Groups

If you're signed in to a work or school account, the options you see might be different. To learn more, contact your administrator.

How you manage members

Location in new Groups: Left panel > People  To... Go here: View current/ pending members Members Pending Members Add members MembersAdd members  Learn how to manage members in new Groups.

How you view certain members and messages

To view...	Do this:
Members whose messages are bouncing	On the left nav, click Members. A red triangle appears next to the Subscription column entry of members whose messages are bouncing.
Moderated messages	On the left nav, click Conversations > Pending. You can view the five most recent messages waiting for moderation. To see more messages, at the top right, click Next .

Permissions and settings

In new Groups, to view a group’s settings, click Group settings at the bottom of the left navigation panel. 

To learn more about new Group settings, see View or edit group details.

General

Available settings: Group name Group email Group description Enable additional Google Groups features Shared labels Who can see group Who can join group Allow external members Who can view conversations Who can post Who can view members Learn more about general settings.

Member privacy

Available settings: Identification required for new members Display names must be unique Who can contact group owners Who can view member email addresses Learn more about member privacy settings.

Posting policies

Available settings: Allow Email Posting Allow web posting Conversation history Who can reply privately to authors Who can attach files Who can moderate content Who can moderate metadata Who can post as group Default sender Message moderation New member restrictions Spam message handling Rejected message notification Learn more about posting policies.

Email options

Available settings: Subject prefix Email footer Group email language Auto replies Post replies to Conversation mode Learn more about email options.

Member moderation

Available settings: Who can manage members Who can modify custom roles Custom roles Learn more about member moderation settings.

Deprecated features

To simplify Google Groups, the following features have been deprecated in new Groups.

Feature	Description
Canned responses	Creating one or more canned responses to use in your posts. Instead, you can create templates in Gmail.
Pinning topics	Making topics appear at the top of the list.
Moving topics	Moving topics from one group to another.
Tags and categories	Using tags and categories to manage content. The functionality will be replaced by labels.
Group types	Creating web and Q&A forums and using forum-related features such as marking the best answer in existing groups.
Topic types	Creating and managing discussion and question type topics.
Statistical info on the About Group page	Usage graphs and other statistical information about a group.
Embedding groups in web pages	Using iFrames to embed groups in external web pages. Located in classic Groups under Manage groupInformationGeneral information. Instead, you can link to a group from an external web page and view the group in Groups.
Some advanced keyboard shortcuts	Using key combinations to perform tasks, such as pressing g + c on the My groups page to create a group. Accessibility shortcuts will continue to be supported, however.
Saved searches	Saving a search so you can use it again simply by clicking the search name in the left panel.
Editing own posts	Allowing users to make changes to their messages after posting them.
Themes	Choosing a background theme for your Groups display.
Unread messages	Viewing unread message counts for starred groups in the left navigation panel. Instead, you can create a filter for your group messages in Gmail and view unread message counts there.
User activity	Viewing activity for a user such as recent posts, total posts, posting trend per month, and group memberships.
My Discussions	Viewing the My Discussions page from the left navigation panel.  Instead, you can use search to view specific groups and messages.
Posting history	Viewing a record of a group member’s posting activity.