Text editor tips

You can set your preferred text editor (HTML, Markdown, or Plain Text) in your Groups.io account preferences. See Setting your preferred text editor.

In the HTML editor, in a desktop browser, you can display another toolbar with additional editing options by clicking the More options icon (...) at the far left on the formatting toolbar. On a mobile device, all of the HTML editing options are on the toolbar, and you can scroll the toolbar to display them.

Posting a new topic

1. Desktop browser: On the group’s website, in the left menu, select New Topic.
   Mobile device: In the group, tap the New Topic icon at the bottom of a page.
2. On the New Topic page, enter a descriptive subject line, and enter and format the text of your topic. If applicable, use the Add Tags list to select hashtags to add to the subject line.
   Note: If you are the group owner or a moderator, you can also select a checkbox to send the topic as a special notice or to lock the topic immediately after it is posted (or both).
3. Click or tap the Send button at the bottom of the page.

Replying to a message

1. In the group, locate the message you want to reply to.
2. Click or tap the Reply link below that message’s text.
3. In the To list above the subject line, select the recipient of the reply:
   • To send your reply to the entire group, select Group.
   • To send your reply only to the message’s sender, select Sender. If you want to blind copy yourself, select the BCC Me checkbox below the text editor box. 
   • To send your reply only to the group’s moderators, select Moderators. If you want to blind copy yourself, select the BCC Me checkbox below the text editor box.

   Note: The default option might be either to reply to the group or reply only to the sender of the message you are replying to, depending on the settings the owner specified for the group. If the owner has not disabled the other reply option, you can select the applicable option on the list to choose where to send your reply.

4. In the text editor box, enter and format the text of your reply.
   Note: If you are the group owner or a moderator, you can also select the Lock Topic After Posting checkbox to lock the topic immediately after the reply is posted.
5. Click or tap the Send button.

Quoting messages you are replying to

Note: This topic covers quoting messages that you are replying to on a group’s website. If you are replying to messages via email, the method for automatically including quoted messages in replies as well as where quoted text is placed (for example, at the top or bottom of the message) depend on the specific email application you are using.

When you are replying to a message on a group’s website, you can automatically include (quote) all or part of that message in your reply.

To quote the entire message you are replying to:

1. Under the message you want to reply to, click or tap the Reply link.
2. On the text formatting toolbar above the text editing box, click or tap the Quote post icon at the far left (in a desktop browser, it is to the right of the More options icon). The message text is inserted automatically at the top of your reply’s text editing box, along with the message’s posting date and time and the author’s name.

To quote only part of the message you are replying to:

1. While viewing the message you want to reply to, select the specific text that you want to quote. (You do not need to use a copy function.)
2. Click or tap the Reply link under the message. The text you selected is inserted automatically at the top of your reply’s text editor box, along with the message’s posting date and time and the author’s name.

Working with draft messages

When you are composing a message on a group’s website or on a mobile device, Groups.io automatically saves a draft of the message periodically. If you click or tap outside the message editor or even leave the page, Groups.io saves the draft up to that point and adds a Drafts entry for that group to the left menu in a desktop browser and the More menu on a mobile device. You can click or tap Drafts to see the drafts that the system has saved, and from there you can open and send a draft or discard it.

Note:

• The system automatically deletes drafts that are older than two weeks.
• If you create too many drafts, Groups.io displays a notice at the top of the page that you must delete some drafts before more drafts can be saved.
• Messages that have hashtag issues (such as containing a restricted hashtag) are bounced by the system, not held as drafts to be corrected. To avoid this situation, make sure that you are familiar with the group’s rules and guidelines for using hashtags.