About topics and messages
In Groups.io, a topic is a collection of messages about a particular subject. The topic includes the initial message that was posted along with any replies to that message (including replies to those replies).
In the message archive on a group’s website, when you click or tap a topic’s link to open it, the topic is displayed with the initial message at the top of the page and replies expanded underneath it (unless you clicked or tapped the Date link to display messages in reverse date order).
Note: In the archive, certain icons might appear on topic subject lines. For a list of these icons and their descriptions, see Topic icons.
Topics view, Messages view, and Expanded view
When you visit a group’s website, the initial page that is displayed is the Topics page, also referred to as Topics view. By default, the topics are listed in order from newest to oldest, after any “sticky” topics that were pinned to the top of the page by a group owner or moderator. You can click or tap the Date link at the upper right to list the topics from oldest to newest. Click or tap a topic’s subject line to view the full topic as well as any replies to it.
To view a list of individual messages (Messages view) instead of topics, click or tap the Topics button at the top left of the page and select Messages. By default, the messages are listed in order from newest to oldest. You can click or tap the Date link at the upper right to list the messages from oldest to newest. Click or tap a message’s subject line to view the full message.
When you select Expanded from the Topics button or Messages button, messages are listed in order of their message numbers (shown at the far right next to the date), with the full text of each message displayed. Groups.io assigns message numbers according to the dates and times the messages are posted. By default, messages are displayed from newest (highest message number) to oldest (lowest message number). Click or tap the Date link at the upper right to list the messages oldest to newest.
Note: On a mobile device, you might need to rotate the device to landscape orientation to see the message numbers in Expanded view.
The default number of topics or messages listed per page is 20. You can change that number in the display preferences in your Groups.io account. See Setting the number of items to show on group web pages.
About the Show quoted text button
When you are viewing messages on a group’s website, you might see a Show quoted text button below some replies.
That button appears when a reply contains the text of a quoted message and that quoted text is located at the bottom of the message. In other words, the reply’s author entered the content of their reply above the message they quoted (either using their email application or when composing their reply on the group’s website). In those cases, Groups.io adds the Show quoted text button on the group’s website to conserve screen space.
When you click or tap Show quoted text, the quoted text is expanded under the reply, and the button label changes to Hide quoted text. You can click or tap Hide quoted text to collapse (hide) the quoted text.
If you do not see a Show quoted text button in a reply, then that reply does not include any quoted text at the bottom.
Note:
- Email applications have their own settings or preferences for whether messages are quoted in replies and how quoted text appears.
- Different email applications quote replies in different ways. The Groups.io system does its best to determine whether quoted content is a reply based on message headers or lines that contain certain text (such as “--Original Message--” or “On [date] [name or email] wrote:” and so on). Because of those email differences, quoted text on the group website might not generate a Show quoted text button.
- Quoted text at the bottom of replies is not included in message digests, to save space. If you receive digests, you will need to view those messages online if you want to see the quoted text.