tagged w/ community curated groups
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![feature release [part I]: groups are officially in the wild](http://i2.crtcdn1.net/images/spacer.gif)
This week's product feature release is so big, we had to crack our blog announcement in half just to do it justice. Part II covers RSS feed enhancements, email notification tweaks, and a brand new way to browse recommendations on Current.com items. But first, we tackle the elusive beast that is the Current.com group:
Way back in May we posted a callout for top secret testers to play around with some curation tools we built in preparation for launching groups. We received a pretty positive response to the test from a little under forty curators, and now the time has come to unleash our new groups functionality for the rest of the Current.com community to enjoy.
Starting now, every single member of our community will be able to create and customize a group on Current.com tailored to their own specific interests. This is a monumental change to the site, and there is a lot to cover. So, here goes.
Start a group!
It's simple, click the "Start a Group" button in the green navigation bar on Current.com. You'll need a name, description, and some tags for your group. For example:
Setting tags for your group is essential, because these will be used to recommend Current.com submissions to consider for your group. These recommendations will appear below you group, like this:
The items and submissions listed as potential "quick adds" are determined by two things: the tags you use to define your group, and the tags people use to define their story submissions to Current.com.
So for example, if you're trying to set up your group to contain up-to-the-minute Nintendo gaming news, you will want to add tags related to video games, gaming, and of course Nintendo. A healthy set of tags for a Nintendo group might include: "Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi, Nintendo Wii, Super Mario Bros, Shigeru Miyamoto, Video Games, and Gaming."
Not only will you be able to handpick stories to add to your group, you'll also be able to curate your group by featuring stories, or removing submissions that don't truly belong to your group. You can use our curation tools to feature an item, and once it's been featured you can then use the up/down buttons to position it on the page in the order of your choice. Featured items will have a star icon appear next to them.
If you feel that an item that someone added doesn't fit with your group, simply check the red X button and it will be removed.
Your default view for your group will be a list view, but you can change it to a playlist template in your groups admin page.
The curation tools for featuring work the same in both templates, so the choice is really up to you. If you prefer the playlist layout, head over to the admin section of your group and select a different template.
Once you've finished setting up your group, all you'll need are members! Share your group with others on Current.com, or reach out into your various social networks like facebook, Twitter, and MySpace to let your contacts know about your group!
Sometimes groups grow quickly, and you may find that you need more than one set of hands manning the ship. Once you've built up a following, you can even grant some members moderator status to help curate the group with you. Keep in mind, giving moderator powers to another group member can be easy to do, but it will also give them full access to curating your group. Choose your moderators wisely, and if things get out of hand, you can always revoke this status by using the ban function.
If you happen to find that some of your members get out of line in your group, you can even ban them from your group altogether. This will prevent them from adding content to your group. Remember, if you believe that a member is violating our community guidelines, make sure to flag them after you ban them and our community team will take a look at their profile.
Join a group!
Maybe creating a group is not your speed, but you can still join and participate in a group on Current.com. Who knows, someone might even make you a moderator!
You can find new groups to join on our newly added "Groups" tab -- conveniently located in the Current.com header. On the groups page you'll find some of our featured groups, as well as listings for other groups on Current.com. Browse around, see what you find, and if you don't see a group that fits your needs that could be an indicator that you should make one yourself!
On every groups page you'll find a "related groups" section that includes exactly what it sounds like -- other groups related to that group. And as if that wasn't enough, you can also find groups via search on Current.com. Search for keywords that interest you, and potential related groups will appear in the search results.
Contribute to a group!
There are couple different ways to contribute to groups:
1) When you submit a story to Current.com
2) When you read a story on Current.com
When you submit stories, you'll now find a new "groups" section in the clipper. This section has a dropdown menu that comprises of all the groups you are a member of. Remember, you have to be a member of a group in order to add a story to that group.
A similar drop down menu can be found on Current.com item pages. So, when you read a Current.com story, you can easily access a dropdown menu of all your groups, and select one of them to add that story to.
If you are not a member of a group, you can still help recommend stories to different groups on Current.com with tags. We recommend stories to group moderators based on the tags on individual items, so if you see a story with very few tags, consider adding a few to help it find a new home.
Our team has been working very hard on groups, and we have plans to expand this functionality by make groups more customizable in coming releases. In the meantime, create and join some groups. Play around with the new features, and test out some of the other Easter Eggs we've rolled out in this new release.
So that's it for groups. Steph is following this post up with Part II to our feature release announcement, and she'll be laying out the latest updates to our RSS feeds, email notifications, and highlighting a brand new way to browse content on item pages. Check that out after the jump.
Otherwise, please keep in mind that your feedback helps us shape things to come, so be sure to take some time to shoot us your thoughts, make some suggestions, and let us know if you see any quirky behavior on the site. You can send us feedback by clicking on the feedback tab on the blog, head directly over to our Get Satisfaction page for groups, or by sending us ol' fashioned email at feedback [at] current.com.This week's product feature release is so big, we had to crack our blog... more
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You adults are messing up the planet. If I get another lead-tainted train I am going to scream! Can you PLEASE try to lead a sustainable lifestyle, so that when I grow up there will be some stuff left for me to buy?
Oh, yeah, and please join my group!You adults are messing up the planet. If I get another lead-tainted train I am going... more
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I don't know anything that will mess up the environment more than a North Korean nuclear missile attack. So what should green activists do about the growing North Korean arsenal? Nothing, and I'll tell you why.
If you were around in the 80s, you would be able to recall a president who really used "impending nuclear attack" to his advantage. It was a smokescreen that was used to distract the public from little things like his decimation of the social safety net. In a sense you could say that if you saw a mentally unstable person living on the streets during the 80's you had the Day After to thank for it.
Here's a little reminder of how far our corporations bought into the missile hype of the 80s. This show, the Day After, was one of the biggest prime time events of that era. I especially like how the public decides to run in circles in the middle of a major intersection the minute the attack is announced.I don't know anything that will mess up the environment more than a North Korean... more
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You might have seen Joseph Campbell promoting the idea of a conscious, sentient Earth (back in the 80s). He made a great point that plants turning to face the sun are conscious of the sun. So is it that hard a stretch to imagine that the entire Earth is to some degree sentient?
Were he alive today I think Joseph would be happy to see that the embodiment of the living Earth, Gaia, finally has her own videogame. And the thing is on its 13th installment!
Here is the trailer from the most recent installment. It just goes to show that a frontal assault on the pillage of the environment is not always the best approach. Important concepts about stewardship of the planet are being taught to our kids with things as simple as a videogame.You might have seen Joseph Campbell promoting the idea of a conscious, sentient Earth... more
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I think this film represents the Platonic Ideal when it comes to Green Scene Films. It's simple, it's fun, it's easy to understand and it tackles a core energy issue that affects all of us. In the same way that An Inconvenient Truth spoke to us (and not down to us) the guys over at CommonCraft have mastered the art of persuasion.
It's as if the producers figured out a way to open your head, implant a bunch of green ideas and then close you up for post-op recovery without you even being aware that you're wearing a backless hospital gown.I think this film represents the Platonic Ideal when it comes to Green Scene Films.... more
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Here's a real blight on the environment! Salmon, which were designed to swim upstream and spawn in creeks and rivers have been "farmed" in huge pens in the Atlantic Ocean and off the coast of Chile for a while now. That much you probably already know. But now the overcrowding, use of antibiotics and lack of genetic diversity has caused a massive die off in these "farmed" salmon. In Chile alone only 70% of the harvest made it out alive (which were then immediately slaughtered and served for food). Kind of ironic, huh?
I don't know why we even let the food industry get away with calling these fish "farmed" salmon. I think "tortured salmon" or "salmon that was forced to breed with its sister" would be a more accurate name.
Of course, from watching Food Inc. I learned that it's illegal to disparage a food product, so I need to make a disclaimer here and say that diseased Chilean Salmon are probably the most delicious Salmon and you should eat some today. Especially since the die off may wipe them out in 3 years.Here's a real blight on the environment! Salmon, which were designed to swim... more
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Lee Scott, CEO of Walmart says that he expects to be attacked on sustainability. And his response? Better skylighting...
I doubt that will make up for the fuel Wal-Mart burns shipping in tons of goods from China every day. Right now the brewing battle is over labeling that tells consumers just how bad the stuff they import is. It's called green labeling, and Wal-Mart is scared to death that the government will come up with a regulation that will get in the way of their gravy train.
Sadly, Wal-Mart's dedication to green issues is so tenuous that they just announced they won't have green information in their stores for years. Today's Wall Street Journal confirmed that Wal-Mart's far-off plans for green labels means "Consumers are not likely to see the first labels for years. The company estimates it could take a half decade or longer".
Wal-Mart is trying to spin its green labeling effort as a move toward sustainability, but I think that not doing anything for up to a decade is almost as bad as doing nothing at all.
P.S. For more great green videos please join my new group, Green Scene Films
http://current.com/topics/88999858_green-scene-films/Lee Scott, CEO of Walmart says that he expects to be attacked on sustainability. And... more
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