NCF Discussion Groups

Talk with people

A 'discussion group' is web page that allows people to exchange messages, much like posting a notice on a bulletin board. A discussion group is a great companion to static web pages. Organizations and community groups use discussion groups to keep in touch with each other, and NCF hosts discussion groups for many purposes, for example, the NCF Help Desk (where members help each other) and Speakers' Corner (a forum for general public discussion on any topic).

Be alerted to new postings

To be notified of activity in a discussion group that interests you, just open that discussion group and click on the "Add/remove" link, illustrated at the right, at the bottom-right of the discussion group web page.

The discussion groups that you've selected will appear in the "Your Discussion Groups" section of your StartPage -- then you'll know when there are new postings, as illustrated in the figure to the right. This makes it easy for everyone to keep track of discussion groups that interest them.

Controllable access

Access to a discussion group can be granted to any NCF member, or to the public (read-only), or limited to people chosen by the host. Any NCF member can create (host) a discussion group of their own. For detailed information about how to use a discussion group or tools available to discussion group hosts to manage activity, consult these links:

• Using NCF Discussion Groups, and
• Administering NCF Discussion Groups

Create your own discussion group

Want to give it a try? Create a discussion group (you can delete it later if it doesn't work out).

NCF Discussion groups are based on technology developed by NCF in 2004, funded in part by NCF members. Help is available at the NCF Help Desk and design suggestions can be posted in the Design & Development discussion group.

A list of some public discussion groups is available from the StartPage, in the left column under 'Inside NCF'. Send an email to the NCF office if you'd like to have your discussion group listed.