Grouply 3.1 is Here!

We are pleased to announce that Grouply 3.1 is now available! In this release we smooth the process for new users to adopt and begin using Grouply, and we add a number of other useful features requested by and designed with the help of Grouply users. Send your ideas for new features to feedback@grouply.com.

Web Connect: Grouply at Your Own Pace
In 3.1, new Grouply users can adopt Grouply at their own pace. Now when you sign up with Grouply, your Yahoo Groups settings remain unchanged and you continue to receive individual emails and Daily Digests from Yahoo Groups as before. In addition, you will begin to receive the Grouply Smart Digest once a day, and you will have access to the Grouply website where you can discover all of the time-saving and social benefits of using Grouply. Over time, as you become more comfortable with it, you can begin to conduct more and more of your group interactions exclusively through Grouply.

Grouply’s advanced Web Connect feature makes this possible. With Web Connect, you can maintain whatever settings you like in Yahoo Groups and still use Grouply. Starting in 3.1, when a new user registers with Grouply, all of his groups are put on Web Connect by default. Existing users can choose between Web Connect and Email Connect for their groups on Update Group Access.

Individual Emails: A Yahoo Thing (Again)
Previously if you accessed a group through Grouply and wanted to receive each message as an individual email, Grouply constructed and sent you its own version of the Yahoo Groups individual email, complete with Grouply logo in the footer. Unfortunately, Grouply individual emails weren’t perfect. Sometimes links were missing. Sometimes they just didn’t look right. Starting in 3.1, Grouply no longer provides our own individual emails. Instead, Grouply users receive individual emails from Yahoo Groups, either directly (for groups on Web Connect) or indirectly via forwarding (for groups on traditional Email Connect). You can review and update your Email Subscripitions in Grouply on Manage Email Subscriptions.

Signed … You!
A key feature of many email systems is the ability to create a “signature” – predefined text that is added by default to the bottom of all of the emails you send. Many of our users told us that, despite all of the advantages of posting group messages through Grouply, the lack of signature support was the reason they still preferred to post through email. Well, no more, because signatures are now available in Grouply! Set up your signature on Manage Signature.

Advanced Reply
Click Reply on any posting in Grouply, and you can reply to the individual or to the group. In addition, the reply text box is pre-populated with the previous message, so you can easily snip and quote excerpts from what was said before.

Plain Text, Plain and Simple
Some groups encourage or require members to submit postings in plain text format. And let’s face it, sometimes plain text is just easier and better than rich text or HTML. By default, postings in Grouply are now created in plain text — but the rich text option is there if you want it!

Shared Friends
Sometimes when giving someone the once over, it helps to know who you know in common. Now Grouply tells you! In Grouply, member lists and friend requests include a link called “shared friends”. Click it to see a list of the friends you share in common.

Hide/Show Quoted Text Gets Even Smarter
Don’t you hate it when everyone replies on top of everyone else, creating ginormous postings that make conversations really difficult to follow? Fortunately, Grouply automatically detects and suppresses all this “quoted text”, but unfortunately, Grouply often hides more than it should. In 3.1, hide/show quoted text is much smarter, making it easier than ever to follow conversations in Grouply!

Coming Soon – No Yahoo Password Required!
We are continuing to improve the registration process and to make Grouply more accessible to more people. In 3.2, you will be able to register with Grouply without providing your Yahoo password. Stay tuned, and thanks for using Grouply!