Add and Edit Groups, Channels & Forums

Note: If any of what follows makes you nervous, drop a request into Hub Help Desk on Mattermost and say you would like to practise Hub management for Trumpton! Then you can safely test functions without doing harm!

Groups

'Edit Hub Group' Screen

The 'Edit Hub Group' screen lets you rename your group, or any of its teams, channels, forum groups, forums or cloud group. Here is an example of how this screen is laid out for the 'DDAT' Circle:

[](https://rebeltoolkit.extinctionrebellion.uk/uploads/images/gallery/2023-04/image-1681223164517.png)

The edit screen helps when, for instance you change your circle name or shortened name. It will update all of the other names on the screen to match (albeit, you can still edit them too). When you click 'Save' it will update everything on the Hub and on the other services.

If the changes it makes automatically do not suit you, you can change names back on the: individual team, channel, forum or cloud folder.

Duplications. You may get an error message if one of the names you have chosen has already been used by another organisation. Choose a different, unique, name.

It also lets you change the setting where members of child groups are automatically invited to your group. If you tick 'Invite All Members of Child Hub Groups?', all members of any descendant (child, grandchild, etc.) group will be invited to join this group. When they accept this invite, they will be full members of your group, and have full access to everything, i.e.: Team, public and private channels, public and private forums, and cloud storage.

Note: if you change it from unticked to ticked, the invites will be sent out immediately when you 'Save'.

You can also change 'Child Hub Groups can use our Team'. If this option is ticked (this is the default), then new child groups you create will use the same Mattermost Team as this group.

How to Change Your Group Name

The Community Assemblies crew wanted to change their abbreviated name on the Hub. The yellow highlighted option is where they selected to change the Group's abbreviated name.

'Edit Hub Group' lets you edit your:

• group’s name
• short name
• whether you want members of Child Groups added to your Mattermost Team
• contact details for your group
• names of all your Channels
• Forum Groups
• Forums
• Nextcloud Group

Edit Contact Info Screen

You can reach this screen by clicking the edit pencil (highlighted in yellow in the illustration) in the More Info/Contact dropdown of your Group screen. Click on the grey bars to open up drop down options.

At the top, under Public Info, is where you can place public contact details for your group. These will appear on the UK Regional Map, and possibly other public websites, such as social media sites.

IMPORTANT! Since public access to this information is possible, DO NOT PUT PERSONAL OR PRIVATE ADDRESSES IN HERE.

The last section, under Members Only Info, is information you only want members of your group to see. It is intended for such things as Zoom meeting links, or other information that might also go in a Mattermost channel header. If Mattermost is unavailable, the Hub is another way of group members accessing 'need to know' information, such as in this case, Trumpton Group's meeting arrangements.

[](https://rebeltoolkit.extinctionrebellion.uk/uploads/images/gallery/2023-04/image-1681226346059.png)

Contact details and Members Only accept Markdown (like Mattermost and Forums), so you can format your details and put links in.

How to Create a New Child XR Group

If you are part of a large group which has a number of smaller working groups (e.g. a large working group, like Pathways, example working groups would be, for instance, 'Talks and Trainings', 'Foundation Programme', etc.). Where there are complex structures, you can create separate Hub Groups for your working groups on the Hub, with information on their new services.

Back to the Community Assemblies example, check out the yellow highlighted option below:

Click 'New Child Group' in the Admin menu of your Group display, or click "Create New Group" in the grey menu. This takes you to a new group screen in the 'Setting up a new group on the Hub' document.

Channels

How to Add a New Channel

Open the 'Services' grey dropdown bar on your Group page. Then click the ('+' symbol in a circle) button. This takes you to the Create Channel screen to create a public or private channel in the corresponding team.

The name of the Channel will be made up of the Prefix and the Name. The Prefix defaults to your group short name; this is to help us avoid trying (and failing) to create 100 channels called “Media & Messaging” for 100 different working groups!

When you click 'Save', the Channel will be created right away. All your group members will be joined to it in due course. There is a background job running which does this, so it make take a while for it to catch up, or it will happen the next time they log in to the Hub.

How to Change your Channel Names, Public / Private

Either click on the 'edit pencil icon' next to a channel, or on 'Edit Channels' in the top 'Admin' menu, which shows all the Channels for your group. Clicking on one will allow you to edit the name, and you can choose to change whether the channel is public or private. When you Save your changes, the Hub will update Mattermost with your changes.

The list has a 'Show Unclaimed' button allowing you to also include unclaimed channels you are in; you can pick one and claim it for your group.

How to See Who is in Your Channels

The Edit Channel screen, accessed via the Admin menu (see above highlighted option). This also has a 'List Members' option to list all the members of the channel on Mattermost.

Click on one of the Channels in the list of channels, then click 'List Members'. This shows which of those people are on the Hub, and whether they are a member of your group.

There is also a button next to people who aren’t in your group, which you can tick to invite them.

There are bulk buttons at the bottom, to invite everyone who should be in the channel, or remove everyone who shouldn't be in it (because they are not members of your group).

How to Delete Channels

You can also delete channels in the 'Edit Channel' screen (except for the ones the Hub needs you to keep, i.e.: your Reception and your main channel. Message the Hub Admins in the Digital Discussions Applications Team Reception or Hub Group Admins channels if you want to delete those.

Deleting a channel here will also delete it on Mattermost.

How to Share Channels With Other Organisations

You can share a channel with other groups. This is useful when multiple groups are working together on an action or project. All members of all the groups your channel is shared with are joined to that channel.
To do this, click on the icon next to Shares, to see this (Trumpton group example) screen:

Choose the group you want to share with from the drop-down list. Another dropdown will appear, so you can share with multiple groups.

An will appear to allow you to remove that share.

Click Save when done.

How to Restore Archived Channels

Mattermost lets anyone in a channel archive it. This removes it from the channel list. People sometimes do this by mistake, thinking it only archives it for them, not everyone! Important!: Archiving a channel archives it for everyone!

If someone has archived one of your channels by mistake, you can restore it the following day. The Hub notices it has been archived on its overnight check, and adds an Unarchive button to the edit channel screen; this is how you restore the channel.

Claim Channels: If you already had Mattermost channels created before you came on to the Hub

Some people set up their group on Mattermost, without joining the Hub first. If you did this, you should now claim those channels for your group on the Hub. This way, the Hub knows they belong to you, and can join people to them when you invite them to the Hub.

The procedure for claiming a channel is as follows:

1.  In Mattermost, invite @xrukadmin (the Hub’s login to Mattermost) to all the Teams and channels you want the Hub to know about. If inviting xrukadmin to a Team, make it a Team Admin (in 'Manage Members').

2.  Wait 24 hours for the Hub to recognise your channels.

3.  Claim the channels in the Hub:

•   Go to your group in Groups
•   Click Edit Channels
•   Click the 'Include Unclaimed' button – this will add any other channels you are a member of but which don’t belong to a group on the Hub yet.
•   Click on each channel you want to claim, check the details on the next screen, and click save to claim it for your group.

4. You can then, if you wish, post a generic link to one of your private channels to allow anyone in that channel to join your group on the Hub. To do that:

•   Go to your group in Groups
•   Click Invite Users
•   Click the Mattermost Invite button
•   Choose the private channel to post the invite to
•   Add an optional message from you
•   Click Post Invite to Mattermost

Forums

How to Add a New Forum

Open the 'Services' dropdown on your Group page. Then click the button, which takes you to the 'create forum' screen; here you can create a public or a private forum.

The name of the Forum will be made up of the Prefix and the Name. The Prefix defaults to your group short name, and is to help us avoid trying (and failing) to create 100 forums called “Media & Messaging” for 100 different working groups!

You must choose which top level category the forum goes in.

When you click Save, the Forum will be created right away. All your group members will be joined to it in due course (there is a background job running which does this, so it make take a while for it to catch up), or next time they log in to the Hub.

How to Change Forum Names and Locations or Delete a Forum

You have 2 options:

• Click on the edit pencil next to a forum, or
• 'Edit Forums' lists the Forums for your group; clicking on one will allow you to edit the name and the parent category. When you 'Save' your changes, the Hub will update UK Forums with your changes.

You can also delete forums here. However, this does not include the ones that the Hub needs you to keep, i.e.: your Reception and your main forum. Message the Hub Admins in the Digital Discussions Applications Team Reception or Hub Group Admins channels if you want to delete those. Note: Deleting a forum here will also delete it on UK Forums.

How to Share Forums With Other Groups

You can share a forum with other groups. This is useful when multiple groups are working together on an action or project. A shared forum appears in the forum list in UK Forums for all members of all the groups it is shared with. Forums can be shared with different permissions for each group; i.e. Full Access, can Comment (but not post a new topic), Read Only.

To share forums with other groups, click on the icon next to 'Shares', to see this screen:

[

Choose the group you want to share with from the drop-down list. (In the image, the text reads: "Share Trumpton Reception with". You can also choose to limit this group's access to the forum in the 'Permission Level' dropdown.

Another dropdown will appear, so you can share with multiple groups. An will appear to allow you to remove that share.

Members

Adding Members

To add people to your group, you need to send them an invite. See Inviting People to your Group

Removing Members

To just remove someone from you group, open the "Members" dropdown, then click on their entry, then click "Remove User From Hub Group" at the top.

If someone is stepping back altogether from all their roles, you may find Step Back From Roles screen useful.

Edit Messages Screen

How to Change Default Welcome Messages

To add/edit messages click the 'Messages' link in your Group screen (see screenshot above).

Welcome messages are sent via Mattermost Direct Message to people who have just joined your organisation on the Hub. They come from xrukadmin (the Hub's Mattermost login). Note: xrukadmin does not read replies. It is recommended that you include instructions to contact your own Mattermost handle in the automated welcome message. E.g. "Do not reply to this message, contact @fred-xrtrumpton if you have any questions".

Just enter the message text, then click 'Save'. You can use Markdown formatting, like you can in Mattermost, Forums and Cloud. Subsequently, anyone who accepts an invite to your organisation will receive that message overnight, as the Hub runs updates in the early hours of the morning.

How to Set Auto-Reminder Messages

Reminder messages are useful for regular events, like weekly meetings. They are posted to your channel of choice on Mattermost, by xrukadmin, the Hub's Mattermost login, each night.

1. From your Admin options (top of the group in green) 2. Select Messages

3. Select Reminder

4. Select New Reminder Message.

5. Type in your text and add any links, e.g. Zoom meeting, minutes etc. NB: The Hub uses Markdown in the same way Mattermost does. So you can use @all - and that will notify everyone in the Mattermost channel of the reminder when it's posted into the channel.

6. Choose the channel from the drop-down in which you want your reminder to be posted.

7. Choose the start date and the schedule.

8. Select Apply and check the bottom of the page to see exactly when your reminders will be posted.

9. Once happy, select Save.