Configurable web-based groups meet diverse needs
Nearly 160 groups on nanoHUB help group members share content and conversation, either privately or with the world.
Groups have a wiki, a pool for resources, and a discussion board. They can customize an overview page, send messages, manage members, and maintain calendars.
When setting up a group on nanoHUB, group managers can choose from two types of group discoverability and four types of group membership. Groups can be visible, meaning they are listed on nanoHUB and viewable by any visitor to the site; or hidden, meaning they are not listed on the site or discoverable when searching nanoHUB.
The group membership type is indicated on the group’s overview page as either being open to anyone, restricted, by invitation only, or closed.
• In an open group, anyone with a nanoHUB account can log in to request group membership. Once membership is requested, the individual automatically becomes a member.
• Restricted: A request for membership must be reviewed by a group manager, who will accept or deny the request based on the group policy for admitting new members.
• Invitation only: A group manager must invite new members.
• Closed: A group manager can make exceptions and invite new members, but the group overview page advertises the group is closed.
“Many groups have a specific, common research interest,” says Lynn Zentner, nanoHUB’s technical director. Group names and public descriptions are searchable using key words. An alphabetized list of public and restricted group names can be browsed.
“Some groups have been established by the lead of a software development team or the instructor of a class,” Zentner says.
This year, new nanoHUB groups were formed for the students in Supriyo Datta’s Fundamentals of Nanoelectronics online courses, offered through nanoHUB-U. Through group membership, over 900 students have gained access to course Web pages with lecture videos, a PDF of the textbook, homework tutorials, discussion threads, quizzes, and other materials.
Any nanoHUB user can establish a group by completing a nanoHUB form to describe and set up the group. That user then becomes the group’s first manager.
2012.03.30
Groups have a wiki, a pool for resources, and a discussion board. They can customize an overview page, send messages, manage members, and maintain calendars.
When setting up a group on nanoHUB, group managers can choose from two types of group discoverability and four types of group membership. Groups can be visible, meaning they are listed on nanoHUB and viewable by any visitor to the site; or hidden, meaning they are not listed on the site or discoverable when searching nanoHUB.
The group membership type is indicated on the group’s overview page as either being open to anyone, restricted, by invitation only, or closed.
• In an open group, anyone with a nanoHUB account can log in to request group membership. Once membership is requested, the individual automatically becomes a member.
• Restricted: A request for membership must be reviewed by a group manager, who will accept or deny the request based on the group policy for admitting new members.
• Invitation only: A group manager must invite new members.
• Closed: A group manager can make exceptions and invite new members, but the group overview page advertises the group is closed.
“Many groups have a specific, common research interest,” says Lynn Zentner, nanoHUB’s technical director. Group names and public descriptions are searchable using key words. An alphabetized list of public and restricted group names can be browsed.
“Some groups have been established by the lead of a software development team or the instructor of a class,” Zentner says.
This year, new nanoHUB groups were formed for the students in Supriyo Datta’s Fundamentals of Nanoelectronics online courses, offered through nanoHUB-U. Through group membership, over 900 students have gained access to course Web pages with lecture videos, a PDF of the textbook, homework tutorials, discussion threads, quizzes, and other materials.
Any nanoHUB user can establish a group by completing a nanoHUB form to describe and set up the group. That user then becomes the group’s first manager.
2012.03.30