# Group related enhancements

**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/group-related-enhancements/44357
**Category:** Feature
**Created:** [17. Mai 2016 um 01:24 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/group-related-enhancements/44357 "2016-05-17T01:24:25Z")
**Posts on this page:** 18
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![scombs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/scombs/32/48616_2.png) [@scombs](https://meta.discourse.org/u/scombs)
#### Post date: [17. Mai 2016 um 01:24 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/group-related-enhancements/44357/1 "2016-05-17T01:24:25Z")

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I would like to revisit the [suggestion](https://meta.discourse.org/t/prioritize-showing-group-members-not-posts-on-group-landing-page-describe-groups-provide-groups-directory/15719) of @tobiaseigen and others for certain group-related enhancements.

## initial request

- show **group members** (not **posts** ) on the group landing page
- the URL [http://example.com/groups/groupname](http://example.com/groups/groupname) would resolve to [http://example.com/groups/groupname/members](http://example.com/groups/groupname/members) for each group
- posts would get new URL at [http://example.com/groups/groupname/posts](http://example.com/groups/groupname/posts)

## bonus points

- add “Request Membership” link/button that sends PM from user to group owner(s) requesting membership (requested [here](https://meta.discourse.org/t/customize-group-profile/26761/6)) with link for owner to approve user
- add “About” group description based on field on groups admin page (discussed [here](https://meta.discourse.org/t/customize-group-profile/26761/7) and [here](https://meta.discourse.org/t/prioritize-showing-group-members-not-posts-on-group-landing-page-describe-groups-provide-groups-directory/15719))
- add “pretty” Group Name field to group admin page and replace Group Slug on group page (like categories)
- add “pretty” Group Names to profile pages to replace Group Slugs
- add filter/search box to help find users (change text from “filter by username” to “search users”)
- add Groups directory (requested [here](https://meta.discourse.org/t/prioritize-showing-group-members-not-posts-on-group-landing-page-describe-groups-provide-groups-directory/15719)) like currently available to admins at [http://example.com/admin/groups/custom](http://example.com/admin/groups/custom), excluding system groups and groups set on group admin page for “Don’t display in group directory” option, except with Group Name (not slug), Group description, and link to Group landing page (not admin page)

## why

- easier for group owners to manage group members (the “Add members” button is displayed to group owners at top of the Members page)
- more intuitive experience for users arriving from groups via link on profile pages (groups are about users, not content)
- self-serve model for sites with lots of groups; reduces work on admins/moderators; scales better
- badges are more about achievements, not grouping people
- groups are mostly hidden to users (except on profile pages)

## very manual / partial workaround

- build your own Groups page with manual links to group members pages
- add “Groups” page to header menu and hamburger menu to let users find groups
- add “request membership” link using pre-populated PM feature

## mockup of group landing page

 ![](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/3X/a/b/abb742810fdb9ba767b878bb9a2cf551ebb7e9d6.png)

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<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![codinghorror](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/codinghorror/32/110067_2.png) [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [17. Mai 2016 um 01:25 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/group-related-enhancements/44357/2 "2016-05-17T01:25:43Z")

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Some good ideas here! I agree we could improve this page a bit but it is not on the 1.6 roadmap at the moment and I don’t want to block the other critical work that is going on at the moment.

So perhaps you could select your top 1 or 2 things that could be accomplished easily?

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### Author: ![scombs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/scombs/32/48616_2.png) [@scombs](https://meta.discourse.org/u/scombs)
#### Post date: [17. Mai 2016 um 01:30 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/group-related-enhancements/44357/3 "2016-05-17T01:30:03Z")

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Just the initial request of [quote=“scombs, post:1, topic:44357”]  
show group members (not posts) on the group landing page  
[/quote]

and

> [@scombs](#):
>
> add “Request Membership” link/button that sends PM from user to group owner(s) requesting membership (requested here) with link for owner to approve user

would definitely address my biggest pain points for managing groups.

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### Author: ![TechnoBear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/technobear/32/40546_2.png) [@TechnoBear](https://meta.discourse.org/u/TechnoBear)
#### Post date: [17. Mai 2016 um 12:09 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/group-related-enhancements/44357/4 "2016-05-17T12:09:02Z")

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> [@scombs](#):
>
> show group members (not posts) on the group landing page

I agree that even just that would be a great improvement. I found the landing pages quite confusing at first, and I doubt I’m alone there.

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### Author: ![Tom\_Newsom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/tom_newsom/32/115981_2.png) [@Tom\_Newsom](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Tom_Newsom)
#### Post date: [17. Mai 2016 um 12:12 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/group-related-enhancements/44357/5 "2016-05-17T12:12:19Z")

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Concur - showing members by default would be the #1 priority for us too

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### Author: ![jomaxro](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/jomaxro/32/126216_2.png) [@jomaxro](https://meta.discourse.org/u/jomaxro)
#### Post date: [17. Mai 2016 um 15:24 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/group-related-enhancements/44357/6 "2016-05-17T15:24:36Z")

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Request membership needs to be ablw to be disabled on a group by group basis. Last thing a group owner for a special group (like `@team` here) needs is to be bombarded with requests that won’t ever be granted.

Also agree that changing the landing page is priority #1.

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### Author: ![Mittineague](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/mittineague/32/114259_2.png) [@Mittineague](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Mittineague)
#### Post date: [17. Mai 2016 um 18:26 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/group-related-enhancements/44357/7 "2016-05-17T18:26:07Z")

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The way I see it what would be the better Group landing page depends.

If I’m a member of the group the chances are I’m more likely interested in posts.

If I’m not a member of the group the chances are I’m more curious to see what members belong to the group.

But short of some kind of “if member then” code I agree that showing members would be the better choice.

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### Author: ![watchmanmonitor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/watchmanmonitor/32/430970_2.png) [@watchmanmonitor](https://meta.discourse.org/u/watchmanmonitor)
#### Post date: [17. Mai 2016 um 20:10 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/group-related-enhancements/44357/8 "2016-05-17T20:10:48Z")

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I’m suprised there’s no mention of this Group enhancement:

> [@Make members of a group watch a category by default](https://meta.discourse.org/t/make-members-of-a-group-watch-a-category-by-default/22127):
>
> We have a private category, limited to a particular opt-in group of Discourse members for our organization. Say it’s “staff” – it’s not actually, but it’s along those lines. I want to make sure that all staff receive prompt notifications of discussions in that private category. We encourage them to set their category settings to “watching” but I don’t think many of them have. Under the category’s security settings, when I say “staff can create/reply/see” I’d love it if there were a way to sa…

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### Author: ![codinghorror](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/codinghorror/32/110067_2.png) [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [17. Mai 2016 um 20:52 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/group-related-enhancements/44357/9 "2016-05-17T20:52:49Z")

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Sure @techapj can you look into those two requests? Add them to your list.

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<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![scombs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/scombs/32/48616_2.png) [@scombs](https://meta.discourse.org/u/scombs)
#### Post date: [18. Mai 2016 um 00:40 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/group-related-enhancements/44357/10 "2016-05-18T00:40:19Z")

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Also could toggle the “Request Membership” link with “Leave Group” so users could remove themselves from group, with related group setting for, “Allow users to request/leave group membership.”

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### Author: ![jomaxro](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/jomaxro/32/126216_2.png) [@jomaxro](https://meta.discourse.org/u/jomaxro)
#### Post date: [18. Mai 2016 um 00:50 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/group-related-enhancements/44357/11 "2016-05-18T00:50:17Z")

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I’m not sure they should be the same setting. I can see times where members can leave a group, but shouldn’t be able to request membership, and vice-versa. I do agree the button should look the same/be located in the same spot, however.

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### Author: ![techAPJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/techapj/32/342990_2.png) [@techAPJ](https://meta.discourse.org/u/techAPJ)
#### Post date: [2. Juni 2016 um 11:43 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/group-related-enhancements/44357/12 "2016-06-02T11:43:10Z")

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> [@scombs](#):
>
> show group members (not posts) on the group landing page

This is now done via:

[https://github.com/discourse/discourse/commit/90a27f118fb239a0d4a9fd964bee86f827b055c3](https://github.com/discourse/discourse/commit/90a27f118fb239a0d4a9fd964bee86f827b055c3)

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<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![scombs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/scombs/32/48616_2.png) [@scombs](https://meta.discourse.org/u/scombs)
#### Post date: [3. Juni 2016 um 15:17 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/group-related-enhancements/44357/13 "2016-06-03T15:17:54Z")

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Thanks very much. The link to **[https://example.com/groups/groupname/](https://example.com/groups/groupname/)** shows members now.

However, the change broke all the links to the old members page such as **[https://example.com/groups/groupname/members](https://example.com/groups/groupname/members)**

Any chance we could get those links working again as a fallback?

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<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![techAPJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/techapj/32/342990_2.png) [@techAPJ](https://meta.discourse.org/u/techAPJ)
#### Post date: [3. Juni 2016 um 16:20 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/group-related-enhancements/44357/14 "2016-06-03T16:20:47Z")

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> [@scombs](#):
>
> Any chance we could get those links working again as a fallback?

Sure, done via:

[https://github.com/discourse/discourse/commit/92006fd344ad67ba93a28906a097caf93577a2b0](https://github.com/discourse/discourse/commit/92006fd344ad67ba93a28906a097caf93577a2b0)

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### Author: ![anon36484860](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b782af/32.png) [@anon36484860](https://meta.discourse.org/u/anon36484860)
#### Post date: [25. Oktober 2016 um 09:09 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/group-related-enhancements/44357/15 "2016-10-25T09:09:05Z")

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I would love to see a feature of a group description above the member list 🙂  
I am using the group feature for premium members of our community. that way visitors would learn how to get access to that group and what the benefits are 🙂

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### Author: ![tobiaseigen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/tobiaseigen/32/539204_2.png) [@tobiaseigen](https://meta.discourse.org/u/tobiaseigen)
#### Post date: [25. Oktober 2016 um 09:22 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/group-related-enhancements/44357/16 "2016-10-25T09:22:12Z")

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> [@anon36484860](#):
>
> I am using the group feature for premium members of our community.

Maybe you could use badges for this purpose?

But yes, generally speaking I agree it’s a good idea to provide a full name and description option for groups, which would go a long way to “promoting groups to full citizenship” alongside users and help people make sense of them.

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### Author: ![sam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/sam/32/102149_2.png) [@sam](https://meta.discourse.org/u/sam)
#### Post date: [28. Dezember 2017 um 00:56 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/group-related-enhancements/44357/17 "2017-12-28T00:56:18Z")

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@scombs given all the work @tgxworld did I think this should be closed, it is mostly solved now.

Can you do a new topic with any current gaps you still have?

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<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![sam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/sam/32/102149_2.png) [@sam](https://meta.discourse.org/u/sam)
#### Post date: [28. Dezember 2017 um 00:56 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/group-related-enhancements/44357/18 "2017-12-28T00:56:21Z")

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