I wasn't planning on adding groups until we had enough people around here to make it worthwhile. But I wanted to set up a group for my neighborhood. As long as I was doing that, it was trivial to add on general groups support.; For now, group creation is restricted to admins because I don't want the site filling up with a lot of empty groups. If you'd like to start a group, just leave a comment here and we'll discuss it.

There are three types of groups:

1) Neighborhoods. These are private groups set up for a physcial neighborhood, usually a subdivision but it doesn't have to be. These groups are invite only to keep them as private as possible. So far there's only one and that's for Georgetown, where I live. If you'd like to set one up for your neighborhood, let me know. Because these are private, I don't mind so much if they aren't active as visitors won't see them anyway.

2) SIGs. Special Interest Groups are just like the name implies. You can form a group about anything you like. I started one for people who love science fiction, fantasy, and horror to kick things off. If you have a hobby you want to discuss, leave a note here to start a group. Because these groups are public, I ask that you don't start a group unless you're willing to spend some time posting in it and keeping it active. If you just want to make an occasional post here and there, just use the forums. Having a bunch of empty groups will just look bad to people checking us out.

3) General private. If you need a private place for discussion, let me know either with a comment here or contact me privately and I can set one up for you.

It's probably going to be a while before this feature really gets used. There just aren't enough of us to be breaking the conversation into smaller groups, yet. But they are there and waiting when we're ready.

Michelle