API access and documentation

Group and content restrictions

Groups.io bounce handling

Keyboard shortcuts for desktop browsers

Member badges

Mobile app

Standard group email addresses

Topic icons

Topic threading algorithm

Groups.io provides an application programming interface (API) that is open to anyone who uses Groups.io. The API is documented at https://groups.io/api. You can also join the api@beta.groups.io group.

! Important: The API is under active development and subject to change.

When a group message that is sent to a member through email cannot be delivered, the nondelivery event is called a bounce.

Groups.io deals with these types of bounces:

• Soft bounce: Caused by a problem that is expected to resolve itself automatically after some period of time (such as a temporarily unavailable email server)
• Hard bounce: Caused by an issue that would require human intervention to fix (such as an invalid email address or a full inbox)

Sometimes, it is difficult for Groups.io to determine whether a bounce is soft or hard. In this situation, the system treats it as a soft bounce.

Note: Bouncing affects all groups the member is subscribed to through the Groups.io account that the bouncing email address is registered with. Effectively, the member’s Groups.io account is bouncing.

The overall bounce handling process in Groups.io is:

Step 1: On receiving a bounce for the first time, the system tries to determine—through a combination of the type of bounce and the frequency of the bouncing—whether the account is bouncing often enough and seriously enough to require action.

Step 2: If action is required, the system sets the account’s status to Bouncing, stops sending group emails to it, and begins trying to reach the account holder via bounce probe emails notifying them that the account is bouncing.

Step 3: If the account holder:

• Responds to one of the bounce probes: The account is taken out of bounce handling and goes back to normal.
• Does not respond to any bounce probes within a certain period of time: The system sets the account’s status to Bounced and stops sending emails of any kind to it.

When an account is Bouncing or Bounced, the system takes these actions:

• Logs entries in the activity logs of all the account’s groups stating that the account is bouncing, to inform group moderators.
• Displays a blue B (for a Bouncing account) or a red B (for a Bounced account) next to the account’s email address in the member lists of all its groups.
• Includes the account in the “Bouncing” member lists of its groups. (The account continues to appear in the regular member lists as well.)

The affected members are notified by email that they are Bouncing or Bounced. They are also given a chance to “unbounce” their accounts through a special page at the Groups.io site whenever they are logged in.

! Important: Group owners and moderators cannot do anything to “unbounce” members’ accounts. Members must address the underlying problem themselves.

In desktop browsers, you can use these keyboard shortcuts to navigate around some Groups.io pages:

• Ctrl + Shift + ?
  Displays a popup listing all the Groups.io keyboard shortcuts. Press Esc to dismiss the popup.
• Ctrl + g
  Displays a popup that you can use to navigate to one of your groups. You can start entering the group’s name in the text field at the top or use the up and down arrow keys (or your mouse’s scrollwheel if it has one) to move up and down the list. Press Enter or click the mouse button to select the group. Press Esc to dismiss the popup if you do not make a selection.
• Ctrl + Shift + f
  On a group page that has a search box, puts the focus in the Search box. If the page does not have a Search box, this shortcut has no effect.
• Ctrl + /
  Displays a ”quick actions” popup that you can use to go directly to a specific group page (the list varies depending on what page you are currently viewing). You can start entering a page’s name in the text field at the top or use the up and down arrow keys (or your mouse’s scrollwheel if it has one) to move up and down the list. Press Enter or click the mouse button to select the page. Press Esc to dismiss the popup if you do not make a selection.

The list below describes the colored badges that might appear in the entries in the member list and on other group pages (such as the Pending Messages page and Your Groups home page).

On the group’s website, you can hover your pointer over a badge to see its meaning.

Note: Members with no badge in their entries are allowed to post according to the group’s message moderation setting.

A (Attachment Size Limited): In the Advanced Preferences panel on their Subscription page, the member has set a maximum size for attachments that are emailed to them.

B (Bouncing): Groups.io has stopped delivering group messages to this address but is attempting to contact it by sending bounce probes.

B (Bounced): Groups.io has given up trying to send anything to this email address.

Claimed by [name] (Claimed by [moderator name]): This pending member has been claimed by the moderator listed in the badge. Note: This badge appears only when the member is pending approval.

F (Following Only): In the Advanced Preferences panel on their Subscription page, the member has selected the Following Only option.

FF (Following Only With First Message Also): In the Advanced Preferences panel on their Subscription page, the member has selected the Following Only option and the First Message Also checkbox.

M (Moderated): The member’s posting privilege is set to Override: moderated. All messages posted by this member are moderated, regardless of the group’s or an individual topic’s moderation setting.

MF (Moderate First Message): The member’s posting privilege is set to Override: moderate the first message of every topic this person starts. The first message in every topic that is started by this member is moderated, regardless of the group’s or an individual topic’s moderation setting.

Mod (Moderator): The member is a moderator of the group. Note: Groups can have more than one moderator.

MT (Moderate Started Topics): The member’s posting privilege is set to Override: moderate all messages of every topic this person starts. All messages posted in every topic that is started by this member are moderated, regardless of the group’s or an individual topic’s moderation setting.

NC (Not Confirmed): A prospective member has requested to join the group by email or through the group’s website, and they need to respond to the confirmation email message sent by Groups.io or log in to Groups.io. After the member is confirmed, this badge is removed. Note: In a Premium or Enterprise group, owners and moderators can directly confirm NC members. If the Premium or Enterprise group is a restricted group, approving a pending member who is NC confirms their membership automatically.

NMM (New Member Moderated): The number following this badge is the number of approved posts (1, 2, 3, or 4) required before the member is automatically moved off new member moderation.

NM (Non Member): The person who posted the message is not a member of the group. Note: This badge appears only in groups that allow nonmembers to post. See Message policy settings.

NP (Not Allowed to Post): The member’s posting privilege is set to Override: not allowed to post. This member cannot post any messages, regardless of the group’s or an individual topic’s moderation setting.

Owner (Owner): The member is a designated owner of the group. Note: Groups can have more than one owner.

P (Posting Always Allowed): The member’s posting privilege is set to Override: not moderated. No messages posted by this member are moderated, regardless of the group’s or an individual topic’s moderation setting.

R (Auto Follow Replies): In the Advanced Preferences panel on their Subscription page, the member has selected the Auto Follow Replies checkbox.

RI (Reverify Initiated): See Reverification FAQ on the Groups.io website.

RS (Reverify Successful): See Reverification FAQ on the Groups.io website.

A Groups.io mobile app is available for the iOS and Android platforms. On your mobile device, go to the Apple App Store or Google Play, as applicable, and search for “groups.io”.

Tip: Join the Apps subgroup of the Groups.io Beta group to keep up with news about the app or report any issues with it.

All groups have several standard email addresses to which group members can send empty email messages for different purposes. Through these email addresses, members can join or leave the group or change certain subscription options by email instead of having to go to the group’s website.

! Important: After someone sends a message to most of these email addresses, they receive a confirmation request message from Groups.io. They must respond to that confirmation request to complete the requested action.

Note: Substitute the group’s actual name for groupname in the addresses.

These icons or badges might appear on topic subject lines in a group's message archive.

Icon or badge	Description
	The topic is locked.
	The topic is moderated.
	The topic is “sticky” (that is, pinned to the top of the group’s Topics page).
	The topic contains attachments.
	The topic’s Reply To setting is “Reply to topic followers only.”
	The poll is closed. This icon appears only on the group’s Polls page.
	The number in the circle varies and indicates the number of messages within the topic, including the original message that created the topic. Topics with only one message (that is, they have no replies) have no number indicator.
Special	This topic is designated a special notice. This badge appears only when the topic is pending approval.
Claimed by [name]	This topic or message has been claimed by the moderator listed in the badge. This badge appears only when the topic or message is pending approval.
Moderator Edited	This topic or message has been edited by a moderator who then saved the edited version without approving it. This action also results in the appearance of the “Claimed by” badge. This badge appears only when the topic or message is pending approval.

Groups.io uses this algorithm to thread messages into topics:

• If the message contains threading information (a References and/or In-Reply-To field in the message header that matches the ID of a message in an existing topic), and the subject line matches the subject line of the referenced message, add that message to the topic.
• When a message does not contain any threading information:
  • If the message was posted on the group’s website through the New Topic function (that is, it was not entered as a reply), assume it is the start of a new topic.
  • If the subject starts with Re:, look for a message with a matching subject that was posted within the last 30 days.
  • If the subject does not start with Re:, look for a message with a matching subject that was posted within the last 2 days.

When comparing subject lines, the algorithm ignores:

• Prefixes such as Re: that often are automatically added to replies.
• The group’s subject tag.
• Hashtags that are added to or removed from the subject line.

Note: Group owners and moderators can merge separate topics into one topic or split an existing topic into separate topics.