Seeking an Online Community/Groups Service

March 26, 2006 9:36 PM

I have a group of people and we are seeking an online calendar and email service. We are looking for something where we can send an email to one address and it will be sent to the rest of the group and/or archived on the website. Also, looking for a service that has a calendar that we can post upcoming events. (I am familiar with Yahoo Groups, but seeking an alternative solution.)

We would prefer a free service, but will consider a paid service too. It also must be private. If it has other features that would be a plus, but the email mailing list and group calendar are essential.

Any and all suggestions welcome.

posted by marc10 to computers & internet (14 comments total)

Basecamp and Chirp are two popular such products.

MS Project, though not browser-based, is also widely used in the corporate world, especially where Outlook is used.
posted by ChasFile at 9:42 PM on March 26, 2006

Creating a private group in Google Groups would probably fit your email requirements.
posted by chrismear at 10:01 PM on March 26, 2006

.Mac groups should work as well. Here's some info from the Apple mac.com website:

March 7, 2006
Though you must be a .Mac member to set up and maintain .Mac groups, membership is not required to belong to a group. All someone needs is a .Mac ID (available through a one-page signup process). The ID comes with a free trial .Mac subscription; after the trial expires, the ID is theirs to keep, and it can be used for iChat, the iTunes Music Store, and the Apple Store online.

Members of a .Mac group can gain access to the group's iDisk online storage via browsers, whether they're using a Mac or a PC. The URL http://groups.mac.com leads to the group(s) you belong to, and the iDisk icon in the left column will produce a browser view of a group's iDisk, where members can upload files as well as download them.

As mentioned in a previous blog entry, we're working to take advantage of some emerging web technologies (often called AJAX) to deliver better user experiences, like the ability to hide and show group member contact information without leaving the group page. The browsers we recommend handle those technologies well and define for us what's possible in the "make it better on the web" department, regardless of the computer being used. (By the way, if you're using a Mac and iLife '06 you can publish group web pages with iWeb by using the left-most pane in the iWeb Inspector and checking "Publish to a group.")

posted by markmillard at 10:27 PM on March 26, 2006

ok, thanks for the ideas guys. unfortunately none of these fit the bill.

1. basecamp - does not seem to support email mailing list feature

2. chirp - not web-based (i forgot to mention, i am looking for a web-based service)

3. ms-project - see #2, also needs to be mac-compatible

4. google groups - has no calendar feature

5. .mac groups - they don't have a true group calendar -- from what i can tell they don't allow members of the group to add/edit calender events


if anyone is familiar with either .mac or basecamp and can correct me, please do.

i look forward to hearing any other ideas people may have.
posted by marc10 at 11:47 PM on March 26, 2006

Does it have to be free?
We're trialling Vbulletin which has a calendar (and a forum) and I think but I'm not sure, an email service for our social group.
posted by b33j at 12:15 AM on March 27, 2006

no, it does not have to be free. but i am looking for a web-based (hosted) service. it seems like with Vbulletin, you have to install it on your own server.
posted by marc10 at 12:19 AM on March 27, 2006

I found CommunityZero which might work, but am still eager to hear about any other ideas.
posted by marc10 at 12:47 AM on March 27, 2006

I've a feeling that airset.com will do what you need but I use it on a casual basis as a single user.

Sign-up and usage are free, charges kick in if you use the mobile/cell phone syncing options.

From one of the support pages:

Webmail Shortcut

We've made it easy for you to send a message or other AirSet content directly to your friends and colleagues. All replies to these emails will go directly to your primary email address.

You can also use AirSet's addressing tools or your own email client by using the Send a Message tool on a group's main page.

Using Another Computer?

AirSet messaging gives you access to your address book plus a way to send email from your own account in one quick step.

Addressing Your Message

Click on the To: button to select recipients from your contacts or groups. You can always enter email addresses directly into the box.

Keep Your Address List Private

When you click 'Hide Recipient List', each person receiving your email will see only their own address in the To field.
posted by ceri richard at 1:03 AM on March 27, 2006

You might try invisionfree.com. This is a site that will let you start your own free forum, based on IPB (Invision Power Board) which is quite similar to vBulletin.

I'm pretty sure it has a calendar feature, where users can add their own events/dates.

Regarding email, you can set it up so that you post your events or messages or whatever to a given forum and then all the members subscribe to that forum so that they receive email notifications on new posts or replies. It's not exactly automatic but it will work. This will also foster discussion, in that users can carry on threads like in any forum, if that sort of thing is important.
posted by Rhomboid at 1:38 AM on March 27, 2006

I should clarify that "it's not exactly automatic" means that users would have to click on the "subscribe to this topic" and/or "subscribe to this forum" links first, but after that they will automatically receive an email any time there is a new post, and the email will contain the full text of the post (if so configured.) So it can be used like both a mailing list and a forum at the same time.
posted by Rhomboid at 1:41 AM on March 27, 2006

If you don't mind it being a non-american service, you could try Groupcare. Seems to fit your requirements.
posted by bering at 7:09 AM on March 27, 2006

As it stands in Basecamp, messaging is tied to projects. But then, so is the calendar (and everything else), so you'll have to go through that anyway.

Once you start a new project, you can assign people to it, set up milestone dates, post to-do lists, manage assets and deliverables, schedule resources, upload files, post messages, comment on messages or files or anything else, share files (the "writeboard" thing, which is actually pretty cool and simplifies the hell out of version control) and on and on and also, of course, email everybody associated with the project.

From the dashboard, select "create new project" on the right. Once you've done that, it should appear on the dashboard under that link. Click on it, and then click the "Messages" tab, and go from there.

There's a free trial so you can give it a shot and see if it suits your needs. It is obviously more enterprise-focused than online-community focused, so YMMV. HTH.
posted by ChasFile at 7:35 AM on March 27, 2006

thanks again. you guys are keeping me busy!

1. airset.com - does not seem to have a mailing list feature

2. invisionfree.com - can't find a reference to the calednar feature and this is really an online forum for discussions, not really a group service at all

3. Groupcare - portions of this service are not in English



Sounds like I may have to resort to Yahoo Groups...yuk!
posted by marc10 at 11:18 AM on March 27, 2006

Have a loot at Joyent.
posted by Mike C. at 12:22 PM on March 27, 2006