Be an Active Group Member!

Quite a few of us are in groups or will be in groups. Groups are SB users who all have a common goal or theme, such as "Washi Tape Lovers" or CPG (cheap postage group). 

Image: Lovely Swappers-R-Us Group Page

 

On a group page, there is a title (Lovely Swappers-R-Us), a "theme" (what the group is about,) how old the group is, and in blue, the group forum.

In the body text, the group founders can put in whatever. LSRUS tells about the group in the first paragraph and specifies the group requirements. On the right side is an option to leave the group. I have the option to create swaps in LSRUS. Underneath is the list of Group Swaps, which can only be joined by group members.

Groups are a fun way to find swaps with like-minded people who often have specific ratings or requirements! I don't usually have to put any guidelines for ratings on those because the group rules weed out people to begin with.

Problem is... a LOT of people are NOT active group swap joiners! So there's big groups and few or no swaps ever happening, and if they are started, no one joins.

Part of this is limited ability to invite people to create swaps. It's a big responsibility because one poor host can ruin the reputation of the ENTIRE group. Ability to create swaps is often held tightly to a few original founding people for that reason. The other issue is a feature I didn't even realise existed for a few years! It's e-mail preferences for group swaps.

How to set up e-mail reminders on Group swaps:

Go to profile -> Update Profile -> Groups 

The groups you are part of should each be listed.

Click an option to receive an e-mail for each group. I only have e-mail notifications for group swaps being created. Other people have both options or neither option.

Unless the group admin sends out e-mails to remind people to check their group swaps, you won't see them in the general "Find Swaps" search! And many hosts, I have to tell you, have 'real life' stuff. This is not a job. It takes a lot of effort to host, much less to admin a group and remember to send out various reminders and resolve user disputes and all sorts of things.

Other ways to be an active group member:

Check out the Group Forums!

For the LSRUS example, the Group Forum link is right at the top under the Founded date. The group forum has all kinds of topics and people can start their own, too. The admin puts up a monthly sticky-post topic, meaning it stays at the top, for Wish Lists. There's no official swap set for these. If you have something that someone wants, you are free to send it or not. 

What is in YOUR groups' forums?

Go find out! But make sure to check back because there are no notifications for forum comments. 

Please help keep our groups active by joining a swap now and then. <3

E-mail Preferences, User Alerts, + What Doesn't Alert Us

There are optional e-mail alerts and there are things that don't alert hosts/users at all. It's important to know that some things are not always seen by a host and can't be replied to in-line or in a thread. You aren't being ignored!

Image: Swap-bot.com Email Preferences

Swap-Bot E-mail Preferences

Click "edit profile." Go to the "Preferences" section. It will say "Edit Your Preferences."

This is where you can select which e-mail alerts you receive. I already get a LOT of e-mail, which is overwhelming for me. I only selected to be notified when someone responds to my rating and when someone comments on my profile. Otherwise, I would never see either of those!

SB automatically e-mails me to say "It's time to start swappin'!" and to remind me when a swap I'd signed up for is approaching (even though that looks like an e-mail option that I don't have selected? idk.) 

But you'll see that e-mail options only cover FOUR categories. 

There is another that none of us get e-mails or in-SB alerts for:

Comments on swaps. 

Image: a screenshot of a comment on a swap.

lol check that out. that comment on the bottom of the swap, in the Swap Discussion section?

yeah.

NO ONE is ever gonna get an alert for that. Not the winners of this bonus envelope giveaway, not me (the host,) not anyone.

So if you leave a comment on a swap, there's not much chance someone will see it- or see it *in time* before the swap is assigned!

hahahahhaaaa

please just directly message the host.

one thing: 

If you see spam or bots posting a lot of weird messages, especially with links, or a normal-sounding username but with a comment that has nothing to do with the swap topic, MESSAGE THE HOST. We are the only ones who can delete these comments. And it's very important: the more spam is allowed, the more spam is 'ranked' as important and the more people are exposed to malicious spam and bots.

Help us keep swap-bot safe for everyone!