Log back into BCshare and scroll down the "Groups" link in the right menu to "Manage Groups".

This brings up your Groups page; the top half of this page lists all of your Campus Groups that have not yet been turned into BCshare Groups. Here you'll find the Campus Group you created in Agora.

To create a BCshare Group, simply click on the "Add to BCshare" link located to the right of each Campus Group.

PLEASE NOTE: Class lists for faculty members are automatically added to the top half of the BCshare Groups page. To add a class list as a BCshare Group, click on the coresponding "Add to BCshare" link. 

PLEASE NOTE: Members of your Campus Groups are automatically added to your group when you click on this link. An email is sent to everyone in that Group with a link to the Group page, inviting them to join.

Sample email text reads, "Hi. This is David Ossian. I'm the owner of 'Shakespeare and Sports' and I welcome you to join our group. Please see the link and message below. Click here to join: [link to Group home page]".

As an administrator of the Group, you will also receive an email updating your account: "Your BCshare account has been updated and you are now an administrator for the group [Group Name Here]". The email also includes a link to the new Group page.

For more information about the how Groups work, roll over the question mark icon next to "My Groups", and the following tooltip will appear:

PLEASE NOTE: Once you add a Campus Group to BCshare, any changes in the original Campus Group will not be reflected in the affiliated BCshare group. For example, if you change the membership list in Campus Groups or delete the original Campus Group, you will have to do the same in BCshare: change the member list or delete the Group altogether (this can be done only if you are the Manager of the group).

Here's how your Group dashboard will initially look. Please note the identifying "Group" icon in the upper left, as well as an additional drop-down menu list below it. With this menu, you can create the different content types for your Group: Wiki Main Page, Forums, Albums, and Blogs; as well as control all the Group Settings.

You can add a description and welcome message by clicking on the "Edit" tab. You can also email all of your Group members using the "E-mail" tab; please use this feature sparingly.

PLEASE NOTE: You cannot change the name of the group inside BCshare. The Group Settings tab gives you control over your Group membership, allowing you to add or delete members, track their activities, change the look and feel of your Group Theme, and manage all your Group content.

How to add members, both BC and non-BC, to your group in BCshare.

You can add members to your Group after it has been added to BCshare from Campus Groups by doing the following:

Go to the "Group Settings Tab" and scroll down to select "Members".  The resulting screen is a list of all the members of the current Group. 

Select the "Add BC Users" tab. The resulting screen allows you to search the BC user database to choose whom you'd like to add to your group.

Select the "Add Non-BC Users" tab, then the "Create A New Non-BC User" link, to send emails and configure passwords to allow users outside of Boston College to join your group.

Once you have completed the process by filling out the required fields and hitting the "Save" button, the newly added user will then receive an email invitation with a link that, when clicked, will take them to BCshare and automatically fill in the email address and password you have provided. They will be asked to create a new password in order to log in to BCshare.

PLEASE NOTE: Once a non-BC user is added, they will have limited access on BCshare and will have no access to any other BC websites or applications.

Group Notifications
In BCshare, by default, you will not receive any email notification when new content has been posted to a group you're a member of. You can change this by selecting "Edit settings/theme" from the "Settings" menu in the upper-right corner. On the "Settings" page, check the box shown below:

Group notifications can also be customized in greater detail if required.

If you'd like to subscribe to email notifications for a specific group, you can access this capability in two ways. You can click the "customized" link as shown above, which will allow you to pick and choose which groups you'd like to subscribe to. Alternatively, when you are in a particular group space, you can select "Notifications" from the "Group Settings" menu.

For more information and help tips, please go to the BCshare "FAQ and Getting Help" page.