Using Google Groups as a Collaborative Inbox

Google Groups can be used as a collaborative inbox for group members within the Google Groups interface (groups.google.com) to organize, reply to, and assign messages/conversations to group members. A collaborative inbox can be used in the same way as a shared email account but is self-created.

Collaborative Inboxes can:

  • Assign responsibility for messages/conversations to group member(s)
  • Set a resolved status for messages/conversations – complete, duplicate, or no action needed
  • Search for messages/conversations according to resolution status or assignee

To use your group as a collaborative inbox:

  1. Sign into Google Groups.
  2. Click My Groups and choose the desired group.
  3. In the left menu, click Group Settings.
  4. Under Enable additional Google Groups features, select Collaborative Inbox.

Note: This functionality is only available for use with Ad-hoc Google Groups, not College Lists or Course Lists.

Using a Collaborative Inbox

Assign a conversation or topic

You can assign responsibility for a conversation or topic to yourself or another group member.

  1. Sign into Google Groups
  2. Click My Groups and choose the desired group
  3. Choose an option:
    • To assign a single conversation, hover over the conversation and click the box that appears
    • To assign multiple conversations, point to each conversation and check the box that appears in the first column next to the poster’s name
  4. From the menu that appears at the top of the conversations, choose an option:
    • To assign the conversation to yourself, click the Assign to me icon
    • To assign the conversation to another group member, click the Assign to someone icon and enter the email address of the person. Add a note to the person if you like.
  5. If the conversation is assigned to you and you want to remove the assignment, in the top menu, click the Remove assignment icon.
  6. To view conversations within a group that have been assigned to you:
    • In the search bar at the top, click the Down arrow
    • Click Assigned to > Assigned to me
    • Click Search
    • Or, in the searchbox next to Conversations, type assignee:me and hit return

Resolve a topic or conversation

  1. Sign into Google Groups
  2. Click My Groups and choose the desired group
  3. Choose an option:
    • To resolve a single conversation – point to it and check the box that appears
    • To resolve multiple conversations – point to each conversation and check the box that appears next to each one
  4. At the top, choose an option:
    • If the conversation is completed, click the Mark as complete icon
    • If the conversation requires no further action, click the No action needed icon
    • If the conversation is a duplicate of another, click the Mark as duplicate icon and enter the URL of the duplicate conversation

Use labels for organization

You can organize topics with labels. Unlike labels in Gmail, a label assigned to a conversation in Groups is seen by anyone who can view that conversation (e.g., members of the Google group).

Enable labels

  1. Sign into Google Groups
  2. Click My Groups and choose the desired group
  3. On the left, click Group settings and under Shared labels, check Enable shared labels for this group

Create a label

  1. In the left menu, point to Labels and click on the three vertical dots, then on Add label
  2. Label names cannot include spaces. Enter a label name and click Add.

Apply a label to one or more conversations

  1. For a single conversation – select the conversation. For multiple conversations – point to each conversation and check the box next to each item.
  2. In the menu on the upper right, click the Labels icon and check the box next to the label you want to add

Delete a label

  1. In the left menu, click the down arrow next to Labels. Point to the label you want to delete and click the vertical dots. Click on Delete label.
  2. Click Delete

This removes the label from your list of labels but conversations with the label assigned to them will keep it unless you remove it.

Filter conversations

  1. Sign into Google Groups
  2. Click My Groups and choose the desired group
  3. At the top, in the search bar, click the Down arrow
  4. Use the search field to filter conversations by using the following options:
    • User who posted to the conversation
    • Conversation subject
    • Words contained in the conversation
    • Conversations posted between a given start and end date
    • Conversations with attachments
    • Conversations marked as duplicate
    • Conversations marked as complete
    • Conversations marked as no action needed
    • Conversations assigned to you, assigned to any user, or not assigned to anyone
    • Whether the conversation is or isn’t resolved
    • Label applied to conversations
  5. Click Search

Sending from a Google Group address in Gmail

Those managing a Google Group might want to send email from the group address to members or non-members without having to leave their Gmail account. This can be achieved by allowing your Lafayette Gmail account to send mail as the Google Group. It is important, however, to ensure that your Google Group posting policies are properly configured.

Tagged in: