Gather Tip: Streamline Group Selection (Publishing)

Are you a member of a large number of Gather Groups?

Does this make choosing the appropriate groups for publishing a difficult and tedious chore?

Would you like to be able to categorize the groups on the publishing page?

...and choose ONLY the correct groups for your content with a single keystroke?

Well, you can!

The example below illustrates a technique for choosing specific groups AUTOMATICALLY without having to hunt & peck through your group listing when publishing!

In this demonstration, only photography related groups are being chosen...while you sit back and relax!

YOU control what categories you place your groups in, and you can define an unlimited number of different configurations. Do you publish a lot of content on cooking? poetry? religion? politics? Now you can can have the appropriate groups for these categories selected for you automatically...with only a simple keystroke.

You'll never miss publishing to one of your groups again, and you'll also reduce the possibility of accidentally publishing to the wrong group(s)!

I have been using this technique successfully for several months, and it works incredibly well....saving me from the most dreaded part of the publishing process (well, one of them anyway!)...and most importantly, saving me a LOT of time. With this method I am able to automatically select groups on the publishing page based upon the group's subject, or topic. I define these groupings by assigning a specific keyboard command to each of my 'personal publishing categories'.

For example, Ctrl+p selects all photography groups, Ctrl+g checks off all general or 'publish anything' groups, etc. You can create any number of different publishing categories, and even combine categories to accommodate a wide variety of different requirements. Adding or removing groups is also a snap!

This is just one of the many advantages for using MACROS on Gather. A basic macro is a small program which executes a series of commands that you define, or record. Typically macros are used to perform tasks you do repetitively. Therefore, if you have a 'favorite' list of groups you publish to regularly, you can define a macro to select them all for you....quickly, easily, and without the hassle of manually picking them out one by one. Plus, you will also become a Gather Group leader's best friend, by avoiding off-topic posting of your content to their groups!

The best method for creating a macro is to download software that provides this capability. There are many of them available on the internet. Some are free, and others typically range in price from $19.95 - $39.95 USD. Almost all macro programs provide a free trial period of up to 30 days.

I have found the FREE programs to work just as well for most tasks on Gather.

Here are a few that I recommend, although there are many others available:

Windows Users

Macro XP 3.0 (Always FREE)

Macro Express (Free 30 day trial)

Macro Expert (Free 21 day trial)

AllKeys Macro (Free 30 day trial)

MAC Users

Use 'Automator' which is bundled with MAC OS X Tiger

For earlier versions of the MAC OS, use Keyboard Maestro (Unlimited Free Trial)

Creating a macro can be as easy as pressing 'record', and 'stop' on a tape recorder. This allows you to 'record' each of the groups you select on the publishing page. Then, when you want to publish to those groups again, pressing 'play' will repeat the same selections. You are able to do this over and over, and can record many different programs for any number of group combinations.

Macros can duplicate every possible way to choose groups on Gather. This includes keyboard commands, mouse actions, and a combination of the two. Each method has its own advantages and disadvantages:

 
Keyboard Commands

On the group selection page, you are able to use the TAB key and the SPACEBAR to navigate and check or uncheck all publishing options and groups. Therefore, you may set up macros which record these keyboard commands, and play them back when you publish. This is the quickest and easiest macro to create.

Disadvantages: Occasionally, the order of groups on the second publishing page can change, especially when you join a quantity of new groups at one time. When this occurs, you must re-record your macros to accommodate the new page layout. Fortunately, this is fairly simple, and only takes a minute or two.

 
Mouse Actions

This macro records the position of your mouse as you select groups or other publishing options. These macros are also quick and easy to create. However, they have a few additional considerations, outlined below.

Disadvantages: The same as the keyboard method above, but you must ensure that the publishing page is in the same position on your screen each time you 'play' the appropriate macro.

 
Search and Select

This macro takes longer to create, but will never need to be replaced when the position of groups on the publishing page changes. Rather than using the mouse or tab key to locate groups, you perform a search and select based upon the group title.

Disadvantages: More setup time required initially, and requires that group names do not change over time.

 
Note: Most macro programs offer many powerful options (even the free ones), and the range of choices on their respective menus can be confusing. Therefore, just remember the basics. A macro is essentially nothing more than a tape recorder. Thus, you only need to look for, and use, the 'Record', 'Stop', and 'Play' buttons.