Moderator's Guide

MeetingWeb 2.0 Moderator's Guide

Overview

MeetingWeb gives moderators tools to shape, refine, and extend collaboration, on-the-fly from any web browser via simple forms and buttons. Moderators can add or remove users, user groups and other moderators from their meetings at any time. They can restrict topics, screen comments, re-order comments and topics, enter and edit user-selectable keywords, delete or retitle comments and summaries, and copy or move any number of comments individually or in groups from one meeting to another.
As a moderator, you can set each meeting independently to fit the style of interaction and level of control best suited to the meeting's goals. A brainstorming meeting, for example, may begin in a free form way with limited moderation or no moderator restructuring. Such a meeting can be linked to a more structured meetings where the ideas from the first meeting are reordered, refined and linked to relevant documents or web sites. A customer service meeting may be highly structured and screened to give users intructions that are clear and easy to locate while at the same time giving them the ability to send questions linked directly to relevant service topics or subtopics. Whatever the level of moderation, MeetingWeb gives your users the sense of control they need to select, search and view meeting content in the way they find most helpful.
Every moderated comment retains the original author's name and receives an additional "modified" tag listing the most recent moderator's name.
NOTE: Every Moderator page (Set up Meeting, Moderation and, Reorder Topics) contains incontext help. Just click on the pages help button, in-context links, or scroll down the page to see the detailed instructions.

Becoming a Moderator: Setting Moderation Level and User Access

Becoming a Moderator
The initial moderator(s) for a meeting are assigned by the MeetingWeb administrator when the meeting is created. [Generally this is done using the MeetingWeb Administrator application shipped with MeetingWeb or via a custom Meeting Administrator application] Once you are listed as a moderator, you can add other moderators at any time using the Set up meeting button. Meeting moderator/administrators can create additional meetings as needed.
How do you know if you've been listed as a moderator of a meeting? A Set up meeting button and Reorder topics button appear on your Meeting View Pages. A Moderate Button appears on your Comment View pages.
Participants and Guests do not see these buttons on their screens. You set the level of Moderaton [link] (restricted, directed, or screened), how closely you wish to control what is posted and where it is posted using the Setup Meeting Command.
Back to top
Back to section head
Unmoderated Meetings
If no moderator has been assigned to the meeting by the MeetingWeb administrator, the meeting is unmoderated. The Setup Meeting and Moderate buttons will not appear on any user's pages. Any user who meets the system's registration requirements will be able to post and reply to any comment and to start a new topic. In an unmoderated meeting, only the creator of a comment will be able to delete it and then only if no replies have yet to be posted to that comment. Only the administrator can reset an unmoderated meeting to "moderated."
Back to top
Back to section head
Access to your Meeting
Making your meeting easy to find
Put a link to your meeting(s) on a simple web page with a simple address. This way your users will not have to remember and possibly mistype a more complex meeting URL. A Meeting entry web page template is available to MeetingWeb customers. The MeetingWeb Administrator application gives registered users a listing and links to all the meetings in which they are enrolled.
Making it simple to register and enter
Whenever a user selects a link to your meeting or types the meeting address, a message is displayed asking for a user name and password. Unless your meeting has been set to allow anonymous "guests", your users will have to register on the server running Meeting Web or use a name and password assigned by the meeting administrator. On your entry/directory page, you can publish an anonymous name and password pair (provided by the meeting administrator) letting any user access your meeting with or without posting privileges.
Your meeting entry page can also have links to meeting registration, meeting guidelines and background information. Encourage your users to add the address (URL) of either your meeting entry page or your meeting to their browser "bookmarks" ("hotlist" or "favorite places") to simplify return visits.
The direct access web address of your meeting is of the form, "http://www.domain name.com/newsbin/meetingview?meeting=meeting category.meetingname"
Making meeting visits efficient for you and your users

Encourage your users to register to better manage their meeting experience. If your users are registered, user directories or files are set up to hold their meeting preferences, allowing them to control the number and arrangement of meeting comments downloaded to their machines.

Encourage your participants to use the summary field, or to write informative first sentences in their comments to make the default conversation view more useful to everyone.

Set keywords and remind your users to use them. Use the Moderation command to edit and assign keywords to comments that need keywords.

Remind users to set their meeting Preferences to suit their needs, to use the Expand/Collapse topic arrows and buttons, Show All/All [checked] buttons, search and multiple comment views, multiple browser window views, comment persistence settings, export and other features to make their experience more efficient and satisfying.

Reorder topics to give prominence to the most important topics
Use automatic e-mail notification of meeting activity
Back to top
Back to section head

Setting up your Moderated Meeting

The First Time
Your meeting administrator will give you a meeting address (URL), a meeting entry page URL or access to a script for creating a set of meetings. From your web browser, access your meeting by typing the direct or indirect address (URL) to your meeting. Sign in with your MeetingWeb user name and password and the opening, Meeting View page of your meeting will appear.
From the Meeting View Page click on the Setup Meeting button to display options which apply to the entire meeting:
Re-naming your meeting
You can edit the default name listed in this field. Your new meeting name will replace the default name on all MeetingWeb page headings. Your editing changes will not effect the program administrator-assigned name used in the code and in the meeting URL and listed in the Set up meeting page.
Back to top
Back to section head
Setting links from your meeting to other web pages
You have the option of having up to three hypertext links (2.0) appear on the top of every Meeting View page. Common links are to meeting guidelines, participant home pages, meeting resource pages, or other meetings. You can change these links at any time. Unless your link is on the same server as MeetingWeb, include the full URL beginning with "http://"..." For links on the same server as MeetingWeb, leave off the http:// protocol and the domain name (for ex. citysource.com) from the URL.
You can also add links to web sites within any comment you post on MeetingWeb. More details are available on the posting pages and in the 5 Minute Guide.
Back to top
Back to section head
Setting Keywords
Setting Keywords [Set up Meeting page] Keywords can speed and organize meeting information searches and displays. You can display a list of keywords for your users to select either one keyword from a pop-up menu (default) or multiple keywords from a scrolling list. To change the default, check the option to "allow multiple choices" and in the small text box, enter the number of keywords to be visible without scrolling. You can change your keyword list at any time. To assign different keywords to a particular comment, display the comment and click the Moderation button.
Back to top
Back to section head
Moderation Level
You click the radio button to change your level of moderation. If you select No moderation, the Moderate and Setup Meeting buttons will not appear in your meeting in the next session.
Options for all moderation levels
In every level of moderated meeting, any moderator can delete and reorder comments, copy or move them to another meeting, edit comment titles, summaries, and keywords, set e-mail notification, and change the level of moderation. "Guest" access at all levels restricts users to reading comments. Only "participants" and "moderators" can post.

Monitored meeting: the lightest level of moderation
In a simple moderated meeting all participants can start new topics as well as reply to topics.
Directed meeting: restricts topic creation to the moderators
The Start new topic button will not appear on the participants' pages. Participants are limited to replying to existing topics, which they do by displaying individual comments and pressing a comment's Post reply button.
Screened meeting: moderator must approve postings
As with directed meetings, only a moderator can create a topic. All replies to topics must by approved by a moderator before they are posted for all users to see. Only a meeting's moderators see suggested comments listed in their Meeting View.

Users see a Suggest button rather than a Post button at the bottom of every displayed comment.
All suggested comments appear labeled "unapproved" [U] in the moderator's view of the meeting.
When a moderator displays an "unapproved" comment, the bottom button bar has an "Approve" and a "Delete" button.
The moderator must click the Approve button before the the comment appears in the participants' and guests' views of the meeting. Pressing the Delete button removes the comment from the server running MeetingWeb.
Back to top
Back to top of this section
Setting who has access to your meeting
You can allow all or some subset of registered users access to your meeting. User names and passwords must match those created on the MeetingWeb server. You or your MeetingWeb administrator can assign user names and passwords for all participants or you can have them use the system registration function. Your meeting administrator can simplify this task by creating user groups so you will need only to type in the group name.
Note: An asterisk, "*" in an access field allows "open access" -- allowing anyone with password access to the server running MeetingWeb access to your meeting. If the server running MeetingWeb allows "anonymous" user access, anyone who knows that "anonymous" or "guest" user name and password, can access your meeting if you have set "open access" by typing "*" in the participant or guest access fields.

Setting who else can moderate
In the "Moderators" field, type each new moderator's MeetingWeb user name. Separate users' names by commas. Caution: Any moderator can delete (or add) any other moderator from a meeting. If you inadvertently delete your name, contact the meeting administrator to restore it.
Setting who can post: Participants
To restrict access, type only the user names or user groups (set by the administrator) of those you want to be able to post comments. For detailed instructions on giving and removing posting privileges to some groups, subgroups and individuals while restricting subgroups or individual members of admitted groups, see the in-context help on the Set up Meeting page or read the instructions below.
Setting who can read, but not post:
You restrict "anonymous" read access by deleting the "*' and typing in the names of user groups or individuals you wish to give access to you meeting. If you leave the "Guests" field blank, only the user and groups you have listed in "Participants" will be able to access your meeting. For detailed instructions on giving read access to some groups, subgroups and individuals while restricting subgroups or individual members of groups, see the in-context help on the Set up Meeting page or the instructions below:
Back to top
Back to section head
User Group Editing
Use a MeetingWeb Administrator application for efficient point and click management of overlapping users and groups. Alternatively see the Moderator's Guide in the MeetingWeb Help Desk for commands you can enter below to admit or exclude any single user or set of users from moderator, participant or guest access. In the appropriate text entry box for the access level, enter the user or group name. Separate each user or group name with a comma.

Admit all users [*]

Enter the "*" symbol.
Note: If anonymous users (such as "guest, " visitor," or "anonymous") have access to this server entering the admit all symbol"*" (the asterisk) gives them access to this meeting.
Admit a specific registered user

Enter the exact MeetingWeb user name for each individual.
(For example, "tbarry, hroth, clager")
Exclude a specific registered user [!]

Enter the individual's username preceded by the exclusion symbol, "!" (the exclamation mark).
(For example, "!mjones,!kbones")
Admit a specific group of users [&]

Enter the group name preceded by the group inclusion symbol, "&" the ampersand.
(For example, "&marketing,&sales" includes all registered users in both the marketing and sales groups.)
Exclude a subset of users from an admitted group

Enter the admit group symbol ("&") and the group name followed by the exclusion symbol ("!") and the individual or sub group to exclude.
Some examples:

"&sales,!jsmith,!&telemarketing," (Excludes from the sales group the subgroup of telmarketing sales as well as user, J Smith, who is in a sales group other than telemarketing.)

"*,!guest" admits everyone except those using the anonymous user account, "guest")
Back to top
Back to top of this section

Moderator-set E-mail Notification:Telling users when new comments are posted to your meeting:
What: As moderator, you can add or remove any user or user group to a list of users you want to be notified of new postings. The autogenerated message contains the meeting's full URL, the comment's author, title, keywords, and summary line.
Note: Any user can turn off e-mail notification set by the moderator by going to the meeting's Preference page and setting the "No" radio button for notification.
Where: Set up meeting page from MeetingView/ Set up meeting button
How:

Go to the "Send E-mail Notification" field
type or copy recipients' user names or user group names separated by commas. User group names are preceded by an ampersand, "&group name.

For users not registered on a mail system linked to MeetingWeb, enter their full e-mail addresses, including username and domain name. For example, "sshore@paradise.org."

To remove a user from your notification list, placing the "exclude symbol" ["!"] an exclamation point in front of the name.
Back to top
Back to top of this section

Editing and Re-organizing Your Meeting

MeetingWeb has many features for managing meeting content and context for both users and moderators. Users' controls affect only their individual view of a meeting: what comments persist, what current set of comments are displayed in their meeting, comment, search and export views and whether they are ordered by date or topic. (Users must be registered on the server running MeetingWeb for it to keep track of their individual preferences.)
Moderator controls affect the meeting content and context for all users. As a moderator you can delete any comment or topic, reorder the sequence of topics and the hierarchy of replies within topics, edit comment labels, and copy or move comments from one meeting to another.
Where: Moderation and Reorder Topic pages. The Moderate button is on the bottom button bar of every comment page. The Reorder topics button is on the bottom button bar of every Meeting View page. Only moderators see these buttons and the Set up meeting button.
Note: You will also find detailed instructions are at the bottom of the Moderation and Reorder topic pages. Just click the Help down button at the top of the page, any internal help links, or scroll down to the in-context help section at the bottom of the page.
Back to top
Back to top of this section
Deleting comment(s)
Where: the Moderation page
What: Comments you delete will be permanently erased from the server. A warning message will be displayed first asking you to confirm the deletion.
Note: Authors can always delete their their own comments if no replies have been posted to them, in which case a Delete button will appear only in the author's View of that comment.
How:

Display the comment you want to delete.
If you are the comment's author as well as the moderator, you'll see both a Delete button and a Moderate button.
Press the Moderate button to delete other users' comments.
On the Moderation page set the Delete radio button to On.
Set the pop-up menu to delete the current comment only or the current comment and all its replies.
Press the Do it button below to send your command to the server.
Back to top
Back to top of this section
Controlling Topics: Options

Alter the sequence of topics in the Meeting View list: Use the Reorder button at bottom of the Meeting View page.
Restrict topic creation: Use Set up Meeting Button at the top of the Meeting View page. On the Set up meeting page, set Moderation level to "Directed: only moderator can set up topics" or set screened moderation also restricts topic creation to moderators.
Convert replies to topics or reorder a topic's replies: Use the Moderate button.

You can allow participants to select more than one keyword at a time:

Click to add an "x" to the multiple keywords check box below the keywords field list.
In the field labeled, "Show "#"values in scroll-box", type the maximum number of keywords (up to 4) you will allow your users to assign to a single comment
Click the Save setup button to implement all your choices.
Back to top
Back to top of this section
Summary of Options for Controlling Topics

Alter the sequence of topics in the Meeting View list: Use the Reorder topics button at bottom of the Meeting View page.
Restrict topic creation: Use Set up Meeting Button at the top of the Meeting View page. + On the Set up meeting page, set Moderation level to "Directed: only moderator can set up topics" or to screened moderation which also restricts topic creation to moderators.
Convert a reply to a topic: Use the Moderate button.
Reorder a topic's replies: Use the Moderate button

Reorder Topics
MeetingWeb Topics are initially ordered and numbered sequentially according to their posting. Any moderator can change this default order of topics. Pressing the Reorder topic button displays a numbered list of topics as they are currently ordered. Each topic has a unique number between "1" and a number representing the total number of topics in the meeting.
To change a topic's order in a meeting

Enter a new # in the order column
Reassign the topic's previous number to another topic.
Reassign order numbers until there are no duplicates and no missing numbers in the sequence.
Note: A topic's number cannot exceed the total number of meeting topics. Reorder topics according to their creation date Press the "Default order" button. Errors and suggested solutions will be displayed if your reordered submission has duplicate numbers, missing numbers or numbers exceeding the total number of topics.
Back to top
Back to top of this section
Convert a reply comment (with or without its replies) into a new topic. (Use Moderate Button)

Select and display the comment.
Press the Moderate button to display the Moderation Commands page +Note: To retain the hierarchy of replies to this reply , setting the Reorder pop-up menu to this comment and all its replies.
Click on the radio button labeled, "Start a new topic with this comment."
Click the Do it button to execute the command. The new topic will go to the end of the topic list. Use the Reorder topic button to move it up the list of topics in Meeting View.
Back to top
Back to top of this section

Reposition a topic or reply comment (Use Moderate Button)
You can re-order a comment making it a reply to a different "parent" comment.

Note the "number" of the comment you wish to make the "parent" comment to the comment you are moving.
Select and display the comment you wish to move within your meeting.
Press the Moderate button
Click on the radio button for "Make this comment a reply to comment number.." and in the text box that follows, type the comment number of the new parent comment.
Click the Do it button to execute the command
Click Cancel to return to last comment without changing it.
Back to top
Back to top of this section
Edit a comment's title, summary or keywords (Use Moderate Button)

Select and display the comment whose fields you wish to edit.
Press the Moderate button
On the Moderation control page, click the "Edit this comment" radio button to "on".
The current title and summary are displayed in separate text fields. Keywords, if available, appear in a scrolling list or a pop-up menu.
Change or replace the current title and/or summary.
Select new or change the comment's keywords. To enter or edit a meeting-wide keyword list, see the Set up Meeting instructions.
Click the Do it button to execute the command.
Click Cancel to return to last comment without changing it.

Note: If you leave a comment title or summary field empty, no change will be made when you press the Do it button.
Back to top
Back to top of this section

Moving comments to a different meeting (Use Moderate Button)
If you moderate multiple MeetingWeb meetings, you can move comments from any one of your meetings to any other:

Select and display the comment you wish to move to a different meeting
Click the Moderate button
Under the Moderation Control Options area click the radio button next to for "Move to meeting named..."
Type the program-assigned name of the meeting to receive this comment. (The program-assigned name is of the form: "groupname.extension". For example, "marketing.research. statistics")

Click the Do it button to send the comment to a different meeting.
Click Cancel to return to last comment without changing it.
Back to top
Back to top of this section

Meeting Management for all Meeting Participants

Meeting participants have a variety of controls available to them to streamline their use of MeetingWeb. These options which are described in the Meeting Web 5-Minute Guide and MeetingWeb in-context online help include the following:

Deleting and replacing their own comments
Setting comment persistence to focus on important items
Attaching multiple file types to their comments
Entering images and/or HTML formatted text into their comments
Creating custom views (Single topic view, expanded and compressed meeting and topic views, search results views, date view, export view)
Multi-field searchs
Keyword labeling of comments
Summary labeling of comments
E-mail notification of new meeting activity
Exporting selected sets of comments to create custom comment sets to share, read-off line or print. See incontext help or 5 Minute guide for Export command.
Back to top

Troubleshooting

If a command you send to the server running MeetingWeb cannot be implemented or requires confirmation, an intermediate page requesting confirmation or listing the problem and possible solutions will be displayed.
Note: You need moderator access to each meeting in which you attempt a modification.
If a comment or view doesn't update after you execute the command, check the following:

That a new page has been downloaded from the server.
Some browsers just retrieve an old page from their computer's cache.
Press the browser's Reload or Refresh button to manually download the page from the server.
Note: (Your browser may not be set to automatically reload from the server, or your browser may lack this feature.)

Check that you are still connected to the server. (If your connection has timed-out, your submission may not have been sent to the server.)

Check your group's customer service meeting or interactive user manual and post any questions there. You can also call or e-mail. See below. Send your questions, comments, frustrations, and suggestions to help@meetingweb.com and we will respond in e-mail or you can call us at (617) 497-7220.
Back to top

Comment Expiration Dates and Archiving Meetings

Generally a meeting's comments are set with no expiration date. The Meeting Administrator can set your meeting to expire comments after a fixed period of time. Standard expiration settings are 30, 60, or 90 days from the date a comment is posted to the date it is automatically deleted from the active meeting.
If you want to save comments for later archiving , be certain to request no expiration date.
An automatic archiving option is available with Custom Meeting Administrator.
Back to top

| Help Desk Index | 5 Minute Guide | MeetingWeb Home|

MeetingWeb Moderator's Guide Copyright by CitySource Inc. 1995-98. All rights reserved.