Feature Update: Storing Email Attachments
Recently, we introduced the new attachment beta to a handful of Yahoo! Groups. Based off of the feedback we received from these group members and moderators (and from other members and moderators who weren’t part of the initial beta who wanted to be) we’ve decided to roll out this feature to all groups, beginning today!
This feature will gradually become available in all Yahoo! Groups over the next couple of weeks, so be on the look out for this great new option.
Not sure if your group has the new attachment feature enabled? In the left hand column, under the “Messages” section, beneath “Post,” if you see “Attachments,” your group is ready to go. Don’t see this link? Your group doesn’t have this feature enabled just yet, but should see it soon.
Additionally, if you participated in the attachment beta, we’re happy to let you know that we’ve pushed out a bug fix that now shows an attachment thumbnail instead of the “Attachment: Attachment Name” format that previously appeared.
This new update should make it easier for you to preview and manage your attachments, and view the content that matters most to you.
For those of you who do have this new feature enabled in your groups, here’s a quick walk-through of the new options/differences.
To access these new options and change your preferences, you must be a moderator or owner of an enabled group.
To get started, click on “Management” in the left hand column of your group. Then, under the “Group Settings” section, click on “Messages” and under “Posting and Archives” click “Edit” and scroll down to “Attachments.”
Here, you’ll see a third Attachment option: “Store on site (exclude from emails)”
This new feature allows for attachments to be stored on the groups site instead of being sent out in emails. This allows for digest users to review/receive the attachments, and, makes it easier to retrieve specific attachments long after a thread has died as they’re accessible in the “Attachments” link in the left hand column. Attachments share data space with photos, so you now have 100 gigs of storage.
If you wish to continue to receive attachments via email, your settings should be set to “Include in emails (exclude from site)”
The third option is to exclude attachments all together.
If your group has this new feature enabled, please share your thoughts in the comment section below. Thanks!
Melissa Daniels
Yahoo! Community Manager
email user said,
March 31, 2009 @ 3:18 pm
OMG. You guys are so bad at your job. I was having problems with changing my group settings and your solution is to send me to your BLOG!?!?!
Just give up. Please. Please. Please.
Melissa Daniels said,
March 31, 2009 @ 3:22 pm
@email user,
Not sure what your settings change issue was, but since you didn’t provide a valid email address here I can’t follow up with you… if you’d still like help, please follow up with me via email at yahoogroups [at] yahoo [dash] inc [dot] com — hopefully we can resolve the problem…
-Melissa
Jordan Brown said,
March 31, 2009 @ 3:48 pm
I’m a bit surprised that you don’t have the fourth obvious variation: include in e-mail, include on site. That’s what I’d want: distribute the message in its original form to the e-mail readers, and retain it for archive purposes. All of the other variants seem awkward.
Jan said,
March 31, 2009 @ 3:51 pm
thank you so much for enabling attachment sharing at the web site for each group! I love it, my members enjoy it and all those on digest now have the opportunity to see what everyone else is talking about by simply coming to the website. This was one of those old time ‘yahoo club’ features that was greatly missed and I am certain will come to be appreciated by many. Now….how about the old fashion yahoo group chatroom? any chance? Thanks again and keep up the good work!
Ritz Young said,
March 31, 2009 @ 3:56 pm
Hello!
Thank you so much for bring this option back to the groups.
I’ve missed this about YahooGroups!
Keep up the good work.
I hope that email user above is either the owner or has that kind of moderator privileges to be able to make the changes, if not, then it’s up to the owner to make the changes. Good luck!
Ritz
Diana said,
March 31, 2009 @ 3:57 pm
I agree with Jordan. I have very anxiously been awaiting the option to enable members to include a photo in an email for convenience sake for those members that don’t want to bother logging into yahoo to see photos, but also to archive photos for those that are on web or digest. I am *so* disappointed this is not an option. Is it going to be?
David Halfpenny said,
March 31, 2009 @ 4:02 pm
Arrrgh!
I now have the worst of both worlds – a feature that turns out to be useless!
PLEASE do what so many of us thought you were going to do all along and:
BOTH send the Attachments with the Emails AND store them on the site!
That is really, really important. It’s what your main competitor does.
I have been hanging on with Yahoo promising the members this facility and now it’s come you have shot me in both feet.
- Email attachments give immediacy to email conversation
- On-site storage makes sense of the thread for those looking at the archive later. (And those who can’t use email.)
- I don’t need Either / Or: I need BOTH please!
David
Sandy Hulsart said,
March 31, 2009 @ 4:04 pm
I agree with Diana and Jordan Brown. I was hoping for the fourth option, to allow attachments to be sent via email, but also have them stored. We share a lot of creations as email attachments making it convenient for the readers to see them rather than hunt them down in the group files. But that has always left digest readers in the dark. The perfect solution is the fourth option. I hope it is a possibility.
Stephanie HC said,
March 31, 2009 @ 4:06 pm
I am SO disappointed at this supposed improvement – so we have to choose between having attachments sent out by e-mail or stored on site. GRRRRRRRRR. We have over 600 members, some receive individual messages as I do, some get digests and some read off the web. Now to enable web storeage *I* would be unable to see them in e-mail. All those people who read off the web and were getting excited to be able to see photos rather than ask for them to be sent privately are now going to be disappointed. This only helps those paranoid moderators that refuse to allow attachments for fear of getting a virus. The rest of us – we are just plain out of luck. Nice.
Beech said,
March 31, 2009 @ 4:10 pm
Please add the obvious fourth option (include in emails and store on site) as soon as possible! TIA!
Carol Zills said,
March 31, 2009 @ 4:11 pm
I’m confused. Are you saying that if I want my groups attachments kept on the group site, they won’t get them in emails any more? That won’t work for me. This is really no change at all, in my opinion. What about pictures that have been inserted in the body of the message? Will they still be stripped as well?
I have to say this makes no sense to me. It doesn’t improve anything.
Carol
George Carden said,
March 31, 2009 @ 4:20 pm
No kidding, gang! Give us that OBVIOUS “4th Option”! It’s pretty amazing that after all the buildup and expectations, this is what we get. I think all of us have been assuming we would get the “AND” option…not “EITHER/OR.” Pretty sad indeed.
Ruth said,
March 31, 2009 @ 4:24 pm
Two issues:
1. Need another obvious option; “Include in emails and store on site”
2. Just tested the feature on one of my groups that has it enabled. It did not work. The setting is still set to the default, “Store on site (exclude from emails)” but the Attachments section reads, “There are no attachments available.” The message with the attachment shows nothing when opened within the group, but if “Expand Messages” is chosen a notation can be seen at the bottom of the message that reads, “Attachment: (image/jpeg) imagename.jpg [not stored]” The image was only 28 KB.
Diva said,
March 31, 2009 @ 4:31 pm
Yes, I was so excited for the attachments to be available to web readers – but not at the expense of my email members… so disappointed in this. Please give us that fourth option of having both again – like it was way back when…
Rosie said,
March 31, 2009 @ 4:34 pm
Please add me to the list of those who are disappointed with no option to send attachments through email AND archive at the website. This is how it used to be, when it was Onelist and then Egroups. Not only is it helpful for digest members to see them on the site while not forcing email users to go tot he site to get them, it also allows new members to the group to get the attachments that were sent prior to the person joining. This is especially usefull in graphic sharing groups. I was so looking forward to this feature being back again, and I would even be willing to pay a small fee if needed to have it for my groups.
Ruth said,
March 31, 2009 @ 4:49 pm
I now find that the attachment is not stored when sent using the native Mail program on a Mac (which treats attachments as though they are embedded within the message) and are obviously being stripped by Yahoo! Now the only way I can send an attachment is to go online and mail from there or, well, nothing.
Will embedded images be archived?
Aud said,
March 31, 2009 @ 4:55 pm
I would also ask that messages can be viewed both in emails and on site but I am confused. One of my groups has just been given the new options and the owner sent a test message. The photo was shown in my email and clicking on it took me to the site to view it full size. I then looked at the message on site and could again see the photo. I can’t test digest but it looks as though it is giving us both options already.
Joe said,
March 31, 2009 @ 5:15 pm
This is terrible. You’re missing the best option of all and that is to have it both ways..not one or the other..members do not like this at all..
Tony said,
March 31, 2009 @ 5:22 pm
I agree with what the majority are saying here. I can’t imagine why the 4th option was omitted. Without it I really don’t see this as an improvement. It’s more of a trade off… Is there some reason it has to be either one or the other, and can’t be both???
Jim said,
March 31, 2009 @ 6:41 pm
Fourth option is a must. that is the way yahoo groups worked originally when they took over e-groups many years ago.
Jim said,
March 31, 2009 @ 6:46 pm
oops. i just ran a test. the photo attachment went out in the email and it also was stored on the group. yahoo must have already tweaked it or they did not describe the options correctly. at any rate, i set to “include on site but exclude from email” with the result of the photo attachment being included in both places.
Bill said,
March 31, 2009 @ 6:47 pm
The new option is of absolutely no use whatsoever.
Anyone in my group who does not want to reveal their e-mail address is not permitted to attach a photo. Further, if someone does allow others to see their e-mail address, they cannot add a photo to their message unless they send it via e-mail. Attachments cannot be added when posting from the Yahoo group.
Yahoo seems to be user friendly to people who don’t care if they open themselves to spam by posting messages that reveal their e-mail address. For those who prefer to keep their e-mail address private, Yahoo affords them no consideration.
Jim said,
March 31, 2009 @ 7:40 pm
i have to correct myself. at first i thought the attachment went out in the email but i see now that it was not a real attachment but was like a thumbnail embedded in the message that acts like a link back to the group where the attachment is stored. i suppose it’s better than nothing but would still prefer attachments being stored as well as going out in email.
Prashanth said,
March 31, 2009 @ 7:43 pm
+ 1 for having 4th Option. It does look silly not to have one.
Shakeel said,
March 31, 2009 @ 8:05 pm
I would like to to first congratulate the yahoogroups team, and appreciate their obvious intentions to help make things better for the group-users, as well as for the moderators.
But, I am surprised, as are many in this blog, that an obvious option of [Attachments going through emails+getting stored on the web] is not made available. I was forced to choose the option of [Include in emails (Exclude from site)] and fail to use this brilliant new feature. Although it seems “Daily Digest” members may be able to view the attachments on site, if I chose the first option (which is anew feature), but a lot of them would not be able to actually see those attachments if they are not registered with a yahoo ID. So, if I choose the first option, I may deprive more people of attachments than now.
I urge the yahoogroups team to enable this fourth option as soon as they can, so that this brilliant new feature does become useful, as intended.
Carol Zills said,
March 31, 2009 @ 9:00 pm
I think I changed my mind. I’m liking the whole thumbnail thing. I didn’t understand the original post. Now I get it. For those who still have dial up it’s good to have less to download. My group is playing with it now.
Steffie Smith said,
March 31, 2009 @ 10:29 pm
I would of hoped we could have the attachment’s sent to the group and through e-mail’s.Like in the good-old
day’s of Yahoo Group’s.I know my members would want that also.Can you please fix it so we can get them both way’s.
Thank You
Herbert Eppel said,
March 31, 2009 @ 10:50 pm
Thanks for the new Attachment option. However, like others already mentioned, I am surprised and indeed disappointed that there isn’t a fourth option to send the attachments with the e-mails AND store them on the site!
Please introduce this option asap. Without it, the Attachment option is useless for my purposes. Thank you.
Paul Perkins said,
March 31, 2009 @ 11:04 pm
I don’t know it this will be posted or not but I just HAVE to address the comments made by “Stephanie HC” … You are beyond naive … to call owners like me “paranoid” about getting viruses passed on to their members through attachments … naive doesn’t even begin to cover it. Wake up and join the rest of us in the REAL world. There are freaks out there who don’t give a damn about what they create … they just want to cause problems for responsible users. If you want to expose your 600 members to this kind of danger then more power to you … but think about what you could be held responsible for if some nasty little bug gets passed on to your members through your group and your negligence. I would rather protect the 2000 plus members of my group from this kind of junk. It doesn’t go away just because you wish it would … the danger IS real and is NOT overstated. When Conficker starts crashing the computers of your members remember that this “paranoid” Owner protected his members … and you didn’t.
Siobhan said,
March 31, 2009 @ 11:31 pm
I am very concerned that on 2 incidences that I have had 2 virus warnings pop up while on 2 different groups. One of them happens to be a religious one. Does someone at Yahoo think it is funny to place viruses on religious groups? Why can’t you put more effort into protecting the groups from virus attacks instead of all the junk you put towards social connections?!? If it wasn’t that my anti-virus updates everyday, it might have done some damage. Now I’ve got to run a full scan!!!
Paw Paw said,
April 1, 2009 @ 2:18 am
I am still waiting for the 4th option
What’s availiable now is of no help to any of my groups.
I had made the setting changes, back as they were, so, my membership would receive attachments
Yesterday, I had to redo those settings twice.
Seems while the change over from Yahoo was made, changes were made to my group, without our help or knowledge ???
nightshadow said,
April 1, 2009 @ 3:41 am
members can’t receiving the attachments because they can not access that feature so I had to disable that option and go back to “include in emails” until members have that option.
naresh said,
April 1, 2009 @ 4:38 am
i dont like it please stop
Bobbie said,
April 1, 2009 @ 5:35 am
I have two comments regarding this new feature:
The first is to echo what others have said: I’m hoping there will be a fourth option to allow attachments both in the archives and in email; the second is to ask whether it’s “in the works” for embedded photos to also be stored.
As a separate but related issue: since the email attachments will be passing through Y!G servers, will you please assure us all that Y!G has protection in place – virus scanners that are “armed” and scanning/cleaning them before release to our members?
Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to have our comments and suggestions read and taken into consideration.
John Bogasky said,
April 1, 2009 @ 5:45 am
I’m also very disappointed at the inability to both forward attachments and save them on the site. My group has many technically unsophisticated users who struggle to setup their access to the Yahoo site. If I store attachments on the site but don’t forward them, I effectively cutoff this group from access to attachments. Without the ability to both store and forward, the new attachment feature is useless to my group. I can’t give my group a new feature (storing attachments) without also requiring them to lose a highly valued feature (the ability to forward attachments via email). Can you please explain why you chose not to implement a store AND forward option?
Dan Kurtenbach said,
April 1, 2009 @ 5:56 am
Fourth option!
Prashanth D said,
April 1, 2009 @ 6:10 am
I am a bit surprised that you don’t have the fourth obvious variation: include in e-mail, include on site. That’s what every one wants: distribute the message in its original form to the e-mail readers, and retain it for archive purposes.
Stephanie HC said,
April 1, 2009 @ 7:12 am
Does Yahoo scan for virus infected mail? YES! That also goes for Yahoo Mail. With the billions of messages (yes billions) going through their servers the last thing they need is to help these things proliferate. I do not use my cable provider for my main address for that reason – they don’t. They provide McAfee free BUT I have to download the junk on to my machine and let McAfee deal with it! I dont want that. Anything that goes through Y Mail is cleaned before being sent out. Some time back there was a viral epidemic – I forget which one – and instead of the original method of scanning and removing any malicious attachments before sending out a notice to contact the sender they simply deleted the whole thing. I used to find scads of intercepted potentially infected messages diverted to the bulk mail/spam folder. Now I just get financial phishers and 419 scam artists. The rest must go bye-bye. Yahoo is very pro-active. If you use Yahoo search as I do they also red flag sites that are infected with malware or are known to harvest addresses for spammers! They call it “safe search”. So yes, I complain when they do something idiotic as with this “new” attachments feature, but for general purposes I give credit where credit is due.
raja said,
April 1, 2009 @ 8:49 am
as many have already said,it would be highly helpful if you come up with the option of saving it both in mail and groups.. the choice should be left to the users..
Rachel M said,
April 1, 2009 @ 9:12 am
I concur with many others—Is it not possible to both send attachments with emails and store them on the site? Even if their only stored for a month, that would be very helpful. If we want to keep them longer, we could put them into the “files” section. Please, please add this 4th option.
karth said,
April 1, 2009 @ 9:46 am
i need it as many have already said,it would be highly helpful if you come up with the option of saving it both in mail and groups.. the choice should be left to the users..
Diana said,
April 1, 2009 @ 9:55 am
To add to what Ruth mentioned about, I just set my group to “online storage only, no email attachment” and did a test. I sent an embedded image, and the image still came through embedded in the email to the list, but not stored online. So there is a bug there.
Mukhtar said,
April 1, 2009 @ 10:23 am
I am a bit surprised that you don’t have the fourth obvious variation: include in e-mail, include on site. That’s what every one wants: distribute the message in its original form to the e-mail readers, and retain it for archive purposes.
Ed said,
April 1, 2009 @ 10:31 am
This is insane.
Why in the world did you make this an either/or?
It should be the way it used to be: Emails go out WITH attachments AND attachments are archived WITH emails. That frankly is what I thought you were trying to do or I would have commented months ago.
I strongly object to having to choose between saving pics to group and sending them out. My group is a picture group. No emails w/o pics attached. I would hate to have to go to the site to see attachments. I would love to be able to see archived attachments when I join a group or have to go offline for a time.
Dori said,
April 1, 2009 @ 10:32 am
I would like to see the issue of embedded photos/images addressed for moderators. We still have members on dial-up who are greatly impacted by huge messages, and folks that have to pay for on-line usage fees. I hope you can address the embedded images in options (other than stripping non-text), or at least give us the option to limit message size.
Jonathan said,
April 1, 2009 @ 3:29 pm
I would like to add to the feedback requesting the fourth option. It is true that storing attachments on site is good for people with low bandwidth who as a result want to only see some images.
However, as well as blind users mentioned in previous discussion, consider people who want to see all attachments despite limited bandwidth. For them it is much better to receive attachments in email as opposed to navigating websites to get to them.
Ideally, it would be great to allow each user to select whether to receive attachments or not, but in the meantime it would be a good start to have attachments in emails and stored, so that members can at least choose between emails and digests, having access to attachments one way or another.
Norfolk Freecycle said,
April 1, 2009 @ 5:33 pm
Great! How about an option to do BOTH? We have attachments that we would like to send out AND archive on the group site. A one-step process would save a lot of uploading time.
Norfolk Freecycle
David Halfpenny said,
April 1, 2009 @ 6:38 pm
Today I’ve learned something that changes my attitude towards the Yahoo team for the better.
After my earlier message here I tried the new photo facility on one of my groups. The majority of people were upset to lose the pictures with the emails.
BUT two wrote in to say that they could see thumbnails of the photo in their emails. I suspect that these guys were using the HTML “Improved” emails, whereas the rest of us were using Traditional Plain Text emails which strip out the thumbnail.
So it is possible that Yahoo believed that we would all be seeing the thumbnails in the emails. In which case they are not idiots.
But they are mistaken: the HTML emails pose difficulties for many people, either because they are barred from receiving HTML on security grounds, and those for whom the Yahoo emails don’t format correctly on their computers.
So I have had to disable the new facility on my groups, which is a great disappointment after waiting so long for it to appear.
I would still strongly recommend that we be able to choose the Fourth Option.
Some members have provided an additional reason: the presence of a Paperclip signal in an email client shows that there is an attachment, and many people use that either in an automatic filter or when browsing to find picture messages. That small feature is lost under the present Archive option.
David
psylentlarry said,
April 1, 2009 @ 7:17 pm
As an experiment I clicked the “attachments” link on the Moderator Central group page. I was presented the following error message:
”
Get quota failed
/!\ You do not have rights to perform this operation : 105
”
Ok, I didn’t expect to access anything… BUT as I do not have rights to access that link, WHY IS IT PRESENTED as a link? Since there is no access for me, it should either not appear at all, or not be a live link – same as with other links in the left hand column. There should never be an cryptic error message, as there ought to be no link in the first place (when not appropriate, as in this example).
Thanks
PS; also agree with all the “fourth option” comments above.
Paul Lenz said,
April 1, 2009 @ 8:11 pm
WHY is Yahoo not able to prevent spam pages like this
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/duwicetoravop57/
Charmaine Voisine said,
April 1, 2009 @ 10:57 pm
Attention Melissa – Yahoo Team Member *Important*
I signed my group up to be part of the BETA TESTING for attachments to be included on the group site and I no longer want my group to be part of this please.
Last week and a few days ago, I keep going into the settings and putting a dot for attachments to be INCLUDE IN EMAILS (exclude from site) and just yesterday Yahoo went and set my group to include attachments once again on the site. Please I do not want attachments included on the group site. How can I stop the settings from constantly changing back to be included on the group site. How can I take my group name out of the BETA TESTING…
Please help me here… my moderator is getting frustrated with the settings keeping changing back to attachments on group site.
Your help is appreciated. Thank you. Charmaine
Charmaine Voisine said,
April 1, 2009 @ 11:08 pm
Are group owners finding that they have to keep resetting INCLUDE IN EMAILS (exclude from site)…
I have had to do this 4 times now in the past week, as it goes back to Include attachment on site…. grrrrr and I do not want this.
Charmaine
kaish said,
April 2, 2009 @ 12:41 am
message’s r not clear…. half of da page won get displayed
Paw Paw said,
April 2, 2009 @ 1:12 am
This is the pits, having to go through all my groups , AGAIN, and reset them
Why, Why, Why,
Can we not have include in emails and include at the site ?????
Stop making changes to the groups, unless we want them ?
Steven W said,
April 2, 2009 @ 1:14 am
I have a yahoo email account to sign into yahoo, but I always get my groups emails sent to a non-yahoo email account. I can still log into yahoo, but it says I’m no longer a member of some groups! PLEASE HELP! I still get the emails when someone posts in the group, but I can no longer post because I can’t go to the group.
Joel said,
April 2, 2009 @ 5:21 am
Dear Melissa & Team,
I first wanted to say thanks for all the work and features that you’ve rolled out with Yahoo! Groups. Although you may hear many users gripe, the Yahoo! Groups team is moving in the right direction with more powerful features. Also, thank you for submitting community feedback, as that shows your willingness to put yourself at risk and through back-and-forth dialogue find better solutions.
My group is small in members (300+) but with disproportionately high volume of media (pictures, videos, graphics). Therefore, as soon as this new feature was rolled out, all of our members noticed. In addition to the above users who advocate a “Fourth Option,” I would like to bring some new concerns for you all to consider:
1. Opening up a new webpage per picture in the attachment is unbelievaby irritating. Our group easily sends out 100+ pictures on a daily basis, which means opening up a separate webpage for each picture. Solution: option to open up in existing / new tab / or new webpage.
2. (From one of our users) The ability to download, as a zip file or otherwise, *all* of the attachments from the email when using ’store on site.’ Solution: Check All | Clear All | Download All
3. A preview function in Mail as before even when using ’store on site.’ Perhaps this ties into concern #1, but it’s still much easier to preview the attachment in Mail itself rather than navigating to the Group webpages. Solution: Preview in Mail
I have included our email which reaches me and our group homepage if you would like us to test things out.
Sincerely,
Joel
Tara Rigsby said,
April 2, 2009 @ 5:57 am
Ever since the updating of the system, my posts don’t go through. it’s like from my view, the system froze. No more updates on new postings, in fact, no new postings are even showing up.
Stephanie HC said,
April 2, 2009 @ 7:03 am
It was rolled out on our group this morning – two AOL members could not access the attachment via thumbnail – but CAN use the link as in digests. One web mail user thinks its great but people who download mail into programs such as OE are not happy – me included. A list member posted a series this morning with a diagram attached which I would normally scroll down to see – impossible – I had to click on the silly thumbnail – which opened a new window and then click back and forth between windows instead of having it all on one screen. Guys YOU may have two monitors but few of us do! Second problem – comments – people who do not click on the attachment thumbnail have no way of seeing the comments. It seems that moderated members can post comments without being moderated. This is going to provide major extra work for moderators who will have to have an attachment window open at all times and keep opening all the attachments to see what comments are being posted!!!!!!! We will give this a day or two and get further input from group members but as it stands we will have to take the attachments OFF the website. Moderators DO have lives – we are not paid employees without anything else to do!
Stephanie HC said,
April 2, 2009 @ 8:17 am
Well, I just learned something else – I sent two test messages and discovered that if you send mail in PLAIN TEXT – which is what I use as a default, I guess too many years as a business person and as a writer had its effect. Try sending a manuscript to an editor in some fancy font! I use html when I have to – such as important admin posts. OK, if one sends messages in plain text and is still using “traditional” all we get is a link and nobody has a clue WHAT the picture is and if they have interest in it or not unless you click on it. If you send messages in html/rtf yes, you do get the thumbnail. I do not use fully featured – I do not want plain text converted – I want mail the same way the sender sent it! Is this a way to “encourage” the use of “fully featured” whether we want it or not?
Larry said,
April 2, 2009 @ 9:00 am
I agree with the need for the fourth “obvious” variation:
include in e-mail, include on site.
Just like in the old days.
Not all my subscribers want to access the site for a document that was attached.
Those with daily digest will need to have that option. As will those who need to look up an older thread that they missed while on vacation, etc.
BTW, I have been running my group for NINE years now, so we really do miss having our old attachments now lost!
Stephanie HC said,
April 2, 2009 @ 10:57 am
A digest member just posted that the link does not work for her – she gets error code 500. She uses Outlook Express and her ISP is a local telco
jamie said,
April 2, 2009 @ 11:16 am
Since these new changes, I have not been able to log on to Yahoo AT ALL. I have sent two emails requesting help, and have not received any help. I am very very frustrated.
Elizabeth Riggs said,
April 2, 2009 @ 11:36 am
The Files section of Orthodox Women is trashed. I went in to read a file, and the message was that the file was not available. I then went to a different file in a different folder – same thing. I’ve checked about 15 of our files and they are simply GONE.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OrthWomen/files/
I hope someone actually reads these comments and will DO something!
Elizabeth Riggs
Moderator
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OrthWomen/
Wayne Doran said,
April 2, 2009 @ 12:38 pm
We started using this in our group just the other day. The overwhelming response has been so negative that I had to go back and change settings to have the attachment in the emails and not in the group. The only users happy with storing them in the group and not having them in the emails is AOL users. I assume you know about their problem of not being able to view attachments in emails until they save it and then open it else where. We really need an option to have the attachment in the email AND stored in the group. Thanks.
Rob said,
April 2, 2009 @ 1:41 pm
I concur with many others here that Yahoo Groups should allow a 4th option:
Distribute the attachments with email AND archieve the attachment on the group site.
John F. said,
April 2, 2009 @ 2:11 pm
I agree with the comments about the 4th choice for attachments – Include in emails AND store on site – PLEASE. Your new policy does NOTHING to change the former policy. No matter what choice (of the first 2) options a moderator chooses, someone is left out – the “Daily Digest” and “Web Only” folks if “Include in Emails” is chosen, and the “email-only members” are left out if “Store on Site” is chosen. The only difference now is that you are forcing the moderator to make the choice. Is it because you prefer to have only Yahoo members take part in your groups and are using this to force others out? Why not give everyone a chance to view attachments regardless of their membership status and email delivery choice.
RosL said,
April 2, 2009 @ 2:44 pm
Is this meant to be an IMPROVEMENT?
Take one of the groups I own, for example, Jokers United. Many of the jokes are attachments which until now has meant that members have had to receive individual mails to get them. Not convenient for some.
Is this new system any better? No, not at all.
If I have them shown on the group only then members can only see them, not download them which they may want to do if they want to forward the joke to their friends. Better for people on digest/web view only, worse for those on individual mails.
Have them in messages only and not stored on the group – no different from how things were before.
WHY can’t it be possible to have BOTH?
Melissa Daniels said,
April 2, 2009 @ 6:02 pm
Many of you have suggested that there be a “fourth option” for the new attachment feature, which is something we’re looking into. We know that it’s important to many of you to be able to freely access attachments/files on both the web and via email.
We’ll be sure to keep you updated on future enhancements to this new feature. In the meantime, thanks for your feedback.
-Melissa
Bobbie said,
April 2, 2009 @ 8:00 pm
Can you tell us whether it’s also in the works to allow storage (in the archives) of “embedded” photos?
Stephanie HC said,
April 3, 2009 @ 4:41 am
Thank you Melissa for looking at it – here are two more issues:
It is hell for the moderators as no matter WHAT we do, we are going to be the bad guys! We choose one version – the others are going to complain no matter which option we choose.
It is hell for the moderators in terms of work load – as a moderator I SHOULD go on to the web every morning, go to the attachments page and check every bleeping one for comments!!!! There is NO oversight on comments left by members who are moderated (all new members and people who need it due to some other issues) unless WE do it manually! It takes TWO clicks per attachment from the first page to the individual thumbnail to the actual photo and have NO other way of monitoring what anyone writes. Then we have to go BACK to the attachments page and start on the second one. There are 14 thumbnails for me to verify this morning and I dont have time for it! Even the writer of the original post has no idea what comments have been made, or if any rebuttal is needed. These comments are never seen by the other group members and totally sidetracks any discussion. I posted a humorous test picture and there was not one response by e-mail – it was a “dead” post – until I went to the attachments page and found a page of comments. This could end up an e-mail topic killer if the attachments are turned into a mini-BBS.
Pam Sherman said,
April 3, 2009 @ 6:23 am
The fourth option would be the ideal. But I find it to be annoyingly normal that you (Yahoo) neglect to offer it… To be able to receive graphics in email AND have them stored at the site would be the best solution. Those who want to use the other settings would be able to, but many large groups are split between members who use digest & those who use individual mail. So at this point we have to make a choice between losing one set or the other. This is not what’s commonly perceived as giving your customers what they want… it’s more like ‘we’re gonna do this, like it or lump it’. A rather childish way to run a business. But I find it more and more these days, both online and in Real Life. Why don’t you set a precedent for others, by actually giving your users what they want, instead of what you think they should have???
Daniel Ethier said,
April 3, 2009 @ 6:38 am
I manage the Gradekeeper group on Yahoo. Posts to the group are still very very slow. And this is getting very frustrating. Someone posts something. I approve it. It make take 10 minutes to show up so I can reply. Then my reply takes 10 minutes to show up in the pending list, so I can approve my own reply.
So please get things fixed. And is it possible to set things up so I don’t have to approve my own posts? I would think Yahoo would be able to tell that I’m the owner of the group and not require me to approve my own posts.
Thanks.
Boo said,
April 3, 2009 @ 7:51 am
The new attachment feature isn’t available on my groups yet to test but the “store on site, exclude from email” option sounds like it should work for me. When we allowed attachments previously, too many members would forget to remove the attachment when replying, putting a burden on members with slow internet connections. Maybe I missed this part … but can all messages with attachments be moderated?
Thanks
Boo
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jim said,
March 31, 2009 @ 7:40 pm
i have to correct myself. at first i thought the attachment went out in the email but i see now that it was not a real attachment but was like a thumbnail embedded in the message that acts like a link back to the group where the attachment is stored.
Mark said,
April 3, 2009 @ 8:01 am
Please Yahoo… do the right thing and post on the site and via email.
The only reasonable option is the FORTH option!
Thanks
lock67ca said,
April 3, 2009 @ 10:35 am
I think this is just dumb.Until Yahoo includes an option to include attachments in BOTH Groups and Emails, I’m seriously considering just using Google Groups.
Melissa Daniels said,
April 3, 2009 @ 1:52 pm
@Daniel Ethier,
Actually, you can “unmoderate” yourself and any other member you wish to automatically approve. To do this, go to Members, find the member you wish to change, and then click “edit membership.” Then, down at the bottom where it says “Posting Messages” click “edit” and from here you can set the member’s settings to always moderate, never moderate, etc.
-Melissa
Icemaid said,
April 3, 2009 @ 9:28 pm
Hi there Yahoo Members and Staff:
I would like to point out what the main features that are required in a psp/ stationary group is, what I thought would be one of the considerations of
this feature- Include in email / include on site::
This Yahoo used to have and we were all happy::
then yahoo changed this option– considerably — by taking it away:
I too have been anxiously waiting — to see how you will implement this latest
great feature ( that now will not be)
As a group owner of many areas, incuding classes which require graphics
to be attached as well as embedded– what do these groups do now??
We are able to send attachments which can’t be saved on site:
We are able to send embedded graphics — same result – cant be saved on site?
Stationary groups- will no longer be able to exist with this function as stated, as the stationary would be ripped to shreds:
How about Yahoo giving us back what Yahoo took from us ?
I was under the impression this was what was planned for us — and desisted
going to Googlegroups because of it–
but I think – you will leave many groups no other alternative but to move
their base-
I don’t want to do this— but for the sake of 29 groups which I run– I have to think – what if— in the event you cannot see that this is a need for your
members:
Please consider this option:
this feature- Include in email / include on site:
thank you for your determination in the above
Sincerely
Icemaid
Onkel Ben said,
April 3, 2009 @ 10:56 pm
Gentlemen:
It is a good thing that you are willing to return to storing pictures on the group sites so future users may also benefit from them without their having to be resent each time new members join the groups; however, the quality of the pics being saved is nowhere comparable with that which was received with the mailed entries.
Therefore I request that you please add a 4th option to include the pics in the emails sent out and store a copy on the groups site for future generations.
Onkel Ben
lock67ca said,
April 4, 2009 @ 4:32 am
Forgive me for asking the obvious Melissa, If you (Yahoo) knew it was important to have the option to do both, why wasn’t the feature set up that way from the start?
Bryan Ex said,
April 4, 2009 @ 6:02 am
I think the stored attachments were nicely implemented *on the Yahoo Groups site* however, like most here, I fail to understand the logic behind making attachments only available to one Group format (either email or web). What this does is require a member to choose either web only or individual emails based on what the Group moderator has selected for attachments if they are to gain full access to the Group activity making the subscription choice for members rather pointless.
Roll out the availability of standard email formats along with the current thumbed attachments on the Groups site and I think Yahoo will have a pretty solid feature for Groups that few will have much to complain about.
Ruth said,
April 4, 2009 @ 8:53 am
Next problem with option “Store on site (exclude from emails)”…if the member is not signed in to Yahoo! when they click the thumbnail they receive an error that reads, “Sorry, Unable to process request at this time — error 999.” It would make sense to simply send the person to the “Sign in to Yahoo!” page. Is this a bug?
Ed said,
April 4, 2009 @ 12:46 pm
I would like to see attachments come with the email they’re attached to, as is the current practice, and ALSO stored on the group’s site.
Donald Hellen said,
April 4, 2009 @ 6:04 pm
Melissa,
Someone missed what I thought would be an obviously needed option: allow us to store on site AND include in emails.
I wanted to enable the attachments with emails but if these aren’t stored on site also, they will be lost to those who read the digest version of the group messages and others who read the web version.
So how about a fourth option, store on site and include in emails???
This is being discussed in the Group Managers Forum group, and I would bet also in the other three similar groups.
Donald
Shalf said,
April 4, 2009 @ 10:32 pm
Seconding what Diana said, April 1, 2009 @ 9:55 am:
I set my test group to “Store on site (exclude from emails)”.
I posted a message with an embedded (not simply attached) image. It passed through the group with the image intact, and with nothing added to the Attachments section.
A second message, with the image attached rather than embedded, did the expected thing: the attachment was placed in the Attachments section and a thumbnail link to it passed in the email.
A third message, sent by a member, had eleven embedded images. These were all passed through in the email /and/ stored in the Attachments section. This message missed perfection in only one respect: viewing it in the Messages section shows large white areas where the images should be, and then ten of the eleven images collected as thumbnails at the bottom of the message.
The different treatment of the three messages is odd, but may be explained by the details available through the message headers. I’ll report more details on ygattachmentbeta.
rashid said,
April 4, 2009 @ 11:11 pm
I set my test group to “Store on site (exclude from emails)”.
I posted a message with an embedded (not simply attached) image. It passed through the group with the image intact, and with nothing added to the Attachments section.
These were all passed through in the email /and/ stored in the Attachments section. This message missed perfection in only one respect: viewing it in the Messages section shows large white areas where the images should be, and then ten of the eleven images collected as thumbnails at the bottom of the message.
OldOnliner said,
April 5, 2009 @ 6:38 am
Regarding the storage of embedded images…
If I understand right, these represent images showing in email but linked from sites (like Flickr) via an “img src=” tag in the HTML-ized email messages. The images are NOT actually attached to the message.
Example:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GroupManagersForum/message/28480
That being the case, it is not reasonable to expect Y!Groups to store such images as they are not Yahoo! Group’s images to store. Y!Groups would have no way to evaluate (”on the fly”) whether and which images would allow such off-site storage of the content linked via the “img src=” tag.
Understand?
Steven said,
April 5, 2009 @ 10:32 am
OK, so my group is set to ‘Store on site (exclude from emails)’ which is NOT what I want – I want BOTH as everyone else does. So I click on ‘Edit’ to change the option and I get:
Sorry, Proxy Error.
The proxy server received an invalid response from an upstream server.
The proxy server could not handle the request GET /group/Stevens_Caps_and_Vids/settings.
Reason: Could not connect to remote machine: Connection refused
FANTASTIC!
Joel said,
April 5, 2009 @ 12:26 pm
April 05 2009 Update
@Melissa Daniels & Yahoo
I’ve allowed our group to test the new attachment method (store on site) for about a week while seeking feedback. The comments so far have been unanimously against the new attachment beta. Some salient points:
1) Only 1 guy, on his own, proferred the idea of including both on site and on email. The rest just don’t like it.
2) Major criticism for the pic storage system on Yahoo! Groups in general.
3) Can no longer preview thumbnails in Mail.
4) Not as easily download / download all pictures.
The consequence is that many members are reporting that they now skip over the attachments since it’s such an arduous task — when the entire point of our emails is the attachments. From one user:
“Again, many thanks – but I’m not saving half as many pictures as before – and deleting a lot more – it just takes WAY too much time …”
Starfire said,
April 5, 2009 @ 1:50 pm
There are those who are going to love this new feature and many others (like myself) who hate it!
I pay for a Yahoo email account so my mail will download to my Outlook Express. I expect any graphics embedded or attachments to still be attached when it reaches me. This is what I’m paying for!!!!!!
I also belong to a group where the owner is absent (we have no idea when and if she will return) and isn’t around to make the changes for the settings in that group.
Please, please give members the option to decide for ourselves how we want our mail delivered instead of just placing the decision on the owners!!!!!
Mike said,
April 5, 2009 @ 4:47 pm
Dear sirs:
I have been very much looking forward to Yahoo keeping the attachments on the web page (like you used to do)!!! All of the sudden (4/1) we are no longer receiving the attachments at all…..only thumbnails. I see where I can change the settings but am very leery to do so …..feeling if I change, then the “Attachment” page will be gone & my members will no longer be able to see all the pictures that have already been saved to site!!! There need to be a fourth option……save to attachments & send in email!!! I am very upset that you made you default roll out setting to be “save to attachments only”!! As it is now, your new feature is worthless!!
What will happen if I revert back to to “old” way keeping the attachment with the emails? Will I lose the “Attachment Page”…..will everything that was sent since 4/1 to date still be accessable for our members? Please add the 4th option keeping in email & save to attachments!!!
Tricia Jumonville said,
April 5, 2009 @ 5:30 pm
Oh, come on, folks! You told us we were going to get back the feature that you took away long ago (that we’d had on onelist and egroups AND on YahooGroups for quite some time before you yanked it, thus demonstrating that, yes, it CAN be done. That feature was not either/or, it was BOTH sent out via email AND archived on the site with the messages.
This is not a useful feature, as it STILL leaves a large number of the users having to go without seeing the pictures or do a workaround that is not their choice in order to see them.
Embedded images won’t work, because I have strict and enforced list rules against the Dread HTML (may the fleas of a thousand camels infest the armpits of the person who first thought HTML in emails would be a good idea, and may every virus down the pike infest his computer), while still allowing attachments because the photos are important to thelists.
What was wrong with putting it back the way it was? Don’t tell us it was “too hard”, because it existed before here, and it exists elsewhere. I get the distinct feeling that this is a manipulation to try to make YahooGroups more of a web-based rather than email-based service, which you promised us long ago (but still recently enough that there are those of us still alive to remember) that you wouldn’t do.
I feel not only betrayed, but lied to.
Johanna Baker said,
April 5, 2009 @ 5:31 pm
I concur with many others here that Yahoo Groups should allow a 4th option:
Distribute the attachments with email AND archive the attachment on the group site. This is the MOST OBVIOUS Need!
Johanna
lock67ca said,
April 5, 2009 @ 7:00 pm
There’s absolutely no reason Yahoo can’t do it the same way Google Groups does. The emails are sent out with the original attachments included, and are archived and stored at the groups.That’s the way Yahoo (and eGroups and onelist) used to do it. That’s the way it SHOULD be done. That’s what we thought was going to be restored. Why do we have to jump through hoops, and put up with embedded HTML thumbnails? I should point out that almost all of my members I’ve heard from have complained about the embedded thumbnails. In fact, they hate it. So do I. They’re not user friendly at all.
Shalf said,
April 5, 2009 @ 7:18 pm
I’m a little surprised not to have found the desire for a 4th option yet turned into a Suggestion, so here goes:
http://suggestions.yahoo.com/detail/?prop=groups&fid=139687
Vote early, vote often!
P.S.: OldOnliner,
No, that’s not what I meant by embedded. What you describe would be a remote image. I meant an image attached to the message but referred to by an img element in the text/HTML part of the message. See the View Source of this message:
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/GroupManagersForum/message/28498
(the src=”cid:.0″ is a URI scheme for referencing MIME parts)
Terry Harrison said,
April 6, 2009 @ 9:34 am
Since whatever you did to Yahoo, I can not get any messages and can not get into any of my groups. It is like I never was signed up for any of them.
What is the correction?
Anki said,
April 6, 2009 @ 1:11 pm
I don´t even get a possibility to change this setting back according to the description. What am I doing wrong?
mary said,
April 6, 2009 @ 6:09 pm
The most successful and professional network for physicians. If you want to make friends with physicians or you are a physician, then join us now at___ http://www.medtime.org/i/joinme. ___There are many people like you are waiting to get to know you.
Vamp said,
April 6, 2009 @ 11:08 pm
Please tell me that we can opt out of this attachment junk for groups. For graphics groups we share our e-mails between groups and we can not log into each others groups to view all these attachments. This is the most horrible thing Yahoo has done to us!!!! Please, please, please let us opt out!!!!!! Google groups are looking better everyday……….
Billie said,
April 7, 2009 @ 1:53 pm
This is a horrible way of receiving mail, I guess in a little while the IM letters will be torn apart to be viewed in Yahoo?
Why “fix” things, when they are not broke?
Google is looking ver good right now
Billie
LadyLaconte said,
April 7, 2009 @ 2:35 pm
You know I was just getting ready to reopen a group with you guys but you keep making these changes that you think are helping but all you’re doing it creating more problems! I all ready had one group move to Google and I agree with Billie who posted the comment that Google is looking VERY GOOD right now! Stop messing with things that don’t need to be fixed and try talking to more than a handful of groups!!
CHAR said,
April 7, 2009 @ 7:47 pm
WHY NOT JUST LEAVE THINGS ALONE??
IF MEMBERS DON’T WANT MAIL AND OR ATTACHMAENTS, THEY SHOULD NOT BE IN GROUPS.
ATTACHMENTS ARE VERY IMPORTANT IN ALL MY GROUPS.
JUST MY 2 CENTS WORTH.
CHAR
Shalf said,
April 7, 2009 @ 11:21 pm
Vamp, Billie & CHAR — chill.
The new Attachments feature adds a new capability, it takes away nothing. Don’t like it? Don’t use it. Simple. The original two choices work the same as they have for years.
It doesn’t add the precise feature that many of the commenters here were looking for (the fourth option), but that’s a different topic.
sanju said,
April 8, 2009 @ 12:37 am
The new Attachments feature adds a new capability, it takes away nothing. Don’t like it? Don’t use it. Simple. The original two choices work the same as they have for years
lock67ca said,
April 8, 2009 @ 6:32 am
Maybe the original choices work the way they have for years. That’s just fine, but nobody was happy when they stopped storing and archiving attachments back in 2003.
When they announced they were restoring that feature, I think everyone thought it would be exactly the same as it was back then. It clearly is not the same, and I think that’s what has so many people upset. The complaints are legitimate.
Gayan Buddhika said,
April 8, 2009 @ 8:55 am
Thank u very much for this site, we can learn more activities
Stephanie HC said,
April 8, 2009 @ 4:32 pm
Is this being monitored by YG staff any more or are we just talking to the wall? I see posts on here that have nothing to do with the attachments issue…. and after the 100 plus complaint target was reached even a nice Oops sorry we didnt do a proper beta test would have been nice. You did it right with the Groups Beta and from the feedback you decided to drop it. Why didnt you put this issue to a proper test? Did you hand pick new users that had never been involved in groups until recently? You obviously didnt pick any of us!
Oh and for fun I moved some of the stored attachments to a different folder in photos – now nobody can find them
Melissa Daniels said,
April 8, 2009 @ 4:39 pm
@Stephanie HC,
Yes, this is still being monitored but I do not remove posts that veer off topic as often times users come here looking for help on specific issues and don’t care to “file” their issues under the appropriate posts. Rather than deleting their “off topic” messages I keep them here, respond appropriately or escalate/investigate off of the blog and respond as necessary.
This feature was tested, and based off of the feedback users were pleased with the feature. As I noted in one of my comments above, we do acknowledge that users do want a fourth option and are looking into implementing this feature in the future.
As far as “hand picking new users that had never been involved in groups until recently”– nope– we picked people who signed up for the beta when we asked for volunteers. Moderators/members ran the gamut in usage, categories, and length of tenure.
-Melissa
Judy said,
April 9, 2009 @ 5:01 am
I really dislike the way graphic attachments are now being handled! In the graphic groups it is very inconvient to have to go to the Web site to access these! PLEASE change this ASAP!
Thank you,
Judy
Marie said,
April 9, 2009 @ 9:51 am
I want to receive my letter stats from my Yahoo IncrediMail Groups in “full bloom” in my IncrediMail Email station!
I want to review them there! Please don’t make it necessary to go elsewhere for IM groups!
Jodi said,
April 9, 2009 @ 7:52 pm
This was the worse thing you could have ever done! Do you know how many IncrediMail groups there are? What you are doing to them is insane!! Go back to the real Yahoo and QUIT trying to improve it! You are not the ones using the groups, you just can not do this to people! Our group had it for maybe two days and I got 35 posts off group from members asking what happened and NONE of them were happy, take it and throw it away, far away, and never look back!
Debbie said,
April 9, 2009 @ 9:44 pm
I agree with David. I like veiwing the attachments in my e-mail BECAUSE I do not send or read mail on the group site. I’m a member of several Yahoo groups and have bee hanging with Yahoo BUT if i have to get an e-mai and them sign on to the group site to see the attachment, YOU CAN FORGET IT.
Too much wasted time and my time is just as important as Yahoo.
Debbie
[Qoute]
David Halfpenny said,
March 31, 2009 @ 4:02 pm
I now have the worst of both worlds – a feature that turns out to be useless!
PLEASE do what so many of us thought you were going to do all along and:
BOTH send the Attachments with the Emails AND store them on the site!
That is really, really important. It’s what your main competitor does.
I have been hanging on with Yahoo promising the members this facility and now it’s come you have shot me in both feet.
- Email attachments give immediacy to email conversation
- On-site storage makes sense of the thread for those looking at the archive later. (And those who can’t use email.)
- I don’t need Either / Or: I need BOTH please!
David[/qoute]
Maurice said,
April 10, 2009 @ 1:18 am
The feature has been enabled in the Dis-graph-BIG group on March 31st and it works well. Now I’m looking forward to have it enabled in other groups I’m a moderator or member of.
I think that having the attached files stored on site is useful, especially because lots of members are reluctant about the option ‘Individual emails’ (because of privacy, fear of spams or viruses, etc.).
I understand we have to choose between ‘Store on site’ (bigger disc space on Yahoo! servers) and ‘Store in emails’ (wider bandwidth). We owners/moderators of Yahoo! Groups have to remember that all that is totally free of charges !
Thank you,
Maurice
peg wachtel said,
April 10, 2009 @ 7:00 am
Add option to keep on site AND include in email. You’re site links frequently don’t work. That is, you strip pictures & add link to force people to yahoo site. But these links mostly generate errors.
now its = An unknown error occurred on the Yahoo! Groups server.
Earlier it was a 901 or some 900 number.
brivari said,
April 10, 2009 @ 7:31 am
Please, please, please, PLEASE fix the problem with allowing unmoderated comments on the attachments!!! Our group moderates all messages since we’ve children in the group. Our only option to prevent profanity, flaming etc is to set to disallow any attachments.
Lillie Mc said,
April 10, 2009 @ 11:03 am
Please Please Pelase DO NOT do this to any of my groups. I will have to shut them down. This is of absolutely no use to me or the members in my group. To have to look at a thumbnail in the group when an email contains a few pictures in a few different places just wont work. Imagine…. A few lines of text and a related picture, a few lines of text and a related picture, a few lines of text and a related picture. Now what I get are many lines of text and at the bottom a bunch of thumbnails. Why should I have to go to the yahoo groups to see the full picture? And even then when I go I dont see the email as it was actually posted. I see the pictures on a whole seperate page. Then there is the issue of the time involved. If I am getting hundreds of emails a day and have to click each little link to view it and go to the yahoo site it will take me 3 or more times longer just to get through my email. Thats if the link will actually work. There is also the HUGE issue of my paperclip attachment. This useless upgrade strips this out of my mail so I HAVE to go to the group to view. I really dont understand how people thought this would work. So far I am only affected by this in one group I belong to but let me tell you…. It is enough! I DO NOT LIKE IT and if it happens to my own gorups I manage I will delete them. As it is I am going to have to unjoin the one group because it is totally worthless to me now. The obvious fix is the fourth option -include in emails and store on site. Please fix this quickly.
I have to say I always like MSN groups because they were so pretty. The different pages was nice. However I eventually moved to just Yahoo groups long before MSN shut their groups. I did it because Yahoo groups are awesome. I love the email features. The only thing I miss is the pretty pages but I gladly give them up for the ease of use. Now for the first time in years I am not happy with it. Please give me back my good Yahoo.
Lillie Mc said,
April 10, 2009 @ 11:13 am
Melissa
You said
As I noted in one of my comments above, we do acknowledge that users do want a fourth option and are looking into implementing this feature in the future.
Do you have any idea of when this fourth option might be available?
Thank you.
Peter Relf said,
April 10, 2009 @ 4:29 pm
The proposed attachment options are inadequate. It is VITAL to have a group setting to both make attachments available on the site AND send them out with e-mails.
If this is not done, either e-mail recipients or digest-only members will lose out.
You will continue to lose groups to the likes of Google Groups unless you make attachments available to BOTH types of group member.
joemama said,
April 11, 2009 @ 12:49 pm
Add one more vote for the “fourth option.” I will not be activating this feature in my groups until the “archive” feature no longer strips the attachments from the e-mails. It’s just waaaay too inconvenient for individual message recipients. I can’t fathom why anyone in an attachment-heavy group would set themselves to “digest” in the first place, so I have little interest in “helping” them out, especially at the expense of the rest of my members.
Sam said,
April 11, 2009 @ 5:40 pm
I do not any improvement at all in what Yahoo is presenting here as an update. Indeed the only thing that we want is the 4th option: attachments in mails + archived on web !
Sam
Sierra Dawn said,
April 11, 2009 @ 10:17 pm
Melissa, you stated that both the moderators and owners would have access to editing how attachments are to be handled, but in our group (http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/JustArtScans/) the moderators cannot handling how attachments are to be handled.
Would you please comment on this.
Ali said,
April 12, 2009 @ 3:35 am
I’m sorry but this is ridiculous! Why did you make changes to group settings without even informing group owners/moderators? At least give them the choice whether or not to send thumbnails to the list.
Without the 4th option there is no improvement. If someone wants pix stored on the group they can always add them in the ‘photos’ section. Surely that’s the whole point!
As for your email stating that you have had a lot of positive feedback, I am astonished! Just look at the comments here. In the groups where you made the changes (without even telling the owner) there has been nothing but annoyance.
Please do NOT do this again. And if you do roll this out across all groups, leave the settings as they are and let the owner/moderators choose whether or not to enable the new option.
Ton Ami said,
April 12, 2009 @ 6:52 am
Please enable 4th option store and mail
BG said,
April 12, 2009 @ 7:22 am
I have six yahoogroups, Announcement Only format. Initially I was thrilled to read that you are re-instituting attachments staying with the message in the archives (the way it USED TO BE at yahoogroups).
But then I read the Options that you can either:
A. Keep attachments at yahoogroups but you MUST delete from emails;
B. Keep WITH emails but CANNOT have them at yahoogroup archives.
Those are TWO TERRIBLE OPTIONS as it makes you CHOOSE between the two. Why can’t we have both? I want all my attachments distributed via email AND a copy kept with the message at the archives.
So, imho, the “improvement/options” makes no sense whatsoever. ;-/ Very disappointed and sad about that! ;-(…..
Tricia Jumonville said,
April 12, 2009 @ 9:52 am
The fourth option is what we wanted back and were under the impression that we were getting back (else I would still have been clarifying for you).
We DID have something taken from us (unlike some upthread who think that we didn’t), it was just stolen way back when, probably before those who think we haven’t had anything taken from us were on YahooGroups. It was the requested capability to BOTH have attachments included with emails AND archived.
Melissa, I didn’t participate in that particular test, but DID participate in the earlier BETA where this was discussed, in some detail, and participated in that discussion. It was made VERY clear at that time what we wanted, so I don’t think the “well, you didn’t volunteer for the BETA and those who did responded positively” argument holds much (or any) water.
We’ve been asking for a return to both capabilities from the very first day that YahooGroups took it away. It’s not like we haven’t made our desires clear.
lock67ca said,
April 12, 2009 @ 12:09 pm
I’ve deleted my groups and moved elsewhere. I might decide to use Yahoo Groups again if the attachments feature is restored to what it was back in 2003. That’s what we want back. That’s what we thought we were getting. The feature, as you have it set up now, is pretty useless. I’m sorry if you don’t like it, but that’s my opinion.
Based on the comments I’ve seen here, I’m also finding it hard to believe you got positive feedback on this.
C E said,
April 12, 2009 @ 10:09 pm
Although new features are nice, I think that you should also give the users themselves the options. It should be a store on site, and email to users within the emails, it should also allow the user to choose, if they want to just receive the thumbnails and not the attachment, it’s up to them.
The bottom line should be, that group owners have the choice to enable storage. But end users in the group have the choice of either receiving the attachments or not to receive them.
C E said,
April 12, 2009 @ 10:13 pm
One last thing… for images these thumbnails are way too small, they should be of the whole image in a smaller size.
Patries said,
April 13, 2009 @ 10:48 am
Hi Melissa and all
Thanks for the oportunity to respond and the efford for the attachements.
But as a lot of other groups owners, I like a 4the one. the other 3 are not interesting inough. G mail gif me alreaydy that option .. I realy want the same option from Yahoo.
All of my members like to have the 4 opportunity The one you wont mansion in your options and that one is……Store attachements And include to the mail aswell.
I realy hope you will be able to do so.
With Regards
Patries (The Netherlands)
Spencer said,
April 14, 2009 @ 7:51 am
I still don’t even have the 3rd option available on my site. We want the 4th option!!!
Michele said,
April 15, 2009 @ 5:32 am
now that many of the groups have been swithced over, I see that the messages sent in emails are not being sent on to memebers and are ONLY stored online. A lot of my members are really unhappy about having to take the extra step to go after those photos for every email. After all, that was the whole point f sending them in emails andf subscribing to individual email deliivery: to get the photos delivered to you full size without having to go see if the sender also oput them in an album (either yahoo or some other photo service)
.
In management, I see these options:
Store on site (exclude from emails)
Include in emails (exclude from site)
Exclude from site and emails
*************what about the most impostant option that we need:
Store on site AND include in emails
can this option please be added? I think many of us thought that when yahoo said they were going to save attachments ionline that it didn’t mean taking them out of individual emails!
thank you
Maurice said,
April 15, 2009 @ 6:23 am
When will this feature be enabled in all the groups ? Up to now, it’s been made available only in one of the groups I’m an owner or a moderator of.
John A. said,
April 15, 2009 @ 8:04 am
Why wasn’t the old setting (include in e-mails) kept as default? Instead I have to check in to the settings of all my groups on a daily basis to see when the new feature is presented there and reset it to ‘include in e-mals’.
Boo said,
April 15, 2009 @ 9:20 am
Actually, I don’t want to moderate all members – just new members and photos (which I do now). I read all messages to my groups and it would also be important to have all the comments posted to photos delivered as they are posted.
TIA
~~~~~~~
Actually, you can “unmoderate” yourself and any other member you wish to automatically approve. To do this, go to Members, find the member you wish to change, and then click “edit membership.” Then, down at the bottom where it says “Posting Messages” click “edit” and from here you can set the member’s settings to always moderate, never moderate, etc.
-Melissa
George said,
April 15, 2009 @ 4:09 pm
You missed the mark again regarding attachments. I use a POP3 e-mail client. When attachments are sent out with the posting as part of the e-mail message, my POP3 client AUTOMATICALLY DOWNLOADS ALL FULL SIZE pictures. At my convenience I can view, sort, categorize, and/or delete pictures.
Downloading pictures from the group archive is TEDIOUS, TIME-CONSUMING, and requires MULTIPLE MOUSE CLICKS PER PICTURE thus AGGRAVATING my PAINFUL CARPAL TUNNEL.
Two solutions are REQUIRED:
1. Provide the option to BOTH send out attachments AND store them in the group archive. This is what GOOGLE does AND is what Yahoo groups used to do before you arbitrarily started deleting attachments.
2. Provide the option to “download all attachments” for each posting in the group archive. This is how GOOGLE Mail works. This allows a user to choose to get all attachments from a posting with ONLY ONE MOUSE CLICK! AOL Pictures used to work this way — it was GREAT! Unfortunately the demise of AOL is on-going so AOL Pictures was eliminated.
What is Yahoo’s future? In the early 1990’s Yahoo WAS INNOVATIVE and on the FOREFRONT of technology. Unfortunately it couldn’t handle the business growth and became STAGNANT and USER HOSTILE with such behavior as deleting all attachments from postings and arbitrarily deleting groups. There is NO YAHOO CUSTOMER SERVICE — I dare you to find a phone number listed on http://yahoo.com to call a human being about Yahoo problems, defects or issues.
Hopefully this blog will reach someone who can make timely, positive, user friendly changes to Yahoo before it’s demise.
Melissa Daniels said,
April 15, 2009 @ 4:37 pm
@George,
As several before you have commented (and I’ve responded to) we do recognize the need for a “fourth option,” which you describe– this would provide users with the option of viewing attachments either via web or email, preventing your pop-ed email from downloading the attachments. We are currently looking into this feature, but first wish to implement the option into all groups first. Once this has been done we can work towards other options.
As far as Customer Care goes, we do have Customer Care, however we do not provide phone support for services like groups. If you have an issue, you may file a ticket with Customer Care using this link: http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/groups/original/members/forms/general.html and an agent will reply. I assure you that though the replies are form emails, they are hand picked by a live person as opposed to an automated service. If you continue to have issues or have a specific Customer Care claim that was not handled appropriately, please forward me the Customer Care ticket (with the case number– this starts with a K) to yahoogroups [at] yahoo [dash] inc [dot] com.
Thanks.
-Melissa
Michele said,
April 16, 2009 @ 8:40 am
I’m glad that Yahoo is at least loking into adding the necessary 4th option. Any idea of the timeframe? I’d prefer to see that fixed before subjecting any more groups to the current setup.
And as has been noted, the online photos are not near the size/resolution originally sent making it not so great for groups that need the real thing.
one more thing – glitches:
I sent a message to 3 groups that all have the new feature of online-only photos. Not only is it a hassle, but it does NOT work properly! (at least not all the time). When I click to see the attachments I am taken to the site, but when I clock on the photos to view the “full size”, at least 50% of the time NOTHING happens – I’m stuck in limbo. I have tried this several times now, and more often than not the photos will not open and I’m left with only the thumbnails (I do not have this problem when I go directly to the album so it is not my computer or browser – it’s only from the new and definitely not improved photo attachement notices in the individual emails). So to se the “attachments” now it’s taking a lot more than 3 clicks.
Ali said,
April 17, 2009 @ 3:03 am
Yahoo:-
Do you actually read any of the comments here?
Have you not figured out that the vast majority hate this new system!
If you must introduce it at least leave the group setting as they are and allow the owner/moderator of the group to choose whether to use the new option of storing attachments on the site rather than changing group settings for them.
GET A GRIP!
atitlan said,
April 17, 2009 @ 8:44 am
You have arbitrarily changed group settings so that no-one receives picture attachments by email, instead of everyone getting them that way. You didn’t email group owners/moderators you were doing this and your blog message does not make this clear either. I didn’t know and my group’s members had no idea it would happen. The changes took effect in my group today and I’ve been inundated with complaints from group members. I’ve only now worked out what was wrong and, as a result, been able to change the settings back again. If you do something as radical as this again in the future, you really do need to improve your communication.
Rick B. said,
April 17, 2009 @ 11:35 am
I am a moderator (not owner) of yahoo group v-m-p. Most of our members wish to have attachments sent with their e-mails. I don’t seem to have the [EDIT] button available to change this option. I have tried to contact the owner but have not had any response for several weeks.
Terry C. said,
April 17, 2009 @ 11:54 am
Is there any way to leave the choice up to the users? I’d rather get an attachment, not have to go to the site to retrieve it. That’s just a pointless extra step. Besides, the thumbnails with the attachments are so small as to be totally worthless.
All in all, being on the receiving end of this “feature” feels a lot like being screwed into going to yahoo to see an ad.
Iubika said,
April 17, 2009 @ 9:38 pm
I`d like to have this option available in my group, but it`s not there yet. Will it take long for it to be available for everyone?
Maurice said,
April 18, 2009 @ 6:26 am
Ah, the new featured has been enabled in several of my groups yesterday and this day. Just a note : when I send an e-mail with attachment, it’s delayed by half-an-hour or more. It’s a little bothering because I often send two e-mails simultaneously, and if I don’t take care, the second e-mail can be delivered before the first one.
Thanks anyway for all the great job; and I don’t hate the new feature, not at all !
Maurice, in France
Terry C. said,
April 18, 2009 @ 12:13 pm
[#
atitlan said,
April 17, 2009 @ 8:44 am
You have arbitrarily changed group settings so that no-one receives picture attachments by email, instead of everyone getting them that way. You didn’t email group owners/moderators you were doing this and your blog message does not make this clear either. I didn’t know and my group’s members had no idea it would happen. The changes took effect in my group today and I’ve been inundated with complaints from group members. I’ve only now worked out what was wrong and, as a result, been able to change the settings back again. If you do something as radical as this again in the future, you really do need to improve your communication.]
This comment can’t be stressed enough. As one of the users who’s had their service rendered almost completely useless by this new “feature,” I’ve got to question what the reasoning behind this was? Why make the most radical possible change from what was working just fine the new default?
It shows a real lack of planning. In the meantime, I’m sitting here waiting for customer service to get back to me — at which point I’m almost certain I’ll be told I’m completely screwed. That is, if they get back to me at all.
For future reference, a solution to a non-problem is ALWAYS a non-solution.
Richard Kleinhenz said,
April 19, 2009 @ 7:33 am
I am waiting for the groups I own/moderate to get enabled. I’ve read some of the comments) above, looking for a 4th option. Currently, my groups do not allow attachments, adding this wil be nice. Even if option 4 email/web attachments is not there to begin with. I have a couple of questions comments in general.
1. It would be good if individuals could control whether they want attachments in their email, once the morerator has enabled the feature.
2. Is there any limit that can be set on size? Would be great if again the moderator could set an overall size limit, and users could set a limit on the max size they want included in email
3. Is there a simple delete feature? 100G shared with photos sounds like a lot, but it can fill quickly I’m sure especially if there are no size limits. And I do not look back to the 30M days when I had to manually delete. I would look for a individual deletes of course as needed, but also by size or by date – or at least a sortable flat list – not like the photo albums where you have to go into each folder for deletions.
Best regards,
Rich
Rich Kleinhenz said,
April 19, 2009 @ 9:14 am
Forgot one suggestion. It would be nice if moderators can specify what types of attachments to allow. Perhaps 3 choices… pictures only (incl. all common graphics formats – the allowed types should be listed), zip files, and all. I could not like to allow executables, e.g. unless they are embedded in a zip so I would select 1 and 2. Do not filter on the content of zip files…
Regards,
Rich
Leonard Dixon said,
April 19, 2009 @ 3:49 pm
I have found that if an image is *inserted* (not attached), then it stays in the message as is, just like before. So that’s good.
I like the new attachment feature in many ways.
BUT here’s something that I didn’t see mentioned above…
** It looks like only those group members who have registered with YahooGroups can access the attachment! (At least, that’s how it appears, from limited feedback.)
If so, that’s a big problem, because about half the members of the 26 groups I own are so severely non-techie they aren’t able to complete the registration process – even in cases where they want to!!**
I haven’t tried registering with YahooGroups in a long time, so I’m not sure if they’ve made it any easier for non-techie people to register.
Casey said,
April 20, 2009 @ 8:16 am
Oh geee whiz. I AM VERY DISAPPOINTED.
As said already.
the Fourth option is a MUST!
* STORE ON SITE & INCLUDE in EMAILS *
Actually it should be the FIRST Option, if not made to DEFAULT this way.
My two cents.
Casey
Michele said,
April 20, 2009 @ 4:12 pm
I also agree that being able to restrict the attachements stored (to say only jpgs) would be desirable. No need to open ourselves up to all sorts of potential viruses and executables.
Maurice said,
April 20, 2009 @ 10:03 pm
I’ve had the new feature enabled in several groups I’m a moderator of, and I’ve sent several posts with attached files. I’ve noticed that I received these messages in my Inbox, with thumbnails which weren’t attachments, but direct links to the attached files in the sections ‘Attachments’ of my groups.
I first thought that I got these active thumbnails because i was the moderator, but I asked to a member: he got the active thumbnails as well.
So, since members (with ‘Individual e-mails’) can get a direct link to the files, that allows them to view/download them, they really don’t need to have the 4th option. For me, the 4th option IS NOT A MUST, what’s more, it contributes to overload the members’ mailboxes.
Maurice
Michele said,
April 21, 2009 @ 5:12 am
yes, we DO need the 4th option. Having the thumbnails is NOT enough for those on individual emails for 3 reasons:
1. it requires going to yahoo, signing in, and then clicking on each one to emlarge – that’s at least 3 clicks.
2. not everyone gets the thumbnails – often it is just a text link, so to even get an idea of what the photos are you have do do 1 just to find out if you’re interested. In my email, about 50% come through with thumbnails and the rest are text links – it’s not my email software, and I’m signed up for all groups the same way, so there’s obviously something at yahoo’s end doing this (Melissa, why is that? is there a fix????)
3. the photos that are stored are not the same size or resolution as the originals which were sent. On a group that relies heavily on photos the smaller photos are not an acceptable substitute
as for the cluttering of mailboxes, for those members who find the links adequate they each have the option to turn off image loading at their end in their own email software – that’s an option in every email program I’ve seen.
Maurice said,
April 21, 2009 @ 6:07 am
I don’t think it works as you said.
1. As far as you have the option ‘Individual e-mails’, you receive the postings with a thumbnail in your Inbox. You DON’T NEED to go to Yahoo!, sign-in and click on each posting. The thumbnail (link) in your Inbox directs you to the attached file in the section ‘Attachments’ of your group. Then you just need a click to download it. At least, it works like that here, and I’ve checked it with members of my groups.
2. Up to now, there isn’t any member of my groups who complained about not receiving the thumbnails; they received them as thumbnails, not as text links. I’m not certain that your problem is a Yahoo! problem.
3. The image files are stored like the images in the Photos section. You can select the size, ‘Normal’, ‘Large’ or ‘Original’. Sometimes there’s a problem with ‘Original’, but generally, if you try again (it can be helpful to select ‘Large’ before ‘Original’), it eventually works.
So, I’m not requesting the 4th option, but I can understand that other people, especially you, need it.
Maurice
Melissa Daniels said,
April 21, 2009 @ 5:45 pm
@Rich Kleinhenz,
Thanks for the comment–
Here are a few responses to your comments:
1) Great suggestion– I’ve already passed it on.
2) Currently, 15MB per attachment file is the default limit.
3) All the attachments can be deleted on the website by selecting individual or selecting multiple ones at a time. Also when the 100G limit is reached the oldest attachment gets removed as new ones are added.
4) also a great suggestion and have passed it on.
Thanks!
-Melissa
Melissa Daniels said,
April 21, 2009 @ 5:47 pm
@Michele,
Regarding executable files, we do automatically filter these out to cut down/reduce the number of potential viruses that you all are subject to. However I have passed on the suggestion of filtering by attachment type and limiting by attachment type.
-Melissa
lock67ca said,
April 21, 2009 @ 9:25 pm
Why is there a 100G limit in the first place? eGroups never had attachment limits. When you took control of them and switched to Yahoo Groups, there was no attachment limit. Not at first anyway. You introduced limits on attachments a few months before you removed the feature completely. Now you’re doing it again. This hardly seems fair. Your main competitor doesn’t have any limits on attachments that I’m aware of. I’ve seen attachments archived as far back as 2004. They seem to be doing alright for themselves. Why does Yahoo feel the need to impose limits on this feature?
ManaMW said,
April 21, 2009 @ 10:13 pm
I was really looking forward to finally getting attachments back the way they used to be and now find that isn’t the case. Did anyone hear what we were asking in our Town Hall meeting? Having to access the group to pick up files is useless for my groups. We travel a lot, working on email during our flights. I have set it back to the old settings of getting attachments in email and am really disappointed not to have access to them in the archives like we did years ago. With close to 150 groups I guess I will be spending time I don’t have switching them all back. Maybe one day you will give us an Option 4… which allows attachments to come through email and also available on the group site.
GRC said,
April 22, 2009 @ 8:17 am
Noting is working right in the groups !! NOTHING !!
marke said,
April 22, 2009 @ 10:05 pm
you people are parsteadick, no wonder yahoo is losing.
I want them attached to the message.
What a bunch of losers you people are at yahoo
Michele said,
April 23, 2009 @ 5:29 am
everythign I said earlier is true:
1. you do need to be already sigfned in for link to get you *directly* to album, you do need to click album thumbnail to enlarge
2. I am not the only member getting sometimes thumbnails, somteimes text links – many members in my group are. And I am getting both with no pattern
3. the largest photo stored is smaller and of lower resolution than what was sent in original email in all my tests over several groups
and I am getting LOTS of complaints from members about all of these.
Please, we really do need the 4th option. Those that don’t think they need it don’t have to use it!
Leonard Dixon said,
April 24, 2009 @ 12:49 am
Hi Melissa:
I’ve posted JPG attachments to a couple of my groups, and several people are getting this when they click on the link:
“An unknown error occurred on Groups”
– nothing else.
Q: Can list members who are not registered with YahooGroups see the images in the Attachments area?
Suggestion: If they can’t see the images, then instead of an error message direct them to a page where they can register. (And make it easy for them to register!)
Q: Is there a difference between being registered and having a profile?
I think those used to be the same, but one of my list members who doesn’t have a profile (I can tell by their listing in the roster) is able to visit the group’s roster of members and the archive of messages.
Sam said,
April 24, 2009 @ 10:37 am
Hi Melissa,
What’s holding your team up ?
About 90% of the reactions here told you they are in favor of that 4th option: attachments in groups archive AND attached to mail. Suppose you have a bunch of very qualified programmers at you disposale, so this can be fixed within some hours….
Please tell me the reasons why this is not possible yet.
Those groups who want it otherwise can choose one of the other options, so nobody would complain if you offer this, isn’t it ??
Hope to get a positive answer soon.
Regards,
Sam
weeny said,
April 24, 2009 @ 3:37 pm
just would like to know when my groups *CKTA-globalcommunity, *ckta-inspirational, *ckta-jetonline wil have their ATTACHMENT features?
my other 2 more groups like the ckta-home & faith-life-mission has already got this feature on.
thank you very much!
you are doing a great job!
weeny said,
April 24, 2009 @ 3:53 pm
hello as i owned other groups & moderates several other groups too withthis new feature, i would like to commend your team for doing a great job to us.
this is very helpful & beneficial…
more success!
Melissa Daniels said,
April 24, 2009 @ 5:52 pm
@Sam,
You’re right– we do have a team of very talented engineers and developers working here, but before we could begin to consider or introduce a “fourth option” we need to finish rolling out this feature to all groups. As it stands, all groups do not have the attachment feature just yet (we are gradually rolling it out to prevent potential problems).
Once everyone is settled/situated we can begin to reassess the situation. However, until then, I assure you, we’ve all read your comments and have heard your thoughts on the “fourth option” and are taking them into consideration.
Thanks!
-Melissa
Joe said,
April 24, 2009 @ 11:31 pm
How many of you are as pissed about how they deal with ‘attachments’ with messages. I am on traditional messages because of their ‘improved’ messages make them unreadable with their format sometimes superimposing overtop of the actual message, or links in the messages getting broken with mystery spaces or periods inserted into them. I still don’t know how they consider this Better, but who am I, just a paying yahoo user. I don’t count.
Now, they say that (insert the fanfare and streamers here) that they will now allow attachments to be archived with the messages again. Now, this was how the system was configured when they bought the service from eGroups, but we won’t talk about that debacle. Instead of handling attachments like any other service or program handles them, they are going a NEW route, You can no longer get the attachments like before, you can opt out of getting attachments, OR you can get them the new way, as an addition to the email, but hosted on our servers. Nope, you can’t get them attached to your email any more, that isn’t how we want them Yahoo says, If you want attachments you have to click on the thumbnail, launch your browser and see a reduced size (re-sampled lower quality, any time a picture is resized it looses resolution) picture. If you want to see the picture in it’s full size, you need to click onto another link to see the picture in the original size. Now the fun part, if you want to safe that file for some reason , you don’t get the file name that was assigned to the file in the first place, you get some random characters that the yahoo system wants to give it, virtually making it impossible to find a picture saved where you know the file name and forget to rename it.
Why not just save the attachment in the archive attached to the message posted like it used to be done, why do it the way they are now. When eGroups and even before them OneList owned groups, they had no problems dealing with attachments . Google groups does not seem to have this problem also. This debacle may be the final push to get me to go to Google groups and say goodbye to Yahoo for good.
I can see how this could be a good fix for users that are using webmail to view the groups, because to be honest this is the only way that they could view attachments, so this wouldn’t be an imposition, but I don’t use webmail. I pay for the additional service for POP access to my yahoo mail. I don’t have to pay for this service for my Google account, so if Yahoo insist on continuing this ‘new improved’ group, then I am gone. I can’t be the only one feeling this way.
Jojoe
John Anderson said,
April 25, 2009 @ 1:12 am
How long will it take to “roll out” this to all groups? I manage a couple of groups where it has’nt happended yet, whereas in others it happende weeks ago.
Ali said,
April 25, 2009 @ 3:55 am
Melissa,
Why have you not considered the option of NOT changing the group settings to use your new option? Instead, just make the option available for the group owner to use IF they want, rather than imposing it and forcing them to change back. Some group owners are not very technical (yes, I know it easy but…) and don’t appear to be able to figure it out. Other groups have lost all their owners/moderators and have been working very happily but now have the new option forced on them without anyone having the rights to change back.
lock67ca said,
April 25, 2009 @ 10:31 am
@ joe
I’ve already left Yahoo Groups for Google, and I’m glad I did. This new and “improved” attachment feature is a joke.
Judy said,
April 25, 2009 @ 7:57 pm
I’m looking forward to the new feature for my groups; none of them have it so far. I have received mail from a few other groups who have the new feature turned on, and I’m wondering about the “[1 Attachment]” thing in the subject title. It seems to split the thread in my email program (gmail), and I’m wondering if there is a logical reason for putting it in the subject title.
Thank!
Judy
Robert said,
April 26, 2009 @ 5:35 pm
I don’t even see three options in my groups. I, too, was hoping for the fourth option. Has implentation been delayed because your proposed solution does NOT currently include that option?
Mel said,
April 27, 2009 @ 10:56 pm
just would like to know when my groups “smpk1berombolan78-81″ wil have their ATTACHMENT features?
Mary said,
April 29, 2009 @ 8:07 pm
We are anxiously waiting for our attachments feature! When do you anticipate that the rollout will be completed?
Michele said,
May 1, 2009 @ 1:03 pm
still having problems with NOT getting thumbnails consistently.
What I’ve noticed:
1. when my own messages come back to me I NEVER get the thumbnail, it’s just a text link
2. I NEVER get the thumbnails in any group I moderate for anyone else’s posts either – it’s only text links
3. in groups that I am a member, but not a moderator, it’s a mix of thumbnails or text links with no apparent pattern.
in all of thwese situation I’m suing the same yahooid, same email address, and am subscribed in exactly the same way (individual emails ,traditional)
additional issues:
when I get the text link and click on it, rarely does it take me to a photo. It takes me to the album , but when I click on the index pics there, MOST of the time, NOTHING happens – they do not enlarge. Worse yet, every link on those pages is completely dead. Sometimes I can refresh a couple of times and then I can click to enlarge, but often I have to close that window and manuallty go into the group and hunt for them. (it’s not a browser issue -happens in more than one) and it’s not my computer – happens on more than one machine)
This is ridiculous and I surely hope not the way it was designed.
Besides the insanity of noy haviong the 4th option, these major bugs are making yahoo all but uselss. I hope they are being worked on as a priority over rolling out more unneeded features
Maurice said,
May 6, 2009 @ 2:12 am
As for myself, the new feature has been enabled in several groups I’m a moderator or member of, and it works well. But it’s not available in several other groups, and nothing has been done for 2 weeks. Is there a break ?
Luen said,
May 7, 2009 @ 1:20 am
Hi Melissa: (Yahoo! Community Manager)
I am the owner of this group and we frequently send messages with attachments, often time with files containing non-English (such as Chinese) characters. I noticed as my group started storing files, we received emails with linked pointed to “file not found” page with an 404 error message saying:
“Sorry, the page you requested was not found.”
I narrowed it down to the cause being related to non-English character file names.
Hope you can figure out a solution. I can provide the “wrong” links if you need them.
Regards,
Luen
John A. Gamblin said,
May 14, 2009 @ 6:29 pm
G’day Melissa,
We seem to have had changes made to Ozbirdpix@Yahoogroups.com that a large percentage of MY members at not happy with with.
The problem is also further complicated due to the fact that I am a moderator and I believe now thee owner of Ozbirdpix? but I am NOT allowed to make any changes to the email list server settings?
The members wish to have wild bird photos sent and recieved by each other as attachments so could you please change us back to how things pleasantly used to be, thanking you.
(If your group has this new feature enabled, please share your thoughts in the comment section below. Thanks!
Melissa Daniels
Yahoo! Community Manager)
John A. Gamblin, Melbourne Australia
David Nowell said,
May 14, 2009 @ 10:56 pm
With this kind of “service”, I am afraid many are saying they are leaving yahoo groups and making alternate arrangements. In one group alone, about 70% of members have now refused to post images until the old system is re-instated – a large number of these people are already posting on alternate non-Yahoo groups.
Regards
David
Cheryl said,
May 17, 2009 @ 8:54 am
Oh My – This new system is just the worst thing that you guys could have done !!! It wreaks havoc with my sending images with my emails and I have to keep changing the setting back every other day? What a pure waste of time!
You people should put an option in there that we can change the setting permanently while you are playing with your settings. Frankly, I am sick of people in my group writing to me asking for resends of the attachments because Yahoo ate them!
Get your act together guys! If we change the setting to have the attachments sent with the email, please LEAVE IT THAT WAY!!!
lock67ca said,
May 17, 2009 @ 1:10 pm
Go to Google Groups.
They’re stable. They have all the bugs worked out. The attachment system works the way it should, without jumping through a bunch of hoops like you’re forced to do with Yahoo. Yahoo has given me nothing but headaches with this new system. I’ve deleted all my groups and switched to Google, and I’m glad I did.
Ateeq said,
May 20, 2009 @ 11:09 pm
Email attachments are archived on site????? Who came up with this f****** idea in the first place.
Hiring such stupid people by leading institutes had caused global economic crisis… I would suggest yahoo to fire such people immediately…
I am quite sure that lot of people will oppose the idea of “Attachment Beta”… however, if you don’t want to listen and rectify it, at least, do us a favor and stop calling it an Option…
Kamil said,
May 21, 2009 @ 8:27 am
Is this to prove that people of Yahoo Team can count up to (and including) THREE? Where is the forth option? It is necessary!
And, this community deserves respect with their group settings/preferences. If you implemented a new feature(!), annouce it. Do not activate it automatically on all groups as if we are all beta testers.
Thank you anyway.
HarryH said,
May 22, 2009 @ 5:08 pm
Well the attachment change has hit several of my groups. Now why on earth did you default the option to ’store in group’? Why wasn’t the default to distribute? The latter option would have been the least impact to the group because nothing would appear to change until the moderator wanted to implement the change. As it is, positive actions are required to restore the group back to it’s previous configuration. Since Yahoo elected to default to ’store attachment’, there is a constant refrain of complaints from users who use POP3 and are not logged into Yahoo when they read mail.
The change should never have been implemented with the default to alter the group without prior notice. This exhibits extremely poor design that should be corrected.
Donna Whitman said,
May 23, 2009 @ 12:07 pm
Would you folks mind ASKING group owners if they actually want one of your “features” before you mess with the setting? I do not want not have iI ever wanted to store attachments on my group site. AT least you provided a fox but I hardly call that an improvement to break something and then tell group owners how to fix it. I have yet to encounter a group owner who left it like you set it.
Judy said,
May 24, 2009 @ 5:17 am
PLEASE STOP THIS NONSENSE!!
Put it back the way it WAS, before Yahoo decided to fix what wasn’t broken to begin with!!! WHY oh WHY do you always have to be changing things!!!
It’s soo disgusting to see that teeeeeny tiny thumbnail, when we want to see the REAL attachment in our mail!!
Luen Lin said,
June 3, 2009 @ 10:31 am
I would like to give the community managers commendation after they heard many (negative) feedbacks. It is a good idea to archive attachments in the group as long as it has enough room. It gives the daily digest members or no-email members an opportunity to view the attachments.
But I do agree that you should have informed group moderators the new options available as opposed to changing the delivery method without notice.
Also please fix the bug so that file names with non-English characters can be linked properly.
Peter said,
June 9, 2009 @ 8:59 am
I vote to continue use of the attachments feature, but with the option #4 to include them with emails AND to include in the Attachments folder at the website.
Marius said,
June 19, 2009 @ 2:38 am
Is this feature available?
I’m a moderator.
How can I switch my group to Yahoo Groups Beta?
Please, somebody answer.
Luen Lin said,
June 22, 2009 @ 3:18 pm
Marius:
log in to your group —> management —> group settings —> posting and archives —> attachments (choose your preference) —> save
Marius said,
June 24, 2009 @ 3:23 am
Thanks Lin, but I have only these settings:
Attachments
o Store on site (exclude from emails)
o Include in emails (exclude from site)
o Exclude from site and emails
I want to be able to * STORE ON SITE & INCLUDE in EMAILS *
Thanks
lock67ca said,
June 25, 2009 @ 1:36 pm
@ Marius
You don’t have that option. People have been asking for the 4th option for months, and Yahoo isn’t listening. They said they were looking into it but that was several months ago. I think it’s becoming clear that Yahoo has no intention of including that option, or they would have done so from the start. The complaints continue to fall on deaf ears.
If you want that option, I would seriously consider Google Groups. Attachtments are stored at the site and sent out with the emails. I have attachments archived in my groups from as far back as 2005, with no imposed storage limits. I doubt you’ll ever get that with Yahoo.They do what they want, and they have a long track record of not listening to their users.
I’ve closed all my Yahoo Groups and moved to Google Groups, and I’m very satisfied with them.
Stephen said,
August 20, 2009 @ 8:56 am
I did all of the above and I still get the messsage:
Get quota failed
You do not have rights to perform this operation : 105
The other people in my group can post attachments, I am the only one not able to.. dos anyone have any other advice???
thanks
Don Ford said,
September 4, 2009 @ 8:23 am
I don’t have a problem with just attaching to emails only but what ever Yahoo
did to the attachments stinks. I have been the “Owner” for lack of a better word, of our Heat Transfer board for close to 8 years and this is the worst I have ever seen. It worked great before Yahoo started jacking with it again. We have a lot of seasoned folks on our board and they have the same problems. Sometimes it will open on the 2nd or 3rd try and sometimes it won’t open at all. I and our board would like to see it go back to the old attachment form that we were using with no problems. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE go back to the old system. Thank you and have a BLESSED weekend.
God Bless You
Don Ford
Sue Schmitt said,
September 7, 2009 @ 10:47 pm
I am very disappointed that no one from yahoo reads these posts. It is so clear that users want a fourth option of having attachments both in emails and on the site.
From the first day the change took place in March, folks have posted requests to add the fourth option. Yahoo management has not posted one answering reply to all of the postings and the sincere frustration being expressed. Why???
Six months and no response.
Kris said,
September 15, 2009 @ 9:19 pm
I belong to a Yahoo group, and I used to be able to send emails from the group with attachment added, just like in any normal email. But now, I am unable to add attachments with my email.
I can’t even find the “Attach” button? Your “Help” link says to simply add the attachments to the message and send, but it doesn’t explain how or where to find the attachment button.
I guess this problem is caused by the new format? I am just a normal member. Please help.
Russ said,
September 18, 2009 @ 9:07 pm
My group membership has been cut in half due to the lack of a fourth option that has been posted 153 times above me. Not sure why you wouldn’t allow that. My group has been going since 2002 but I am about ready to send a mass email out to my membership appologizing for wasting their time and suggesting they join another, more useful group… I am very disapointed.
Simon said,
November 13, 2009 @ 12:20 pm
I’ve found a bug in the way links to stored attachments are built. I’ve reported it to Yahoo, but in the meantime please suggest to your members that they not use blanks in the file names of any attachments they send to the group. See:
http://suggestions.yahoo.com/detail/?prop=groups&fid=166506
Clive Sims said,
December 19, 2009 @ 4:38 pm
This new service has been operating what 8 months or so now and pretty much all groups I belong to have reverted back to the old way of having attachments sent out via email when a post is made to the group. Its not that any of us don’t like this additional method of storing pics but I for one would still like to have my files sent by email – its just a personal choice which works better for me. I don’t see why you could have left that option in – or indeed as some others have mentioned, include a 4th option which allowed delivery of email attachments AND store as archive so that digest / non email subscribers could still see the pics.
The only improvement the archive itself would be to have a “download all” option for each block of pics that are sent since they can be viewed as thumbnails per “email” – in other words, if you click view all from the email, the archive will show all attachments related to that email and so a “download all” would save so much time rather than have to open each one on its own and click save.
Clive
Clive Sims said,
December 19, 2009 @ 4:44 pm
****ANSWERING KRIS.
I just flipped through some of the replies regarding the archive service that Yahoo has been offering and saw your question. Its not really related to this topic, but I hope since is there the mods will let me answer.
I don’t know how long ago it was that you claim you used to send out attachments from your Yahoo group mail. However, not to put you down or anything, but I don’t think Yahoo Group mail has ever done that. From as far back as I can recall, if you wanted to send a file as an attachment to your Yahoo group you had to use your own email client and I am going back at least 7 years. The Yahoo Group email service was and to my knowledge still is text only.
Maybe you are thinking of your Yahoo Webmail? In which case you have always been able to put attachments on emails there.
Regards
Clive