Frequently Asked Questions

BlastGroups are a fun, free way for any type or size of group to share, plan, and connect. On BlastGroups, you can easily share messages, events, videos, websites, and more by Sending a Blast to any of your groups or to specific members. You have the option to alert group members by email whenever you add new content to any group.

BlastGroups makes group communication fun, exciting, and easy.

Everyday, you interact and share things with many people, both in person and online. You can break down a lot of your normal communication into groups based around your friends, family, those you share activities or interests with, people you work with, those near the regions where you live, and more. As your life changes, so do your interests and the relationships with the groups you're involved in.

BlastGroups helps you stay better connected to the people you already know and connect with new people who like the same things you do.

BlastGroups is a completely free way for any type or size of group to communicate. We generate revenue from advertisements found on the side or below the content of the page.

If you cannot remember your password, you can recover it by clicking on 'Forgot password' on the right side of every page or by clicking here and entering the email address you registered with. We will send you an email with a new password and you can change it whenever you'd like by going to your Settings section.

You can change your password by clicking on the "Settings" link in the top right corner of every page.

On BlastGroups, it's easy to join groups! You can find "Open Groups" on BlastGroups right away by clicking the "Explore Groups" link at the top left of every page. You can join these Open Groups right away by clicking the "Join Group" link on that group's Homepage. Looking for a specific type of group? Use the search feature found at the top of each page if you know what type of group you're looking for!

You can start a BlastGroup by clicking the "Start a Group" link on the top left of every page or on the top right of your My Groups page. To invite friends to your group, just enter their email addresses as you create the group, and they'll be automatically invited to the site and invited to your group! You can also invite existing BlastGroups members by clicking on the Invite link on their Profile page. To let even more people join, leave your group Open and other people will be able to join on their own!

BlastGroups makes it fun and easy to create a group website. You can make a group website about anything you'd like. Just choose a group name and a custom website address for your group's homepage and you'll be good to go!

There are currently three types privacy options to set for your BlastGroup:

• "Open" - Everyone in the BlastGroups community is able to view and join immediately. Everything in these groups is visible but members must join in order to add any content.
• "Restricted" - Everyone in the BlastGroups community is able to browse and search for these groups but they are only allowed to see the group's homepage. Permission from the group creator or an assigned "Manager" is required for people to see the rest of the group. You can join a "Restricted" group by accepting an invitation or requesting to join.
• "Private" - These groups are completely exclusive and their content is hidden from the rest of the BlastGroups community and the public. They do not appear in any searches and cannot be viewed at all by non-members. Only an invitation from the group Creator or Manager will allow people to join.

There are currently two types of member privileges you can set for your BlastGroup:

• "Unlimited" - All group members have eqaul privileges when it comes to adding content. All group members can add any content (in those sections that you have allowed, that is) to the group freely.
• "One-Way" - Group Managers are the only ones that can add content to the group (send email blast messages, add pictures, videos, blog posts, links, etc). Other group members can still add Lounge Topics, add Comments on all items, and RSVP to events.

Your BlastGroup's privacy settings and member privileges can be found and changed at any time under the 'Edit Details' section of the 'Manage Your Group' tab from your Group's Home.

You can add other Group Managers at any time from the 'Edit Managers/Members' section section of the 'Manage Your Group' tab from your Group's Home. This is great if there are multiple leaders of your group and you want to give each of them equal administrative control and the ability to add and edit other content.

You can join "Open" groups immediately. To join "restricted" groups, it requires permission from one of that group's Managers. You can request to join any "restricted" group and can only join once you've gained permission from a group Manager. "Private" groups require an invitation from a group Manager to join. You cannot search or request to join "private" groups.

You can add images up to 5 MB in size, of file types gif, png, jpg, and pjpeg, that you have the rights to share online and that adhere to our Terms and Conditions.

You can easily embed Videos from other websites onto BlastGroups by copying the "Embed Code" from the webpage they are displayed on and pasting it into BlastGroups. A Video's Embed Code is generally located right next to that video. The current websites we accept videos from are Break, CollegeHumor, FunnyorDie, Google, Hulu, Liveleak, Metacafe, MySpace, Photobucket, Slide, Veoh, Yahoo, and Youtube. For the moment, you cannot directly upload videos from your computer to BlastGroups, although you can upload them to one of the previously listed sites and then easily embed them on BlastGroups.

You can add MP3 Files up to 10 MB in size to BlastGroups that you have the rights to share online that adhere to our Terms and Conditions. Other BlastGroups users cannot download audio files posted to BlastGroups.

You can add Work and School Files up to 5 MB in size to BlastGroups that you have the rights to share online that adhere to our Terms and Conditions. Currently, we accept Files from Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and Project, as well as PDF and RichText files.

You can add a link to any Website on the Web to BlastGroups provided that it adheres to our Terms and Conditions.

You can change your profile picture at any time by going to your Dashboard and selecting the 'Change Picture' link under your current profile picture.

First of all, make sure that you are uploading Pics, Audio, or Files that are within the maximum sizes listed above. Sometimes errors occur when your connection is slow, so it can often be best to wait to upload items when you have a better connection. If you still can't upload pictures, please contact us at contact@blastgroups.com.

We're working to add new types of Files and accept videos from more sites all the time. Let us know what you'd like for us to add next by sending us an email at suggestions@blastgroups.com.

The biggest advantage of "Connecting" with someone on BlastGroups is that you can share Messages, Pics, Videos, Files, Events, Links, and more with them by Sending a Blast. Connections are also able to view each other's profiles. There are two ways you can connect with people on BlastGroups:

• You can request to "Buddy" with any other BlastGroups member by sending a request to their Inbox. Once they accept your request, they'll be added to your list of Buddies, making sharing anything with them easy.
• You can join a group that another member is also a member of. When you join a group, you can automatically become "GroupMates" with every BlastGroups member who is also a member of that group. As you and other BlastGroups members join more groups, you gain more Connections. When you or other BlastGroups members leave those groups, you lose those Connections. If you would like to join a group without Connecting with those members, you can do that as well by adjusting your settings.

BlastGroups calendars make your life easier by holding all of your Group Events and Event Blasts in one place. Event pages let you add photos and maintain RSVP lists so you can keep track of who's coming and who can't make it.

It's hard to keep track of group events, especially when you're involved in many activities. To help group members keep track of their busy schedules, any time an event gets added to a group that you are a member of, that event can automatically imports into each group member's personal calendar. Group leaders can rest assured that every group member will be aware of upcoming events, because these events automatically import to the calendar on each member's home page. Users have the ability to remove certain group events from their calendar by clicking on the Settings link in the top right of every page.

Often times, three days are as far in advance as you are thinking, and as far as you need to see. BlastGroups's unique three-day calendar lets you see more about what's happening today, tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, and keeps you on top of your immediate priorities.

Unlike most calendars, BlastGroups's weekly calendars always show the next upcoming seven days, displaying the days that are really important and leaving out days that have already passed. For those that prefer standard weekly calendars, there is also a Sun-Sat View.

Event Blasts are Events that aren't affiliated with any Group. To create an Event Blasts, click on the "Create Event Blast" link on your Personal Calendar page. You can send Invitations to an Event Blast to any email address or to any of your Connections. Event Blasts are a great way to plan any pary or get-together, and appear right on your BlastGroups calendar. Just like Group Events, invitees can add comments, share Event Pictures and update their RSVP status.

Safety and Privacy is very important on BlastGroups. As a default, your profile is visible to the public, but you can easily block your profile from everyone except your Buddies, or only display your profile to members of certain groups by changing your Settings (found at the top right of every page). Even if you limit who can see your profile, you should still only display information you're comfortable sharing online.

The username of the person who adds an item is displayed next to every item and comment posted on BlastGroups. If an item or a comment you see on BlastGroups is offensive to you, click on their name and then on the "Report Member" link on the bottom of their Profile. It will be reviewed and they will potentially be removed from the site by BlastGroups administrators.

The comfort and security of BlastGroups users is a top concern. It is important that every BlastGroups member feels safe and secure. If another BlastGroups member adds material that you find offensive or makes statements that you find threatening, you can click on "Report" on their profile and explain your issues at any time. Each report will be reviewed by BlastGroups administrators and offending members could lose their BlastGroups account.

Great question! We think that BlastGroups offers something that can help everyone. Invite your friends to the site by clicking on the "Invite Friends" link on the top right of every page. You can also invite friends to one of the groups you belong to by clicking on the "Invite" tab on the far right of your group toolbar.

Help your friends get Connected and start sharing the web and more by inviting them to join BlastGroups today!