A

Administrator

A member with full admin rights—can configure channels, invite people, adjust Group settings, and handle other administrative tasks.

Author

A member allowed to publish stories or events in selected channels. Admins grant author rights per channel or turn on Open Authoring so any reader in that channel can post.

B

Badge

The small red circle beside the Group icon or menu items. It signals that you have new notifications.

C

Channel

A dedicated space for posts—create separate channels for teams, departments, projects, or topics to keep content organized.

Channel Visibility

Each channel is Private, Group, or Public:

• Private — only invited members can view.
• Group — visible to all members in the Group (default).
• Public — accessible to anyone on the web.

D

Deadline

A post type that counts down to a specific due date and shows the timer on feeds and detail pages.

Discussion

Every story and event includes a discussion thread by default. Members can reply, upload files, @mention colleagues in a chronological view.

E

Edition

If a channel has a publishing schedule, new stories are batched and released together as an edition at the scheduled time.

Enterprise Plan

Top-tier subscription. Includes all Premium features plus SCIM directory sync, single sign-on (SSO), and priority support.

Event

A post with event-specific details (date, time, location). Events can be In-Person or Online.

F

Feed

A reverse-chronological list of posts. Each channel has its own feed; the Group home page combines posts from every channel you can access.

G

Group

Represents your entire organization in GroupNews. Members read posts and join discussions here, and one account can belong to multiple Groups.

Group Member

Anyone with a GroupNews account who has joined a Group.

Group URL

The web address for your Group (e.g., acme.groupnews.com). Admins can customize it.

Group visibility

The default setting for new channels—every member of your Group can view and post, but no one outside the Group can access the content. See also Private visibility and Public visibility.

I

In-Person Event

An event that includes a venue name and physical address.

L

Launcher

A quick-access widget at the top of your feed that lets you create a new story or event (visible only if you have author rights).

Lite Plan

Entry-level subscription with limits on members, channels, and no public channels.

M

Mention (@mention)

Type @ plus a colleague’s name in a story, event, or discussion to notify them.

N

Notification

Alerts that highlight activity requiring your attention. New notifications trigger a red badge.

O

Online Event

An event that includes a video-conference link or other online meeting details

Open Authoring

Channel setting that lets any active Group member publish content in that channel.

P

Post

Generic term for any published content—Story, Event, or Deadline.

Premium Plan

Mid-tier subscription with unlimited members and channels, plus the ability to create public channels.

Private visibility

A channel mode that locks access to approved members only. If you haven’t been invited, you can’t view the channel or its posts. See also Group visibility and Public visibility.

Public visibility

A channel mode that opens its content to the world. Anyone—whether or not they have a GroupNews account—can read the channel at your Group URL. See also Group visibility and Private visibility.

Publishing Schedule

Channel option that queues submitted stories and publishes them together as an edition at preset times.

S

Story

A standard post type—ideal for updates, announcements, or longer narratives.