Looks like there's a new Google Groups Beta available, and I think that it more closely resembles the recent overhaul of Google Reader:

http://www.nirajsanghvi.com/images/stories/ggbeta.jpg

I see the link on the old home page but i click on it and it gives me an error

Looks like it also lets you share files and pages with the group (can be seen in the screenshot).

DPic...I got the error too. The trick is if you go to a page for one of the groups you're subscribed to, there'll be another "View this in Groups Beta" link that should work.

yeah http://groups-beta.google.com/ works too, I guess they just took the tour page down temporarily

Wow this is a huge upgrade to the old Google groups-- this is great!

Yes, it looks like there is 100MB of file space for a group. And the page creator is reminiscent of Writely and Google Pages in how you can edit and autosave pages.

yes its solid.. I like it a lot.. I'll share some screen scraps soon

Google just tempted me into using Reader by redesigning it (and IMHO making it easier to use) now their tempting me to use Groups, what next? Google Sets out of labs with a new design?

nice.. here my personal space

http://slash.pd.googlepages.com/groups1.png

Pretty cool :)

When you do a search it look likes an usual SERP, good ;)

And you got AJAX stuff at top ;)

I'm gonna write an article about that, thanks niraj :;)

its another rich interface .in the making.. I created a page and uploaded the pic above.. its very sluggish..

here a neat little icon at play..

http://slash.pd.googlepages.com/group2.png

waaaaaaaaai cant get my pic to stay ....

http://slash.pd.googlepages.com/group3.png

Why can't we have one DP across all Google Services? There's seperate ones for Google Talk, Picasaweb Albums and now Google Groups. Now I'm a grey person again :-(

The level of customization of appearance is surprising! There are several different themes they offer, but then you can go to custom and actually tweak just about everything. Sidebar, Title bar, fonts, etc.

Yes, the pic disapears for me too >:-(

yeah ok this is beta and the pic is not really sticky..

Niraj, yes I am surpraised at the level of customization possible. Google amazes me *always*!! :)-

And "take a tour" doesn't work for me, I can't found the good URL

/pd > where is *your* group? I would like to be one of the users ;)

Take the Tour doesnt work for me neither! :/
http://groups-beta.google.com/googlegroups/tour3/index.html

Finally! Old Groups were really bad, not a service for masses. BTW they should integrate it with Orkut.

OK I found it
http://groups-beta.google.com/googlegroups/tour/

Oh no sorry, it's the tour of the OLD version of google groups, sorry

jilm. What do you mean by integration with Orkut ?

This is really nice. I am loving the slick interface and the way they made all the functions that have existed that much easier to play with. If only I had something make a group about....

I have a question/want with Groups. A lot of small websites have forums that people use. The one's that come to mind are forums for online games and their clans. Wouldn't it make sense for Groups to provide hosting for those clans forums and have an api so people can play around with the colors and how they want the forums to display (so it's inline with their website). Seems like it would be easier than hosting it yourself, wouldn't need different logins for all those little forums, and great place to advertise.

AOL-type-sh*t again?

Just sent the following to Google

In the beta version of Google groups when I view somebodies profile I see all his messages posted on all public access groups. The thing that concerns me most that the messages are visible even if they were posted under a different nickname. Somebody could check almost everything I've written so far on ggroups!!! Do you want to repeat the AOL scandal!?

I've spent some time playing with this now and I think it's much, much better. I use Google Groups quite a bit and whilst it's been functional, it really did need a good overhaul.

The new UI definitely shows it's related to the newer products – like Google Spreadsheets, Google Reader, Google Page Creator, etc. – as do the new features. I'm liking what Google are doing with these new products at the moment – in general, more consistency, more similar features and more, more, more!

Of course there are still bugs, but it's the first day of its beta release... and I happen to know that they're carrying out some remote usability testing for this release this week using people who signed up to their user study program... ;-)

Stef, this is not a AOL foo!!

Google groups have always permitted you to social engineer via profile and check all the posted msg.!!

http://groups.google.com/group/pinkomarketing/browse_frm/thread/9afe41162ca0be49?tvc=1

I find that certain functions are not sticky.. it fails or it works in a different view point..

http://slash.pd.googlepages.com/group4.png

its nice, but i still miss the feature – suggest tool for adding posts, as thei have at "google google groups"
e.g. go here http://groups.google.com/group/Google-Groups-Guide/post?_done=%2Fgroup%2FGoogle-Groups-Guide%3F&_doneTitle=Back+to+topics&
and try to type something (e.g. test) in subject and see the right side. When it will work at normal groups, i will switch all my groups to GG

Like Niraj said, I see Google's going for unification (Finally)

The pictures stick for me. Are you sure you clicked save?

yes, I clicked save!

coolllllllllll.......

i think google groups now mingled with Google Finance Beta...

what is groups doing refering to answer.com ??

http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&oi=dict&q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.answers.com%2Ffedex%26r%3D67

==>>" i think google groups now mingled with Google Finance Beta..."

yes, your correct, there is a cross over in the making..

http://groups-beta.google.com/group/google.finance.663844?lnk=sg

FYI only.. on Tues, Mar 21 2006 5:53 pm i began play in google finance group.. its been a long hual tapestry of commentry in the making :)_

http://finance.google.com/group/google.finance.694653/browse_thread/thread/9276472a9f2e7b7e/b76742d2dfbd0ea6#

/pd
>yes, your correct, there is a cross over in the making..

thats true....
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/google.finance.673620?lnk=lr

This is so great for the Clubs I'm helping to run at my school! http://groups-beta.google.com/group/NNHSEnviroClub The customizable colors is great and everythinkg looks a lot nicer now. The ability to creat a welcome message is very convenient and I can't wait to start sharing files and creating pages! The use of features from google page creator is great too. I hope this comes out of beta soon!

The tour is up now! the links working!

Yeah they put it online when they made the blog post a few hours ago

I hope this will be added to the hosted applications set. It would make it even more usefull for me...

I'm starting to think about moving my yahoo groups to google groups now...

Rgrds,

K

>>>I'm starting to think about moving my yahoo groups to google groups now...>>>

Art-One – how would you do that? I mean transferring the archives from Yahoo Groups? Anyone in the Forum, please?

hmm anyone noticed this while uploading files? check the screenscrap below

http://smartjean4u.googlepages.com/groubug.gif

Sohil: Just consider what "social portal" means. Chat, discussion, messages, blogging, sharing of multimedia etc. Google has Orkut, Video, Blogger, Page Creator, Talk, Groups, Picasa, Gmail for that. I wonder why they develop it as single services, while an integration of all would be so great. They have many community fuctionalities but they have sense only altogether.

jilm
orkut+google groups+google/orkut chat ... i always wanted that.. hmm maybe in the future....

I found a digg entry about a file posted on google groups beta about "Google RS"
http://digg.com/tech_news/Google_RS_the_name_of_Google_Web_Office_screenshot_included

But I think that Mambo, from Google Blogoscoped forum, is behind that, isn't he?

Yeah, I think they've made a big mistake by allowing all members to be able to post files and create pages by default... surely it should be switched off by default and only enabled by the group owner?

Eventually, are you able to upload your picture? I doesn't work for me, but it seems to works for some people :
gmail.com" rel="nofollow" style="display: inline-block; max-width: 300px; overflow: hidden">http://groups-beta.google.com/groups/profile?user=adamlasnikgmail.com

(yes, BTW I found also the way to "hack" google groups and see the profile of each person that you know his/her e-mail ^^)

anyone who posted the mockup

   does Google knows about "Google RS" ?

Is it just me, or does anyone else find it annoying that the entire interface is now "right-side" centric? With the exception of Page Creator (which uses both) Gmail, Google News, Google Reader, Spreadsheets, Calendar, Picasa Web, and Notebook ALL use a "left-centric" layout. While I have no problem with a right-centric layout, it's the inconsistency with their other offerings that bugs me. In fact, I'd actually like to see ALL of their applications adopt a similar, consistent interface.

Jim Barr, you're definitely not alone:

<< As I mentioned at the beginning of the post, there is one thing that is already driving me up the wall — the right sidebar. >>

Said Garett Rogers at Googling Google: http://blogs.zdnet.com/Google/?p=348

Personally, I'm not too fussed which side the navigation's on, I find it quite easy to adapt, but I do agree that they should be consistent with this.

Sankar Anand said:

>> does Google knows about "Google RS" ?

Read this thread: http://blogoscoped.com/forum/39857.html

Yes, I made the Google RS page.

Hahahha, brilliant. I was only practising uploading files.

Where's the Digg article?

Mambo > Mihai, a NY googler, deleted your files and mine ;)

I can't delete a page. There's a walkthrough in the help pages on how to do it, but I get to the step where it says to click on "More Options" and that link is nowhere to be found :(

<< I think they've made a big mistake by allowing all members to be able to post files and create pages by default... >>

It looks like they might have realised their mistake. Today I'm seeing this across all groups:

   Pages aren't available right now. We're sorry. Try again shortly.
   Files aren't available right now. We're sorry. Try again shortly.

Hmm...

[Edit: Actually, they're showing now. Maybe it was just a hiccup...]

Any noticed that their subscribed groups are not getting fully listed in Beta-Groups ?

I am being forced to flip flop between beta and std version, because beta does not list all my groups!!

/pd, When you say "it's not sticky" Do you mean the user icon or the icon created for the Group.