Getting Started with ObesityHelp Groups

In addition to the public ObesityHelp message boards, there are also OH Groups. You can join or create your very own OH Groups. OH Group support communities are run, managed and operated by each Group owner(s). They can be created as open to the public or private. Think of OH Groups as your way to personalize your support community based on location, surgery type, or any topic that you're passionate about! Make sure to check out the OH Group's Community Guidelines for more information.

Go to Community,  “Groups”

You can always get to the main OH Groups' page by going to Community then Groups.

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Search For a Group

You can search for a group by your location.  Some local support groups that meet in person, also have an OH Support group to supplement physical meetings.  This can be a great way to keep in touch before and after meetings.  You can also browse by category or search by keyword.

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Join a Group

There are two ways to join a group. You can request to join by clicking a "Join" button or link or someone can send you an invitation.

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A sample group invitation.

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Create a Group

On the main OH Group's page, click on the "Start a Group" button.

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You will then be asked to fill out a form.  Any marked with an * are required fields.

  1. Group Name: * This will be your group's name. Example: "Back On Track Together"
  2. Group Alias: * This will be part of your group's URL. Example: "backontracktogether" becomes http://www.obesityhelp.com/group/backontracktogether/
  3. Group Type: * The choices are General Group or Support Group.
  4. Where does this Group meet? The choices are Online, a Physical Location, or Both
  5. Category: * When you create your group you can select one of our pre-determined categories or select "other" if our categories do not fit with your group.  These categories with help other OH members find your group when searching based on category topics.
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  6. Tags: Here you would utilize keywords to help describe your group with keywords.
  7. Group Logo: You can add a group logo, they can be 90x90 pixels.
  8. Welcome Message / About the Group:  This shows up in the area that people see when they looking at your group, it lets them know a little about your group.  You can also put any guidelines here that you might have for joining your group.
  9. Short Description: This is a description for the main page and search results.
  10. Is this Group affiliated with a Center? If your OH Group is part of a bariatric surgeon's practice or a bariatric center, then you would select yes here.

After you fill out those questions, check the boxes that you want to apply to your group and then click the save button.

To make your group private and invite only make sure to check the appropriate box.  Also very important, to make your group active you must click the last check box.

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Your Groups

Once you have created or joined groups, to quickly get to those groups again, go to My OH then Groups.

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There you will be able to see the list of groups that you are a member of, groups that you have created and groups that your friends belong to.

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