What are Hives? #
Anyone who has used social media for a little while will be aware of the concept of groups, and in SentLive these are called Hives; for those of you who are new to a social network, Hives are for people with a particular common interest, whether that is family, an activity, a political perspective, a geographical connection, an artist fan club – basically any common interest that might bring people together, in a mini community within a community.
There are three types of Hive – Public, Private, and Hidden, and the type is set when the Hive is created. Only members with paid plans can create Hives, but everyone can join as many Hives as they want; if a Hive is hidden you must be invited by the Hive creator. Joining a Private Hive is done by requesting to join, and then being approved by the Hive creator. Anyone can join a Public Hive.
How To Join Hives #
Go to the Hives page and view the available public and private Hives; you can tell the difference between them as public Hives have a button to click saying ‘Join’, whereas with private Hives the button says ‘Request’. Click the button of the Hive you want to join; with public Hives that joins you instantly, while with private Hives you have to wait to be approved. You will get a beehive notification once the Hive creator has decided whether to approve you joining or not.
Creating Hives #
Only paid plan members can create Hives. You can create a Hive on the Hives page by clicking the button that says ‘Create a Hive’. This will open the Create A Hive form, which has five steps;
- Details – Hive Name and Description;
- Featured Image – select an image for the Hive (optional);
- Privacy – choose Public, Private or Hidden;
- Create Hive – click the button, and your newly created Hive will open;
- Invite Members – select from a list of members who you want to invite to the Hive
All of the settings can be edited after the Hive has been created. This can be done from the Hive’s page by clicking the ‘Edit’ button.
Deleting Hives #
If you are the Hive Creator, you can delete a Hive if you wish. This is done by simply clicking the Delete button, and your Hive will disappear, along with the forum or sub-forum if you created one.
Invitations #
If you have been invited to join a Hive you will be notified via the notifications beehive. Click on the notification which will take you to the Hives list page where you have the option to Join or Decline the invite.
Leaving A Hive #
You can leave a Hive any time; just go to either the Hive page or the Hives list page and click on the ‘Leave’ button. There is no confirmation step so once you click the button you have left the Hive.
Hidden Hives #
These are not visible on the Hives page unless you belong to one, and they have two unique features not available in the Public or Private Hives – they have their own button to send Safety Alerts to the other Hive members, and the ability to request an instant check on any other member of that Hive. This instant check is available to everybody who is a member of that Hive, regardless of the plan they are on. However free plan members are still limited as to how many Safe or Not Safe Alerts they can send.
This allows members on a paid plan to separate, for example, their family and friends who they alert using the Safe Haven page button, from their work colleagues, or perhaps an expat would separate the people back home from their friends in their location. However we also envisage that these may also be used by community groups, such as neighbourhood watch or expat groups, to help them keep an eye on each other with regard to safety or perhaps crime.
