Blog

Getting Started with Glassboard

Glassboard is all about sharing privately with different groups of people you know, so if you’re used to non-private apps, you may wonder how to get started with Glassboard.

You can’t search for people you know like you would on Twitter or Facebook. You can’t even search for groups to join since every group is private.  You have to be invited to a group to know it even exists.

But getting started with Glassboard is easy if you forget the idea that you’re supposed to share with everyone.  Glassboard isn’t designed for that.  It’s designed for sharing only with the people you want to share with.

The first thing you do is create a board (that’s what we call a group in Glassboard).  After you create a board, invite some people to it.  They’ll be the only people who can see what’s posted to that board.

Perhaps you want to share pictures of your kids with your extended family?  Create a board and invite your family to it, without worrying that your pictures will show up in a Google search.

Working on a project that you don’t want the world to know about just yet?  Create a board and invite your co-workers to it.  That’s what we did – we created a board just for those working on Glassboard, and we freely shared ideas in private.  We built our app using our app, and it worked wonderfully.

Or maybe you’re at a concert and you know a bunch of your friends are there somewhere.  Create a board, invite your friends to it, then share messages, photos and videos of the show.  When it’s over, you can even delete the board and know that it’s gone forever.

There are countless examples of other boards you’d create in Glassboard, but it all boils down to this: after you install the app, create a board and invite only the people that should belong to it.  Then enjoy the private conversation.

Written by Nick Bradbury

Posted in use cases - 22 August 2011


  • Anonymous

    Can you view/edit/post on a desktop as well?

    • Anonymous

      Not at this time, no. We’ve had requests for both a web version and a desktop version, so we’re considering both.

      • AS

        a web version is essential.

        • http://twitter.com/40Tech Evan

          No desktop version or web app is a nonstarter. Maybe I’m out of touch, but I use my Android phone to monitor stuff, but don’t contribute myself until I’m at a desktop with a keyboard.

          • Anonymous

            We really wanted to focus on mobile at launch, it was most important to us to grow into that space early. We acknowledge though the need for a web or desktop app so we’re seriously considering it (and it helps to hear lots of folks like you request it: it validets the need).

      • Anonymous

        By desktop I meant web browser. I’d hate to have to use my phone to answer messages when I’m sitting at the computer during the day.

  • Anonymous

    I can’t create a board, it says I have 0 left

    • Anonymous

      For now we’re limiting users to 3 boards. You get another board for every new user that you invite to Glassboard

  • Someone

    Where does my data live? Is the traffic/data encrypted? What is the data retention policy? Will I be notified if my data is subpoenaed by law enforcement, like Twitter does? Can I export my data when I want to leave the service?

    • Anonymous

      I responded below to Ed, who sought answers to these questions. Just in case you miss it, here was my response:

      “We use Microsoft Windows Azure for our servers and data storage. All data between our systems and the clients (phones) is secure. Data sent in emails and push notifications is not encrypted. If you delete a board we do not retain anything that was contributed to it (photos, video, and statuses). You cannot export anything from a board at this time, but we are evaluating this as a premium service in the future.

      As for your other questions, we’re actually putting together a blog post that goes into detail about our policy relating to being subpoenaed.”

      • Someone

        Awesome, thank you for the response! I am looking forward to trying this out.

  • Collin

    Look like a great idea! How do you plan on making money? I think you should add this to your FAQ. Your method of making money is important for me to truly understand my privacy with Glassboard.

    • Anonymous

      We haven’t added it to the FAQ yet because we haven’t settled on a concrete plan. We’d like to offer more robust feature sets for payment, as well as let users purchase more boards.

  • Vin

    Collin and Someone’s questions are very relevant to whether or not folks will adopt your service.

    And yeah, desktop/web is key. There’s no way to share pics with Grandma without at least a web version.

    • Anonymous

      Well buy her an iPhone! :-)

      But yeah, see my response up there to Evan. It’s helpful to see so many people request it.

  • Ed

    Unless I’ve missed it the very valid questions asked by user someone earlier haven’t yet been answered. Just to recap:

    “Where does my data live? Is the traffic/data encrypted? What is the data retention policy? Will I be notified if my data is subpoenaed by law enforcement, like Twitter does? Can I export my data when I want to leave the service?”

    If these have already been answered somewhere then I apologise.

    • Anonymous

      Hi Ed, I hadn’t answered the question above: I wanted to make sure I gathered all the correct answers from the team.

      We use Microsoft Windows Azure for our servers and data storage. All data between our systems and the clients (phones) is secure. Data sent in emails and push notifications is not encrypted. If you delete a board we do not retain anything that was contributed to it (photos, video, and statuses). You cannot export anything from a board at this time, but we are evaluating this as a premium service in the future.

      As for your other questions, we’re actually putting together a blog post that goes into detail about our policy relating to being subpoenaed.

      Thanks!

      • Ed

        Thanks for the quick reply.

  • http://sillybeast.com rickroberts

    A bookmarklet to quickly share a web page would be awesome. Thanks!

    • Anonymous

      Cool, hadn’t thought of that one. I’ll put it on The List

« « Previous post: How Sepia Labs used Glassboard… to make Glassboard

Next post: A big thank you to Glassboard users. We’re listening! » »