Creating and Using Group Rooms

Overview
Group Room Privacy
Creating a Group Room
Invite Friends and Family to Join Your Group
Add Albums to a Group Room
Viewing Group Room Albums
Ordering Prints from a Group Room
Write a Message to Group Members
View and Remove Group Members
Remove Albums
Remove Messages
Edit Group Room Settings
Edit Personal Group Room Settings
Edit Album Settings
Delete a Group Room
How to Join a Group Room
Remove Yourself from a Group Room

Overview

Group rooms are a perfect way to stay in touch with the people who are important to you. Share photos, leave messages and much more all in your very own area of the Costco Photo Center. Your group room location is unique and can be password protected to ensure the privacy of group room members.

The benefit of a group room is that anyone who belongs to the room can add or view photos and write or read messages. The person that created the group room retains control and can remove photos that have been uploaded or messages that have been posted.

There are two ways to belong to a group room:

As the person who created a group room
As a group room member that someone has invited to participate

As a group room creator you have control over group room settings including the password and can share photos and leave messages. A group room creator can also remove photos and delete messages. As a group room member you can manage your personal settings and add messages or photos.

Group Room Privacy

You can protect the privacy of a group room's members with a room code. While room codes are not necessary, they do provide your group room with added security.

Creating a Group Room

Click the 'group rooms' tab to begin.
Click the 'create a new group room' link.
Enter a title for your group room and a description if you would like. The title can be a maximum of 28 characters.
If you would like to protect your group room, you can enter a room code that members will need to know in order to gain access. Group room members will only have to enter the code the first time they visit. When choosing a room code, please note that strong passwords usually include numbers and letters and avoid actual words and strings of letters or numbers such as 'abc' or '0123'. Enter a code in the space provided. Room codes can be up to 20 characters long.
In the final section, use the dropdown menu to select how frequently your group room members are notified when new albums are added.
Click the 'continue' button to create your group room!
Now you can add an album to get started sharing.

Invite Friends and Family to Join Your Group

Click the 'group rooms' tab to view your group rooms and select the one that you'd like to invite people to join.
Click 'invite new members' in the menu on the right to select people to invite to your group room.

On the 'invite friends to your group' page, enter email addresses in the 'to' area, just be sure to separate each address with a comma or line break. If you would like, you can add contacts from your address book by clicking the 'address book' link below the 'to' area.

By default we include a subject and message for your email. The subject has to remain the same, but you can enter something different for the message if you would like.
Click the 'send invite' button when you are ready to proceed.
When the confirmation page loads, click the 'back to group rooms' button.

Add Albums to a Group Room

Click the 'group rooms' tab to begin. Click the name of the group where you would like to add your album.
Click 'add albums'.

Click the albums to select which ones you would like to add to your group room. Albums that are selected will have a green checkmark on them and beside their name in the list of your 'albums' on the left side of the page.

Viewing Group Room Albums

While in a group room, click any album that contains photos you would like to view. While viewing an album in a group room, you can:

View photos as a slideshow or order prints of the entire album.
Edit and enhance photos that belong to you or copy photos to albums in your account.
View the album's guestbook and if you own the album you can edit the album's settings.

Ordering Prints from a Group Room

It is easy to create high quality prints from photos in any of your group rooms. Follow the steps below.

Click the 'group rooms' tab.
Click the group that contains the photos you would like to order as prints.
Click the album that contains photos you would like to order.

There are two ways to order prints once you are viewing an album:

Order an entire album

If you would like to order the entire album, click the 'order entire album' button above the thumbnail previews. Clicking 'order entire album' will take you to your cart.

Order individual photos

If you would like to select which photos to print, click the checkbox beneath each photo.
When you are ready to proceed, click 'order prints'.

The photos will be added to your shopping cart. If you would like to finalize your order, select a quantity for the images in your cart, select a finish and apply borders if you would like. Click the 'continue' button to begin the checkout process. If you would like to return to your Costco Photo Center account, click the 'keep shopping' button.

Write a Message to Group Members

One of the best features of the group room is being able to communicate with other members. Follow the steps below to leave a message for your group members.

Click the 'group rooms' tab.
Click the name of the group room that has the members with whom you wish to share a message.
Click 'new message'.
Write your message in the area provided.
If you have shared an album with the group room, then you can add a photo to your message.
When you are finished, click the 'add message' button.

To edit a message, click the 'edit' link on the message you would like to change. Edit the existing message or leave a new one and click the 'done' button when you are finished.

Note: Change or remove your message or your photo using the links below your message.

View and Remove Group Members

Only the group room creator can remove members. Follow the steps below to view the members of a group room.

Click the 'group rooms' tab and select the group room you would like to view from the list on the left.
Click the 'view members' link to see a list of the people who belong to your group.
If you are the group room creator, then you can remove anyone from the group by clicking the 'remove' link beside their name.

Remove Albums

Members can remove any album they upload to a group room. Creators of a group room can remove any of the albums that are being shared. However, removing an album from a group room does not remove it from an account.
Click the 'group rooms' tab.
Click the name of the group room that contains the albums you'd like to remove.
Click the 'remove' link on the album you would like to remove.

Remove Messages

Members can remove any messages they have added to a group room. Creators can delete any message that has been left by members.

First, navigate to the group page. Click the 'group rooms' tab near the top of most pages, and then click on the name of the group.
Click the 'remove' link below the message that you would like to remove.

Edit Group Room Settings

Only the creator of a group room can modify the group room settings. As a creator, you can change the title, description of the group room, password, cover photo and alert frequency.

Click the 'group rooms' tab.
Click the name of the group that you would like to modify.
Next click the 'edit room' link above the group albums.
On the room information page that loads, you can change the title, room description, and room code as well as the frequency of notifications. You can also choose to delete the entire room.
Once you have modified the settings and are ready to proceed, click the 'update' button.

Edit Personal Group Room Settings

You can edit your personal settings at any time whether you are a group room's creator or a member.

Click the 'group rooms' tab.
Click the group room where you would like to modify your personal settings.
Click the 'edit personal settings' link.
Use the dropdown menu to adjust the frequency of your notifications.
If you would like to remove yourself from the group room, click the 'remove me' link to do so.
When you are ready to proceed, click the 'update' button.

Edit Album Settings

To edit an album's settings, click the album you would like to modify and then click the 'edit album settings' button. To learn more about editing an album's information, please see: edit album information.

Delete a Group Room

A group room can only be removed by the person that created it. When a room is deleted, the albums and messages will be deleted. The albums that were shared by the group room members will still remain in the group room members' accounts.

Click the 'group rooms' tab.
Select the group room you would like to delete.
Click 'edit room'
On the next page, click 'delete room' near the bottom of the page. (You might have to scroll down.)

How to Join a Group Room

You must be invited to join a group room. Only the people that you invite to a group room that you create will have access.

After joining a group room you can immediately begin enjoying it. Add any albums you would like, leave a message for the other group room members or view other members' albums.

If you are visiting a group room for the first time and it is protected by a room code, then you will have to enter the room code that was included in the invitation email.

Remove Yourself from a Group Room

As a group room member you can opt to remove yourself from the group room at any time. Follow the steps below to remove yourself.

Click the 'group rooms' tab.
Click the name of the group room you wish to leave.
Click the 'edit personal settings' link.
Click the 'remove me' link.

Note: If you elect to leave a group room then the albums that you shared with the group room will no longer be visible. The albums that you shared with the group room will remain in your account.