On 5 Sep, 11:33, "BAC" wrote:
But it is (or was) possible, I believe, to set up a moderated Google Group
with posting restricted to 'approved' personnel only. This was adopted, in a
case I am familiar with, by refugees from a newsgroup, who were no longer
prepared to tolerate some vicious 'infighting' between factions on the
newsgroup, the idea being members could discuss matters between themselves
without the unpleasantness which had set in.

Yes it is possible, it's called 'restricted' - it says 'people must be
invited to join the group. Only members can post messages, read the
archives, view the members list, create pages and upload files. The
group and its archives do not appear in public Google search results
or the directory'. That's really restricted. Not really a good idea
for the exchange of ideas and advices with 'new blood' - maybe good
for a group of people wanting to share minutes/meeting dates and
events, like one group I'm in Manchester, a permaculture group, you
get people's email addy when you meet them and then add them in the
group but you can't just 'get in' like this. It's only for the purpose
of staying in touch and having all the info in one 'file/directory'
instead of communicating via emails. Works for us.