We've received great feedback regarding the communities feature and thought a little further information on it's wondrous possibilities might be nice.  A community by definition is "a social, religious, occupational, or other group sharing common characteristics or interests and perceived or perceiving itself as distinct in some respect from the larger society within which it exists."(dictionary.com)  So, by it's nature, community access is restricted to those outside of it.  However, Expo gives community members the choice to restrict their listings or not... and many choose not to.

Safety in numbers

Also by its nature, a community exists for people to communicate with usually trusted members where there is a similar association of some kind.  Some people have expressed frustration that a community is limited to a work place or academic realms.  However, just because people may share a domain, hotmail.com for example, doesn't mean they are part of a community that shares similarities, localities or close associations.  It is important for community members to feel as though the potential for safe and trusted transactions exists amongst each other.  Many of these generic domains have been restricted and cannot be joined because they do not comply with the purpose of the community feature.

On the other hand, some people have expressed concern based on the belief that the communities feature is not supportive to consultants, religious organizations or private businesses.  This is partially true... technically, Expo does not restrict those with personal domains to create their own community.  However, if a personal domain has very few members, it defies the purpose of a community.  A good way to change this type of isolation is to add more people to your business, or domain.... in other words, grow the community you are a member of!

To limit, or NOT to limit your listings.... that is the question

Let's say for example, you are a Microsoft employee and you want to only search listings submitted by other Microsoft employees.  Or, maybe you need to rent out a condo and feel more comfortable renting to employees at the same company you work at, so limiting who sees your listing is ideal.  It is possible!  You CAN limit who views your posted listings and your search results to just your community.

Searches

To search for listings posted only by your community:

1. Click the Community Link seen as (Change) under the distance slider near the top of the web page.  It typically defaults to Everyone unless you previously customized it.
2. In the popup box, slide the Listing community slider to either Contacts and Communities or Communities Only. 
3. Click Save Changes.  You should now only see listing results in your searches that are from other users in the same community.

Once upon a time, Microsoft employees were fortunate enough to have an internal classified site referred to as Micronews.  Today, many employees have expressed nostalgia for the days when they could limit their listing communications with just other employees, as a community would.  However, with Expo they still can!

Posting Listings

Make your listing visible to only members of your community:

1. In the options panel on the left, click Post a Listing (or edit a listing already posted, by going straight to Listings).
2. Under the option Make listing visible to, choose Only Microsoft.com users or Only my Communities.
3. Save any changes.

Hope this answers some questions, feel free to ask more.  Your feedback is great!  Send questions to expo@microsoft.com or leave a comment.

Team Expo

• Public availability in the UK and China!  Welcome to social classifieds, guys!
• Upgrades to the "Communities" feature (formerly known as Email groups) - read details here
• Streamlined account sign-up
• Upgrade to the newest Virtual Earth map viewer - check out the new 3D maps feature by clicking on the "View map" button!
• Image enhanced preview, so you can start scoping people's profile photos
• Sharing on Facebook, so you can share your listings with your Facebook buddies
• A much needed refresh of the homepage including the slick 'Vapor' theme
• Tonnes of bugfixes and backend improvements

Oh, and there were a few nuggets that didn't make it in time for this release, but they're just around the corner.  Stay tuned.

--Samir, Team Expo

Communities...

Hock it on Facebook...

Image preview lets you see all the details...

• Easier location lookup (by Zip or city)
• Power search (including attributes)
• User's Messenger buddies' listings
• Account information (unread messages, listing counts,  saved searches)
• Random listings

• If you are creating a Space for the first time while adding a listing on Expo, you’ll need to go back and edit your listing to have it show up on your Space
• Some small UI tweaks are still underway
• Deep integration between Expo and your blog is currently only available with MSN Spaces
• If you post a private listing to your public space, we’ll warn you – but it will be public.  Change your permissions on your Space or don’t opt-in to post automatically on your space if you don’t want the public to view your private listings.

Express yourself with blogging, photos, and now, tell your network of friends that you’ve got an extra ticket to the concert next weekend, you’re looking for a used laptop, you’re looking to sublet your apartment, you’re looking for a date.  Do this by pulling your friends to your listings rather than pushing them!