General
Communities / Discussions
Library / Resources
General | Top
Q: What is my username/password?
A: Your login credentials are the same username and password that you use to log in to the Advocis Member Portal. If you have forgotten your login credentials please use the Forgot Username or Forgot Password links on the Member Portal sign in page
here.
Q: How do I update my contact information?
A: Your contact information is coming from your Profile in the Advocis Member Portal. If you wish to update your contact information you'll need to update it there.
Q: How do I control what information is visible in My Profile?
A: Please navigate to your profile page, then select the "My Account" tab and choose "Privacy Settings" from the drop-down menu. This will let you control what information is visible to whom. After you’ve made changes, click the “Save Changes” button at the bottom of the page.
Communities / Discussions | Top
Q: What are communities?
A: Communities allow you to participate in focused discussions around specific topics and share resources with other members.
Q: What communities do I already belong to?
A: Go to “Communities” in the main navigation bar. Select “My Communities” to view the communities you currently belong to.
Q: How do I join/subscribe to a community and the affiliated discussion group?
A: Click on “Communities” in the main navigation and click on “All Communities” in order to see a list of available communities. Click on the community that you wish to join and simply click "Join," then choose a delivery option for posts (Real Time, Daily Digest or No Email).
Q: How can I control the frequency and format of emails I receive?
A: Navigate to your profile and click on the "My Account" tab. Choose "Community Notifications" from the drop-down menu. On that page, you can view and control your subscription options.
For each discussion, you have the following delivery options:
- Real time: sends an email every time a new message is posted.
- Daily digest: sends one email to you each day, consolidating all of the posts from the previous day.
- No Email: allows you to be part of the group without having emails sent to you. You can still post and read others’ messages by logging into the community site.
- Consolidated Digest: Allows you to combine multiple communities into one notification email.
Q: How do I leave a community or unsubscribe from a discussion?
A: Go to your profile and click on the "My Account" tab. Choose "Community Notifications" from the drop-down menu. Here, you will see a list of available communities and those to which you’ve subscribed. Select "Leave Community” under the Actions column for the discussions you wish to leave.
Q: How do I respond to others’ posts?
A: To respond to a discussion post, please navigate to the discussion post and click “Reply" to send your message to the entire community. To send a message to the only author of the post, please select “Reply Privately” (located in the "Reply" drop-down).
Q: How do I start a new discussion thread?
A: If you are on a specific community's landing page, click the "Start a Discussion" button in the right sidebar. If you are on any other page, click the “Create" button in the right side of the main navigation and select “Discussion Thread”, "Q&A Thread", or "Library Entry". From an email for a particular discussion group, you can use the “Post Message” link located at the top of the discussion email. Each community also has a unique email address. Save that to your address book, and easily start a new post like you would a regular email.
Q: I’m having trouble viewing the HTML email messages. How do I fix this?
A: If images are not appearing, it is likely that your email client is set to suppress images. This should be something you can change in your security or viewing options. If you would rather receive text-based email, go to your profile page and click on the "My Account" tab. Choose "Community Notifications" from the drop-down menu. Select the “Plain Text” format option for each of the discussions you are subscribed to.
Q: Can I search for posts across all the communities?
A: Yes, please enter a keyword in the search bar located in the main navigation. To refine your search results, select one or more facets from the menu on the left side.
Q: How do I see a listing of all of the posts to a specific Community?
A: Locate the community you are interested in viewing from the appropriate communities page. Click through the community's landing page, then click on the “Discussions” tab. If you see a post you’re interested in, click the subject line which will take you to the entire thread.
Libraries | Top
Q: How do I find resources that may have been uploaded by other members?
A: If you know which library the resource might be located in, find the affiliated community via the My Communities page. Click through the community's landing page, then click on the “Library” tab . If you do not know where the resource might be, enter search terms in the main search box the same way you might enter search terms into Google or another search engine.
Q: How do the libraries get populated?
A: The libraries are populated in two ways:
- When you include an attachment in a discussion post, the system automatically places it in the affiliated library.
- You can also upload documents directly to a library by using the “Share a File” link found under “Participate” in the main navigation or "Create New Library Entry" button on any community's library page. Library resources are not required to be associated with a discussion thread.
Q: How do I upload a file?
A: Select the “Library Entry” link found under “Create” button in the main navigation. Please note that uploading a document is accomplished by completing a few steps, and each step must be completed before you can move on to the next:
- Choose a title for your document, and include a description (optional). Select the library to which you’d like to upload it, and select a folder to which you’d like to upload it (optional). Then, choose an Entry Type (most will be Standard Files, but be cognizant of any copyright licensed material). Once you have completed these steps, please click “Next.”
- Upload your file.
- Select “Next” if you want to further describe your files and/or add tags to your file. Otherwise, please click “Finish” to post your library entry
Q: What kind of files can I upload?
A: The system supports dozens of file types including hyperlinks, standard files (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), webinars, images and YouTube videos.
Q: What are the “tags” for?
A: Tags are great way to organize and categorize content on your site. Tags can be applied to blogs, library entries, events, and glossary terms. Tagged items are prioritized in the search results.