There are two options for you to look at in the groups menu, Memberships and Pending invites.
Memberships - displays the groups you are a member of. Once selected, you can choose the way the groups are displayed
- Last Active
- Most Members
- Newly Created
- Alphabetical
Pending invites - displays a list of any pending invites from groups that are private and require membership to view. If you have pending invites, you will be able to accept or decline the invite directly from here or by addressing the appropriate notification.
Connect >> Find People >> Groups
Use the main site menu to find public groups you are able to join or request to join private groups.
Activity streams display what activity, related to your account, has taken place in a chronological order. Similar to Facebook but with multiple filters that allow you to select what streams you want to view. These filters are:
Mentions - You can find posts that you have been mentioned in here.
Personal - Your person activity stream is viewed here. (similar to your personal timeline in Facebook) Your personal stream can be viewed by anybody who is logged into the site, however they can only view public information - meaning posts made in public groups or discussion forums and activities such as friendships and groups connections etc.
Favorites - You can choose to favourite posts in the activity stream and keep track of them from here
Friends - When you make friends on the site, this will help you find them more easily so you can follow their activity and public posts here. Otherwise, you need to find people through the main site menu: Connect >> Find People >> Individuals (which has an Order By: filter and Search Members... to help you find people)
Groups - When you join a group, you are able to follow the group activity stream here... You can only follow groups you are a member of. If you want to check out what groups exist, you will need to do that through the main site menu: Connect >> Find People >> Groups. From here, you can either join or request to join the group
Note that comments made in the steam remain in the stream, even if it is a reply to a post in a forum. In other words, if you want to reply to a post in a forum... go to the forum and post it there. Then it will show up in both locations.
* the Activity Stream function is experimental on the site. If we find it confuses too many people, we may disable it. Please leave us your comments and let us know if you find this feature to be helpful or a hindrance.
This just keeps track of your friendships on the site with and respond to pending invites you have.
By clicking on a person's name, you are able to go to their page and select to view their:
Activity - access their public activity stream
Profile - see what the person has posted for people to view about themselves and their interests
Friends - to help you make connections
Groups - only displays public groups the person is a member of
Forums - what topics they have started, replies they have made or posts they have favorited.
You can send and receive messages through the website without knowing individuals email addresses.
Inbox - It's up to you to manage your mail... delete messages when you no-longer require them.
Sent - saves a copy of all your sent messages until you delete them
Compose - allows you to send a message to anyone on the site by entering their name in the Send To box.
By selecting the Subject title of the message, the entire conversation will be displayed. Also, If you receive a message from someone, and you aren't sure who it is, just click on their name beside From: in the inbox or their avatar in the message to go to their page.
When you receive a message from someone, a notification will appear in the upper right hand corner of the site near the user panel. By default, the site will also email you notifications of messages.
See Settings >> Notifications in the User Panel to select your preferences.
General Settings - allows you to update your email address and change your password.
Notifications - allows you to set your email notification preferences as illustrated below.
This is the powerhouse of making connections. It's where you set information to help other people find you, but also for you to find other people with similar interests.
View - Click here to view what information you have given in order to facilitate the filters to make connections. Bu clicking on any of the highlighted text, you will be taken to a display page of all other members who have stated the same interest or attribute.
Edit* - Same as Edit My Profile at the top of the User Panel. All basic information is required and everything else (personal details and networks that interest you) is up to your discretion, including who the information is visible to. The more you fill in, however, the easier it will be for you to find people and vice versa.
Change Avatar* - An avatar is an image associated with your profile that can help people identify you and your posts. It can be a photograph, or graphic image such as a drawing or icon. The image displays at a variety of sizes, the smallest being 16x16 pixels and the largest 150x150 pixels. Once your image is loaded, you can adjust the crop to suit and the image will scale automatically according to where it is used.
* For detailed explanation of Edit and Change Avatar, see the second section in this How-to Guide titled Edit My Profile.
Keep track of your forums here. You have four options to filter by:
Topics Started - lists all the topics you created so you can easily access them
Replies Created - lists all replies or posts you have made in the forums so you can keep track of what you have said
Favorite Topics - lists all the topics you have marked as favourite (like)
Subscribed Topics - allows you to manage topics in forums you are subscribed to follow.
You can also access the forums through the main site menu: Connect >> Public Discussion Forums and make your selection.
