Video Tutorials:
- Welcome to Forum: How to Locate Forum and Log In
- Getting Started with Forum: Profile Updates, Privacy Settings, and Communication Preferences
- Next Steps with Forum: Find and Join Communities, Use the Directory, and Make Connections
- Participate on Forum: Starting a Thread, Replying to Posts, and Adding Tags
General
Contacts / Connections
Communities / Discussions and Q&A
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 main NGS website. If you have forgotten your login credentials or need assistance with your login information, please
contact NGS.
To learn more about what Forum is and how to log in, watch the
Welcome to Forum: How to Locate Forum and Log In video tutorial on the NGS YouTube channel.
Q: How do I update my profile and contact information?
A: Navigate to your profile page by clicking the circle icon in the upper right corner of Forum. On your profile page, select the pencil icon next to "Contact Details" in the left column to update your information. (Please note that any changes you make to your profile here are only for your Forum user profile. This will not update information in your main NGS account.)
To see more about how to update your profile, watch the
Getting Started with Forum: Profile Updates, Privacy Settings, and Communication Preferences video tutorial on the NGS YouTube channel.
Q: How do I control what information is visible in My Profile? Is there a privacy policy?
A: Navigate to your profile page by clicking the circle icon in the upper right corner of Forum. On your profile page, 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. (To learn more about the collection and use of information, please read the
NGS Privacy Policy on the main website.)
To see more about how to update your privacy settings, watch the
Getting Started with Forum: Profile Updates, Privacy Settings, and Communication Preferences video tutorial on the NGS YouTube channel.
Contacts / Connections | Top
Q: How do I find other members?
Q: How do I add contacts to my contact list?
A: There are multiple ways to add contacts. When you perform a search in the Directory, you will see an “Add as Contact” button to the right of each person in your search results. Just click this button to send a contact request. Also, if you click through and view an individual’s profile, you can click the contact request link to the right of his or her profile picture. (Please note that these instructions will only apply to people who update their profile's privacy settings to make "Add as Contact" visible to "Members Only" within Forum.)
To learn more about directory searches and adding contacts, watch the
Next Steps with Forum: Find and Join Communities, Use the Directory, and Make Connections video tutorial on the NGS YouTube channel.
Q: Why should I add contacts to my contact list?
A: Creating this virtual address book makes it easy to send your contacts messages through the community site to stay in touch, ask questions or even build a referral network. Additionally, when you view another member’s profile, you’ll be able to see any contacts you have in common. You can also choose to let your contacts view certain demographics in your profile that others can't.
Communities / Discussions | Top
Q: What are communities?
A: Communities allow you to participate in discussions and share resources with other members.
Q: What communities do I already 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 “Communities I Can Join” 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).
To learn more about joining communities, watch the
Next Steps with Forum: Find and Join Communities, Use the Directory, and Make Connections video tutorial on the NGS YouTube channel.
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.
To see more about how to update your email preferences, watch the
Getting Started with Forum: Profile Updates, Privacy Settings, and Communication Preferences video tutorial on the NGS YouTube channel.
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). We recommend replying privately for simple comments like “me, too” that add little value to the overall discussion and replying to the entire community when you are sharing knowledge, experience, or resources that others could benefit from. If you are responding to a Q&A post, click on "Answer" to reply to the original question.
To see more about how to respond to a post, watch the
Participate on Forum: Starting a Thread, Replying to Posts, and Adding Tags video tutorial on the NGS YouTube channel.
Q: How do I start a new discussion thread or Q&A post? What is the difference for a thread vs. Q&A?
A: On the site, go to “Participate" and then click on “Start a Thread.” 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.
When using the "Start a Thread" form, you can select to create a discussion thread or a Q&A post. A discussion thread will allow replies to anything posted and will visually organize the conversation so that everyone can follow the conversation easily. A Q&A post only allows replies to the original question and will not create the visual thread. Q&A posts also allow people to mark answers as helpful.
To see more about how to begin a discussion thread on the Forum website, watch the
Participate on Forum: Starting a Thread, Replying to Posts, and Adding Tags video tutorial on the NGS YouTube channel.
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 to the community's landing page, then click on the “Post” tab. If you see a post you’re interested in, click the subject line which will take you to the entire thread.
Q: Where do I find my saved draft(s)?
A: Navigate to your profile page. Click the "My Contributions" from the tool bar, and click on "My List of Contributions". From there you can view your drafts, and click the edit link to continue writing your post.
To see more about how to work with draft posts, watch the
Participate on Forum: Starting a Thread, Replying to Posts, and Adding Tags video tutorial on the NGS YouTube channel.
Q: What does the “Follow” feature do?
A: You can manually follow discussion and question posts, and library entries. Following enables real-time participation emails for specific content so that you'll be notified when your peers engage with it. When viewing a piece of content, click the "Follow" toggle on the right-hand side of the page right above the top of the thread.
When "Following" a piece of content, the toggle is updated to indicate this. Click the toggle again to unfollow the content and stop receiving real-time participation emails about the specific content. All content you contribute is automatically set to "Followed". To disable this feature, you’ll need to select “No” for receiving Participation Emails. To do this navigate to your email preferences page (on the Profile > My Account > Email Preferences page). By disabling you won't see the Follow toggle on content pages. To track all the content you're Following, you can view it from your profile; just navigate to My Connections > Following.
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:
1. When you include an attachment in a discussion post, the system automatically places it in the affiliated library.
2. 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 “Share a File” link found under “Participate” in the main navigation or "Create New Library Entry" on any community landing page. 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?