FAQs

Some helpful tips and Q&A for ASA Community users to help you get started:

Logging In
Q: What is my community login information?

You will need to log in using your username and password.

My Profile
Q: How do I update my contact information?

From your Network Professional profile, click the “edit my contact information” link.

Q: How do I control what information is shown in My Network Professional Profile?

Under "My Profile”, click the “Preferences” link in the left navigation. This will let you control what information is visible to whom. We recommend selecting the “authenticated” option, which will make your profile visible only to people with login access. After you’ve made changes, click the “Save” button at the bottom of the page.

Q: My picture won’t upload. What’s wrong?

The dimensions of the image must be no larger than 600 pixels wide by 600 pixels high. The file size (kilobytes, megabytes, etc.) does not matter. You can check the dimensions in programs like Photoshop, Microsoft Paint and Microsoft Photo Editor. The image must also be saved in a .jpg, .gif or .bmp format.

Q: What if I don’t have a good photo of myself?

Have fun with it. The images enhance the collegiality of the Community, so feel free to include any image that reflects your personality. Just make sure that the image you include is neither offensive to anyone nor protected by copyright, if you have not obtained permission from its owner or copyright-holder.

Q: Do I have to enter start and end dates for my education?

No, just leave the date drop-down boxes set to the blank option.



Directory
Q: How do I find other members?

Click the “Directory” link found in the main navigation bar at the top of the site, and then “Find Contact” in the left navigation section. The Directory lets you search for other members based on:
• Name
• Company/Institution
• Location
• Group membership
• Certifications
• Interest areas
• Education (including university, degree, area of study and dates attended)


Contact List
Q: How do I add contacts to my contact list?

There are several ways to add contacts to your list. When you perform a search in the  Directory, you will see an “Add as contact” link next to each person in your search results. Just click this link to send a contact request. If you click through and view someone’s profile, you can click the contact request link just to the right of their profile picture. Clicking any of your “Networks” links, either from your profile or under “My Communities”, will yield a similar list.

Q: Why should I add contacts to my contact list?

Creating this virtual address book makes it easy to send your contacts messages through the system to stay in touch or ask questions. Additionally, when you view another member’s profile, you’ll be able to see any contacts you have in common with them. Your contact list makes it easy to send invitations if you create a community, and you can also choose to let only your contacts view and/or comment on your blog.

Q: I noticed that I can rate my contacts based on a five-star system. Can people see how I rated them?

Don’t worry – this information is only visible to you. Since you can sort by rating, this feature provides a way to organize your list of contacts. We suggest you give the people you contact most five stars and the ones you contact least one star. Your highest-rated contacts will show up in the left navigation under “My Profile”, making it easy to access their contact information and send them messages.

Libraries
Q: How do I access my group’s resource library?

Click “My Groups”,find the group you’d like to access, and click its “View Library” link.

Q: Can I search for specific file types?

Yes. When in the Libraries area, select “Advanced Search” from the left navigation. This search will let you specify file type: PowerPoint, Excel, image, video, etc.

Q: On what other properties can I search?

The advanced search option allows you to find documents based on keywords within a document title or description or even within its content. You can also specify which libraries you’d like to search, by which author, date posted, tags and more.

Q: How do the libraries get populated?

Your resource libraries are populated in two ways: you can upload documents directly by using the “Add Document” link found in the left navigation. Alternately, when you include an attachment in a forum post, the system automatically places it in the library and sends a link to it to all subscribers.

Q: How do I upload a document?

In the Libraries area, click the “Add Document” link in the left navigation. Please note that uploading a document is done in three steps and each step must be completed before you can move on to the next. First, you will choose a title for your document, include a description (if you’d like) and select the library to which you’d like to upload it; then hit “Save”. “Step 2” then activates, allowing you to browse for and upload your file. After uploading, you will have the option of adding tags or keywords to your document so it is more easily searchable.

Q: What kind of documents can I upload?

The system supports literally dozens of file types: PDFs, Powerpoint, Excel, Word, images and even video. You are, however, prohibited from uploading copyright-protected documents that you do not have the rights to post.

Q: What are the “tags” for?

Tags are another way of organizing and searching for documents. You can help others find the file you uploaded by including tags when you upload it. We have given you a few sets to choose from, but you can also add your own. Other members can also add tags to your document, further enhancing this search feature.

Q: I have several related documents. Do I have to post them individually?

No. You can post related documents together, and we encourage you to do so. Follow steps 1 & 2 to upload your first file. Then, rather than saving, perform step 2 again to upload another file. Continue that process until all of your related files are uploaded, then add your tags and hit “Save.”

Q: Can someone else edit or delete my file?

As the owner of the document, only you or a system administrator can delete your document. If you’d like to delete it, just click the red “X” that appears when you view the document details.

Q: Can I download documents?

Absolutely. That’s why they are being shared. However, please note all of these documents have been submitted by your peers and have not been reviewed by us. You must evaluate and bear all risks associated with the use of any content, including any reliance on the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of such content.



ASA Groups
In order to be a part of group communications, you must join/subscribe to the group!

Q: How do I join/subscribe to a group?

Under “ASA Groups”, click the “My Subscriptions” link in the top navigation. Here, you will see a list of available communities. Select one of the delivery options (Real Time, Digest, PDA or No Email) for any groups you wish to join and then click the “Save” button at the bottom of the page. You will get a red message confirming that your subscription options have been successfully updated. This can take around 30 seconds if you change your settings for several groups at the same time.

Q: What options are available for e-mail delivery?

At the top of the “My Subscriptions” page within EGroups, there is an option for “Text” or ”HTML”. By default, this is set to “HTML”, and we encourage you to leave it set to this if your e-mail client can support it. However, if you are having problems viewing the HTML version or if it takes too long to open, please switch to the text version.

Under each group, you have the following delivery options:

Real time: sends an e-mail every time a new message is posted
Daily digest: sends one e-mail to you each morning, consolidating all of the posts from the previous day
PDA: sends real-time text versions of the posts, which are compatible with Blackberries and most other handheld devices. This option also allows you to reply without logging in to a web browser, but it does NOT allow you to include attachments with your post.
No E-mail: allows you to be part of the group without having e-mails sent to you. You can still post and read other’s messages on the integrated online discussion board.

Q: I’d prefer to have certain forums go to a different e-mail address. Is this possible?

You can use different e-mail addresses for different forums. For example, you could have one forum go to your personal e-mail and others go to your work e-mail. On the “My Subscriptions” page within EGroups, under each group to which you’ve subscribed, you’ll see “subscribed as [e-mail address]. Change.” Just click the “change” link, enter a different e-mail address, click “OK”, and click “Save” at the bottom to confirm the change. If you change your main e-mail address in your profile or with us, it will update all of the forums that used your former e-mail address. Those that use a different e-mail address will remain the same.

Q: How do I leave a group?

Under “EGroups”, click the “My Subscriptions” link in the top or left navigation. Here, you will see a list of available groups and those to which you’ve subscribed. Select “Not Subscribed” to the right of the group you wish to leave and click the “Save” button at the bottom of the page. You will get a red message confirming that your subscription options have been successfully updated. This can take several seconds if you change your settings for several groups at the same time.

Q: What are “Networks”?

These are networking groups that are automatically created based on demographic information in your profile. They help you locate other members who live in your city or state, share your interests, have the same job title and more.

Q: How do I respond to others’ posts?

From a received e-mail or the online discussion board, you can click either the “Reply to eGroup” link to send your message to the entire forum, or the “Reply to Sender” link to send your message only to the sender; both links are located just to the left of the posting. We recommend replying only to the sender for comments like “me, too” that add little value to the discussion.

Q: How do I start a new discussion thread?

In an e-mail (HTML version) from a particular discussion forum, you can use the “Post Message” link in the right navigation bar. You can also use the “Post Message” link found in the left navigation under “My Egroups”. We recommend bookmarking or adding this link to your favorites list in your web browser to make it easily accessible.

Q: I’m having trouble viewing the HTML e-mail messages. How do I fix this?

If images are not appearing, it is likely that your e-mail 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 e-mail, go to the “My Subscriptions” page and select the “Text” format option near the top of the page. Be sure to hit “Save” at the bottom of the page once you’ve made this change.

Q: Why do I have to post messages and reply to them through the website?

There are many features in the Network Portal that are made possible because of the Web interface:

- When you send an attachment through this new system, it automatically places it in the egroup library and sends a link to members instead – no more blocked attachments because of file size or type.
- Auto-responses like "out of office" won't clutter up this new system.
- Since the system automatically adds your signature, there are no more anonymous postings. The "transparency" of the group (being able to see who is posting info) helps the growth of the community.

Q: Can I search for postings across all the forums?

Yes. Click “Advanced Search” in the left navigation. This will let you search based on keywords in the posts, search all or specific forums, and select the date range in which you’d like to search.

Q: How do I see a listing of all of the posts to my discussion forum?

If you go to “My Groups” and click “View the eGroup” for the community you’d like see, it will take you to the forum digest – a listing of the most recent postings. At the top right of this page are links to view messages posted in the last 24 hours, 7 days or 30 days. If you see an interesting post, you can click “View Thread” in the left navigation, which will take you to the entire thread. “Show original message” at the bottom of all of the posts in a thread will display the original message that started that discussion. The “Author’s Messages” link will show you all of the posts that particular member has contributed to the forum.

Q: All e-mails now come from the same e-mail address. How can I sort them into different folders in my inbox?

If you have rules set up to sort e-mails to different folders based on the e-mail address, you should be able to easily change those rules to look for the forum abbreviation or acronym that appears in the subject line.

Q: How do I change the information showing up in the signature block?

We have set a default signature, but if you would like to change the information that appears or the order in which it appears, click the “My Signature” link within "Egroups". You can add, delete or reorganize the fields that show up in your signature. Please note that the content of these fields is pulled directly from your profile, so if you want to change the information itself, you will need to make the change to your profile at  www.amstat.org.