General
Contacts / Connections
Communities / Discussions
Library / Resources
General | Top
Q:
What is my username/password?
A: You will use the same username and password that you use to log in to the main site. If you have forgotten your login credentials or need assistance with your login information, click
here.
Q:
How do I update my contact information?
A: From your profile page, click the pen button next to "Contact Details". Once you have updated the form with the desired information,
click on "Save" at the bottom of the form.
Q:
How do I control what information is visible in My Profile?
A: From your profile page, click the "My Account" tab then click "Privacy Settings". 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.
Contacts / Connections | Top
Q:
How do I find other members?
A: Click the “Directory” link found in the grey navigation bar. The Directory lets you search for other members based on:
- First and/or last name
- Company/Institution name
- Email address
Use the “Advanced Search” option to increase your search to:
- City
- State
- Country
- Community
- Education
Q:
How do I add contacts to my contact list?
A: There are several ways to add contacts. When you perform a search in the Directory, you will see an “Add as contact” link to the right of each person in your search results. Just click this link to send a contact request. 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.
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?
A: Go to “Communities” in the top grey navigation bar. Select “My Communities” to view the communities you’re currently a part of.
Q:
How do I join/subscribe to a community and the affiliated Discussion Group?
A: Click “Participate” and click on “Join a Community” in order to see a list of available communities. Set the dropdown filter to "All Community Types". Click on the Community that you wish to join and simply click "Join". Then choose a delivery option for posts (Real Time, Daily Digest, Reply by Email or No Email).
Q:
How can I control the frequency and format of emails I receive?
A: From your profile page click the "My Account" tab and then click “Community Notifications”. Click the drop down next to the Community name to select the frequency you will receive community emails.
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
- Reply by Email: 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 into a web browser, but it does NOT allow you to include attachments with your post.
- 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.
Q:
How do I leave a community or unsubscribe from a discussion?
A: Go to the Community page for which you would like to stop receiving emails. Click the "Settings" button next to the community page name. Click the drop down under "Email Notifications" and select "No Email"Please note that you might not be able to unsubscribe from certain communities, based on your volunteer status.
Q:
How do I respond to others’ posts?
A: Click “Reply to Discussion” to send your message to the entire community or click the drop down arrow to “Reply to Sender”, "Post Message", "Forward Message" or "Print Message". We recommend replying to the sender 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.
Q:
How do I start a new discussion thread?
A: Go to “Participate” > “Post a Message.” From an email (HTML version) for a particular discussion forum, you can use the “Post Message” link in the right navigation bar.
Q:
Why do I have to post messages and reply through the website?
A: There are many upgraded features made possible because of the web interface:
- When you send an attachment through this new system, it automatically places it in the Community’s library and sends a link to members.
- All posts and associated resources are automatically archived and very easily searchable.
Q:Can I search for posts across all the communities?
A: Yes. Enter what you would like to search for in the search bar, then click the drop down next to it. You can search based on content types, date range and who it was posted by. Once you have entered the pertinent information, click "Show Advanced Search" to search NCOM.
Q: How do I see a listing of all of the posts to a specific Community?
A: Go to the home page of the Community you are interested in, then click the "Discussions" tab. You can adjust how many posts per page you would like to see by clicking the drop down next to the "Post New Message" button. If you see a post you’re interested in, click the subject line 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 that community.
Q: How do I change the information showing up in my signature block?
A: We have set a default signature, but if you would like to change the information that appears or the order in which it appears, go to your profile page.Click the "My Account" tab" > "Discussion Signature". You can add, delete or reorganize the fields that show up in your signature by clicking the variables on the right-hand side of the screen. 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 actual profile.
Libraries | Top
Q:
How do I find resources that may have been uploaded by other members?
A: Go to “Browse” in top navigation bar, then “Library Entries” to find a particular library, if you know where the resource might be. If you do not know where the resource might be, try doing an Advance Search for the entry in the search bar. Enter search terms 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: You can upload documents directly by using the “Add a New Entry” link found under “Communities” > “View Libraries.” That is to say, library resources are not required to be associated with a discussion. Alternately, when you include an attachment in a discussion post, the system automatically places it in the library.
Q:
How do I upload a file?
A: Select the “Add a New Entry” link found under “Communities” > “View Libraries.” Please note that uploading a document is done in a few steps, and each step must be completed before you can move on to the next:
- Choose a title for your document, include a description (optional), select the library to which you’d like to upload it, select a folder to which you’d like to upload it (optional) and choose an Entry Type (most will be Standard Files, but be cognizant of any copyright licensed material). Then click “Next.”
- Browse and upload your file. Click “Next” if you want to add tags to your file or click “Finish” (you may have to scroll down to access these buttons).
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 another way of organizing and searching for documents. You can help others find the file you uploaded by including tags when you upload it. There are many pre-loaded tag categories to choose from.