| Managing your icommunicate online presence. |
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We have set up this website to have a high level of user interactivity. This means that you can customise your user account in many different ways. When you log in for the very first time you will be directed to the "Member Profile" page. Under your user name you will see a couple of buttons - Edit & Connections. Let's concentrate first on editing your profile. Editing Your Profile Update Your Profile The first option you have here is Update your Profile, which allows you to edit your profile details. The first tab (called Contact Info) allows you to reset your password. The second tab (called Additional Information) allows you to make changes to include any additional information about yourself that you would like to display. The icons alongside the fields describe what information is held private, and what information is displayed publicly on your user profile. We value our members and protect their privacy, so you can feel confident that we will not sell or trade any of this private information, but it does help us with managing our site. The third tab option (Called Forum) allows you to configure how you view the Forum and also allows you to create a Forum signature. This can be up to 300 characters long and is the opportunity for you to add a favourite expression or piece of philosophy if you wish.Update Your Image You may want to select an image to display on your forum posts or on your profile. We have provided you a range of images to choose from, but for the sake of the security of the site we have disabled the ability to upload your own image. If you would like us to do this for you, just email us, and we will get this underway. It is a simple process and we are more than happy for you to attach your logo, personality or photo of yourself to your profile.Future Editing of Your Details When you are logged in you will see a menu item appear in this section called "Member Profile". Click on this menu and it will open up your profile so you can edit it at any time.Connections This function of the icommunicate membership allows you to instigate a communication connection with other members via email. In no instance will your email address be shown on the website. We felt there may be many reasons that members may want to create a connection to another user. For instance, you may discover that there are users of this site seeking information on the similar topics. It may be that you can set up a support group via this site, or begin a friendship with other members that may eventuate in the formation of a support group.Managing Your Connections If you wish to connect to another member they must be online at the time. Simply click on their profile in the "Who's Online" Menu Box (in the left panel) which will open up their profile. Here you can learn about that member and if you wish to begin a communication with them you will have to request it. Under their user name you will see several action buttons, View, Message & Connections.View will take you back to your profile. Message allows you to send an email to that user outside of the site. This occurs within a closed system, so you will not see their email address. Send your message and the recipient will receive an email from you that is cloaked via the icommunicate website. It is then up to them to respond. If you wish to initiate a connection with someone via email it may pay to request a connection with that user first. Under the Connections button you will see the options of Manage your Connections and Request Connection. If you select Request Connection, a message will be sent to that user asking them if they wish to open up a connection with you. This will enable you both to manage your connection with that user more simply. Under the Manage your Connection option is a console which gives you the option of building a list of connections and simplifying your communications with them. This can be one way to form a network and contact all the users in the network at once. Using the messaging system Features of The Messaging System Our website is all about communication and we are firm believers in the strength of a community to help facilitate growth and advancement in this area. As a registered icommunicate user you will have access to a comprehensive internal messaging system. This system will allow you to connect with other users within this website, at your discretion, without having to give out your email address or receive emails. This is done all within your user profile in a private, closed system. With this facility you can start building up your own groups or networks of users interested in the same thing. You could start support groups within your local area or country, or you could start common interest groups that can be privately messaged at the same time. You could ask our professional healthcare and educational users private questions that you may not have felt comfortable asking your local therapist in person. Think of it as your own mailbox within the icommunicate communityWe have started with this feature in the most user friendly and open settings, with the ability for every user to connect to every other user. Our thoughts are that we wish to create an atmosphere of friendliness, help and support for all users. We would like to think that this section of our online community will give back to the other users by making connections with them, and participating on the Forum. We can add in the function of blocking users (and/or denying connection requests) at a later stage if users feel that this open gateway is getting in the way of their experience, but for the meantime we would like to see how the community grows and uses this feature without restrictions. If at any time you feel that you are receiving unwanted emails or messages from another member please inform the icommunicate team immediately and we will address the matter. How to use the messaging system You have several ways of using this messaging system. If you are in the Forum and wish to know more about a member that has posted a reply on your question, or has made comments on other questions, you can click on either their user name or the profile link at the bottom of their information box (next to the online / offline status button). This will bring up their user profile, where you can learn more about that user. In their profile you will also see a box at the top right that allows you to type a quick message. This will send a message directly to their mailbox. From there you can create mutual connections to allow for quicker and easier communications in the future. You can also access members profiles via the "Who's Online" menu box that features on most pages when you are logged in. Simply click on a user name to bring up their user profile.Accessing your mailbox When you are logged in you will see a couple of new menu items appear under the "Members Area" menu, accessed from the home page. These are Member Profile and Members Messaging. We have discussed earlier how you can edit your user profile and connect to other members via email.To open up your user mailbox once you have logged in you can either go to the "Members Area" accessed via the home page, and click on the menu titled "Members Messaging" This will open up your mailbox. You can also access your mailbox from any page within the Members Area or Forum by clicking on the "Private Messages" link that appears in the Mail Notifier menu box. Once you have accessed this link your personal mailbox will open. Your new message will be displayed here much in the same way as in your normal email handling programme such as Microsoft Outlook. Once you have opened your message you can choose to reply to it or delete it. Using the Contacts Feature You can also build up your lists of contacts in much the same way as you would via your email programme such as Microsoft Outlook. This means that you can create lists from all registered users so you can bulk message multiple contacts at the same time. We felt this would be a very handy feature to install as it allows you to build your own communities within our site, and communicate with them easily. Please respect this feature and do not use it to bombard other users that you have not made general connections with via your Member Profile. We can make this feature harder to use by placing restrictions, but would rather see how the community grows and uses this feature without restrictions first.We suggest that for ease of long term use (in case we do have to put restrictions on this feature) that you request a connection with users you wish to communicate with. This way if there are restrictions on this contacts feature in the future you will still be able to connect and message those that you have a connection with, and will be able to build your list using the connections feature. It is our aim that our users build up communities using this feature so that local area support groups may perhaps be born from the site, or at very least it be used to link together individuals that are experiencing the same sets of circumstances and may require additional support, advice or just social contact with those that can appreciate what they are going through. This is the true power of the internet! New Messages & Online Chat When you get a new message there are several ways that you can choose to be notified. In your mailbox there is a link at the bottom called Settings. This will enable you to set up how you would like to be notified when you receive a new message. You can select a pop up notification feature if you wish, however be aware that this will pop up everytime you are online and you get a mesage and will not go away until you view that message. When you are on the website and logged in you will also notice that the icon flashes green in the icommunicate messages box beside the Private Messages link everytime you get a new message. This feature means that you can effectively chat with other users in real-time. |
