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Getting the Most Out Of Your Friends Life Care Online Community

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Contents To navigate to a specific area on the site in a Word document, hold down the Control key and click anywhere on the Table of Contents subject line. In Adobe Acrobat, click on the subject line to go directly to that area.

Getting the Most Out Of Your Friends Life Care Online Community ................................................ 1

Getting the Most Out Of Your Friends Life Care Online Community ................................................. 4 Navigating the Friends Life Care Website Home Page ...........................................................................................4

Main Navigation Menu .......................................................................................................................................4 Site Search ..........................................................................................................................................................5 Home Page Latest News and Calendar Snapshot ...............................................................................................6 Contact Bar .........................................................................................................................................................7 Print To Page.......................................................................................................................................................7 Contact Us ..........................................................................................................................................................8 Report Abuse ......................................................................................................................................................8 Signing In ............................................................................................................................................................9 Forgot Your Password? .................................................................................................................................... 10 Signing Out ...................................................................................................................................................... 10

Your Landing Page: The Friends Life Care Members Group ............................................................. 11 Your Profile ...................................................................................................................................................... 12

Setting Up and Managing Your Profile ................................................................................................................ 13 Edit Bio—(Edit My Member Profile) ................................................................................................................ 14 Preferences ...................................................................................................................................................... 15

Your Profile Home and Public Profile .................................................................................................................. 16 Uploading Your Profile Picture ........................................................................................................................ 16 Your Profile Home ........................................................................................................................................... 17 My Feeds ......................................................................................................................................................... 17 My Wall ............................................................................................................................................................ 18 My Bio .............................................................................................................................................................. 19

Community Features ........................................................................................................................................... 20 Account History ............................................................................................................................................... 20 Blogs ................................................................................................................................................................ 21 Bookmark and Share ....................................................................................................................................... 25 Calendar ........................................................................................................................................................... 25 Community Chat .............................................................................................................................................. 31 Connections ..................................................................................................................................................... 32 Contact Forms ................................................................................................................................................. 34 Digests ............................................................................................................................................................. 34 Favorites .......................................................................................................................................................... 35 Featured Members .......................................................................................................................................... 35 Files & Links ..................................................................................................................................................... 36 Groups ............................................................................................................................................................. 37 Forums ............................................................................................................................................................. 40 Latest News ..................................................................................................................................................... 42 Links ................................................................................................................................................................. 43 Member Search ............................................................................................................................................... 43 Message Center ............................................................................................................................................... 44 Networks ......................................................................................................................................................... 45 Notifications .................................................................................................................................................... 47 Photo Gallery ................................................................................................................................................... 47 Privacy ............................................................................................................................................................. 48 Refer a Friend (Referrals) ................................................................................................................................ 49

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Report Abuse ................................................................................................................................................... 49 RSS Features .................................................................................................................................................... 49 Subscriptions ................................................................................................................................................... 50 Suggestion Box ................................................................................................................................................ 51 URL ................................................................................................................................................................... 52 Validation Code ............................................................................................................................................... 52 Voting and Scores (Figure 173) ........................................................................................................................ 52

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Getting the Most Out Of Your Friends Life Care Online Community The Friends Life Care Online Community is a great place to meet, talk, socialize and learn. To join the community and start creating your profile, go to: http://friendslifecare.org. This easy-to-read user manual has been created to answer basic questions about using the community and to help you take advantage of its many useful features. We invite you to explore the site and take advantage of those features that will help you enjoy your Friends Life Care experience. For any of the areas in the category that have more complete information elsewhere in the document, we have provided bookmarks that will take you directly to more detailed information by clicking on the link that is in red underlined text. You may also go directly to the area by clicking on the subject line in the Table of Contents. Afterward, if you are viewing the document in Word, click the Back arrow to return to your previous location in this document. If you are viewing the document as a PDF in Adobe Reader, go to View>Go To>Previous View to return to your previous location.

Navigating the Friends Life Care Website Home Page

Main Navigation Menu

What It Does The Main Navigation Menu (Figure 1) is there to help you move around the site easily. By clicking on the tabs provided, you will be taken directly to the page with the topic listed. Where It Is The Main Navigation Menu is located on the top of every page on the website, underneath the Site Search area. How to Use the Main Menu Tabs Each topic is printed on a tab that will take you to

different areas of the site when you click on it. When you hover your mouse over a tab (Figure 2), the tab will turn green. When the tab turns green, click on the tab to go directly to that area of the site. If there are more categories from which to choose (Figure 3), you can hold your mouse over the tab to reveal more tabs. This is called a dropdown. There are more detailed explanations of the areas of the site to which the tabs are linked, but a brief

explanation of each of the Main Navigation Menu tab areas follows here:

Figure 1: Main Navigation Menu

Figure 2: Main Menu Tabs

Figure 3: Menu Dropdowns

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Home—No matter where you are on the site, clicking on Home will always bring you back to the Friends Life Care Community Home Page. Friends Life Care—Clicking on this link will take you back to the main Friends Life Care corporate website. Calendar—The Community Calendar tab takes you directly to the main Friends Life Care calendar, where you can view all of the upcoming and past events. Latest News—Click on Latest News to find information about recent events, essential member information and the latest community news. Groups—To find a special interest group, enrichment workshop information, or proceed directly to the Friends Life Care Members group, click on Groups. Forums— A Forum is an online discussion group where users can interact with one another through a series of posted messages. There are several community Forums available on various topics of interest for Friends Life Care members. Click on Forums to go directly to that area of the site. Community Blogs—Similar to Forums, there are blogs available specifically for Friends Life Care members. Click on this link to view all of the Community Blogs. Member Search—To find the profiles of other Friends Life Care members by group, location or more specific criteria, or to find out who’s currently online, follow the Member Search tab. Membership Information—The Membership Information tab provides a direct link to a contact form that will get potential and new members in touch with a Plan Counselor to answer any questions regarding membership. Follow this link, and fill out the form information. If there is a red asterisk (*) beside a field, this information is required before you can successfully press the Submit button. Links— By clicking on this tab, you’ll find links to third party websites and resources that we think Friends Life Care members may find of interest. Simply click on the links we’ve provided, and the websites will open in a new window on your browser. This way, you’ll keep our site open on your browser while you’re visiting the suggested links. Suggestions—We strive to make the site our very best, and want to hear your suggestions about content, groups, forums, blogs or other features. Click on this tab to submit your suggestions.

Site Search What It Does

You can use the Site Search feature to find specific pages, blogs, forums, events, groups or specific Friends Life Care members within the Friends Life Care website. Where It Is The Site Search is located on the top left corner of every page on the website, including the Home Page,

just underneath the Friends Life Care logo on the main banner (Figure 4). How to Use Site Search Enter your search terms by clicking in the box that reads Enter search criteria… (Figure 5). Be as specific as possible. Then click on the Search link below it. Your search results or records will display on a page with your search term highlighted in yellow (Figure 6), and the number of times your search term was found will be indicated at the top of the list (Figure 7). Each result will contain a link that takes you directly to the page containing the information. Listed under the link, you can find the Category in which the result is found: Directory, Blog, Group, Forum, etc., and the search

Figure 5: Site Search Figure 4: Enter Search Criteria

Figure 6: Search Results Figure 7: Number of Results

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Figure 9: Search Help

Relevance, which is a percentage value indicating how well the information is perceived by the system to satisfy your search term.

There are extra Search Tips provided by clicking the Search Tips link (Figure 8), should you have difficulty finding what you are looking for. At any time, you can refine your search, and new results will be displayed. At the top of the Site Search page, you can also search for Friends Life Care members who are currently logged into the site. For more information, see Member Search.

Home Page Latest News and Calendar Snapshot What It Is The Latest News and Calendar Snapshot or box (Figure 9) lists the most current events and topics on the Friends Life Care News page and Calendar and provides you with a link directly to both the Latest News page and Calendar page. Where It Is The News and Calendar Snapshot will appear on the left column of the Home Page and every page on the website, just under the My Profile box.

How to Use the Latest News and Calendar Snapshot The Latest News and Calendar snapshot will always contain basic information about the most recent news postings and upcoming events. By clicking on MORE, to the right of the headings (Figure 10), you will proceed to the full section listings of news or events. There, you will find more in-depth information about each listing. You can read more about the Latest News and Calendar section features later in this document.

Figure 8: Search Tips

Figure 9: Latest News/Calendar Snapshot Figure 10: More News/Calendar

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Contact Bar What Is The Contact Bar? The Contact Bar allows you to quickly navigate to important features of the site.

Where It Is The Contact Bar is located on the top right-hand side of the Home Page and all other pages

of the website (Figure 11). What It Does The Contact Bar has different options depending upon whether you are logged in or signed out. Before you log in or after logging out, you will see the Print Page, Contact Us, Your Shopping Cart, Report Abuse and Sign In options (Figure 11). Once you are logged in, the Sign In option changes to Sign Out (Figure 12).

Print To Page What It Does The Print Page feature allows you to print the website page you are currently viewing directly to your printer. Where It Is

Print Page is located on the Contact Bar (Figure 12).

How To Use the Print Page We suggest that you use the Print Page feature when printing from the website instead of printing from your browser, as it includes only the center column containing the current page information, and is formatted properly to preserve the page design. It does not include the information on the left rail. To print, click on Print Page (Figure 12). This will bring up the page you’re trying to print, along with your printer’s print menu so you can print directly to your printer (Figure 13). If you want to include the left rail in your printed copy, you will want to use your browser print option instead.

Figure 11: Contact Bar

Figure 12: Sign Out

Figure 12: Print to Page

Figure 13: Print Page

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Contact Us

What It Is The Contact Us link provides a quick and easy way for you to send a secure message to Friends Life Care administration about the website or any other topic. Where It Is The Contact Us link is located on the Contact Bar (Figure 14). How to Use the Contact Us Link If you ever have a suggestion for the website or would like to contact us for any reason, simply follow the Contact Us link (Figure 14). If you are logged into the site, the form will already contain your own contact

information (Figure 15). You need only fill out the Comments section (Figure 16) on the bottom of the form. You may still complete the form if you are not logged in; however, you will have to type in the information, as the system will not recognize you. Remember that any field that contains a red asterisk (*) within the form is required, and you will be unable to submit the form until it is completed. The last step is completing the Validation Code (Figure 16). This is an anti-spamming technology built into the site that prevents spammers from using automated “bots” to spam our website. Enter the code exactly as it is shown to you in the box provided below it. When you’ve completed this step, press the Submit button. Once your form is submitted, you will be redirected to a page that lets you know your contact form has been received by Friends Life Care.

Report Abuse What It Does In the unlikely event that you see abusive language or inappropriate imagery on the Friends Life Care website, the Report Abuse link is provided for you to let us know quickly. Where It Is

Figure 14: Contact Us

Figure 14: Contact Form Comments

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The Report Abuse link is located on the green Contact Bar (Figure 17).

How to Use the Report Abuse Link Click on the Report Abuse link. This will take you to an online contact form that will allow you to tell us where you viewed the inappropriate content (Figure 18). You may either describe the location in sentence form, or, so that we can identify it more easily, cut and paste the URL from the address bar at the top of your browser from the page that contains the offending material, and place it into the Comments field. Remember that any field that contains a red asterisk (*) within the form is required, and you will be unable to submit the form until it is completed. The last step is completing the Validation Code (See Figure 16 above). This is an anti-spamming technology built into the site that prevents spammers from using automated “bots” to spam our website. Enter the code exactly as it is shown to you in the box provided below it. When you’ve completed this step, press the Submit button. Once your form is submitted, you will be redirected to a page that lets you know your contact form has been received by Friends Life Care.

Signing In Why Do I Need to Sign In? As a Friends Life Care member, you have access to many areas of the site not visible to the public, including the valuable Friends Life Care Member home page. In order to access these areas, you will need to sign in.

Where Sign In Is Located On the Home Page, and every other page of the website, you will find two places to sign in using your username and password, which have been assigned to you from the Friends Life Care administration. One is on the left rail of every page of the website and the other is at the top right of the page (Figures 19 and 20) How To Sign In The fastest of these options to use is on the Sign In area that provides boxes for you to type in your username and password (Figure 19). Type your username and password. Please remember that the fields are case-sensitive. If you click on the box to the left of

Remember Me, your computer will store your login information for future times you may log in. Then you can click the Sign In button on the bottom. The lock icon to the right of the Sign In button is your assurance that the login process is secured with SSL encryption, and your login information will remain private. If you have forgotten your password, you will be able to reset it by clicking on Forgot Your Password.

Figure 15: Report Abuse Link

Figure 16: Report Abuse Form

Figure 17: Sign In Left Rail

Figure 18: Sign In Top

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There is also a Sign In link on the top of every page (Figure 20), which will take you to the Member Login page (Figure 21). This page contains the same information that is present on the Sign In box described above. It just takes one additional click to get to this page. The first time you log in you will see the My Preferences page, which will allow you to decide what information you would like to share on the site, and which notifications you’d like to receive. The next section of the manual will describe how to customize and set up your profile after you log in for the first time.

Forgot Your Password? If you forget your password, click on Click here to reset your password,

where you will be able to enter your email address or username and a Verification Code. You will receive an automatic notification by email that will provide a link back to the website with instructions on resetting your password. You can also complete the Contact Us form to request this information.

Signing Out Why Do I Need to Sign Out? We suggest that you sign out of the site each time you are finished with your session to protect your privacy, particularly if you share a computer with someone else.

Where Sign Out Is Located On the Home Page and every other page of the website, you can find the Sign Out link on the top right-hand corner within the green bar (Figure 22).

How To Sign Out By clicking on the Sign Out link, you will be officially logged out and will be unable to navigate to any of the members-only areas of the site. Once you are logged out, you will be redirected to a page that will indicate your sign-out was successful (Figure 23). If you signed out accidentally or need to sign back in, there’s a link that allows you to proceed back into the Member Login area.

Figure 19: Member Login Page

Figure 20: Sign Out

Figure 21: Sign Out Successful

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Your Landing Page: The Friends Life Care Members Group What is the Friends Life Care Members Group? The FLC Members Group is Control Central for members of Friends Life Care (Figure 25). Here, you will have access to areas of the site and resources that are not available to nonmembers. Where is it? Whenever you sign into the website, you will automatically be directed to the Friends Life Care Members Group page. From anywhere on the site, you can also access this group by clicking on Groups>>Friends Life Care (Figure 24) from the main navigation menu. Remember that you must be signed into the website to access the Members Only page. What you will have access to in the FLC Members Group As a Friends Life Care member, you have access to resources, forums, blogs and other areas of the site that are not available to nonmembers. One of the most valuable resources is the VigR Health Library, which is a private Web MD designed specifically for Friends Life Care members.

Figure 22: FLC Members Link

Figure 23: FLC Members Only Group

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Your Profile What Is A Profile? Your personal profile contains your customized personal and professional biographical information, photographs, personal pages, and links to your groups and favorite pages. A Wall on your profile shows all of your activity within the site. Where It Is To easily access your profile and all of the features associated with it, a My Profile box is located on the left side of the website, which contains links to the features you will use the most (Figure 26). How To Access My Profile Once you are logged in, you can access your Profile from every page on the website, including the Home Page. The following sections will describe how to set up, access and use the many features available to you on your Profile.

My Profile Box QuickLinks From the My Profile box (Figure 26) on every page of the website, you can quickly navigate to areas of your profile that you may wish to visit frequently. A more in-depth description of each is provided later in the manual, but here’s a quick list of the links and where they lead. Profile Home—This link takes you directly to your personal profile page. Public Profile—Your Public Profile shows how your profile is displayed to other members, depending upon the privacy settings that you create. Manage Profile—You will create and edit all of the areas of your profile in the Manage Profile area. Groups—Clicking on Groups will take you to a list of groups of which you are a member, and provide links directly to those groups. Networks—Networks stores links that you have created to other social media sites. Files & Links—This is your own personal file library containing public and private documents and links. Favorites—Any page, blog, forum or member profile you mark as a Favorite will display on this page. Messages—This link takes you directly to your personal Message Center or Inbox. Connections—Here you will find a list of the Friends Life Care members to whom you are connected. Refer a Friend—You can send a link to the Friends Life Care website via email to your friends and acquaintances.

Figure 24: My Profile Box

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Setting Up and Managing Your Profile

Managing Your Profile The Manage Profile page (Figure 27) allows you to set up your profile, customize all content and features within your profile, and determine how you intend to use the features available to you within the community. Where It Is From any page on the website, click on the Manage Profile link in the My Profile box on the left-hand side of the page (Figure 28). How To Manage Your Profile Once you click on the Manage Profile link, you will be able to customize all of the features available to you. You can return to this page at any time to change or update your profile settings. The profile settings are arranged into a menu of five categories. The Manage Profile page organizes the features available to you into five categories. These are described in

greater depth on the next page, but a brief description of each follows here: Information & Settings Edit Bio—You will update your biographical information and choose privacy settings for specific information (fields) within your profile. Preferences—This area will allow you to view and manage your preferences and notifications settings for your profile. Content & Features Favorites—Keep a record of your favorite pages, blogs, forums and member profiles on this page. Networks—This area provides easy access to your other social/professional networks, such as Facebook or LinkedIn. Blogs—Manage your personal blogs in this area. Pages—You can create, edit and manage your own personal pages that are linked to your profile here. Photo Gallery—The Photo Gallery houses your photos and albums. Files & Links—You can save documents and links for easy retrieval in this section. Certifications—If you have completed Friends Life Care classes for which certifications are assigned, you can view them here. Community Messaging—This area holds your Friends Life Care message inbox. Groups—Links to the groups of which you are a member are in this area. Connections—Manage your Connections list here, your favorite Friends Life Care members. Referrals—If you use the Refer A Friend feature, the referrals you send will be tracked here. Subscriptions—Manage your subscriptions for email notifications to blogs and forums here.

Figure 25: Manage Profile Page

Figure 26: Manage Profile Link

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Figure 28: Edit My Profile

Figure 30: Personalized URL

Account History Event Registrations—If you have registered for events on the Friends Life Care calendar, you will be able to see them here. Orders—View the current status of your online orders here. Clicking on the icon or text for each area within the category will allow you to change your content and preferences in that particular area. Instructions for the Information & Settings category will be covered in this section. Instructions for features in the remaining categories are provided in the Community Features section, listed alphabetically.

Edit Bio—(Edit My Member Profile) This page allows you to add personal and professional information about yourself and set the privacy preferences for the information within your profile. Where It Is

You can edit your biographical information by following the Edit Bio link located on the Manage Profile page (Figure 29). How to Create or Edit Your Bio Type the information into the corresponding fields for which you wish to provide information on the Edit My Member Profile page (Figure 30). Descriptions of fields that contain a red asterisk (*) are required. If the area to the left of the field contains a box, you can decide whether or not you’d like the information to remain private. If you wish for your information to remain private (i.e., e-mail address, spouse name, etc.), click on the lock icon to the left of the field. Remember that profile

information that remains visible will only be visible to Friends Life Care members, and cannot be seen by the general public visiting the site. You can create a personalized URL for your profile on the site, should you wish to share it with others. To do so, click on Create a personalized URL. A new window will pop up asking you to create a URL which points to your personal page (Figure 31). The window offers helpful guidelines to help you create a unique name. Your URL can be changed at any time (Figure 32), however, if you change the URL you’ve created previously, any links you’ve shared with friends won’t work for the new one.

Figure 27: Edit Bio

Figure 29: Change User Alias

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Figure 31

To share your URL with others, cut and paste the address from your Member Profile into an email or message. When you finish updating this information, don’t forget to click Save Changes on the bottom of the page. Saving the information will redirect you to the My Bio page (Figure 33), which is the way your profile will look to other members on the site.

Preferences What It Does The My Preferences area (Figure 34) allows you to determine what information from your profile you would like to share with other members on the site, and which notifications you’d like to receive from Friends Life Care members. Where It Is The first time you sign in to the Friends Life Care online community, you will be automatically redirected to the My Preferences page. Once you have set your preferences, you can revisit the page by clicking on the Preferences icon (Figure 35) which is located on the Manage Profile page.

How To Set Your Preferences On the My Preferences page (Figure 34), you have the ability to personalize permissions and notifications. You can customize your preferences by clicking on the box next to a specific preference (Figure 36), which turns the preference “on.” If you want to receive emails when an event is added to

the community calendar, share your Favorites with others who can’t see your profile, or display your “online now” status, you can set these and more preferences here. Keep in mind that this area controls the number of email notifications you will receive about different types of group, blog and forum activity, calendar additions; whether or not you’d like your Wall or Favorites visible to others; and whether or not you’d like to receive emailed newsletters and digests. For any Forum to which you’ve subscribed or Group of which you are a member, you can subscribe to these digests at the bottom of the Preferences page (Figure 37). If a

Figure 33: My Preferences

Figure 34: Preferences Icon

Figure 35: Set Preferences

Figure 36: Subscribe

Figure 32: Edit My Bio

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Figure 40: Upload Headshot

digest is available from those Forums or Groups and you have elected to receive them, you will receive the periodic notifications by email.

Once you have set your preferences, click on the Save My Settings button (Figure 36). You may return to this page at any time to adjust your settings by returning to Manage Profile and clicking on the Preferences icon.

Your Profile Home and Public Profile There are two views available for your profile. The Profile Home link in the My Profile box (Figure 39) will take you to your Profile Home page. By clicking on Public Profile, you will see how your profile appears to other Friends Life Care members, depending upon the privacy settings you have configured for your profile.

Uploading Your Profile Picture What Is A Profile Picture? A profile picture is a headshot that will appear on your profile and in any listings of your profile on the site. Where Is It Located? When you visit Your Profile Home for the first time, you will notice an

icon that reads Photo Not Available (Figure 40) on the top left corner of your profile. How To Upload Your Photo Hover your mouse over the top left corner of the image (Figure 40) and click on the icon that appears. You will be asked to select a file from your computer (Figure 41). Be sure to have a suitable headshot ready in an accessible folder on your computer. Only GIF, JPEG or PNG formats can be used. Click on Browse and navigate to the photo on your computer you’d like to place on your profile. Then select the photo and click Open. Click the Submit button and your photo will be displayed instead of the Photo Not Available icon. You may only upload one profile picture, however, you can store other photos in your personal photo album in your Photo Gallery. You can view a larger version of your profile image by clicking on the photo and it will display in a pop-up page.

Figure 37: Save Settings

Figure 38: Profile Home/Public Profile Figure 39: Upload

Profile Photo

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Figure 42

Your Profile Home When you are Home, you have quick access to many areas which you have customized from the left rail of your profile (Figure 42). Your photo will show in the top left hand corner. If you have chosen to reveal your online status in the My Preferences area, the Online Now icon will show underneath your photo. Above your photo, click on More (Figure 43) to visit your Custom Pages, Favorites, Blogs, Photo Gallery and Files & Links. More complete snapshots of these locations are also accessible from the left rail underneath your photo. Each of these, including Groups, Files and Links, Connections and My Photos, have links at the bottom of the section. Click on the link to take you directly to that area of your profile. In the main section of the Profile, there are three different views available for your Profile accessible with one click: Your Feeds, Wall and Bio (Figure 44). The heading for the page you are currently viewing will appear in white, the others are gray.

My Feeds What Are Feeds? My Feeds allows you to see in list form what your other Friends Life Care members are doing on the site. Much like Facebook or other social networks, when a member writes on a wall, posts a new blog, forum topic, photo, or makes a connection with another member, this information will display on the My Feeds page, with the most recent activity displaying on the top of the list. When a photo is uploaded, a thumbnail of the photo displays directly underneath the text. Within each post (Figure 45), there are links directly to the member profile of the member who conducted the activity, as well as links to the new

topic or entry in a forum or blog and links to the actual forum or blog itself. Underneath the activity is the date it occurred. Everyone has a My Feeds page, but members can’t view the Feeds pages of one another, and it will not appear on your Public Profile. It is only visible to you when you are on your Profile Home. You can’t delete activities on your Feeds, however, Your Feed view can be filtered by clicking on one of three links: All Activity—Activities of all Friends Life Care members My Groups— Activities of everyone who is a member of a group to which you belong My Connections—Activities of your connections only

Figure 41: Profile Left Rail

Figure 43: Feeds/Wall/Bio Views

Figure 44: Feed Entries

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There is only a certain amount of space allotted for posts on each page. To see prior posts, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on Older Posts (Figure 46). You will be able to view all post history by clicking on Older Posts until you reach the very beginning.

My Wall What Is A Wall? A Wall is a page that will show all of your personal activity on the site and your interactions with others (Figure 47). You can opt to have this appear on your public profile in the My Preferences section. You can post on your

Wall, either from your Wall or Feeds sections. Any posts which you don’t want to keep can be deleted from your Wall while it is in this view by clicking on delete to the right of the post. How To Post To Your Wall You can post text to your wall by clicking in the text box above the Post button and typing in your text (Figure 48). Then click the Post button and your text will appear immediately on your Wall. Everything that will appear on your Wall will also appear in your Feeds, but only the activities that involve you will appear on your Wall. If you’d like to delete any of the posts on your wall, click on the Delete link on the far right side of the post (Figure 49). This will remove the post permanently.

Figure 45: Prior Posts

Figure 47: My Wall

Figure 48: Post to Wall

Figure 46: Delete Post

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Figure 50: Network Links

My Bio What Is My Bio Page? Your Bio is a page that neatly organizes much of the information you provide about yourself when you set up your profile (Figure 50). How To Access My Bio You can access your biographical information from the Edit Bio icon on the Manage Profiles page (Figure 51). You can also edit the individual sections within the Bio page itself (Professional Information, Personal Information, Additional Information) by clicking on the EDIT links to the right of each heading (Figure 52).

About The Information In My Bio Your Bio is organized into several sections. On the top of the Bio, you will see the following, as long as you have previously entered this information: Last Updated—provided to document the last time you made a change to your information. Name, Title, Organization Your Member Type—Friends Life Care Your email address—Clicking on this link will bring up your email program in a new message window. Your Networks—(Figure 53) These icons represent the Networks you set up in the Networks section. If you do

not have any Networks, they will not appear. By hovering over the icon, you will have the opportunity to select two options: View the profile on that specific network or view all profiles of Friends Life Care members who also have a profile on that network. Find out more in the Networks section.

Your Profile Link – If you have created your own custom URL, your link in its entirety will appear here.

Figure 47: My Bio

Figure 48: Edit Bio

Figure 49: Edit Information

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Figure 51: Professional Information Links

Professional Information In addition to the text you see in your Professional Information section, there are also links provided for certain fields for which you provide information

(Figure 54). Clicking on those links will bring up a list of members who have the same information in their bios. Your Professional Website – Clicking on Visit Website takes you to your professional website, if you have provided this information. Address Map – If your address is complete, you can click on the Map link to view a map to your address on Google Maps in a popup window. Custom Field Search – If you have provided your city and state, clicking on either of those will take you directly to the Member Search Results page with the search filtering members who live in that particular city or state. If there are other custom fields for which you have provided answers, i.e., Profession, you can also click on these for search results. Personal Information Member Special Interest Links—If you have indicated your interest in one or more areas of the Member Special Interests, clicking on the links visible will take you directly to the Member Search Results page with the members who have similar interests (Figure 55). If you choose not to show your Wall to others, the Bio section will be the page that appears on your Public Profile. Remember that you can always edit the information, and if you would rather the information remain private, you can return to Edit Bio and click on the lock icon next to the information that you wish to hide.

Community Features There are many customizable features available to you in the Friends Life Care Online Community, accessible from the Main Navigation Menu, the My Profile Box and your Manage Profile page. This section provides an alphabetical listing of those features and how to use them.

Account History

What Is Account History? The Account History section keeps track of your Event Registrations and Online Orders. Where It Is You will find the Account History section on your Manage Profile page (Figure 56). It will not appear until you have registered for an event using the online registration system or ordered an item from the Online Store. Any

Figure 52: Member Special Interest Links

Figure 53: Account History

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online transactions, whether they are purchases or event registrations, are conducted through the secured Online Store. How To Use It Explanations of the Event Registrations and Online Orders icons are found in alphabetical order here in the descriptions of Community Features. Follow the links above to find out more.

Blogs

What Is A Blog? A blog is a personal journal or diary. Blog entries are published in chronological order on a website. The Friends Life Care online community provides the opportunity for you to participate in three levels of blogging on the

website. You can create and maintain your own personal blogs (which will be described in this section) participate in any group blog to which you belong, and participate in the general community blogs. Where It Is Your blogs can be accessed by clicking on the Blogs icon on your Manage Profile page (Figure 57). Within your Profile Home, you can also access your Blogs listing by following the MORE link at the top of the page (Figure 58). If you make your blog visible to others, it will be visible to other Friends Life Care members as well from your Public Profile and using the Site Search feature.

How To Create A Blog From your My Blogs page, click on Create a New Blog (Figure 59). From the Create a New Blog page, you will be asked to provide blog information and decide how you wish to share with others, and whether or not you’d like others to be able to participate in your blog (Figure 60). You will be asked to provide the following:

Blog name —Type the name of your blog in this space. Number of Posts—The number of posts (or blog entries) you want to be displayed on each page. Select from the dropdown menu. Ability to comment—If you want others to be able to comment on your blog, select the Open radio button. If you prefer not to have any comments other than your own, selected the Locked radio button.

Figure 54: Blogs Icon

Figure 55: Blogs from Profile

Figure 56: Create New Blog

Figure 57: Create A New Blog

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Figure 59: My Blogs Index

Figure 60: Add Blog Post

Enable Voting and Scores on your Posts—You can enable others to vote on and score your blog. Read about Voting and Scoring link to find out more about that feature. Enable Voting on Comments—Click Yes if you want to allow others to score your Post’s Comments. This is also described in the Voting and Scoring section. Short Description of Blog—Lastly, provide a description of your blog that is less than 1,000 words. Use descriptive words so others will be able to find your blog in a Site Search, should you wish to make your Blog visible to others. You can return to this Configurations page and change these options at any time by clicking on the wrench tool to the left of your Blog listing (Figure 61). Once you have created your Blog, it will be displayed on the My Blogs index page (Figure 62). This page will contain the name and description of your Blog that you provided earlier, the number of posts you have made to the Blog, the number of subscribers, and the date of last activity, which includes both posts and comments. If you have more

than one Blog on your Profile, you can sort them in the order you wish them to appear by placing numbers in the sort/options boxes next to each blog and pressing the Update Sort Indexes button.

What Is A Blog Post? A Post is an individual entry within a Blog. Think of the Blog as a folder or category, and the Post as a file or entry that belongs within that folder or category. Where You Can Post to

Your Blog From within your My Blogs index page, you can click on the title of any Blog to access the blog so that you can add a Post to it (Figure 62). Click on Add New Post when you are within the particular blog to which you want to post (Figure 63). How to Add A Post To Your Blog Title—Your Blog has a title, and each post to your blog will have its own title. Type your title in the box provided. In your personal Blog, your name will already appear in the Posted By box (Figure 64). Attach Files/Images—You have the opportunity to attach files and images to your blog. For instance, you may want to provide a Word document or PDF, or you can upload a photo to illustrate the text in your blog. Click on the Browse button. A new window will open displaying the contents of your computer. Navigate to the folder that contains your file or image, click on the file or image and click Open. The file name will be added to your Post an Entry page. At the bottom of the Post an Entry page, you will find Attach Additional Files/Images, which uses the same method mentioned above to attach files and images. There, you can click on Add another file/image to add additional files. Thumbnails of the additional files will appear at the bottom of your post. Attach Video—You can even attach videos to your post, which will display in a video player in your finished post. You must retrieve the embed code from the video sharing service and paste it in the box provided to do so.

Figure 58: Blog Settings

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Figure 64: Search Blog Post

Tag this post—If you will have multiple posts within your Blog, you may want to provide Tags, or keywords to describe your post for the benefit of yourself or others who will be searching for those keywords. Allow Comments—If you want to allow other Friends Life Care members to comment on your post, click Yes here. Otherwise, click No. Add Text and Content—A WYSIWYG (What

You See Is What You Get) editor is available should you wish to create text and format it for the text portion of your post (Figure 65). The options you have are much like those provided in Word or other text editing tools. If you’re unsure of how to use a feature, hover your mouse over the icon, and a pop-up will reveal what the feature does. If you are not familiar with this type of editor, you can simply type your text into the box provided. The editor automatically formats your text to go with the look and feel of the rest of the website. Don’t forget to click the Submit button at the bottom, and your post is done. Once you have saved your post, you can go back and edit it any time. Comment On Your Post You can comment on your own posts, even if you don’t allow others to do so. At the bottom of the published post, click on the Comment on post link (Figure 65). This will bring up a separate window for your comment (Figure 67). Type

your comment into the box provided and click the Submit button. Search Your Blog Posts After you have accumulated a number of posts on your blog, you can search the posts for specific keywords. At the top of every blog is a search option that allows you to

search all of the posts in that particular blog (Figure 68). You can either type in your search term and click on the Find button, or click on the list of available tags. When you click on a tag, a menu will appear that allows you to choose one of three filter options (Figure 69):

Figure 65: WYSIWYG Editor

Figure 62: Post Comment

Figure 63: Comment on Post

Figure 61: Add New Blog Post

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Figure 65: Filter Post by Tag

Figure 66: People Who Have Used This Tag

Figure 67: Edit Post

Filter by this tag—Clicking on this option will display the search box followed by all of the posts containing your search results. Show all posts with this tag—Following this link will display only the posts containing your search results,

but not the search box. Find everyone who has used this tag—Clicking on this option will display the name and thumbnail profile image of anyone whose post contains the tag or keyword you have searched (Figure 70). By hovering your mouse over the name or photo, a popup will appear that offers you more options. You can send a message to that person or view their profile. Edit or Delete Posts You can always go back and edit your posts, or even delete them. Clicking on the Edit Post link will take you back into the Edit Post page for that particular post, allowing you to make changes (Figure 71).

Voting and Scoring Blogs You can enable Voting and Scoring on your Blog, as well as the Posts and Comments (Figure 72). See the Voting and Scoring section for a complete description of that feature.

How to Manage Your Blog (or Forum) Subscriptions From your main Blogs page, click on Manage Subscriptions to set your preferences for the blogs to which you subscribe (Figure 73). This will take you to the My Subscriptions page (Figure 74). As a subscriber, you will receive email notification of any activity, including each new post. You may choose to be notified of new comments as well by clicking on the red conversation bubble in the options column. Clicking on a green

conversation bubble will stop notifications generated by comments. Clicking on the red circle with an X on it will unsubscribe you from that blog altogether. These instructions are also repeated at the top of the My Subscriptions page. You can also manage your subscriptions by clicking on the Subscriptions icon on Manage Profile page.

Figure 68: Voting and Scoring

Figure 73: Manage Blog Subscriptions

Figure 74: My Subscriptions

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Bookmark and Share

What Is Bookmark and Share? Bookmark and Share is a way to share the content on any of your social/professional media profiles. This is a standard sharing icon that you may see used by other websites on the internet (Figure 75).

Where Is It? The Bookmark and Share icon is located on any page of the site on which the administrator has enabled it. This includes your personal Custom Pages, Blogs and Forums. How To Use Bookmark and Share When you hover over this icon, you will see a dropdown menu of social/professional media sites (Figure 76). Click on the link to the social media site to which you want to share using your profile on that media site. Should you wish to see the entire list, click on More at the bottom of the dropdown .

Clicking on the Bookmark and Share icon will bring up a search menu. If you don’t see the social media site you want to select listed, type it into the search box provided at the top of the popup and press Enter (Figure 77). You can also customize your settings to select up to 10 of 333 available places to share that will appear in bold on the top of the list each time you use the Bookmark and Share feature. Click on Settings at the bottom of the box to customize your list.

Calendar What is the Calendar? The Community Calendar stores all of the information for Friends Life Care events, past and present. Where Is it? There are two areas of the site that display calendars for Friends Life Care members. They are the Community Calendar and Group Calendar. Community Calendar—The Community Calendar shows events for members, as well as the general public. This calendar view is available on the right rail of every page on the website, including within your Profile (Figure 78). To open the Calendar, click on More (Figure 78). This will take you to the Community Calendar page that includes all upcoming events, beginning with the next event and ending with the event farthest in the future (Figure 79). This view provides the basic information for the event, including date, time and location, and whether or not the event is open only to members and if ticket purchase is required.

Figure 75: Bookmark/Share

Figure 76: Share Options

Figure 77: Share Options Search

Figure 78: Calendar Snapshot

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Export To Your Calendar The Export To Your Calendar link offers you the opportunity to Export to Your Calendar in iCalendar format. By clicking on this link, you can place the information directly on the Outlook calendar (or other calendar software you use) on your computer. Register If registration for the event is required, you can follow the Register link to complete your registration. If the event is for members only, that icon will display after the Register link. The Tickets Available icon lets you know there is still space available. See more detailed information about Event Registration in that section of this manual.

Calendar View Options At the top of the Community Calendar, you’ll see options to list events by category, view

only upcoming events, view past events, open up a Month View in another window, or add the event to your RSS Feed (Figure 80). Additionally, if you’d like to receive notification whenever an event is added to the calendar via RSS feed, you can subscribe to the feed using your browser bookmark, Microsoft Outlook, Google, Yahoo or other application.

Categories—Click on the Categories dropdown to narrow the event results that display on your page by category (Figure 81). Upcoming or Past Events—The Community Calendar view default is to show upcoming events. Click on the Past link to show those events that have occurred in the past (Figure 80). To return to the Upcoming Event view, click on the Upcoming link.

Month View—To see your calendar search results in a monthly calendar format, click on the Month View link. In the Month View popup, you have the opportunity to further filter your results (Figure 82). Change the month by using the dropdown box at the top of the Month View or by clicking on Previous or Next beside the current Month. Return to the list by clicking either List View or Close Popup. You can also print your results. To go directly to the event listing, click on an event name.

RSS—Clicking on the RSS icon on the top right corner allows you to receive notification via email when anything has been added to the calendar. Read more about RSS in the RSS Features section.

Figure 79: Upcoming Events

Figure 80: Calendar View Option

Figure 81: Calendar Categories

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Group Calendar—At the bottom of every Group page, you will see a listing of events specifically for that particular group (if there are events scheduled) under the Upcoming Events heading (Figure 83). From this view, you can follow three links: Click on the event name to take you directly to the individual event listing; click on the View Registrations link to show a list of everyone who has registered (if this feature has been enabled by the administrator); and click on Month View to show the event displayed in calendar view.

Figure 82: Calendar Month View

Figure 83: Upcoming Group Events

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Viewing Individual Events Every individual event has its own information stored on a separate page (Figure 84). Clicking on the event name from anywhere it is listed on the site will take you to this page, which will include the following: Event Name Export to Calendar icon—This icon allows you to save the event to the calendar software on your computer, and was covered in the Export To Calendar section. Date, time and location Contact name and email address—You can click on the email link to send a message to the event contact person via the email program on your computer. Registration information—This area will indicate the registration deadline, if there is one, and will allow you to click on a link to register for the event. The number of people who are already registered for the event will be listed, with a link to view the complete list.

Details—If there are additional details about the event, including any photos or links to external websites, they will be included here. How To Register for Events You can register for any event for which registration is required by clicking on the Register for this event link, which is located under the event name on the individual

event page (Figure 85). If registration is not required, this link will not appear. If the administrator has allowed members to register more than one person, you will be asked how many people you are registering on the next screen. Fill in the number and click the Next box (Figure 86). This will take you to the Registration page. You will need to complete a registration form for each person you are registering for the event.

Figure 84: Individual Event

Figure 85: Register Link

Figure 86: Select Number of Attendees

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Figure 89: Shopping Cart

Figure 90: Checkout Step 1

Choose Your Required Event Ticket—If there is a ticket required to attend the event, you will need to select it by clicking on the radio button next to the appropriate ticket (Figure 87). If there is a discounted member price, it will automatically be calculated for you and will appear in red on the right side of the ticket. If there is more information about the ticket, clicking on the more link will show more information about the ticket. Complete the Registration Information—(Figure 87) Fill out the form by clicking on the box to the right of the field name and typing in the information. If there is a red asterisk (*) beside the field

name, the information is required, and you will not be able to proceed to the next step until the information is completed. If you are signed into the community, many of the fields will auto-populate with your information, including name and address. This information can be changed, if needed, by clicking in the box and typing in the new information. When you are satisfied that you have completed all information, click on the Continue button. If you want to clear the form, click on the Start Over button. You will have the opportunity to review

your information in the next step and click on the Complete Registration button (Figure 88). If there is a charge for the ticket, clicking on the Continue button will take you to the Online Store, where all order processing takes place.

You may notice that the URL in your address bar begins with https://. This indicates that you are on a secure site and any information you provide will remain private. After clicking on Continue, you will be taken to the Your

Cart page (Figure 89). Your Shopping Cart—To finalize the registration process, you will need to complete the checkout process. On the Your Cart page, you will find the product (ticket) information. For each ticket, the name of the ticket, number of tickets and price, with subtotal and total, will appear. You will have the opportunity to cancel

Figure 88: Complete Registration

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Figure 91: Checkout Step 2

Figure 93: My Event Registrations

your registration by clicking on that link, which is listed above the item or items in your cart. If you are satisfied with the information, click on the Checkout button.

Checkout—There are two steps to the checkout process. On the first page (Figure 90) you will provide your contact information and your billing information by clicking in the box to the right of the field and typing in the corresponding information. If the billing information is the same as your shipping information, click on the Click here if billing address is the

same as shipping address, and the information will auto-populate from the information you have already provided. Any field that has a red asterisk (*) to the right of it is required. Once you are satisfied with your order, click on the Proceed to Confirmation button. On the confirmation page (Figure 91), the information you typed onto the previous page will appear, in addition to the information from your My Cart page. When you click on the Complete Order button, your event registration will be processed and your credit card information will be submitted. The Friends Life Care online community allows you to pay securely online using a credit card, and if you’d rather pay by check, you can choose the “bill me” option. Where Are My Registrations Stored?

All of your upcoming and past event registrations are stored on the My Event Registrations page. You can access them by clicking on the Event Registrations icon on the Manage Profile page (Figure 92). On the My Event Registrations page you will find a list of all of the upcoming and past events for which you have

registered (Figure 93). Each entry contains the event name and date and your registration ID number. It also allows you to print a receipt for your records. There is also a link directly to the event page, should you wish to

review the event information prior to or after attending the event. All of your transactions, including purchase of tickets for events, are stored in your Profile, and are accessible through the Account History section of your Manage Profile page. Viewing Registration Lists

For some events, you will be able to view a list of the people who are registered for the event (Figure 94). There are links to the Registration List from the Calendar Event Page, as well as the listing of events on the Group Main

Figure 92: Event Registrations

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Figure 99: Chat Content

Figure 98: Chat Request

Page. Click on View the (number of persons) who have already registered link on the Calendar Event Page. Or you may click on View Registrations under the event listing on the Group Main page. The Registration List will contain the Name, Member Type and any RSVP comments they have provided as well as the Google Maps inset that provides a map to the location (if

this has been enabled by the administrator). By clicking on the profile icon next to the member name ( ), you can view the personal page of that member.

Community Chat What is Community Chat? Community Chat provides a way for you to chat (or type) in real time with other Friends Life Care members who are signed into the site. Where Can I Find Chat?

On any page you see the Who’s Online Now? link, you will be able to see a list of who is currently signed into the site (Figure 95). You can find this link on the top of the Member Search and Site Search pages, as well as the Member Search Results and Site Search Results pages, your Connections page, and anywhere that a member profile name is listed

with the thumbnail profile image. How to Chat With Other Members

Initiating the Chat—If the Online Now! icon is displayed underneath the photo of the member, you can chat with that person (Figure 96). Clicking on the click to chat link below the Online Now! icon will bring up a popup chat screen (Figure 97). To write your message, type into the box provided and click on Send. In the conversation stream, which appears above the Send area (Figure 99), your name will appear in blue type, and the name of the person with whom you are chatting will appear in blue, with the content of your messages in black after each

name. You can modify the font by clicking on the font dropdown menu and selecting your font. If You Receive A Chat Request—If someone else initiates a chat conversation with you, a

screen will appear that says (member) wants to chat (Figure 98). Click on the wants to chat link, and a conversation screen will appear with their message (Figure 99). Their name will appear in red type with the message after the name. Write your message into the box provided. If you want to add emoticons (icons that display an emotional state), click on the smiley face to choose your emoticon and click on Send.

Disable Chat—You can decide whether or not you want other members to see your online status. From your Manage Profile page, click on the Preferences icon. Placing a check in the box next to the Profile: Display my Online Now status and allow others to start a chat with me will make you visible to other members (Figure 100). If you remove the check, no one will know that you are

Figure 94: Registration List

Figure 95: Who's Online?

Figure 96: Click to Chat

Figure 97: Chat Message

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online. You can adjust this setting at anytime, but don’t forget to press the Save My Settings button when you’re finished.

Connections What Are My Connections? Connections are those members with whom you plan to communicate or follow most frequently (Figure 101). You can save snapshots of these member’s profiles on your Connections page for easy access to their information. Where Are My Connections? A list of your Connections are maintained on your personal Connections page (Figure 102 on next page). There are three places from which you can access your Connections page (Figure 103). Click on the Connections link in the My Profile box. From the Manage Profile page, you can click on the Connections icon in the Community category. In addition, you can click on the View Connections link on the My Connections snapshot which is located on the left sidebar of all three views of your Profile Home.

Figure 100: Online Status Preference

Figure 101: Connections Snapshot

Figure 103: Connections

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How to Add Connections On the member profile page—You can click on the Connect link at the top of the member’s profile (Figure 103). Keep in mind that the member will have to accept your connection request before you will actually be connected, but you will receive notification when they have accepted your request.

Your Connections Page Your Connections page helps you quickly access, organize and manage your connections (Figure 102). Features include: Messaging All Connections At Once—By clicking on the Message All My Connections link at the top of the page, you can send the same message to all of your Connections. The link at the top of the page indicates how many connections will receive your bulk message. You will be taken to the Compose Message page, where you can compose your message. For more information about sending messages, go to the Message Center section. Keeping Track of Messages Sent/Received by Connections—Your Message Center keeps track of all incoming and outgoing messages, but the Received and Sent links at the top of the page keeps track of all messages that are specifically Connection Requests, both incoming and outgoing. When you click on Received, you will see a snapshop of those Connections from whom you have received a Connection Request. When you click on Sent, you will see a snapshot of all Connections to whom you have sent a Connections Request.

Figure 102: Connections List

Figure 103: Connect

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Setting Your Preferences—Your Connections preferences can be managed from either clicking on the Preferences icon accessible from your Manage Profile page, or you can click on the Preferences link at the top of the Connections page (Figure 104) to show only those

preferences for this page. When you go to the Preferences page, you can changes your settings and save them . Help Page—Clicking on the Help icon on the top of the page takes you to a popup containing Frequently Asked Questions about Connections (Figure 105).

Viewing Your Connections by Category—If you have organized your connections by category, you can filter your search results to show your connections by several predetermined categories. These include Friends Life Care members, family, colleagues and friends. To move a connection to a category, click the box to the right of their name in their snapshot, then select the category from the dropdown menu at the bottom of the page.

QuickLinks to Your Connections—Each snapshot of your connection (Figure 106) contain several links that will allow you to access their information more easily. By clicking on View Personal Page, you will be taken directly to your connection’s profile page. By clicking on the Send Private Message Link, you will be able to compose a message to them. View their photo albums by clicking on the View Photos link. If the Online Now! indicator is enabled, you can click to chat with your connections in real time. Deleting Connections—Click the box to the right of the connection and click on

Delete Selected Connections to remove the member from your Connections list (Figure 107). They will not receive notification that you have done so.

Contact Forms There are several different types of contact forms on the website. Although they may ask for different information, they all work the same way. A detailed explanation of using contact forms was covered earlier in the Contact Us section.

Digests For any Forum to which you’ve subscribed or Group of which you are a member, you can subscribe to these digests at the bottom of the Preferences page (Figure 108). If a digest is available from those Forums or Groups and you have elected to receive them, you will receive the periodic notifications by email.

Figure 104: My Preferences

Figure 105: Connections Help

Figure 106: Connections Snapshot

Figure 107: Delete Connections

Figure 108: Subscriptions

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Favorites What Are Favorites? Your Favorites page provides quick access to your favorite pages, profiles, blogs and forums on the online community (Figure 111). Where Are My Favorites Located? You can access your Favorites by clicking on the Favorites link on the My Profile box (Figure 109), which is located on the left side of every page. You can also find a link to Favorites on your Manage Profile page (Figure 110). How To Use The Favorites Feature

Anytime you see a silver star on the top of a page, profile, blog or forum, you can click on the star to add it to your Favorites. When you return to that page, the star will be gold. You manage your Favorites list on your My Favorites page, which are listed by category. Click on the link to go directly to the favorite page.

By clicking on the pencil and paper icon to the left of the listing, you can edit your listings individually (Figure 112). Add or edit the name of the Favorite, select a category and decide whether or not you want to share it on your Public View of Favorites page.

Featured Members Occasionally the website administrator will show snapshots of member profiles in the bottom left rail of the website underneath the main navigation menu (Figure 113). Clicking on the member name will take you directly to their Profile page.

Figure 109: Favorites

Figure 110: Favorites Icon

Figure 111: My Favorites

Figure 112: Edit Favorite

Figure 113: Featured Members

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Figure 115: My Files and Links Index

Figure 116: Managing Files & Links

Files & Links What Are Files and Links? Your profile has a file library, in which you can store files and links to other pages or websites for easy retrieval, either for yourself or for your connections. Files, including documents, spreadsheets and images, can be uploaded directly from your computer.

How Can I Access Files & Links You can access your personal Files & Links section by clicking on the Files & Links link in the My Profile box on the left side of every page (Figure 114), or you can click on the Files & Links icon from the Manage Profile page (Figure 115). There, you will be able to view the files and links you have uploaded, and download the files or visit the links by clicking on the file/link name. How To Manage Files & Links Click on the Manage My Files & Links link at the top of the My Files & Links page (Figure 115). You will be redirected to a page that shows your existing files and links (Figure 116). You can add a file or link by clicking on the Add a New Item link. You will need to indicate whether you are uploading a File or providing a Link, provide a name for your file or link, indicate whether or not you’d like your file or link to remain private, and upload the file

from your computer or paste the URL into the box provided.

You will then need to indicate by checking the box that you agree with the terms of the Upload Agreement, which can be viewed by clicking on Upload Agreement link. Press the submit button at the bottom to add the file or link to your list.

Once you have saved your item, you can edit the name by clicking on the pencil and paper icon or delete it by clicking on the trash can item. The boxes to the left of your entries allow you to place your files and links in the

order you like by filling in the number, then clicking on the Re-Order button. Clicking on the View My Files & Links takes you back to the view only page.

Figure 115: Files and Links

Figure 114: Files and Links

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Groups What are Groups? The Friends Life Care online community has group designations for its members. As a Friends Life Care member, you are automatically a member of the Friends Life Care Member Group (Figure 117). When you sign in, you will automatically be redirected to this page. Access to this area of the website is for members only, and contains useful information not available on public areas of the website. One of the most valuable resource for members via the Friends Life Care Members Only page is the VigR Health Library, which is an advertisement-free private

Web MD resource for Friends Life Care Members only. Friends Life Care has also established other optional special interest groups you may like to join, such as Book Club, Gardening and Theatre, and you may participate in member-only blogs and forums via this group.

How To Access Groups You can access your groups by clicking on Groups in the My Profile box on the left side of any page on the website (Figure 118). You can also access your groups from your Manage Profile page by clicking on the Groups icon in the Community category (Figure 119). About My Groups Page On your My Groups page, you will find a list of those groups to which you belong (Figure 120). The name of each group contains a link that will take you directly to the group’s home page. In the middle of the page you will find the group that is your primary group. For most members, this will be the Friends Life Care Group.

How To Join A Group At the bottom of the page is a list of groups that you are permitted to join, should you so desire. These will include Special Interest groups and others that may be open to you. To join one or more of

these groups, click on the Groups button on the main navigation menu on the top of the page (Figure 121). Here, you will find a list of group categories you are permitted to join. Click on Special Interest Group link to view a list of the optional groups you may join. (Figure 122) On this list, you will be able to see how many registered members are associated with each group. By clicking on the number, you can view

Figure 117: Friends Life Care Members Group Home Page

Figure 118: Groups Link

Figure 119: Groups Icon

Figure 120: My Groups Page

Figure 121: Groups

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snapshots of the group’s members. By clicking on the name of the group, you will proceed directly to the Group home page. When you navigate to the group homepage you’d like to join, click on the Join Group button just under the group name (Figure 123).

Group Home Page—There are two views available for each group: the Group Home Page and the Wall. You can access all of the other group pages and areas from the Group Home Page (Figure 124).

A description of the group will be at the top of the page with links to many other group areas. These include Group Pages, Group Directory, Calendar, Blogs, Forums and Photo Gallery (Figure 125). Below the introductory text in the center of the page, you will also find the Group Feed, a list of recently updated profiles, and Upcoming Events. Descriptions of each of these areas are provided below. You can access all of the pages available to the group from two areas. Using the top links or using the links on the right rail, above the photo gallery (Figure 125).

Figure 122: Community Groups

Figure 123: Join Group

Figure 124: Friends Life Care Members Group Home Page

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Group Pages—If your group has private pages other than the Home or Wall, you can access them by clicking on Group Pages, where there will be a drop-down menu listing the pages available to you (Figure 126). Here, you may also find file libraries

that provide access to documents for the entire group. These can include PDFs, Word, Excel and other document formats that can be downloaded to your computer. Some collections can be placed in collaborative mode, which will allow group members to add their own files to the collections. Friends Life Care has provided frequently requested Member Documents for all members using the File Library (Figure 127). These include the HIPAA Statement, FLC Financial Statements and a Referral Program Form. Click on the document name to view or download.

When you go to an area other than the Group Home Page, click on Group Home to return to the Home Page. Group Directory—By clicking on the Directory & Features button at the top of the page, you will see all of the features available for your group. The Group Directory will provide an alphabetical list of members, along with their city and state (if they have allowed this information to be shared). If the member has uploaded a headshot, a photo icon will appear to the right of their name. From this listing, you can proceed directly to a member’s profile, send the member a message or add as a connection. For more information about conducting searches, see the Member Search section. Calendar—A Group Calendar is available for each group, and lists those dates and events specifically for that group. The features are identical to the website’s Community Calendar. Read more about the Community Calendar here.

Group Blogs— The Friends Life Care Online Community provides the opportunity for you to participate in three levels of blogging on the website. You can create and maintain your own personal blogs, you may participate in any group blog to which you belong, and you may participate in the community blogs. As a member of that group, you have the opportunity to participate by posting and commenting on any Group Blog. For more information about how to navigate and participate in blogs, see Blogs. Group Forums A Forum is an online discussion group where users can interact with one another through a series of posted messages usually contained within threads. Read more about how to participate in Forums in the section below.

Photos/Photo Albums—As a group member, you are permitted to upload photos and photo albums to share with other group members. The most recent photos are displayed in the right rail of the Group Home content

area. To upload a photo from your computer, click on “Upload a Photo,” (Figure 128) and follow the instructions

Figure 125: Group Home Page Navigation

Figure 126: Group Pages Icon

Figure 127: Group Page

Figure 128: Upload Photo

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provided to select your photo, add a caption and tag(s), and determine whether or not you’d like other group members to be permitted to comment. You can also choose to upload multiple photos (up to 100) using the multi-file upload applet. All files must be in JPG, GIF, or PNG format. Some groups may require approval by the Group Administrator for photo uploads, so there may be a delay between the time you post your photo and the time it appears on the Group Home Page. For more information on uploading photos, see the section on Photo Gallery. Group Digests—Some groups may have a periodic Group Digest or newsletter, which is a summary of group activities distributed to members via email. You can decide whether or not you’d like to receive these newsletters in your Manage Profile>My Preferences area.

Forums What Is A Forum? A Forum is an online discussion group where members can interact with one another through a series of posted messages. A single conversation topic within a Forum is called a thread. Where Are Forums Located? Forums are available on the Friends Life Care Online Community at both the group and community level. You can access the Community Forums by clicking on the Forums link on the main navigation menu on the left side of the page (Figure 129).

How To Participate in the Community (Or Group) Forums On the Forums Index page (Figure 130), you will see a list of the forums in which you can participate. On the Community Forums page, these topics are open to the public for viewing, however, only Friends Life Care members can post or comment. On the top of the page, you have the opportunity to Search Forums, Manage Subscriptions, Create a Signature for your comments and view the Top Posters (Figure 131).

Search Forums—Clicking on the Search Forums link at the top of the page will bring up a dropdown search box. Type in the search terms you want to find and press submit. The Site Search feature will bring up any results that match your terms.

Manage Subscriptions—When you click on the Manage Subscriptions link at the top of the page, you will see a list of those forums to which you have subscribed (Figure 132). The Subscriptions feature is described in that section of this manual.

Figure 129: Forums Link

Figure 130: Forums Index Page

Figure 131: Search Forums

Figure 132: Forum Subscriptions

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My Signature—You have the opportunity to create a unique “signature” that will display with your entry when you participate in the forums, i.e., name, title, organization. Your text signature can contain up to 500 characters and can be edited at any time by clicking on this link. (Figure 133)

Top Posters—If you’d like to find out which members post the most topics, click on the Top Posters link at the top of the page (Figure 134). This list will include the name and photo of these members along with the number of posts they have made. Clicking on the member’s name will take you directly to their profile.

About Forums On the Forum Index page (Figure 130), forums are separated by category, with each forum listed underneath. Each forum name contains a link to that particular forum. Also visible from the Forum Index page for each forum is the number of individual topics within that forum and the number of posts that have been submitted (Figure 135). You will also see the name of the member who has submitted the Latest Post (with a link to that member’s profile), along with the date of the post. Clicking on the arrow on the far right side of the index listing will take you to the most recent post for that forum.

Forum Participation Options (Figure 136)

Post a New Topic—Posting a topic is similar to posting a blog topic; however, it’s much more simple. You may find it helpful to read the Blog

section prior to working with

forums. By clicking on the Post New Topic link, you will see a page that allows you to add a subject within your chosen category, decide whether or not you want to lock the post, and determine whether it will be categorized as a Post, Sticky or Announcement. You may then type your text into the box provided, attach an image if needed, and press the Submit button.

Figure 133: Forum Signature

Figure 134: Top Forum Posters

Figure 135: Forum Index Entry

Figure 136: Forum Participation Options

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Subscribe/Unsubscribe from Instant Updates—You can subscribe to any group or community forum or blog using the Subscriptions feature. Read more about how to subscribe and manage subscriptions in the Subscriptions section. Subscribe to a Digest—This feature is only available for forums (not blogs). You can receive periodic notifications of forum activity within any forums to which you have subscribed. You can subscribe or unsubscribe by clicking on the link here. You can also manage your subscriptions within your profile. Read more about Subscriptions here. Export—You can export all forum activity into an Excel compatible file that will download to your computer by clicking here. Add RSS Feed—Clicking on the RSS icon on the top right corner allows you to receive notification via any RSS feed reader that is present on your computer when anything has been added to the forum. Read more about RSS Features in that section. Add to Favorites— At the top right corner, you can also click on the silver star to save the forum to your favorites.

Latest News

What’s The Latest News? The Latest News section contains current events, information and community news provided by the Friends Life Care Administration via the News & Press page. Where Is Latest News? You can access Latest News from the News and Calendar snapshot on the right side of the Home Page and every

page of the Community, which is underneath the My Profile box (Figure 137). Click on MORE beside the Latest News text, and you will be taken to the News & Press page (Figure 138). There, you will find news articles, listed by category and date, with links to the complete news article. To receive notifications when new listings are posted, click on the RSS icon on the right corner of the page.

Figure 137: Latest New Snapshot

Figure 138: News and Press Page

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Links What Are Links? The Links section is a page containing resources that are recommended to you by Friends Life Care. How Do I Access Links?

By clicking on the Links tab in the main navigation menu on the left side of the page (Figure 139), you’ll find links to third party websites and resources that we believe Friends Life Care members may

find of interest (Figure 140). How To Use Links Click on the links in the list on the page, and the websites will open in a new window on your browser. This way, you’ll keep our site open while you’re visiting the suggested links.

Member Search What Is Member Search? Much like the overall Site Search feature, Member Search allows you to search for other members of the site, using a number of filters from which you can narrow your search. You may want to review the Site Search section as well. Where Can I Search for Members?

The easiest way to search for members is using the link on the main navigation menu on the left side of every page (Figure 141). Clicking on this link will take you to the Member Search page (Figure 142).

Who’s Online Now?—If you want to find out who’s online now in order to chat in real time with other members, click on that link. Read more about Community Chat in that section. Advanced Search—Refine your search by clicking on this link, where you can further filter your results by member status and type. Search Criteria—Type your

search criteria into the Search field and any member profile that contains that word will appear in your search results. Group—If you want to search by group, i.e., gardening, music, yoga, select your group filter here.

Figure 141: Member Search Link

Figure 142: Member Search

Figure 139: Links

Figure 140: Recommended Links

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Country—This dropdown allows you to choose which country you would like to search. Location—Type in city or state here to filter by location.

Your Member Search Results will provide an alphabetical list of members, along with their city and state, if they have allowed this information to be shared (Figure 143). If the member has uploaded a headshot, a photo icon will appear to the right of their name. From this listing, you can proceed directly to a member’s profile. Following the “Map these results” link will display a map showing the location of the members by city. The Site Search feature at the top of each page will also allow you to search for members, and will highlight the search terms you entered.

Message Center What Is The Message Center? The Message Center is similar to your computer’s email box, however, it holds only those messages to and from other Friends Life Care members in the online community (Figure 144). Where Is the Message Center? You can access your message inbox by clicking on the Messages link in the My Profile box on the right side of every page on the website. How To Use The Message Center As a Friends Life Care member, you can exchange messages with other members when you are logged into the site. If you don’t log in every day, you can opt to receive notifications via email to let you know when you have a new message waiting in your inbox. (See My Preferences). You have the opportunity to create personalized folders in which you can store different types of messages. Once you have established your Connections list, you can also message your Connections all at once. Sending Messages

There are several ways to originate messages to other Friends Life Care Members: conducting a Member Search from the left navigation panel, locating a member from within your Message Center or Connections list, and while visiting the member’s profile to whom you’d like to send a message.

When you visit the profiles of your connections or other Friends Life Care members, a link will be visible at the top next to the Profile Pages and More links. Click on the Message link (Figure 145) that will allow you to send messages to that member. Within your own Message Center, you have three Message Options (Figure 146). You can Message a Member by following the link to member search and click Message Member. You can also message one or more of your connections directly from your Message Center. If the member you’d like to

Figure 143: Member Search Results

Figure 144: Message Center

Figure 145: Message from Profile

Figure 146: Message Options

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message is also one of your Connections, you can send a message from your Connections page by clicking on Send Private Message on the snapshot of the Connection (Figure 147). Type in the Subject in the box provided and the text for your message (Figure 148). You can also attach files from your computer, or insert Emoticons, if you choose. (Emoticons are icons intended to show emotional state). To insert an emoticon, click on the icon and Click to Insert.

Once you hit the Send Now button, the message will go to the member’s Message Center within the Friends Life Care online community. If the member has chosen to receive notification that there is a message in his or her box by email, they will be notified immediately. If they have chosen not to be notified by email, they will receive the information the next time they sign in.

Networks What Are Networks?

On your Networks page in your profile (Figure 149), you can place links to the networks on which you currently have profiles, including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and many others. This will allow you and those with whom you share the information to navigate directly to your profile on that particular network from your Bio page. Clicking on the link will open a new tab in your browser and proceed to your profile on that particular network. Where It Is From the My Profile box on the Home Page and every other page on the website, click on the

Networks link (Figure 150). This will take you directly to the My Networks page. You can also access Networks by clicking on the Networks icon on the Manage Profile page (Figure 151).

Figure 147: Connections Snapshot

Figure 148: New Message Box

Figure 150: Networks Icon

Figure 149: My Networks Page

Figure 147: Networks Link

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Figure 152: Members On This Network

How To Use My Networks To set up your Networks, click on the dropdown list beside the Network field (Figure 149). This will display a list of the most commonly used social media networks, including Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and many others. Select the name of the network from the dropdown menu, then provide the web address (URL) of your profile

on that particular network. You may need to open your other profile in a different browser window to allow you to cut and paste the URL from the address bar into the URL field on the My Networks page (Figure 151). Hints are provided to help you determine your profile address for each network after you select it. If you have set up links to your other Networks (Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.), the icons will show in your Bio view. By hovering over these icons,

you will see two links. One will allow you the opportunity to visit the Profile, which will open in another tab or window on your browser. This is also available when you visit the profiles of other members. You can also view a page which lists all of the members with a Profile on that particular network (Figure 152).

Figure 151: Add Network

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Figure 154: Photo Gallery

Figure 155: Photo Gallery Snapshot

Figure 151: Notifications

Notifications You will receive administrative notifications by email from the system to notify you when community events are added, you register for events, you receive a connection invite, one of your connections or fellow group members uploads a photo or changes their profile, and others that are listed on the My Preferences page (Figure 151). If you are receiving too many notifications, go to the My Preferences page to adjust your settings.

Photo Gallery What Is The Photo Gallery? Your Photo Gallery is a place where you can upload photos and create photo albums within your profile. Each Group has a photo gallery as well (Figure 154).

Where Is My Photo Gallery? You can access your Photo Gallery from the left rail of your Feeds, Wall and Bio pages (Figure 155). You can also click on the Photo Gallery icon on your Manage Profile page (Figure 156). How To Use Your Photo Gallery Uploading Photos—Click on the Upload A Photo button to upload an image from your computer (Figure 157). You will have the opportunity to post it into a particular album, then you will be asked to select a file from your computer. Only GIF, JPEG or PNG formats can be used. Click on Browse and navigate to the photo on your computer you’d like to place on your profile. Then select the photo and click Open. Click the Submit button and the name of the file will display in the Select a file box. If you want to add a caption, do so in the Photo caption box. Adding tags or keywords to the Tag this photo will allow you and others to search for it more easily. Then decide whether you want others to comment on your

photo by clicking on the Comments dropdown (Figure 158). When you’re finished, click the Submit button.

Figure 156: Photo Gallery Icon

Figure 157: Upload Personal Photo

Figure 158: Allow Comments

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Figure 160: Privacy Assurance

Figure 160: Photo Full View

Manage My Albums—You can add albums to your Photo Gallery by typing in the name of a new album and clicking on the Submit button (Figure 159). You can also edit each album name by clicking on the pencil and paper icon and editing the name in the box provided. Actions for Selected Photos—To set your selections for photos individually or as a group, either Select All, Select None, or select individually by placing a check into the box for which you would like

to form a specific action (delete, set comments, add to album), then selected that action from the dropdown menu (Figure 158).

Viewing Your Photos—You can view a larger version of your image by clicking on the photo and it will display in a popup page (Figure 160). In this view you will also be able to add tags and comment on your photos. Clicking on Start Slideshow will automatically show a slideshow, until you click on the Stop Slideshow link. A thumbnail of the adjacent photo (next or previous) displays below the main photo

Privacy Your privacy is very important to us. The Friends Life Care online community is hosted by YourMembership.com, a global provider of online community software, membership software and management software since 1998. You can read about YourMembership’s Privacy Policy by clicking on the Legal/Privacy link on the bottom of every page of the website (Figure 161). You may notice that the URL in your address bar while you are visiting many areas of the site begin with https://. This indicates that you are on a secure site and any information you provide will remain private. An SSL secured stamp will also be present on any form which asks for sensitive information (Figure 160).

Figure 159: Add New Album

Figure 161: Website Privacy

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Figure 165: Subscribe to RSS

Refer a Friend (Referrals) If you use the Refer a Friend feature, the Referrals section will indicate which members you have referred to Friends Life Care. If you have a friend or acquaintance who you’d like to invite to join the website as a guest member, you can use the Refer a Friend feature by clicking on the last link in the My Profile box (Figure 163). An online contact form will allow you to can enter up to 50 addresses in the field provided, and an automatic e-mail will be sent from your e-mail address with a link back to the site.

Report Abuse In the unlikely event that you see something which you feel is inappropriate, or receive inappropriate communication from another

member, you may report this by following the link next to the Contact Us link inside the green bar (Figure 164). More detailed information about reporting abuse is provided in the Navigating the Home Page section of the manual.

RSS Features

RSS (Really Simple Syndication)— a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works (blog entries, news headlines, audio and video) in a standardized format. (from Wikipedia.org) Remember that any page containing the RSS icon in the top right corner allows you to receive notification via any RSS feed

reader that is present on your computer when anything has been added, i.e., calendar entry, blog or forum post. When you click on the RSS icon, you will have the opportunity to subscribe using one of these (Figure 165). It will display using the method you choose, whether that is via email or on a browser page.

Figure 163: Refer A Friend

Figure 164: Report Abuse Link

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Subscriptions

What Are Subscriptions? Subscriptions are regular notifications you receive via email notification regarding blog and forum activity (Figure 166). Where Are My Subscriptions?

You can access your Subscriptions from your Manage Profile page by clicking on the Subscriptions icon in the Community category (Figure 167). How to Manage Your Blog (or Forum) Subscriptions

This area provides two separate lists containing the group and community forums and blogs to which you subscribe (Figure 168). Click on the Blog Subscriptions link to reveal your Blog Subscriptions, and likewise for Forum Subscriptions. If you subscribe to forums and blogs, you will receive email notification of any activity. You may add or delete subscriptions at any time, either from within the Subscriptions area of your profile, or within the actual forum or blog itself.

From your main Blogs page, click on Manage Subscriptions to set your preferences for the blogs to which you subscribe (Figure 169). As a subscriber, you will receive email notification of any activity, including each new post. You may choose to be notified of new comments as well by clicking on the red conversation bubble in the options column. Clicking on a green conversation bubble will stop notifications generated by comments. Clicking on the red circle with an X on it will Unsubscribe you from that blog altogether. (These instructions are also repeated at the top of the My Subscriptions page.

Figure 166: My Subscriptions

Figure 167: Subscriptions Icon

Figure 168: My Subscriptions

Figure 169: Manage Blog Subscriptions

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Figure 171: Suggestion Box

Suggestion Box What Is The Suggestion Box? The Suggestion Box is a way for you to communicate suggestions to us regarding the website. Where Is The Suggestion Box? To access the Suggestion Box, click on the link located on the main menu navigation on the left side of every page (Figure 170). Submitting A Suggestion You will submit your suggestion using an online contact form (Figure 171). Click in the boxes to the right of the field descriptions to type in your suggestions. If there is a red asterisk (*), the information is required before you can Submit your information. A Validation Code is required to prevent

spamming. Clicking Submit will send the suggestion directly to Friends Life Care Administration.

Figure 170: Suggestions Link

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URL A URL is the address for a particular page on a website, which shows in the address bar at the top of your browser.

Validation Code A validation code is an anti-spamming technology built into the site that prevents spammers from using automated “bots” to spam our website. You will be asked to type in a code in a box exactly as it is displayed above the box before you can proceed (Figure 172).

Voting and Scores (Figure 173) What Is Voting and Scoring? Members have the ability to vote and score on certain website pages, blogs and forums. Where Is Voting and Scoring? For any page that a website, group, blog or forum administrator has allowed it,

members will see the Voting and Scoring icon on the top left hand of the page (Figure 173). Within blogs and forums, administrators have the option of allowing scoring on both posts and the individual comments within them. How To Use Voting and Scoring

Clicking on the red X will allow the administrator to clear the voting and reset the score

To score a page, blog or forum post or comment from one to five stars, click on the star which reflects your vote.

To give the page a thumbs up or down, click on the corresponding thumb. You can always revisit the page and change your vote that you have previously cast.

Figure 172: Validation Code Screen

Figure 173: Voting and Scoring Bar