General
Contacts / Connections
Groups / Discussions
Library / Resources
General | Top
Q: What is my username/password?
A: Your login credentials are the same username and password that you use to login to the ASA website. If you have forgotten your login credentials or need assistance with your login information, please click
here and then click "forgot username and/or password".
Q: How do I update my contact information?
A: On your profile page, please select the pencil icon next to "Contact Details" in the left column. This will take you to your record in the ASA database. Please update your information there. It will be synched with ASA Connect in about 30 minutes.
Q: How do I control what information is visible in My Profile?
A: Please navigate to your profile page, then select the "My Account" tab and choose "Privacy Settings" from the drop-down menu. This will let you control what information is visible to whom. After you’ve made changes, click the “Save Changes” button at the bottom of the page.
Q: Is my personal information private?
A: Individual members have control over each piece of their personal information. This means they can make any piece of personal information visible to members only, or to contacts only, or not visible to anyone else.
The default privacy settings are:
- Only member name and institution will be listed and visible to other members by default. This information will help members to find colleagues with whom they want to connect on the platform.
- All personal contact information (e.g., phone, email, address) will default to not visible to anyone unless the member proactively chooses otherwise.
- If two people agree to become each other’s contacts within the system, they will be able to see limited additional information about each other (job title, department, education, job history, interests, sections, networks).
- Any additional information that a person chooses to add to their ASA Connect profile will be visible to other members (e.g., picture, website URL, honors and awards, social media sites, recent publications). None of this information is imported from the membership database.
Just like the
ASA Member Directory, members can opt out of being listed in the ASA Connect directory. If a member has opted out of being listed in the ASA Member Directory, they will not have a listing in the ASA Connect Member Directory either. Like the ASA Member Directory, the ASA Connect Directory is only visible to members.
Q:How can I add a Section?
A: Click
here to log in to the ASA website. Once you are in the Member Portal, click on the link in the upper right that says "Join a Section." Go through the process of purchasing a Section membership. After you join a Section, it may take up to 24 hours for that information will appear in your ASA Connect profile and for you to be added to the Section's ASA Connect group.
Contacts / Connections | Top
Q: How do I find other members?
A: Click the “Network" or "Directory” link found in the main navigation bar. The Directory lets you search for other users based on:
- First and/or last name
- Company/Institution name
- Email address
- City
- State
- Country
Q: How do I add contacts to my contact list?
A: There are several ways to add contacts. When you perform a search in the Directory, you will see an “Add as contact” button to the right of each person in your search results. Just click this button to send a contact request. Alternatively, if you click through and view an individual’s profile, you can click the contact request link to the right of his or her profile picture.
Q: Why should I add contacts to my contact list?
A: Creating this virtual address book makes it easy to send your contacts messages through the group site to stay in touch, ask questions or even build a referral network. Additionally, when you view another member’s profile, you’ll be able to see any contacts you have in common. You can also choose to let your contacts view certain demographics in your profile that others can't.
Communities / Discussions | Top
Q: What are groups?
A: Groups allow you to participate in discussions and share resources with other members in the same sections, communities, or committees to which you belong.
Q: What groups do I already belong to?
A: Go to “Groups” in the main navigation bar. Select “My Groups” to see the groups to which you currently belong.
Q: How do I join/subscribe to a group and the affiliated discussion group?
A: Click on “Groups” in the main navigation and click on “Groups I Can Join” in order to see a list of available groups. Click on the group that you wish to join and simply click "Join," then choose a delivery option for posts (Real Time, Daily Digest or No Email). Additional groups will be added to ASA Connect over time.
Q: How can I control the frequency and format of emails I receive?
A: Navigate to your profile and click on the "My Account" tab. Choose "Group Notifications" from the drop-down menu. On that page, you can view and control your subscription options.
For each discussion, you have the following delivery options:
- Real time: sends an email every time a new message is posted.
- Daily digest: sends one email to you each day, consolidating all of the posts from the previous day.
- Text only: provides a message free from formatting, hyperlinks, and images.
- No Email: allows you to be part of the group without having emails sent to you. You can still post and read others’ messages by logging into the group site.
- Consolidated Digest: Allows you to combine multiple groups into one notification email.
Note that if you post a discussion item or library entry, ASA Connect will automatically define you as "following" that item, which turns on real-time emails for that thread (regardless of the frequency of email notifications you set for this group). To stop these real time notifications, go to that thread's page and toggle the "follow" option off. You can also choose to turn on the "follow" option to get real-time emails for specific threads that you did not post yourself but are interested in following. See the
Quick Start Guide for screen shots and further explanation.
Q: How can I assure that emails from my groups are not blocked by my spam filter?
A: Add the domain @ConnectedCommunity.org to your permitted senders list on your spam filter to ensure timely delivery of messages.
Q: How do I unsubscribe from a discussion?
A: Go to your profile and click on the "My Account" tab. Choose "Group Notifications" from the drop-down menu. Here, you will see a list of available groups and those to which you’ve subscribed. Select "No Email” under the Discussion Email column.
Q: How do I respond to others’ posts?
A: To respond to a discussion post, please navigate to the discussion post and click “Reply" to send your message to the entire group. To send a message to the only author of the post, please select “Reply Privately” (located in the "Reply" drop-down). We recommend replying privately for simple comments like “me, too” that add little value to the overall discussion; and replying to the entire group when you are sharing knowledge, experience or resources that others could benefit from.
Q: How do I start a new discussion thread?
A: There are three ways to start a new discussion thread. If you are logged into ASA Connect, go to “Participate" > “Post a message.” If you want to start a new discussion thread from an ASA Connect group's email, you can use the “Post Message” link located at the top of the discussion email. Or, using the unique email address for a specific ASA Connect group, you can easily start a new post by sending a regular email to that address.
Q: I’m having trouble viewing the HTML email messages. How do I fix this?
A: If images are not appearing, it is likely that your email client is set to suppress images. This should be something you can change in your security or viewing options. If you would rather receive text-based email, go to your profile page and click on the "My Account" tab. Choose "group Notifications" from the drop-down menu. Select the “Plain Text” format option for each of the discussions to which you are subscribed.
Q: Can I search for posts across all of my groups?
A: Yes, just enter a keyword in the search bar located in upper right corner of each page. To refine your search results, select one or more filters from the menu on the left side of the search results page.
Q: How do I see a listing of all of the posts to a specific group?
A: Locate the group you are interested in viewing from the appropriate communities page. Click through the group's landing page, then click on the “Discussions” tab. If you see a post you’re interested in, click the subject line which will take you to the entire thread.
Libraries | Top
Q: How do I find resources that may have been uploaded by other members?
A: If you know the name of the group where the resource might be located, go to that group via the "My Groups" tab. Click through to the group's landing page, then click on the “Library” tab . If you do not know where the resource might be, enter search terms in the main search box in the upper right corner of each page.
Q: How do the libraries get populated?
A: The libraries are populated in two ways:
1. When you include an attachment in a discussion post, the system automatically places it in the affiliated library.
2. You can also upload documents directly to a library by using the “Share a File” link found under “Participate” in the main navigation or "Create New Library Entry" button on any group's library page. Library resources are not required to be associated with a discussion thread.
Q: How do I upload a file?
A: Select the “Share a File” link found under “Participate” in the main navigation or "Create New Library Entry" on any group landing page. Please note that uploading a document is accomplished by completing a few steps, and each step must be completed before you can move on to the next:
- Choose a title for your document, and include a description (optional). Select the library to which you’d like to upload it, and select a folder to which you’d like to upload it (optional). Then, choose an Entry Type (most will be Standard Files, but be cognizant of any copyright licensed material). Once you have completed these steps, please click “Next.”
- Upload your file.
- Select “Next” if you want to further describe your files and/or add tags to your file. Otherwise, please click “Finish” to post your library entry
Q: What kind of files can I upload?
A: The system supports dozens of file types including hyperlinks, standard files (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), images and YouTube videos.