SOCIAL NETWORKING TUTORIAL
Topics (you can click on each segment to go directly to that page)
My Profile
My Messages
My Friends
My Invitation
Groups
My Profile
Log into the website and click on Member Portalal, under Social Network, choose Social Groups. This is the
central page from which you can access all other features of social networking, as well as displaying other
personal information about the member.
Listed in the top navigation for My Profile are the social features each registered member is provided. These
features include My Profile, Edit My Profile, My Messages, My Friends, My Invitations, Groups/Create a new
Group. The My Profile page itself is separated into the social networking features available on the site. The
sections include Social Profile Information, Announcements/Comments, Friends and Groups.
Social Features
The top navigation for the My Profile page allows you to quickly access the social features that have been
provided. These Features include:






My Profile - Allows you to navigate to your Social Profile when you have navigated to any other
social features.
Edit My Profile - Allows you to edit the information displayed in your social profile. This information is
taken from the member's roster profile and as you will be able to edit both profiles at the same time.
My Messages - Allows you to send messages to other registered members within the site. For more
information on My Messages go to My Messages section.
My Friends - Provides you with the option of adding other registered members to your friends list for
the purpose of messaging, subscribing, or for invitation purposes. For more information on My
Friends go to My Friends section.
My Invitations - Allows you to view any invitations you have received or sent in regards to a group.
From this area, you can either approve or decline invitations to join a group you have received. For
more information on My Invitations go to My Invitations section.
Groups/Create a new Group - Groups allow for users to start discussions on common interests with
other registered users. From a group, a member posts messages, posts images, or can review other
information posted by other members of the group.
Social Profile Information
The social profile information that is displayed on the My Profile page, is an exact reflection of what is visible in
a registered member's roster. Listed below are the roster profile information, and post and comment totals for
the various social networking features.
 Forum Posts - Any post a member makes within a forum.
 Message Board Posts - All posts members make within a group including any forums created within
a group.
 Blog Posts - All Blogs that are created on the site.
 Blog Comments - All comments that have been made in response to a Blog post.
Announcements/Comments
When a member is viewing your own or another registered member's social profile, you will see a section
for announcements and for comments. All announcements and comments will be visible to any registered
member visiting another member's Social Profile page.
 Announcements - Registered members have the ability to post announcements on your My Profile
page for other members to see. Announcements are posted to the page by typing a message in the
text box under announcements, and then clicking add to complete the post.
 Comments - Registered members can leave comments on another member's my profile page.
Comments are posted to the profile page by typing a message in the text box located under
comments and then clicking add.
Note: Any comment left by a registered member on another member's profile page can be deleted by
the registered member who owns the page.
Friends
The My Friends tab on the top navigation for My Profile contains your friends list. This list displays all registered
members that you have added to your friends list. These are quick links to access another registered member's
social profile. All registered members have the ability to see another registered member's friends list. To
manage your friends list, you will need to click on the friend's link located at the top of the My Profile page.
Groups
The Groups tab will have the list of groups that you have joined. These quick links provide a registered member
access to a specific group you have joined. All registered members have the ability to see which groups another
member has joined. To access the full list of available groups, a member will need to click on the Groups link
located at the top of the My Profile page.
My Messages
The My Messages feature allows you to send messages to other registered members within the site. From this
section, you can view all messages you have received and sent. Members can add other members to the ignore
list if you wish to block messages from specific registered members.
 Inbox - Members can view all messages you have received from here. This includes messages from
other members, friend requests, and group or forum invitations.
 Outbox - Members can view all messages you have sent from here. This includes messages to other
members, friend request to other members, group invitations sent to other members.
 Ignore list - Members can add registered members to this list who you do not wish to receive messages
from.
Sending a Message
For users to send a message to another registered member you will need to follow these steps:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Click on My Messages from the links listed at the top of the page.
Click on the New message button.
Click on Select to choose the recipient of the message.
From the Pop up window select user from you friends list or click the search tab to see available
registered users.
5. Once you have selected the recipient, enter in your subject and content of the message.
6. Once you are satisfied with the message click on Send.
Ignore list
In order to add registered members to the ignore list, you will need to follow these steps:
1. Click on My Messages link.
2. Click on the Ignore list tab.
3. Click on Add users.
4. Type in the name of member(s).
5. Click on the Search button.
6. Place a checkmark next to the name of the member you wish to ignore.
7. Click on Okay to add them to the list.
To remove someone you have previously placed on the ignore list follow these steps:
1. Place a checkmark next to the name of the member.
2. Click on the Remove selected button.
3. From the confirmation window click OK to confirm.
My Friends
The My Friends section is a social feature that allows you to communicate with your fellow registered members
through the website. If registered members are going to be communicating with the same members regularly,
inviting the same members to join groups, or wish to quickly see announcements/make comments to these
members' social profiles, adding them to your friends list is the quickest way to do so. From this section,
members have the option to add new friends or manage your existing lists.
Add a Friend
In order to add a friend you will need to follow these steps:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
From the My Profile section click on My Friends link.
Click on the Add a friend button.
From the pop-up box, click on the Select button to bring up a list registered members.
From this pop-up box, you can search for the member and click on your name.
Once you have selected the member, you can choose to add a comment, send the request as an email
through site messaging or both.
6. Once you have selected the appropriate options click the Request button. This request will appear in
the selected member's My Friends section. You will need to click on Manage Friends and it will display
under 'Friends waiting for my approval'.
Note: Only one friend request can be sent at a time.
Under the member who initiated the request it will appear under your My Friends section. You will need to
click on Manage friends and then click on Pending Requests.
Managing My Friends
Clicking on the Manage My Friends button will bring you to your existing friends area of the My Friends
section. From this area, members will be able to see your friends list, rejected friends, and any pending
requests. Members can remove registered members you no longer wish to have on your list and also have the
ability to add new ones.
My Friends
The My Friends section of Manage Friends, is divided into two sections, which are My Current Friends, and
Friends Waiting For My Approval.
 My Current Friends - All of the registered members that are currently your friends will appear under this
heading. Clicking on any of the names listed will bring you to that members Social Profile page.
 Friends waiting for my approval - All requests to become friends that have been initiated by another
registered member will appear here. To accept a friend request you will need to follow these steps:
1. Click on the green checkmark next to the member's name.
2. From the confirmation window displayed, click Yes to confirm.
3. The member will now appear under My Current Friends.
To deny a friend request you will need to follow these steps:
1. Click on the red circle with a cross through it.
2. From the confirmation window displayed, enter a comment.
3. Check/Uncheck the box to send an e-mail to the requester or send a message through the website.
4. Click on Reject to confirm.
5. The member will now appear under Rejected Friends.
Rejected Friends
Any friends that you have rejected will be displayed in this area. All registered members that appear in this area
will no longer be able to send friend requests to the member who rejected them.
From this area you also have the option to accept a member who was previously rejected. To Accept the
member, you will need to follow these steps:
1. Click on the green checkmark next to the member's name.
2. From the confirmation window displayed, click Yes to confirm.
3. The member will now appear under My Current Friends
My Pending Requests
All friend requests you have made will appear in this section with a status of waiting. Once the request has been
accepted or declined, it will no longer appear in this area. Requests that have gone unanswered can be removed
by following these steps:
1. Click on the red X next to the member you wish to delete.
2. From the confirmation window click OK to confirm.
If there are multiple members you wish to delete at once you can follow these steps.
1. Check off the box next to the members you wish to delete.
2. Click the 'Remove all selected friends' button.
3. From the confirmation window, click OK to confirm.
My Invitations
All Invitations for groups, whether the member has initiated them or received them from another registered
member, can be tracked from this section. The two types of invitations are divided into two sections,
depending on who initiated the invitation.
My Invitations
All invitations received from another registered member will be listed under this heading. For
more information on inviting other registered members to join a group, go to Group Administration Section.
Accepting/Declining Invitations
In order to accept an invitation you will need to click on the green checkmark located under the actions
heading. You will then be prompted to confirm that you wish to accept the invitation.
My Sent Invitations
Any invitation that a member has sent to another registered member will be listed under this heading.
Invitations can be resent from this area if needed, by clicking on the resend invitation button.
Groups
You can create your new groups under the Create a New Group tab, subject to approval by a Community
Administrator prior to other members being able to join.
Creating a Group
In order to create a group, members will need to follow these steps:
1. Log into the website and click on Member Central, and choose Social Profile
2. Click on Create a new group tab.
From this page the member will establish the basic settings of the group.
 Display name - The title for the group.
 Group Description - Just a brief summary of what the group is about.
 Avatar - Allows you to upload or select a pre-defined icon to represent the group.
 Approve members - Any company member can join - All registered members have the ability to
join this group.
 Only approved members can join - Before a member can become a member of the group, you
will need to be approved by either a Group Admin or Site Administrator.
 Only approved members can join except for invited members - Similar to the option listed above,
users will need to be approved before you can join a group. If a member is invited to the group by
a Group Admin or Site Administrator.
 Content Access - Whether all members have access to see group content, or group members have
access to group content.
 Company members can view the content - All registered members will have access to view
content on the site.
 Only group members can view the content - Only members of the group will be able to see any
content within the group.
 Notify group admins when a user joins/leaves - A registered member that has been setup as a
Group Admin can receive email notifications that a member has joined or left the group.
 Notify group admins on pending members - If a member has requested to join a group, an
email notification will be sent to any registered member that has been setup as a Group Admin.
Once you have chosen all your settings, click OK and you will see the following message to confirm your
Group has been registered. You will then see "Group has been successfully registered but must be approved
by administrator". Once the group has been approved, it will become visible under My Groups.
Group Administration
When a member creates a group and it is approved by a Community Administrator, that member becomes
the Group Admin of that group by default. Registered members will be able to distinguish which groups they
are just a member of and which they are Group Admins from the My Groups page. A group they are the
Admin for will display the Manage option underneath the description
Once they have clicked on the Manage button, they will be brought to the general settings page of the forum.
The settings that are displayed are what were originally chosen when the group was created. The settings can
be altered and then saved by clicking on the OK button at the bottom of the page when ready.
Security
The Security tab controls the page settings of the group. Group Admins will be given the authority to decide
who can create, delete and edit pages within the forum. The options are: Group Admins, Anybody or Group
Members.
 Group Admins - refers to any member that has been made a admin of this particular group.
 Anybody - refers to all registered members of the site.
 Group Members - refers to any registered member that has been approved to join this group.
Members
The members tab displays all of the group members and allows Group Admins to approve or reject
potential group members. A Group Admin can also remove a member from the group by clicking on
the red X. The search option allows you to locate a specific registered member by username and
based on their status within the group.
The member's section allows Group Admins to invite registered members to join the group. In order
to send an invitation to the group, a Group Admin will need to follow these steps:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Click on the 'Invite to group' link.
From the new windows click the Select button
Type in the name of the member or click from the list of members below.
You can choose to add a message to the invite by typing in the comment section
Click on Invite to send.
Click the Close button to return to the members’ section.
Group members can be promoted to Group Admins from this section as well. The following steps will
promote a group member to an admin:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Click the pencil icon next to the member you wish to promote
Click on the Add roles button
Check off the box for Group Admin and click OK
Click OK at the bottom to save the promotion.
In order to demote a Group Admin to a group member, the process is as follows:
1. Click the pencil icon next to the member you wish to demote
2. Under 'Member is in Roles' check off the Group Admin role and click the remove
selected button.
Click OK at the bottom to save the demotion.