Posted by Paula Barrett - former Community Manager
on 6th March 2009
at 17:13
Below you will find some basic instructions on how to use the Talk about Autism Community. You might also want to visit our "Where to start" page.
If you're not familiar with using an online community, don't worry - we have a Mentor Programme where we can connect you with another member of the community who can help you get on your feet. And I will be on-hand to answer any questions or problems you might have. You can post your questions underneath here or email me at elena@talkaboutautism.org.uk.
You can also ask one of our Community Champions for help - vist our Introducing our Community Champions discussion to find out who the Champions are (and how you can become one!).
Table of contents:
This is a rather long page! Click on any of these links to jump right to the section you're looking for:
Enter in your username (the name which will display on the forum). We encourage people to use real names if you can.
Enter your email address (this will only be seen by us and will not be made public). This must be real as you will receive your password by email.
Enter in all the fields (those marked with a red asterisk are essential for registration). Your details will be kept safe by us and will not be passed on to anyone else.
Please add a profile picture of yourself - it makes the community feel friendlier if we have real faces!
Once you’ve registered an email will be sent to your address with your login details.
After logging in for the first time, you might want to change your password to something more memorable. To change your password, click on "My account" near the top, right corner of your screen - just to the left of "Sign out". From there click "Edit" and then click "Account Settings". Enter your new password. Don't forget to scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page and press "Submit"!
We would really appreciate if you can read the Community Guidelines before moving on. This keeps our community happy and healthy. These guidelines are always up for discussion, so feel welcome to leave your comments below the guidelines.
Come introduce yourself!
A good way to start off is by posting an introduction – this will help you get to know the other members. You'll be met with a very warm welcome! To do this, go to the Introductions section. Here you will see my introduction, along with many, many others. It would be great if you could say a little about yourself and your experience with autism. Once you’ve typed your introduction, click the ‘Submit’ button at the bottom of the page. Come visit our Where to start page to find out more ways to jump into the discussions.
How to Find and Connect With People in Your Area
Everyone who joins the community is asked to select their "Area" during the registration process so that each of us can use the Member Directory to try and find others to connect with locally. We also have an ongoing discussion specifically devoted to helping you find others so try leaving a comment there if you'd like: Where Do You Live?
Keep up-to-date!
Visit the Community News discussion to make sure you're aware of all of new features, new activities, competitions, volunteer opportunities and all sorts of other news items pertaining to the community.
You can subscribe to receive an email notification every time the Community News discussion is updated. To do so, click "Subscribe" beneath the first post on the page above, then select "Subscribe to this page" and then click "Save".
Starting and replying to discussions
Starting a discussion
Feel free to explore our discussion forums – we cover lots of different topics. And when you're ready, start your own discussion! To learn more about the atmosphere of Talk about Autism and the way we like to speak to each other, please check out the Community Guidelines.
If you'd like to start a discussion of your own, make your way to the appropriate section of the discussion forums and start a new discussion by clicking ‘Post a new forum topic’ at the top of the page. This will take you to a text box. Enter the title of your discussion in the top box and the main text in the larger box below this. Then click submit at the bottom.
When viewing a discussion there will be a comment box at the bottom of the page. Enter your reply into the box and then press the ‘Post comment’ button at the bottom of the page.There is an option to preview your comment before actually posting it.
Notification emails for Discussions - Subscribing and Unsubscribing
Subscribing to a Discussion(receiving notification emails)
You can subscribe to an individual discussion or to a whole section containing multiple discussions. Both are explained below. When you subscribe to any discussions, you will receive email notifications when someone posts a reply or a new topic.
Just beneath the first post of any discussion in the forum, you will see an option to "Subscribe". You can see this option now by scrolling down to the bottom of this post which you are reading. When you click the word "Subscribe" a few options will show. As mentioned above, there are two main options:
1. "Subscribe to this page": Notifies you when someone posts a comment in aspecific discussion only. You will receive an email when someone posts a comment in that discussion.
2. "Subscribe to content in Introductions" (for example): Notifies you when someone posts a comment within that specific discussion, but it also does something more - it subscribes you to all other activity within the whole of the section. You will receive an email when someone posts a comment in that discussion, and you will also receive an email when someone creates a new discussion in the section, and all subsequent comments (in this example, we are looking at the "Introductions" section - so if you ticked this subscription option you would be notified of every new discussion in the Introductions section along with all the comments).
Some people do this for every section on the forum so that they receive notifications for all activity, in every section. You are welcome to do that also.
How to set your subscriptions as a "Digest"
This will come in handy for when you’re on holiday, or if you just don’t want to be emailed every time someone comments.
If you go to your profile page by clicking “My Account” in the top right-hand corner of any page, there is a tab which says "Subscriptions". It's in the row of tabs which appears just beneath your username. It starts with "View" then "Edit" and then it says "Subscriptions".
On the next page you'll see all the types of subscriptions that you have, listed in a little chart which says "Type" and "Number". Below that you will see the word "Settings".
If you click the word “Settings” a menu will expand with some more detailed settings than you may have seen before.
You can adjust these how you like, but one of them is a tick box for "Digest". If you tick that box, you can receive your notifications in batches rather than individual emails. You can even select the interval - so "daily" would send you one email a day.
Make any adjustments that you like and then click "Save" at the bottom.
Unsubscribing from Discussions (stopping notificiation emails)
There are a couple of ways to unsubscribe from discussions:
1. In the noticifation email which you have received, click the link for "Direct Unsubscribe". This will take you to a page which asks you to confirm that you'd like to unsubscribe. Simply confirm and the job is done.
2. Visit your profile by clicking "My Account" in the top right corner of your screen. Then click "Subscriptions". After that click "Pages". All the pages you are subscribed to will now show. You can untick the appropriate boxes and press "Save".
How to contact members privately
You can send a private message to any member of the Talk about Autism community by first visiting their profile. To find their profile, simply click their name where it appears to the left of any comment they have posted.
On their profile page, click "Contact". In the form which appears, type your "Subject" and a "Message" and then press "Send email".
There is a wealth of information on this website. Try browsing our Resources and links section and our Support section, and if you don't find what you're looking for please come ask for assistance in the discussion forums - or send an email to elena@talkaboutautism.org.uk.
Questions and Answers
Our question and answer section will allow you to ask the community a specific question about autism-related issues. The members of the community can then submit answers and we will publish the best ones. You can also submit your own answer to the questions posed by other members. To post a question or provide an answer go to this page: http://www.treehouse.org.uk/talk-autism/question-answer
Live Q&A Events
Talk about Autism regularly runs Live Q&A Events where we are all able to chat with MP's, decision makers, authors and more. To learn more, and to see some of our previous events, visit the main Live Q&A Events page: http://www.talkaboutautism.org.uk/talk-autism/events
Find a mentor
If you’d like to have a helping hand to get you through those first steps of joining the Talk about Autism community, we would like to connect you with one of our Community Mentors. To find out more about our Community Mentor programme please visit this page: http://www.talkaboutautism.org.uk/find-a-mentor
Volunteers Welcome!
If you'd like to do something more, such as volunteering to be one of our Community Mentor's, to look after your own area of the discussions or have an idea of your own, please visit our Volunteers Welcome page to find out more.
Feedback & Help
We’d like your general feedback on the site – what you like, what you don’t like, anything you think should be added. If you have anything to say, please post in the Feedback & Help section.
We hope you’ll decide to join us! Remember if at any point you have any questions or problems please contact me at elena@talkaboutautism.org.uk.
![SiftGroups.com [opens in a new window]](sites/www.talkaboutautism.org.uk/themes/zen/treehouse/images/siftGroupsLogo.gif)
Posted by
Paula Barrett - former Community Manager
on 6th March 2009
at 17:13
Below you will find some basic instructions on how to use the Talk about Autism Community. You might also want to visit our "Where to start" page.
If you're not familiar with using an online community, don't worry - we have a Mentor Programme where we can connect you with another member of the community who can help you get on your feet. And I will be on-hand to answer any questions or problems you might have. You can post your questions underneath here or email me at elena@talkaboutautism.org.uk.
You can also ask one of our Community Champions for help - vist our Introducing our Community Champions discussion to find out who the Champions are (and how you can become one!).
Table of contents:
This is a rather long page! Click on any of these links to jump right to the section you're looking for:
How to register
Logging in for the first time and getting started
Introducing yourself
Finding others in your area
Keep up-to-date
How to start a discussion
Replying to a discussion
Subscribing to a discussion (to receive a notification email)
Changing your subscriptions to a digest (rather than individual emails)
Unsubscribing from a discussion (stopping notification emails)
Sending a private message to another member
Other areas of the community
Find a mentor
Volunteering
Feedback and Help
How to register to Talk about Autism
How to get started
Once you’ve registered you should receive an email with your log in details. Go to the login page https://www.talkaboutautism.org.uk/user/login and enter these details.
After logging in for the first time, you might want to change your password to something more memorable. To change your password, click on "My account" near the top, right corner of your screen - just to the left of "Sign out". From there click "Edit" and then click "Account Settings". Enter your new password. Don't forget to scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page and press "Submit"!
We would really appreciate if you can read the Community Guidelines before moving on. This keeps our community happy and healthy. These guidelines are always up for discussion, so feel welcome to leave your comments below the guidelines.
Come introduce yourself!
A good way to start off is by posting an introduction – this will help you get to know the other members. You'll be met with a very warm welcome! To do this, go to the Introductions section. Here you will see my introduction, along with many, many others. It would be great if you could say a little about yourself and your experience with autism. Once you’ve typed your introduction, click the ‘Submit’ button at the bottom of the page. Come visit our Where to start page to find out more ways to jump into the discussions.
How to Find and Connect With People in Your Area
Everyone who joins the community is asked to select their "Area" during the registration process so that each of us can use the Member Directory to try and find others to connect with locally. We also have an ongoing discussion specifically devoted to helping you find others so try leaving a comment there if you'd like: Where Do You Live?
Keep up-to-date!
Visit the Community News discussion to make sure you're aware of all of new features, new activities, competitions, volunteer opportunities and all sorts of other news items pertaining to the community.
You can subscribe to receive an email notification every time the Community News discussion is updated. To do so, click "Subscribe" beneath the first post on the page above, then select "Subscribe to this page" and then click "Save".
Starting and replying to discussions
Starting a discussion
Feel free to explore our discussion forums – we cover lots of different topics. And when you're ready, start your own discussion! To learn more about the atmosphere of Talk about Autism and the way we like to speak to each other, please check out the Community Guidelines.
If you'd like to start a discussion of your own, make your way to the appropriate section of the discussion forums and start a new discussion by clicking ‘Post a new forum topic’ at the top of the page. This will take you to a text box. Enter the title of your discussion in the top box and the main text in the larger box below this. Then click submit at the bottom.
Things you might like to post a thread about:
• A question about your child under the topic ‘General Autism Issues’
• A news item relating to autism under ‘Autism in the News’
• A personal experience you’d like to share under ‘Family & Relationships’
• A recommendation of an after school club or social centre under ‘Free Time’
• Take time out from your day and get to know others in ‘The Social’
Replying to a Discussion
When viewing a discussion there will be a comment box at the bottom of the page. Enter your reply into the box and then press the ‘Post comment’ button at the bottom of the page.There is an option to preview your comment before actually posting it.
Notification emails for Discussions - Subscribing and Unsubscribing
Subscribing to a Discussion (receiving notification emails)
You can subscribe to an individual discussion or to a whole section containing multiple discussions. Both are explained below. When you subscribe to any discussions, you will receive email notifications when someone posts a reply or a new topic.
Just beneath the first post of any discussion in the forum, you will see an option to "Subscribe". You can see this option now by scrolling down to the bottom of this post which you are reading. When you click the word "Subscribe" a few options will show. As mentioned above, there are two main options:
1. "Subscribe to this page": Notifies you when someone posts a comment in a specific discussion only. You will receive an email when someone posts a comment in that discussion.
2. "Subscribe to content in Introductions" (for example): Notifies you when someone posts a comment within that specific discussion, but it also does something more - it subscribes you to all other activity within the whole of the section. You will receive an email when someone posts a comment in that discussion, and you will also receive an email when someone creates a new discussion in the section, and all subsequent comments (in this example, we are looking at the "Introductions" section - so if you ticked this subscription option you would be notified of every new discussion in the Introductions section along with all the comments).
Some people do this for every section on the forum so that they receive notifications for all activity, in every section. You are welcome to do that also.
How to set your subscriptions as a "Digest"
This will come in handy for when you’re on holiday, or if you just don’t want to be emailed every time someone comments.
If you go to your profile page by clicking “My Account” in the top right-hand corner of any page, there is a tab which says "Subscriptions". It's in the row of tabs which appears just beneath your username. It starts with "View" then "Edit" and then it says "Subscriptions".
On the next page you'll see all the types of subscriptions that you have, listed in a little chart which says "Type" and "Number". Below that you will see the word "Settings".
If you click the word “Settings” a menu will expand with some more detailed settings than you may have seen before.
You can adjust these how you like, but one of them is a tick box for "Digest". If you tick that box, you can receive your notifications in batches rather than individual emails. You can even select the interval - so "daily" would send you one email a day.
Make any adjustments that you like and then click "Save" at the bottom.
Unsubscribing from Discussions (stopping notificiation emails)
There are a couple of ways to unsubscribe from discussions:
1. In the noticifation email which you have received, click the link for "Direct Unsubscribe". This will take you to a page which asks you to confirm that you'd like to unsubscribe. Simply confirm and the job is done.
2. Visit your profile by clicking "My Account" in the top right corner of your screen. Then click "Subscriptions". After that click "Pages". All the pages you are subscribed to will now show. You can untick the appropriate boxes and press "Save".
How to contact members privately
You can send a private message to any member of the Talk about Autism community by first visiting their profile. To find their profile, simply click their name where it appears to the left of any comment they have posted.
On their profile page, click "Contact". In the form which appears, type your "Subject" and a "Message" and then press "Send email".
Other areas of the community
Your Stories
We would love to hear about you and your experiences with autism. Come tell us your story, and read the stories of other members.
Resources, support and other information
There is a wealth of information on this website. Try browsing our Resources and links section and our Support section, and if you don't find what you're looking for please come ask for assistance in the discussion forums - or send an email to elena@talkaboutautism.org.uk.
Questions and Answers
Our question and answer section will allow you to ask the community a specific question about autism-related issues. The members of the community can then submit answers and we will publish the best ones. You can also submit your own answer to the questions posed by other members. To post a question or provide an answer go to this page: http://www.treehouse.org.uk/talk-autism/question-answer
Live Q&A Events
Talk about Autism regularly runs Live Q&A Events where we are all able to chat with MP's, decision makers, authors and more. To learn more, and to see some of our previous events, visit the main Live Q&A Events page: http://www.talkaboutautism.org.uk/talk-autism/events
Find a mentor
If you’d like to have a helping hand to get you through those first steps of joining the Talk about Autism community, we would like to connect you with one of our Community Mentors. To find out more about our Community Mentor programme please visit this page: http://www.talkaboutautism.org.uk/find-a-mentor
Volunteers Welcome!
If you'd like to do something more, such as volunteering to be one of our Community Mentor's, to look after your own area of the discussions or have an idea of your own, please visit our Volunteers Welcome page to find out more.
Feedback & Help
We’d like your general feedback on the site – what you like, what you don’t like, anything you think should be added. If you have anything to say, please post in the Feedback & Help section.
We hope you’ll decide to join us! Remember if at any point you have any questions or problems please contact me at elena@talkaboutautism.org.uk.
Or just leave a comment below!