Help/FAQs

General Contacts / Connections Communities / Discussions Library / Resources

General | Top

Q: What is my login name/password?

A: Your login credentials are the same username and password that you used to create your membership with NCSD. If you need assistance with your login information, please click here.

Q: How do I update my contact information?

A: On your profile page, please click the pencil icon next to "Contact Details" in the left column.

Q: How do I control what information is visible in My Profile?

A: 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.


Contacts / Connections | Top

Q: How do I find other members?

A: Click the "Directory” link found in the main menu. The Directory lets you search for other users based on:
  • First and/or last name
  • Company name
  • Email address

You can enter partial information in any of these fields to widen your search. Switch to the “Advanced Search” tab to refine your search results by more detailed demographics.


Q: How do I add contacts to my contact list?

A: There are multiple 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. 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 community 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 communities?

A: Communities allow you to participate in discussions and share resources with other members.

Q: What communities do I already belong to?

A: Go to “Communities” in the main navigation bar. Select “My Communities” to view the communities you currently belong to.

Q: How do I join/subscribe to a community and the affiliated discussion group?

A:  Click on “Communities” in the main navigation and click on “All Communities” in order to see a list of available communities. Click on the community that you wish to join and simply click "Join," then choose a delivery option for the discussion posts (Real Time, Daily Digest or No Email).

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 "Community Notifications" from the drop-down menu. On that page, there are subscription options: Real Time, Daily Digest, No Email, and Consolidated Weekly Digest.  

For each discussion, you have the following delivery options:
  • Real time: sends an email every time a new message is posted in the associated community.
  • Daily digest: sends one email to you each day, consolidating all of the posts from the previous day in the associated community.
  • 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 community site.
  • Consolidated Weekly Digest: sends a single email once per week with a summary of all posts made in the communities for which you have selected this option.


Q: How do I unsubscribe from a discussion?

A:  Go to your profile and click on the "My Account" tab. Choose "Community Notifications" from the drop-down menu. Here, you will see a list of your communities. Select "No Email” for the discussions from which you wish to unsubscribe.

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 community. To send a message to the only author of the post, please select the down arrow next to the "Reply" button to choose the “Reply to Sender” option. We recommend replying to the sender for simple comments like “me, too” that add little value to the overall discussion; and replying to the entire community when you are sharing knowledge, experience or resources that others could benefit from.

Q: How do I start a new discussion thread?

A: Go to the community in which you want to start a new discussion and click “Add” next to the Latest Discussions header or click into the Discussion tab and select "Post New Message."

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.

Q: Can I search for posts across all the communities?

A: Yes, please enter a keyword or phrase in the search bar located in the top navigation. To refine your search results, use the filters in the right column of the search results page.

Q: How do I see a listing of all of the posts to a specific community?

A: Locate the community you are interested in viewing from the My Communities page. Click through the community's landing page, then click on the “Discussion” tab. If you see a post you’re interested in, click the subject line which will take you to the entire thread. “Show Original Message” at the bottom of all of the posts in a thread will display the original message that started that discussion.

Libraries | Top

Q: How do I find resources that may have been uploaded by other members?

A: If you know which library the resource might be located in, find the affiliated community via the My Communities page. Click through the community's landing page, then click on the “Library” tab. If you do not know where the resource might be, enter a keyword or phrase in the search box the same way you might enter search terms into Google or another search engine.

Q: Can I search for specific file types?

A: Yes. Enter your desired keyword in the search box. From the search results page, use the filters in the right column to narrow the results. Click on "User Content" then refine by "Library Entry" and you will see the file types appear as a new filter option. This gives you the option to specify file type you want to see in the search results: Document, Image, Spreadsheet, etc.

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 community library.
2.  You can also upload documents directly to a library by using the “Create New Library Entry” link found on any community'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 “Create New Library Entry” link found on any community's library 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, 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), webinars, images, and YouTube videos.

Q: What are the “tags” for?

A: Tags are great way to organize and categorize content on your site and function very much like hashtags on Twitter. Tags can be applied to discussion posts, blogs, library entries, and events. Tagged items are prioritized in the search results. Click on a tag anywhere in the site to search for all content with the same tag.