| FORspace Instructions |
FORspace is a social network powered by the NING framework. |
| 1. To sign up click on the FORspace link from our homepage (www.rachelschallenge.com) which will take you to rachelschallenge.ning.com. You will then be on our FORspace homepage. Click on “Sign Up” in the right column. Fill in the fields. In the future you will use your email address and the password you create to “Sign In.” Click on “sign up” and you will be taken to a page where you will fill out some basic personal information. 2. Privacy Settings -Click on “My Settings” on the right column of your new page. Click on “Privacy” on the left column. We recommend keeping your information private so only your friends can see it. We recommend choosing “Just Your Friends” for many of these questions and also selecting to approve comments before they are posted. Click “Save” when finished. You can then click on “Email” on the left column to select what you would like to be emailed about. Use your own discretion. 3. Customize your page -From your page, under your picture you will see “Theme.” Click on “Theme” and create your own unique background for your page. Follow the directions that follow to create a new background. 4. Create a group -Before you create a group, get as many email addresses of your students/friends as possible since you will be inviting them to join your group via email. Click on “Groups” at the top of your page and then click on “Create a Group” on the right side of the page. Fill in the name of your group; it is recommended that you use the name of your school. Upload an image that represents your “Group.” Write a description about your “Group.” You do not need to worry about Group Address or Website. Feel free to fill in the location of your school. We recommend selecting all 4 of the “Features.” We recommend in the Privacy section to select “Only Invited People” and then select “Allow people to request an invitation.” If you want members of your “Groups” to be able to send messages to everyone in the group you can select that under “Messages,” otherwise you will need to uncheck that box. 5. How to invite people into your group, not just be your friend and a member of FORspace. Once logged in, go to Groups. Click on the GROUP you want to invite people to join. Once on the page of your GROUP, click on -->Invite More People (this ensures that you are actually inviting people into the GROUP you are moderating, and not just inviting people to join FORspace and become one of your friends). On the next screen, you should see the the logo or picture of your GROUP on your INVITE page. This is your confirmation of exactly "what" GROUP you are inviting people into. This is the 'invite page' that you want to use to invite people specifically into your GROUP. Simply add their email address and any message you want. FOR groups should have email addresses of your students. Make sure you place a comma in between each address. Write a comment that will be in the body of the email invitation. Click “Send Invitation”. Once these individuals create their own page, they will now be "in your group". 6. Under your picture on your personal page you will see the word “Share.” You can import email addresses from your Outlook or other email programs that you use. You would then be able to share your page with all of those people or just your friends on FORspace. If the people you share your page with create their own page, they will become one of your “Friends.” These “Friends’ would not be a part of your group, however. So, you will need to invite them to be a part of your “Group’ if you wish. 7. Group Administrators: from your “Group” page you can click on “Manage Group Members” in the “Admin Options” box to ban members or even invite more. If you have “Friends” that are not in your group, you will need to invite them to join your group. See #5 above. 8. Under the Admin Options box you will see “Send messages to Group.” This will allow you to send a message to all the members of your group. 9. Who can see the content I upload to a network? When you add blog posts, photos and videos to a Ning network, you can choose the item's privacy level. You can choose to make an item viewable only by you. If you make an item friends-only, then only your friends and the Network Creator can see it. You can also choose to make items viewable by anyone. Certain pieces of content are always viewable to everyone on the network. This includes your profile photo, your answers to public profile questions, forum posts and anything you add into the text box on your profile page. 10. What can a friend do that other members in your network cannot do? Your friends can send you private messages through your network. Besides them, this is something only the Network Creator and Administrators can do. You can also set your content—videos, photos, blog posts—to be viewable by "Just My Friends" rather than by the network at large. 11. Now you have your own page and a group of which you are the administrator. Anyone that joins your “Group” will automatically become one of your “Friends.” You can now upload videos, pictures and create events that only your “Friends” can see if you selected the privacy settings that limited who can see your information. All of this information will be visible directly from your page, not your “Group” page. Your “Group” page is mostly for messaging, discussion forums, and announcements. You should leave announcements on the “Comment Wall” so everyone coming to your “Group” page will be able to see what the latest news is. 12. You will notice in the body of your “Group” page that it refers to RSS. Click on “Edit” and fill in a URL (web address) that has updates of news stories, events, etc. that you want displayed on your own page. For example, if you type in www.foxnews.com and select 2 items to display, the top 2 stories will display in that section of your page. You can add more URLs by selecting “Add More.” 13. To create events or upload pictures or photos, click on “Event,” “Videos” or “Photos” at the top and follow the directions. You will be directed to a page that will have the option to “Add” an event, video or photo. 14. The final piece of advice is, when in doubt, ask one of your students. Your students are very familiar with Online Communities like this. They will be able to help you. Visit FORspace Terms of Use |