A User's Guide for Incubator.org Members

• Main Menu > FOR MEMBERS > Login 
• Put in your username and the password that you created during registration. NOTE: Username and password are case sensitive.
• If you are having any password challenges when logging in, you can select the “forgot password” and reset your password.
• or the Log in button on the Discussions toolbar

• Complete your profile so that other members can easily find you and learn more about you.
  Go to the Menu: FOR MEMBERS > and select “Profile”.

• Regarding privacy: only logged in members can view your profile. Your contact information including your mailing address, email address and phone numbers are never displayed on your profile.

On your Profile (Edit Profile) see also:
INFORMATION TAB (Basic Information)

• Edit or add to any details that you didn’t input during your Registration.
• NOTE: Required Fields are:

1. Gender
2. Birthdate
3. About me

The Basic Information requires your birthdate for legal reasons, but you can check the box for “Hide Year”.

All other fields are OPTIONAL including:

• Location

CONTACT INFORMATION

• Mobile phone #

NOTE: Your phone number will never be displayed publicly or to another Community member.

• Website address

EDUCATION

• College/University
• Graduation Year

Account Settings - Privacy has been carefully considered in the design of the Incubator.org Community platform. Personally identifiable information such as email address, mailing address and phone numbers are never displayed on your profile. In addition, you can control which users see other parts of your profile.

*The PREFERENCES feature allows you to select who can view your information.

ACCOUNT TAB

• User Name (what you use to Login to incubator.org)
• Your Name (your name as it appears on incubator.org)
• Password
• Verify Password
• DST Offset (Daylight Saving Time aka DST does not apply in AZ)

After making any changes, make sure to scroll down to the bottom of the page and select “Save Changes” before exiting away from this screen. Otherwise, your updates will not save.

Every organization or school participating in GCC Activities has their own group page where group members can participate and learn through discussions, share information, and see upcoming events.

In all cases where a school is involved, the associated Group is Private and can only be accessed by students, teachers, and administrators associated with that school. There will also be certain CCLAC / GCC / Incubator.org management members in these groups.

In addition to the GCC Activities Groups, there are multiple Special Interest Groups, where group members can get to know each other through discussions, shared information and events notifications.

Special Interest Groups are about topics of interest such as education, employment, business, creative pursuits, geriatric lifestyles, etc.

On the landing page of your group, you’ll see the Cover picture and Avatar image at the top. On a larger screen size (desktop or laptop), you’ll see a gear icon in the upper right corner of the Cover image with Options including:

1. New discussion
2. Create Event
3. Import Event
4. Create Poll
5. Leave Group
6. Upload photos
7. Add Video
8. Invite Friends

Depending on the settings and/or purpose for the Group, these options may not all be available.

On a mobile device, you’ll see two buttons including:

• Invite Friends (left)

• Options (right) including:
1. Create Event
2. Import Event
3. Create Poll
4. Leave Group
5. Upload photos
6. Add Video
7. Invite Friends

Multi Tab Toolbar includes Group information about:

• Announcements #
• Discussions #
• Photos #
• Videos #
• Events #
• Polls #
• Members #

Left Tab: Activities

• This is where you’ll see the posts, comments or likes of group members.

Below That: Say what’s on your mind...

• To post, simply type something into the text box and then click the blue “Post” button when you’re ready to share.
• Comments are meant to be shorter, more welcoming and fun updates for the benefit of the full group’s knowledge.
• You can also respond to others’ comments by liking them or commenting directly in response.
  To comment on a long stream of comments, scroll down to the bottom to start typing your own response.
• The post/comment area is not the best place to post an important announcement. Instead, you can use the Group Announcements.
  On larger screen size --desktop or laptop-- you’ll see Right Sidebar TOP module with Announcements Tab, select “Post an Announcement”, and on mobile devices you’ll see Announcements button, select “Post an Announcement”.

Right Tab: Group Details

• This displays your group’s details, category, creation date and the name of the group admin.

On larger screen sizes --desktop or laptop-- on the right side you’ll see Right Sidebar TOP module with Tabs for:

• Group Discussions
• Group Announcements

Right Sidebar MIDDLE module with Tabs for:

• Group Members
• Group Events

Right Sidebar BOTTOM:

• Group Photo Albums

On mobile devices, you'll see the previously described modules at the bottom of the post/comment stream.

One of the biggest advantages of Incubator.org is the prominent role that Discussions play. If you have a question, want to share an important update or resource, or are curious about how others are handling a certain challenge, we encourage all Community users to post in the Discussion Forums.

• To access the sitewide Discussions (where all Community users can see and share), go to “APPLICATIONS”, then the “DISCUSSIONS” on the drop-down menu bar across the top of your screen.
• Once in the Discussions area, you have the choice to select where you would like to post.

MAIN CATEGORIES include:

• Announcements
• News
• General
• Digital Literacy
• AI Literacy
• IT Helpdesk
• Tips
• Cyber Security & Privacy
• S.T.E.A.M.
• Courses
• Social Sciences
• Data

Each of these categories have multiple sub-categories, with broader, more general Topics for sharing updates, asking any questions, or submitting a request or report about a technical issue you’re having with Incubator.org.

If you select any specific Topic, you’ll be directed to its topic thread. To enter into a discussion below that Topic, use the “QUICK REPLY” or "ACTION", which includes:

• Reply
• Quote

NOTE: Many of the Topics in the Discussions, are based on CURATION, which is a way to share a description about a blog post or news article on external websites, with a “More Info” link to the source. This Curating method, is a way to create dialogue around the topic of the discussion.

However, incubator.org members are also encouraged to start their own discussions based on any topic that they would like to discuss with fellow members.

Start New Topic

If you have a specific question or would like to share something new, click on the light green button that says “New Topic.” It’s in the upper left below the category topic. Once you’ve selected that button, a new box will appear with the following fields:

• Subject Field - The subject should be short and clearly communicate your question or topic.
• Message Field - The message can be as long/in-depth/detailed as you would like.
• You can format your message text with significant RICH TEXT EDITOR formatting options.
• You can also use the following list of options, by selecting the corresponding menu tool icons including:
  • Quote
  • Insert Code
  • Insert Table
  • Insert Spoiler Warning
  • Hide text from Guests
  • Confidential information
  • Image link
  • URL address link
  • Ebay
  • Video
  • Map
  • Tweet
  • Soundcloud
  • Instagram
  • Emoticons

NOTE: If you have any questions about what certain icons represent, hover your mouse over the icon and after 2-3 seconds of remaining stationary, a small description box of its purpose will appear next to the icon.

• Topic Icon - Allows you to select an icon for your topic.
• When you're finished writing your message, select Green "Submit" at the bottom.

Read/respond to Previous Topic - In any forum category, you can see what previous posts have been made and read through other responses.

• To look at previous topics, scroll down the list and select the title of any topic that stands out to you.
• You can also scan down the Last Post (right column, to read the latest post in that category.
• Once you’ve selected an individual topic, and you’re in the discussion, you can enter the dialogue by using the “QUICK REPLY” or ACTION, which includes "Reply" and "Quote".

Topic Search - Use the “type your question here…” field and select the ‘TOPIC SEARCH” button below that, to find topics by keyword or keyphrase.

Discussion Forum Activity - One last way to sort through the Discussions is the three options available on the Toolbar at the top of the page, (these also appear in the Top Menu dropdown under “DISCUSSIONS”), which include:

• Recent Discussions
• My Topics
• Create New Topic