The ACC has compiled a list of frequently-asked questions about CardioSource Communities, broken down by feature.
Groups
Forums
Profiles
Friends
Blogs
Commenting
Instructional Video
Groups
What is a group? A group is a place where people can exchange ideas, upload photos and plan events for any given topic.
How do I create a group? Community participants can request that ACC staff create a group for their topic of interest. To submit an idea for a new group, leave your suggestion in the "Request a New Group" forum and an ACC staff person will be in touch about creating the group.
How do I join a group? If you see a group you'd like to join, click on the group and select "Request to Join." If the group is open to everyone, you will automatically become a member of the group. If the group is only open to select members of the community, the group administrator will respond to your request to join.
Forums
What is a forum? A forum is a space to discuss topics that interest you. You can start a discussion with your peers by posing a new question or responding to a previous discussion.
How do I respond to a forum? To respond to an existing forum, click on the topic header you'd like to respond to. On the top left, there is a "Start a New Discussion" button. Fill in the title and post and then click "Start Discussion."
Profiles/Settings
What is a profile? Your profile on CardioSource Communities is the place for you to share a little bit more about yourself with the other community participants, like your location, a picture and a short bio. From here, you can see your recent activity and the recent activity of your friends, which you can comment on. You also can update your status.
Your profile also is the home of your personal blog. See the Blogs section for more on this. In addition, you can access your groups and friends through the top navigation bar.
How do I edit my profile? Your CardioSource Communities profile is completely editable by you, except for your name and e-mail address (these can be edited through your MyCardioSource profile). To edit your community profile from the CardioSource homepage, click on "MyCardioSource," then the "My Communities" tab in the box on the lower left. Then click "Edit my Community Profile." To edit your community profile from your profile, you can click on "Settings" in the top right or "Complete Your Profile" in the lower right. Either will allow you to upload a photo, enter a bio or change your birthday or location.
What settings can I change? How do I change them? You can control whether or not you receive email alerts when a post is added to a discussion you're watching, when one of your submissions is approved, when someone writes a comment on your feed, or when someone connects to you as a friend. You also can add a signature, which will appear on your forum postings. In addition, this is where you add your blog title and tagline and choose whether to allow other participants to comment and whether you'd like to approve the comments before they are visible to other community participants.
How do I see other community participants' profiles? Community participants' names are a hyperlink. Click on the name to see his or her full profile. From the full profile you can request their friendship, see their recent activity and learn more about them. You also can see a mini-profile by hovering your mouse over their picture.
What is a status update? On your "Recent Activity" tab, there is a bar that says "Update your Status." You can use this space to provide short updates to other community participants about yourself. You might update with a statement like, "I just signed up to attend ACC's 2010 Legislative Conference. Who else will be there?" or "My research just got selected to appear in JACC!" Other community participants can comment on these updates.
Friends
How do I "friend" other community participants? When you find another community participant you'd like to be friends with, place your mouse cursor over their profile picture. In the window that appears, click on the icon of a person with a plus sign to request that participant's friendship. Or, you can click to view their full profile and then click on the person icon in the left navigation bar of their profile. Once she or he accepts your friend request, they will appear in the "People" tab of your community profile.
What happens after someone is my "friend" on CardioSource Communities? Once your friendship request has been accepted, the friend will appear in the "People" tab of your community profile. Their activity around CardioSource and their status updates will appear in the "Recent Activity" tab of your community profile.
Blogs
What is a blog? A blog, or Web log, is a virtual diary of sorts. You use a blog to provide commentary to readers on topics that interest you. A blog can be about any topic, whether that be a day-to-day account of your life, the newest research in atrial fibrillation or updates about health policy. The possibilities are limitless! Blogs are intended as a conversation. Once you post on your blog, others have the opportunity to respond to what you wrote, if you have comments enabled (see "How do I control my blog settings?" below).
Does the ACC have a blog? The ACC does have a blog, called the ACC in Touch blog. The ACC in Touch blog covers a variety of issues of importance to ACC members, including quality, health policy and the latest science. Visit the blog now.
How do I start my own blog? You can start your own blog through your community profile. Click on the "Blog" tab of your community profile and then "New Entry." Then type the title of the post and assign it tags. Tags sum up the most important topics of a blog post to help visitors search your blog posts by topic area. Separate each tag with a comma and a space. For example, if you were writing a blog post about physician payment, you might tag it with: "Medicare, payment, doctors, SGR" etc. Then type in the body of the post and decided whether you'd like it to publish now or at some point in the future. Then hit publish!
How do I name my blog? You can name or edit the name of your blog and its tagline from the settings tab of your community profile. See "What Settings Can I Change?" for how to access your settings tab.
How do I control my blog settings? In your settings (see "What Settings Can I Change? for how to access), you can decided whether to allow other participants to comment and whether you'd like to approve the comments before they are visible to other community participants.
How can I see others' blogs? You can view others' blogs by click on their profile and then the "Blog" tab. Your friends' blogs also will appear in your community profile's "Recent Activity" tab. Blog posts can be viewed in several different ways: by chronological order, by tag (or subject area) or by month.
Commenting
How do I comment? At the bottom of certain pieces of content around CardioSource, you'll see a box that contains comments from other community participants or a badge that says, "Be the first to comment." Type your comment into the white space of the box and hit "Post my Reply."
How do I respond to others' comments? You can reply to other people's specific comments. To the right of the comment you'd like to respond to, click the "Reply" button and then type in the box that appears below the comment. Your comment will then appear indented beneath the comment you are responding to, so others know it is in response to the comment above it.
What are all the symbols to the right of my comment? On the right of comments, you can give a "thumbs up" if a comment is really insightful or a "thumbs down" if the comment is not so insightful. You can also e-mail, share through social media sites or hyperlink to the comment. If you believe a comment is inappropriate and should be reviewed by a site editor, you can also report it as abusive by clicking "Report Abuse."
Instructional Video
View this instructional video on CardioSource Communities to learn more.