WellCommons Help

Groups
Participating
Posting

Groups

Who can start a group? #: Anyone who's signed up for and signed in to WellCommons can create a group. When you create it, we will categorize it under one of the super-groups. This is a health site. If you create the Buick Electra mechanics group, we'll ask you to wait a while until we set up the entertainment/events/hobby site.
How does a group get categorized into one of the super-groups? #: You can tell us which super-group you'd like your group to be part of, and we'll do the heavy lifting. If you don't tell us, we'll give it our best guess. If the group has nothing to do with health, we'll put it on ice until we got a place for it.
Can I start a group that has nothing to do with health? #: We'd rather you didn't.
If I’m a business, can I start a group? #: Absolutely! We invite businesses that provide products or services to the WellCommons community to join us. Since businesses will be using WellCommons to engage customers, we consider that advertising, and will charge for the opportunity. Please contact Edwin Rothrock, our director of digital advertising -- erothrock@ljworld.com -- for more information.
If I have a Web site already, why should I start a group? #: For at least two reasons: You have access to our very large community. Our Web sites draw more than 12 million page views a month. And, second, our experience so far is that the community that gathers around an organization's Web site is likely to be different than the community that gathers around WellCommons.
What should I do after I start a group? #: Start posting! If you want some tips and guidance on what, how and how often to post, just contact us. We'd be glad to help. We've been working with many group admins. The rule of thumb is you want your group to be useful, inspiring, engaging and entertaining. So, post short and often about what your organization or group is doing to achieve its mission or goals. Mix that up with information and entertaining stories relevant to your group that inspire people or make them laugh. Throw in a lot of visuals -- video from YouTube or Vimeo. Photos from Flickr or LJWorld. Also, start recruiting people from your community to join WellCommons and your group to get the conversation going. Our contact info: Jane Stevens -- jstevens@ljworld.com, Karrey Britt -- kbritt@ljworld.com, Jonathan Kealing -- jkealing@ljworld.com.
How do I manage my group? #: Invite members from your community to join. Ask one or two of them to be administrators, to share the responsibilities. If some of your group's members post frequently in the Commons section and have expertise in an area, make them contributors so that they can post to the news and resources section.
What if a member of a group starts being abusive? #: When people join WellCommons, they agree to abide by our terms of use. Basically, that's the golden rule. So, if they don't abide by the terms of use, they can be banned.
We're taking a three-strikes, you're-out approach. First strike: group administrators notify the abuser that they're out of bounds, and ask them nicely to behave. If the person continues to be abusive, LJWorld staff will step in to give a more serious warning, and explain that being banned is permanent. If the person steps over the line one more time, that person is banned permanently from that group. Being banned is serious business -- we've set up the site so that it's not likely that group administrators will have to use it often. People have to use their real names to sign up for WellCommons. They have to join a group to participate. And we have threaded comments, which helps sequester conversations that divert from the topic at hand.
How do I create a group? #: Anyone who's signed up for WellCommons can create a group. Just click on "More Groups"....which is next to "Locavores" in the main nav bar on top. That will bring you to the WellCommons group index page. At the far right, see a button that says, "Create a Group". Click on that and it will open up a page to enter the information for your group. When you create your grouop, we will categorize it under one of the super-groups.

Participating

Can anyone look at Wellcommons pages? #

Yes, Wellcommons pages can be viewed by anyone. But if you want to participate in groups or start your own group, you need to sign up.

How do I sign up for Wellcommons? #

If you already have an account on LJWorld.com, KUSports.com or lawrence.com, just sign in. However, if you've posted a lot of anonymous comments in LJWorld and want to keep them that way, create a new sign-in on WellCommons. You'll need to use a different email address than the one you're using for LJWorld. But that's easy to obtain through Gmail or Yahoo, for example.

If you don't have an account on LJWorld.com, KUSports.com or lawrence.com, click on "sign up" at the top left of Wellcommons home page or in the "register" area below the video on the right side of the home page. When you register, be sure to choose a user name that's not your email address. After you register, we'll send you a confirmation email to the address you registered with. Click on the link, and you're good to go!

We're asking everyone who signs up or signs in to fill out your profile and use your real name. We think that WellCommons will be a safer, more productive place if we all know each other.

Why do I have to use my real name? #

We're asking each of you who signs up or signs in to fill out your profile and use your real name. We think that WellCommons will be a safer, more productive place if we all know each other.

After I sign up to Wellcommons, then what? #

After you sign up, start exploring Wellcommons and find the groups that interest you. You can post into any group on WellCommons without joining. But if you'd like to join, click on "join" in the upper right corner of the group's home page. Once you've confirmed that you want to join -- by clicking on the "indeed" prompt -- then you're a member. Members can post to a group and add a resource page. In other words, if you haven't joined a group, you can't create a resource page.

After I sign up for Wellcommons, does that mean I automatically join all the groups? #

Sort of. You don't have to join a group to participate, i.e., post or leave a comment. So, why bother joining a group? It allows you to add a new resource page on that group, and to create an identity on WellCommons. Instead of having to join a group just to add a post or comment on a post, you can join only those groups in which you have a strong interest. The posts and comments you make in the groups you've joined will show up on your personal activity feed. Eventually, we'll allow people who create groups to notify all members of an event, for example, and let people receive email updates on a group's activity. So, if you're interested in a group, feel free to join it.

If I have an LJWorld account, should I use it to sign up for Wellcommons? #

If you already have an account on LJWorld.com, KUSports.com or Lawrence.com, you can use it to sign in to Wellcommons. However, if you've posted a lot of anonymous comments in LJWorld and want to keep them that way, create a new sign-in on WellCommons. You'll need to use a different email address than the one you're using for LJWorld. But that's easy to obtain through Gmail or Yahoo, for example.

What's the difference between Regular User, Member, Contributor and Administrator? #

There are four different ways you can participate in a group: as a regular user, member, contributor or administrator.

Regular user -- can post content or a comment to a post in any group.

Member -- can post to a group and add a resource page. That means, if you haven't joined a group, you can't create a resource page.

Contributor -- manages content, i.e., edit and delete any post in the group, and feature posts that stay at the top of the post stream until they're removed. But a contributor's editing powers do not extend to changing posts that have been reposted.

Administrator -- can do everything a contributor can do, plus manages people and content, and manages the settings for the group pages. A contributor can promote members to be contributors, and they can ban members from posting to the group.

When I join a group, what does that mean? #

When you join a group, you become a member of that group. Members can post to a group and add a resource page. That means, if you haven't joined a group, you can't create a resource page.

Since regular users can post to a group, too, you might ask: Why bother joining a group? It allows you to create an identity on WellCommons. Instead of having to join a group just to add a post or comment on a post, you can join only those groups in which you have a strong interest. The posts and comments you make in the groups you've joined will show up on your personal activity feed.

Later, we'll be adding features such as group mailing lists and event listing for a group, which will make it more interesting and useful to join the groups you care about.

How can I become a contributor in a group? #

Members become contributors when the administrator changes their member status. Here's the difference between a member and a contributor:

Members can post to a group and add a resource page. That means, if you haven't joined a group, you can't create a resource page.

Contributors manage content. They can edit and delete any post in the group, and they can feature posts, which remain at the top of the post stream until they're unfeatured. But contributors' editing powers do not extend to changing posts that have been reposted.

What happens if I do not conform to Wellcommons terms of use? #

It depends. We're using a three-strikes-you're-out policy. If you fail to live up to the terms of use you agreed to when you signed in or signed up for Wellcommons, the administrator of the group where you broke the terms of use will give you a warning. If you cross the line again, LJWorld staff will contact you and give you another warning. Third time, you'll be banned forever from that group. If you go on to repeat the behavior in other groups, you risk being banned from WellCommons.  

You can find the terms of use in the About Wellcommons group, under the Resources section.

I found a group where I wanted to leave a comment, but I can't. What's wrong? #

If you want to leave comments, or post into the Commons section of a group, you have to join WellCommons. Anybody can read anything in WellCommons, but if you want to participate, you have to join and agree to the terms of service, which include using your first and last name.

Posting

How do I Post? #

Once you join WellCommons and begin looking at the group pages -- such as Wellness, Bert Nash Community Health Center or Fun Runs and Walks -- you can post to any of them. Just click on "New Post".

At the top of the page that opens, you'll see a space for the "Title", or headline. Type in your headline. The big white space is where you put text, photos or video. When you're finished, scroll to the bottom. In "Tags", add a word or two that categorizes your post, then click on "Publish". If you're not ready to publish it, click on "Draft". You can find your drafts in your dashboard in the "Posts" section.

(If you join a group -- click on "Join Group" at the top right of the group's Home page -- you can also post a new resource page, which are lists of resources that live in the Resources section of a group.)

Your publishing tools -- bold, italic, etc. -- are at the top of each posting area.

To add a photo from your own computer, click on "upload a photo", which is at the bottom of the white space for posting, and browse through your files to add a photo.

To add a photo from LJWorld, KUSports, lawrence.com or Flickr, click on "link to a photo or video", open a separate browser window, find the photo you want to share on the Internet, copy the URL, and then paste into the box that has a beginning of a url (http://). If you need them, you'll see more instructions in the posting area.

To add a video from YouTube or Vimeo, click on "link to a photo or video", open a separate browser window, find the video you want to share on the Internet, copy the URL, and then paste into the box that has a beginning of a url (http://). If you need them, you'll see more instructions in the posting area.

How do I use the edit tools? #

Posts (but not Quick posts) have editing tools: You can boldface, italicize, link to urls, embed a quote, make numbered and bulleted lists, and, if you know HTML, you can click on "Code" and do even more. In the gray area underneath the white space where you type in your content, the words show as they will appear in the post.

Boldface: Select the text you want to boldface, then click on "Bold".

Italicize: Select the text you want to italicize, then click on "Italic".

Link: In a separate tab, open the page you want to link to, copy the url, return to your WellCommons post, select the text you want to link, click on "Link", and paste the url into the box. Make sure you eliminate the "http://" that's there.

Quote: Select the sentence or paragraph that is the quote (and make sure it has quote marks around it), click on "Quote", and what you've selected will indent.

Numbered list: Before you start your numbered list, click on "numbered list", and the number 1 will appear with the highlighted words "list item". Start typing and your word instantly replace the existing highlighted words. Hit return, click on "numbered list" again, and the number 2 appears. After your last item in the numbered list, hit return, and continue typing.

Bulleted list: Before you start your bulleted list, click on "bulleted list". A dash appears, with the highlighted words "list item". Start typing and your words instantly replace the existing highlighted words. Here's where it works a bit differently than "Numbered list". Hit return, enter a space and a dash, and type the next bullet point. In the gray area underneath the white space where you type in your content, the words show as they will appear in the post, i.e., the bullet points will appear.

How do I bold words? #

To boldface words, select the text you want to boldface, then click on "Bold" in the edit tools atop the posting area.

How do I italicize words? #

To italicize words, select the text you want to italicize, then click on "Italic" in the edit tools atop the posting area.

How do I embed a link to another url? #

In a separate tab, open the page you want to link to, copy the url, return to your WellCommons post, select the text you want to link, click on "Link" in the editing tools atop the posting area, and paste the url into the box. Make sure you eliminate the "http://" that's there.

How do I make numbered lists? #

Before you start your numbered list, click on "numbered list", and the number 1 will appear with the highlighted words "list item". Start typing and your word instantly replace the existing highlighted words. Hit return, click on "numbered list" again, and the number 2 appears. After your last item in the numbered list, hit return, and continue typing.

How do I make bulleted lists? #

Before you start your bulleted list, click on "bulleted list". A dash appears, with the highlighted words "list item". Start typing and your words instantly replace the existing highlighted words. Hit return, enter a space and a dash, and type the next bullet point. In the gray area underneath the white space where you type in your content, the words show as they will appear in the post, i.e., the bullet points will appear.

Why does a dotted red line show up under some of the words I’ve typed in? #

You've misspelled them. That's our spelcheker...uh...spellchecker.

How do I add a photo? #

To add a photo from your own computer, click on "upload a photo", which is at the bottom of the white space for posting, and browse through your files to add a photo.

How do I add a video? #