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i2 Social Network Help Manual

Getting Started

Welcome: Welcome to i2 Social Network! To begin your i2 Social Network experience, please fill out the following information.

  1. Accessing i2 Social Network: To access the i2 Social Network website, enter "http://socialnetwork.i2net.com" into the address box. Enter the appropriate username and password into their respective boxes and click the "Login" button. The My Profile Page will then appear and navigation of the i2 Social Network community can begin.
  2. Customizing Your Profile: The My Profile Page contains personal information about a user and can only be edited by that user.

    The My Profile Page contains two profile edit boxes that are used to display information about one’s self. The profile edit boxes have the default headings of “My info” and “A little bit about me”. All of the information in these boxes, including the “My info” and “A little bit about me” headings, can be changed with the exception of the name, age, and sex information. The name, age, and sex information are taken from the initial registration form and cannot be changed for security reasons*.

    The rest of the information in the profile edit boxes can be edited by moving the cursor over the desired area. When this happens a yellow box will appear around the information that is already there. Click inside of this yellow box and a text box will appear. Type the new information into the text box and click the green check mark to save the changes or click the red “x” to discard the changes.

  3. Profile Settings: To adjust the settings on the My Profile Page, click on the “settings” link located at the bottom of the screen on the My Profile Page. The following changes can be made to the My Profile Page by adjusting the options on the My Profile Settings Page
    1. Email Address: This setting changes the email address that all of the i2 Social Network information is sent to. This information includes announcements, friend requests, and updates. To change the email address that i2 Social Network sends user information to, click in the text box located to the right of the "Email address" text and type a new email address.
    2. Limit comments visible to: This setting allows the user to limit the number of comments that can be seen on the My Profile Page. Comments are messages made by i2 Social Network friends that appear on a user’s My Profile Page. To adjust this number, click on the option box that displays the current number of comments allowed. Clicking this check mark allows the user the option of displaying 3, 5, or 10 comments on the My Profile Page.
    3. Who can leave comments: This setting restricts who is allowed to leave comments on the My Profile Page. The options are “Members” and “Friends”. Choosing the “Members” option allows all registered members of the i2 Social Network community to leave comments. The “Friends” option allows only the user’s friends to leave comments.
    4. Profile View Status: There are two options for the Profile View Status option.
      1. Public. This setting allows the My Profile Page to be viewed by the entire World Wide Web regardless of whether or not the user is a member of the i2 Social Network community.
      2. Private: This setting restricts viewing of the My Profile Page to members of the i2 Social Network community only
    5. Show name, age sex, location, and relationship status: To adjust these settings, click on then check mark located to the right of the desired setting and choose “yes” or “no”. Selecting "yes" will display the desired piece of information on the My Profile Page. Selecting "no" will remove the piece of information from the My Profile Page.
    6. Message Options: Adjusting the message option to either "yes" or "no" determines whether or not the specified email account is notified when a i2 Social Network message is sent. These messages include announcements, friend requests, and updates.
    7. Saving Changes made to the My Profile Settings Page: In order to put the changes made to the My Profile Settings Page into effect, select the "Save" button located at the bottom of the My Profile Settings Page. If this button is not clicked, then the changes made will not go into effect.
  4. Inviting Friends: Click on the invite button located in the upper right hand corner of the screen. This button opens up the My Invites Page and a series of boxes with “email address” and “invite” written in them will appear. To add a friend, simply type that person’s email address into the text box and click the invite button. This will automatically send a membership request email to the specified email address. The person must accept the invite to become a member of the i2 Social Network community.
  5. Adding Photos: To add photos to the My Profile Page, click on one of the four small boxes located below the picture view box on the left hand side of the screen. To add a picture, select the browse button located in the middle of the screen. Clicking this button will locate a picture on the computer being used and then link it to the My Profile Page. Once the desired picture has been found, click it and select the open button. This adds the picture’s path to the picture text box. To add a caption to the photo, type the desired caption in the caption text box located below the picture text box. To upload the photo and the caption assigned to the photo, click the orange upload button. The photo will be added to the photo viewer on the My Profile Page. Click one of the four small photo icons on the photo viewer to view the photo and the assigned caption.
  6. Searching For and Adding New Friends: To search for new friends, click in the text box located next to the button labeled "Search" at the top of the My Profile Page. Enter the name of the person and click the "Search" button. i2 Social Network will then display the search results for the name that was entered. It is now possible to begin viewing that person's profile, adding them as a friend, or sending them a message. To view that person's profile, click on their picture, their name, or select the "view profile" link located on the right side of the screen. To send them a message, click on the "send message" tab located on the right side of the screen. For more information on how to message a friend, view the messaging help tutorial. To add this person as a friend, select the "add friend" link located on the right of the screen. When this tab is selected, the "add friend" link will be replaced by a message that says "pending approval". This means that a friend request email has been sent to that person's email account. The email gives the person the option of accepting or rejecting your friend request. When their decision has been made, the person will either be listed as your friend or remain a non friend. Note: Viewing someone’s profile does not add them as a friend. A friend request must be accepted by that person.
  7. Previewing My Profile Page: Previewing the My Profile Page profile displays what that page will look like to people who are visiting it. The My Profile Page that can be edited is not the same as the profile page that friends and guests actually see. The format and setup is slightly different and no edits can be made. To preview what the My Profile Page will look like, select the "preview profile" tab located just below the picture viewer. To return to the My Profile Page, simply select the "home" button at the top of the screen.
  8. Logging Out: To Log out of i2 Social Network, select the "log out" link located above the picture viewer on the My Profile Page. Selecting this tab will log a user out of the i2 Social Network network and return them to the log in screen.

i2 Social Network Features

  1. i2 Social Network Blog:
    1. Creating a blog: Begin by clicking on the blog button located at the top of the My Profile Page. When the My Blog Manager page appears, click either of the two “create a blog” links. The Create My Blog Page will appear and the settings of the blog can be adjusted. The activate blog option box makes the blog either active (available to the public) or inactive (available only to the blog’s creator). The title text box defines the title of the blog that will appear on the My Blog Page. The URL text box assigns a specific web address to the blog so that anyone on the web can access the content on the My Blog Page. The show picture option box allows for the display of the My Profile Page picture to appear on the My Blog Page. The view status option box defines if the blog can be seen by the public (anyone on the web) or private (only members of the i2 Social Network community). The who can leave comments option box determines if the public (anyone on the Web), members (Members of the i2 Social Network community), friends (Only those who have accepted a friend request from the blog’s creator), or nobody can leave a comment on the My Blog Page. The theme option box allows for a normal i2 Social Network page styling or a nighttime page style. Click the save button to put the blog settings into effect.
    2. Managing and maintaining a blog/s: Maintenance and management of a blog is performed on the My Blog Manager Page found by clicking on the blog button on the My Profile Page. The settings originally defined when a specific blog was created can be changed by clicking on the settings link located to the right of the blog’s title. To view what the blog will look like to visitors, select the view blog link located on the right of the screen. To edit the posts on a blog, click the posts link located on the right side of the screen. The title for each post made to the blog will appear. The edit and delete links located on the Post Edit Page will erase or allow for edits to the desired post. A post can also be deleted by clicking on the delete link located next to the post title on the My Blog Page.
    3. Posts: Posts are the entries made to a blog by the creator of the blog. To make a post, click on the new post link located under the blog’s title. The Blog Post Page will appear and a post can now be created. The title and tags text boxes define the title and tag (a keyword to describe the blog) of the blog. The content portion of the Blog Post Page is where the actual content of the posts is composed. Just above this text box are a series of text editing tools that allow for customized text settings. The font and size option boxes adjust the font style and size of the text. The buttons with “B” and “I” on them make the text bold and italic respectively. The button with “T” on it defines the color of the text in the blog. The button with a small globe on it allows for the creation of a link. The four buttons directly to the right of the “T” button determine the alignment of the text as either right, center, left, or block justify. The two buttons on the far right of the screen aallow for bulleting using numbers or small squares. To view the posts that have been made on the blog, click the posts link located to the right of the blog’s title on the My Blog Manager Page. To view when a post was made, check the information directly below the photo viewer on the My Blog Page.
    4. Comments: Comments are responses to a post made by the visitors to the blog. To view the comments made to a post click on the comments link located under the title of the post on the My Blog Page. The Comments Page will appear and all of the comments that have been made about a post can be seen. A new comment can also be composed on the Comments Page. To make a new comment, type the desired text into the comment text box and click the post a comment button when finished.
  2. Groups:
    1. Starting or Adding a Group: To start or add a group, click on the groups button located at the top of the My Profile Page. This will open up the My Groups Page. Click the add a group link located on the right side of the screen. Enter the desired name for the group into the name text box that appears in the pop up. If the name for the group already exists, a pop-up will appear letting the user know that a group with that name already exists. The new group must be re-named in order to create it. After an appropriate name is chosen, select a category which best describes the group by choosing a category in the category option box. A more specific description can be written in the description text box. To create the group, click the add group button. To cancel the creation of the group, click the cancel button. If the group is successfully added, a window will appear letting the user know that the group was successfully created. Select the close button to begin managing the group.

    2. Managing a group: To begin managing a group, select the desired group from the list of joined groups on the My Groups Page. When the Group Page appears, the group can be managed if the “admin” and “invite” links appear on the right side of the screen. The appearance of these links lets the user know that they are an administrator for the group and can thus change and manage the group. The invites link allows the administrator to invite other i2 Social Network members to join the group. To make an invite, click the invite link. A pop-up window will appear. Type the username of the desired i2 Social Network member and select the invite button. This will automatically send a membership request to the inbox on that person’s My Profile Page.

      To adjust the settings of the group, click on the admin link located next to the invite link. A pop window will appear with five separate option boxes in it. The first option box specifies whether the group can be accessed by the Public (any i2 Social Network member) or the Private (only members of the group). The how to join option box specifies if the Public (anyone on i2 Social Network) or Private (only those receiving an invite) can join the group. Who can leave comments on the Group Page can be adjusted to allow members of the group, anyone on i2 Social Network, or only the group’s administrator to leave comments on the Group Page. The allow link and allow photos option box gives the administrator the option of having links and photos on the Group Page. Click the save button to put these changes into effect. A red banner at the top of the pop-up will appear and confirm that the changes have been saved. Click the done button to return to the Group Page.

      By default, the Group Page on i2 Social Network allows for the display of information about the group at the top of the Group Page. The last five messages made within the group in the middle of the page, and profile pictures of group members on the bottom of the page.

    3. Searching for a group: Type the name, subject, or category of the desired group in the search text box and select “groups” from the list of search parameters in the option box located next to the search button. To search for a group specifically by category click on the link that best describes the desired group in the group by category box located on the My Groups Page. When the group is located, an eye may appear next to the title of the group. The eye means that the group is private and must be joined before the contents of the group can be accessed. Private groups can be joined automatically, while some require an invite from the group’s administrator, depending on what settings were assigned to the group by its administrator. If the group is public, than the group can be joined and viewed without permission from the group’s administrator.
    4. Viewing My Groups. On the right side My Groups Page is a list of groups that have already been joined. To view a specific joined group, select the link that contains the title of the group. This will open up the Group Page for the specific group selected.
    5. Interacting with Groups: There are multiple ways to interact with groups on i2 Social Network. To leave a Message on a Group Page, select the Messages link located on the left side of the Group Page. A Message on i2 Social Network is a post made on the Group Page that other group members can leave comments on. Clicking this link will bring up the Group Messaging Page. To leave a message, select the add topic link located on the right side of the page. This opens up the Group Message Composition Page. To give the message a subject, click in the subject text box and begin typing. The actual composing of the message is done by clicking in the larger “message” text box. When the message is done being composed, click the post message button. This will bring up the Group Messaging Page with the new message on it. To view this message or any other messages select the link under the topic category of the desired message. The Member Message Page will appear with the message displayed in a speech bubble attributed to the author of the message. The message can also be accessed by clicking on the link that is displayed on the Group Page. Remember that only the five most recently composed messages are displayed on the Group Page. All previous messages can be seen by clicking on the messages link on the left side of the Group Page.

    6. Commenting on a Message. A comment can be made about a specific message by clicking on the add a comment link located on the bottom right of the Member Message Page. The Member Comment Page will appear with a big text box. The comment is composed by clicking in this text box and typing the desired comment. When the comment is finished, click the post comment button. The comment will be posted in a speech bubble below the actual message on the Member Message Page.

      Links: Links to outside Web sites can be placed onto the Group Page by clicking on the link titled “Links”. Clicking on this link opens up the Group Links page and gives the user the option of adding one link or a group of links to the Group Page. To add just one link, click the “add link” link located on the right of the Group Links page. Several text boxes will then appear. The title text box specifies what text will be displayed on the Group Links Page. The URL text box is where the actual address of the link is located. The description text allows for a brief description to accompany the title of the link. Each of these parameters can be adjusted by clicking in the text box and typing in the appropriate information. When the desired information has been input into the text boxes, click the add link button.

      Multiple links can be added to the Group Page by clicking on the add folder link located on the right side of the Group Links Page. This will bring up the Group Folder Links Page with two text boxes appearing in the middle of the page. The title text box gives the folder a title and the description text box designates a description of the folders contents. Click in these boxes and begin typing to edit their contents. Click the add folder button when all the desired information has been input.

      Note: The red asterisks indicate that the information in the text boxes are required fields that must be filled out to create a link on the Group Page.

    7. Leaving a Group: On the Group About Page click on orange button “Leave Group”.
  3. Messaging:
    1. Messaging individuals: To send a message to an individual’s My Profile Page, click on the compose link in the my messages box located on the My Profile Page.
    2. Checking received Messages: To view messages that have been received, click on the inbox link located in the my messages box on the My Profile Page. New messages are located in the in the inbox box. To view the messages in the inbox, subject link located under the subject category. This will open up the Received Messages Page and the content of the message can now be read. This message can Forwarded, Deleted, or Replied too by click on the appropriate link.
    3. Viewing Sent Messages: To view messages that have already been sent, click on the sent link in the messages box on the My Profile Page. Click on the desired message to view it.
    4. Deleting Messages/Viewing deleted messages: To delete either a sent or a received message, select the delete link located in the middle of the My Inbox Page or the My Sent Page. Once a message has been deleted, it can be viewed by clicking on the trash link located on the right side of the My Profile Page.
    5. Composing a message: To compose a message and send it to a friend, click the compose link on the My Profile Page. Next enter the username* of the person who will receive the message in the text box next to the “To:” heading. A title for the message can also be added to the message by entering the desired text into the “Subject:” text box. The actual message is input into the “Messages:” text box. Once the message has been composed, click the send button located at the bottom of the page. To discard the message, click the cancel button.