Contributing content to NSDL Community site

At first glance, the form you are taken to to contribute to the Community News, or What We're Reading features might seem confusing. What does all this stuff mean? Don't panic!

1. In most cases, you need only complete the Title, then add your content to the text editor Description/Body field. You might want to use the File Attachments field to upload an image or logo, or, perhaps enable Comments to be posted in response to your information, but generallly speaking, you can leave all other categories on the form at their defaulted settings. In other words, of all the categories of fields available, you will be most concerned with Title and Description/Body, and generally speaking, you can ignore the others (Notifications / Vocabularies / Input Format / Book Outline / Menu Settings / Revision information / Authoring information).

2. Saving your submitted information: Once you have completed the Title, Body, and Authorship fields, scroll down to the bottom of the page - you will see two buttons, one reading Save and one Reading Preview. If you select Preview, you'll be able to see how your entry will look, and have the chance to make additional changes if you wish, or you can Save without previewing.

3. Contributions to Community News, What We're Reading, Calendar events, etc. are all moderated and must go through an approval process for publication. We'll monitor and publish items after approval is granted (typically, on the same day).

Registering and Signing In

NSDL Community site sign-in and registration is compatible with overall NSDL account creation and sign-in, as of December 1, 2010. For more information, see the Sign-In Transition page.

Registering for the Site

Users can still view content if they are not yet approved as a member of the site. Registration allows users to post content on the website such as news, events, project updates, and to create and participate in discussion forums and groups.

To register:

1. Click on "Sign In/Register" below the main menu (in the blue bar), upper right
2. Follow the instructions found there for existing and new users:
   • Existing users who have signed in to the site prior to December 1, 2010 will need to contact the administrator to convert their sign-in information prior to signing in again 
   • New users will need to Create a new NSDL site account, then sign in to the NSDL Community site with that user name and password.
3. Existing users may Reset your NSDL site account password, if needed, by entering their username on the NSDL Authentication page, then selecting the "Reset Password."
4. You will receive an email confirming your registration to the NSDL Community site within 2 hours.  If you do not get an email notification in this time, please contact us to finish processing your registration.

NOTE:  Registration for the Community Site is approved by administrators before site membership is granted.  Community Site accounts created during business hours (8:00 am - 5:00 pm Mountain Time) can expect timely approval.  Accounts created during non-business hours (evenings and weekends) can expect approval within 1-2 business days after.   

Profile Page Settings

You can set certain preferences on your Profile page:

• Add a profile picture (30 kB maximum file size); file will automatically resize to 85x85 pixels.
• Add a signature
• Contact settings - let's other users contact you via email (without exposing your email address) by adding a Contact tab on your profile page that is visible to other users when they visit your page. (You will not see your own Contact tab on your profile page).  If you contact others, you can copy yourself so you have a record of what you sent.
• Messaging and notification settings - gives you the option of setting your notification method from the site as email, or via the Web. By default, this is set to email when your account is created. If you wish instead to change your notification to Web, you must regularly check the Messages tab on your profile page.