[+]How can I create a new group in the EIC Community?
As Community-member, you can join any public group in a domain of your interest or create a group of your own. We recommend you first check to see if there is not an already existing Group that deals with your topic. If that it's not the case, you can access the Groups section and click the 'Create a Group' button, located just above the search box. You will be directed to the creation form where you will be asked to complete at least all fields marked with an asterisk (*). If you want to have more information on how to navigate to the groups, you can check our tutorial dedicated to this topic:
Depending on the needs of each group, several access levels are available.
Public Groups: Public Groups offer an environment where members can freely exchange with the wider community - this group type is visible and accessible by anyone browsing the website.
Restricted Groups: Restricted Groups offer a secure space for cross learning and sharing between organisations. You can set the audience to a defined organisation and/or define specific e-mail domain(s) that can access and view this environment.
Private Groups: Private Groups offer a secure space for sensitive information - visibility and access are exclusively based on invitation alone.
Every Group offers the possibility for its members to invite others to join - but not every moderation or privacy setting will allow Group members to use this function. Group Members can invite others to join a public open Group or an open restricted Group. While all moderated Groups, as well as private ones limit this function to the Group's administrators and owner. To invite another person, select the invite link on the Group's Home. There you can enter the e-mail addresses(s) of the person(s) you wish to invite, an e-mail subject and an additional message. The invitation is based on a template and will include some pre-filled data around your message. It should be noted that by inviting or contacting other users, your e-mail will be disclosed in the message. Once you're ready, select the invite user(s) button to send your message. A confirmation will appear.
What happens next?
An e-mail will be sent to the invitee(s) with some pre-filled information.
If the invitee is already a member of the platform, he/she will be directed to the home of the group as a member. If the person invited is not yet a member of the EIC Community, they will be directed to the registration page - once their account has been validated, they will become a member of the group.
* By inviting another person, you are disclosing your own e-mail in the sender information of the notification.
[+]I would like to start a new discussion in a group. How should I proceed?
Each Group on the EIC Community offers the possibility to start a discussion using one of the four options below:
1. Post information
2. Share an idea
3. Ask a question
4. Launch a debate
To add a discussion, you must be a group member; if you are not already member of any Groups, find out how to join. Discussions can easily be added through the quick post on a Group's homepage or by using the full form to add further information.
Creating a new discussion: When creating any content on the EIC Community, the notification checkbox will be enabled by default (more on notifications). You can define comment settings, save your content as draft, cancel your work or publish it. Once the discussion is published, an activity stream message will appear on the Group's homepage.
Updating a discussion: When editing any content on the EIC Community, the notification checkbox will be disabled by default (more on notifications). In addition to editing the content itself, you can save your changes, view your changes, cancel the operation, unpublish or delete the content.
To upload a Photo to the Media section of a Group, you must first become a member (more on joining a Group). Access the Media section and select the button to Add a New Photo. The Mandatory fields are indicated with an asterisk (*). You will need to add a Title and Body. Titles are also used to create the URL path of the page, the shorter the better! The body is pretty much a blank page: you can add and format text, insert images, embed media or create tables. When you upload a new Photo, two fields will appear to indicate the image's Alternative text and Title. The alternative text is displayed when images cannot be loaded or used both by search engines and screen readers. The Title can be used to add further information about the image, such as author credits.
What happens next?
Once your Photo is published, it will feature in your Group's Latest Activity, as well as on the EIC Community Homepage. Unlike other content types, items uploaded to the media section do not generate notifications.
[+]I would like to create a photo album on my group.
To upload a Photo Album to the Media section of a Group, you must first become a member. Access the Media section and select the button to Create a Photo Album. The Mandatory fields are indicated with an asterisk (*). When you're ready, select the button to Add photos: You will be directed to the batch upload screen where you can upload your Photos - first select the link to + Add Files (you can select multiple files at once), then when all the images are loaded in the screen, select the link to Start Upload. Depending on the number and size of files, this process may take some time - you will know when all your files are uploaded by checking the status column, or from the indication on the bottom left (Uploaded 8/8 files).
By default, each Photo will be named with the title of the Photo Album followed by a number. You can change the title without having to edit each single photo by accessing Manage Items - where you can also rotate the orientation of Photos.
You can also update the order of Photos in your Album by accessing the Sort Items tab. Just Drag and drop each row into the desired order
An alternative view to sort items is also available when you select the link to Show row weights - where you can number the order of Photos in your album.
When you access your published photo album, all the tabs will still be available for you to upload new items, sort or manage your Photos, and edit your Album details.
What happens next?
Once your Photo Album is published, it will feature in your Group's Latest Activity, as well as on the EIC Community Homepage and the tagged topic page(s).Unlike other content types, items uploaded to the media section do not generate notifications.
Accepted file types include: Microsoft Windows Bitmap formatted image (bmp), Graphics Interchange Format (gif), Joint Photographic Experts Group (jpg, jpeg), and Portable Network Graphic (png).
Formerly known as Group pages, the wiki is by default only accessible to the owner and administrators of a Group, Project or Programme. Consider these blank pages that you can order and structure with up to five levels of depth. You can open pages for collaboration with Group members. Wikis are used in many different ways on capacity4dev - as guidance, to structure information, training pages, video galleries, and much more.
As many as you want; you can add up to 5 levels of depth with sub-pages.
[+]I received an email invitation to join a Private Group in the EIC Community. How should I proceed?
If you are already registered in EIC Community and, however you have not accepted the invitation to join this group yet, you can do it by clicking the link in the email invitation. Or, on the group page directly, you can add yourself to the group (since you were invited). If you don't find the email invitation in your mailbox, please verify your Spam.
If you are not registered in the EIC Community, but your company is an EIC-beneficiary, we need to give you access before joining the group. First, please register to the Community: https://community-smei.easme-web.eu/, by choosing “Beneficiary” and your company through the drop-down list. After you have submitted your registration form, you should be given access within 24 hours.
If you haven’t received access within this time, please contact us via our contact form, by clearly stating your company name and project number/acronym. Please select the category ‘Technical issues/access’.
[+]I am an EIC Beneficiary registered in the EIC Community and I joined a Private Group. However, when I try to access the group, I receive an error message.
When you're accessing the Community and your Private groups, please make sure that you’re using the same email and information associated with your EU account and profile in the EIC Community. If that's the case and you remain without access, please contact us via our contact form (https://community-smei.easme-web.eu/contact), by clearly stating your company name and project number/acronym. Please select the category ‘Technical issues/access’.
[+]I would like to share a new story with my group.
Sometimes you might want to share knowledge with more than one audience, especially when dealing with horizontal issues. You can easily share content from one Group to another. The smart sharing functionality allows you to share carefree while it respects the privacy and access of the original content. Keeping one single version will also ensure that all views, recommendations, and comments are stored in one single place, making it easier to manage.
To share content from one Group to another, you have to be Member of both these Groups. Once clicked, you will be directed to a page where you can select the group or project to share to and add a message before sharing.
