Help/FAQs

General Contacts / Connections Communities / Discussions Library / Resources

General | Top

Q: What is my username/password?

A: You will use your ACUHO-I username and password to login to the online community just as you would for the ACUHO-I website, library, event registration, bookstore, etc. If you have forgotten your login credentials or need assistance with your login information, click here.

Q: How do I update my contact information or change my profile photo?

A: Access your profile page from the link in the upper-right corner of the screen. From your profile page, click the pencil icon next to "Contact Details." This will take you to your user portal where you can edit all your ACUHO-I member information. You may not see these changes immediately as it takes time for the community to sync with the membership database.
To change or delete your photo, click on the "Actions" button under your photo and follow the directions to upload a new picture.

Q: How do I control what information is visible in My Profile?

A: Access your profile page from the link in the upper-right corner of the screen. From your profile page, go to the "My Account” tab and choose "Privacy Settings" from the drop-down menu. This will let you control what information is visible to whom. After you’ve made changes, click the “Save” button at the bottom of the page.


Contacts / Connections | Top


Q: How do I find other members?

A: Click the “Directories” link found in the main navigation bar. The Directory lets you search for other individual members or member organizations based on:
  • First and/or last name
  • Company/Institution name
  • Email address

Switch to the “Advanced Search” tab to increase your search to include:

  • Name
  • Location
  • Community
  • Region
  • Job Function
  • Knowledge Domains

Q: How do I add contacts to my contact list?

A: There are several ways to add contacts. When you perform a search in the Directory, you will see an “Add as contact” button to the right of each person in your search results. Just click this button to send a contact request. If you click through and view an individual’s profile, you can click the contact request link to the right of his or her profile picture.


Q: Why should I add contacts to my contact list?

A: Creating this virtual address book makes it easy to send your contacts messages through the community site to stay in touch, ask questions or even build a referral network. Additionally, when you view another member’s profile, you’ll be able to see any contacts you have in common. You can also choose to let your contacts view certain demographics in your profile that others can't.


Communities / Discussions | Top


Q: What are communities?

A: Communities are the groups in which you can participate in discussions and share resources with other members. They are based around ACUHO-I knowledge domains as well as different affinity and identity groups.

Q: What communities do I already belong to?

A: Go to “Communities” in the main navigation bar. Select “My Communities” from the pull down menu to view the communities you’re currently a part of. You can also see this under the "My Connections" tab on your individual profile page.

Q: How do I join/subscribe to a community and the affiliated discussion group?

A: Hover over “Communities” and click on “All Communities” in order to see a list of all the available communities. Click on the community that you wish to join and simply click "Join," then choose a delivery option for how you want to receive notice of new posts. You can choose from Real Time, Daily Digest, or No Email.

Q: How do I create a new community?

A: Do you feel there is a knowledge or affinity community that should be represented in the online community? We want the online community to represent the entirety of campus housing. However, to ensure that the community remains vibrant and active, members are asked to apply before a new community is created. Contact the ACUHO-I home office for more details. You will be asked to designate at least two community champions as well as a list of individuals interested in joining the community at launch. The community manager will then work with you to grow the community.

Q: How can I control the frequency and format of emails I receive?

A: Go to the "My Account" tab on the profile page and choose "Email Preferences" from the drop-down menu. On that page, you'll see a variety of options for editing how you receive email notifications.

For each discussion, you have the following delivery options:
  • Real time: sends an email every time a new message is posted
  • Daily digest: sends one email to you each day, consolidating all of the posts from the previous day
  • No Email: allows you to be part of the group without having emails sent to you. You can still post and read others’ messages by logging into the community site.

You may also make these changes by editing the settings from within the different communities that you belong to. Click on the "Settings" button near the top of the page to see these options.


Q: How do I leave a community or unsubscribe from a discussion?

A:  Go to My Profile and click on the "Settings" tab. Choose Subscriptions from the drop-down menu. Here, you will see a list of available communities and those to which you’ve subscribed. Select “Unsubscribe” for the discussions you wish to leave and click the “Save” button at the bottom of the page. You will get a message confirming that your subscription options have been successfully updated. This can take several seconds if you change your settings for several groups at the same time.

Q: How do I respond to others’ posts?

A: Click “Reply to Discussion” to send your message to the entire community or “Reply to Sender” to only send your message back to the sender; both links are located to the right of the post. We recommend replying to the sender for simple comments like “me, too” that add little value to the overall discussion; and replying to the entire community when you are sharing knowledge, experience or resources that others could benefit from.

Q: How do I start a new discussion thread?

A: Go to “Participate" > “Post a message.” From an email (HTML version) for a particular discussion forum, you can use the “Post Message” link in the right navigation bar.

Q: I’m having trouble viewing the HTML email messages. How do I fix this?

A: If images are not appearing, it is likely that your email client is set to suppress images. This should be something you can change in your security or viewing options. If you would rather receive text-based email, go to My Profile and click on the "Settings" tab. Choose Subscriptions from the drop-down menu. Select the “Text” format option near the top of the page. Be sure to hit “Save” at the bottom of the page once you’ve made this change.

Q: Why do I have to post messages and reply through the website?

A: There are many features made possible because of the web interface:
  • When you send an attachment through this new system, it automatically places it in the Community’s library and sends a link to members.
  • Because it sends a link, you can share files up to 1GB in size and just about any file type.   
  • All posts and associated resources are automatically archived and easily searchable.

Q: Can I search for posts across all the communities?

A: Yes. Enter a keyword in the search bar. From the results page, you can filter on content type, date range or posted by. Click on "Advanced Search" for even more options.

Q: How do I see a listing of all of the posts to a specific community?

A: Locate the community you are interested in viewing from the appropriate communities page. Click through the community's landing page, then click on the “Discussions” tab. If you see a post you’re interested in, click the subject line which will take you to the entire thread. “Show original message” at the bottom of all of the posts in a thread will display the original message that started that discussion. The “Author’s Messages” link will show you all of the posts that particular member has contributed to that community.

Libraries | Top


Q: How do I find resources that may have been uploaded by other members?

A: If you know which library the resource might be located in, find the community on the appropriate communities page. Click through the community's landing page, then click on the “Library” tab . If you do not know where the resource might be, enter search terms in the main search box the same way you might enter search terms into Google or another search engine.

Q: Can I search for specific file types?

A: Yes. Enter your desired keyword in the main search box. From the search results page, click "Show Advanced Search."  Then click on “Search for Specific File Types.” This gives you the option to specify file type: Document, Image, Spreadsheet, etc.

Q: How do the libraries get populated?

A: The libraries are populated in two ways: When you include an attachment in a discussion post, the system automatically places it in the library. You can also upload documents directly by using the “Share a file” link found under “Participate” in the main navigation or "Create a new library entry" on any community's library page. Library resources are not required to be associated with a discussion thread.

Q: How do I upload a file?

A: Select the “Share a file” link found under “Participate” in the main navigation or "Create a new library entry" on any community's landing page. Please note that uploading a document is done in a few steps, and each step must be completed before you can move on to the next:
  • Choose a title for your document, include a description (optional), select the library to which you’d like to upload it, select a folder to which you’d like to upload it (optional) and choose an Entry Type (most will be Standard Files, but be cognizant of any copyright licensed material). Then click “Next.”
  • Browse and upload your file. Click “Next” if you want to add tags to your file or click “Finish” (you may have to scroll down to access these buttons).

Q: What kind of files can I upload?

A: The system supports dozens of file types including hyperlinks, standard files (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), webinars, images and YouTube videos.

Q: What are the “tags” for?

A: Tags are another way of organizing and searching for documents. You can help others find the file you uploaded by including tags when you upload it. There are many pre-loaded tag categories to choose from.