Help

You must be a current community member (e.g. NELA Affiliate member, NELA Program Faculty Member, Program Attendee) to access password protected content on this site. To log in and see all available content, click on “Member Login" under the Home navigation menu. Your user name is always your email address. If you are logging in for the first time, your password will be your last name in lower case. We encourage you to change your password as soon as possible. If you have changed your password and cannot remember it, use the “Can't access your account?” link on the Log In page. If you are a current member of NELA and have accessed The NELA Exchange, please use those login credentials.

The best and quickest way to find information on this site is to enter your search term in the “Search” box on the menu bar. This will search all discussion posts, library items, and blog entries. Any time you see a tag attached to a blog or library entry, click on it to search our Microsite for that keyword.

You can control the amount of email you receive from our discussion group by customizing your subscription settings. You can find a list of subscription options by selecting “My Subscriptions” under the "Members Only" navigation menu.

 The following subscription options are available:

• Real Time - Receive and respond to messages as they are posted. If you have a question and need an answer immediately, this is the option for you. Your query will go out to all subscribers as soon as it is posted. Responses will come back to you as soon as they are posted. You must visit the our Microsite to post a message or reply to a message.  Links back to the site are provided in each message for a quick reply.

• Legacy - This is a text-only version of Real Time. With the Legacy option, you can bypass visiting our Microsite to reply to messages. Simply post and reply through the email client of your choice (e.g., Outlook, Hotmail, Gmail, etc.). If you want to include an attachment, however, you must log in to share your document.

• Daily Digest – A daily digest provides a summary of the postings in a Discussion Group in the last 24 hours. Review all the posts at once via a daily digest.

You can change your subscriptions at any time.

Please be sure to add the following email address to your safe sender list: DoNotReply@ConnectedCommunity.org. This will ensure emails from our Microsite are not bounced back or caught in your spam filter.

You can post a message by simply going to the “Members Only” menu on the navigation bar and selecting “Post A Message.”  You will be asked to enter a subject line. Post your message in the window provided. You may attach as many files as you wish to your discussion post (see “How Do I Upload A File?” below).

Tip: Be as descriptive as possible for your subject line entry. The clearer your subject line, the more likely you are to get responses. This will also enhance the search function for later research.

No. Discussion Groups are email based. Once you hit “Send,” your post is delivered to the list and is distributed to all subscribers. Please review the content of your post just as you would any email you send from your email client.

You can go back and edit the archive version of your post, but this will not change the message that is sent to the discussion list. Again, please review your message carefully before hitting send.

If your subscription is set to “Real Time” or “Digest,” you can respond to a message by using the links in the box on the right of each Discussion Group message. Using these links, you may either respond  to only the author of the message or to the entire Discussion Group. If your subscription is set to Legacy, simply click on the “Reply” button in your email client.

You can share a document by going to the “Members Only” menu on the navigation bar and selecting “Share A Document.” When you upload a file, you will be asked for the following information: Title, Description, Library, and Entry Type. Your basic file upload (PDF, Doc, Docx) will be a “Standard File Upload.” You can upload as many files per entry as you wish. You also have the option to add tags to your entry. If you are familiar with HTML, you can include it in your description. The next window allows you to select and upload your file. Select your file by clicking on the gray “Select Your File” button. Once you have selected your file(s), you must click on the gray “Upload File(s)” button to complete the process. You will see a progress bar showing your file(s) being uploaded to The Exchange.

 Tip: Be as precise as possible when adding titles and descriptions for your files. The more precise information you provide in the title and description, the better the search results.

When possible, tags should be attached to your entry for quicker sorting. Tags are keywords you can attach to shared files or blog entries that help organize The Exchange. To add tags and keywords, click on “Next” after you have uploaded your file(s). Tag groups include: Topic, Court, Statute, Keyword, and Agencies. Files without tags will still be included in searches, but may not be at the top of the results. If you do not see a tag that you think others will find helpful, let us know and we can create one.

A Tag Group may have been created specifically for your Affiliate. Affiliate Tag Groups will be displayed under the Affiliate Name.

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. It is an easy way for you to keep up with news and information that is important to you.  RSS also helps you avoid the conventional methods of browsing or searching for information on websites. RSS delivers the information you want directly to you. This content is called a “feed.”

Some browsers, such as the current versions of Firefox and Safari have built-in RSS readers. Outlook 2007 and 2010 also have RSS capabilities built in.

To subscribe to The Exchange via RSS, simply go to the “My Exchange” menu on the gray navigation bar and select “My RSS Feeds.” Check the boxes for the Discussions, Libraries, and Blog that you want to follow. Copy and paste the feed location to the RSS Reader of your choice.

Google Reader: http://www.google.com/reader/

RSS Popper (Outlook Add-on): http://rsspopper.blogspot.com/2004/10/home.html

If you have Outlook 2007 or a newer version, follow these instructions to our Microsite RSS feed:

1. Locate the RSS folder in Outlook. It should be located directly under your Outbox.
2. Right click on the “RSS Feeds” folder and select “Add New RSS Feed.”
3. Paste the RSS Feed location you copied from the “My RSS Feed” page in The Exchange. 
4. Click on “Add.” 
5. Outlook will ask you if you want to “Add This RSS Feed Outlook.” Click on “Yes.”
6. Outlook will automatically connect to our Microsite RSS feed and begin downloading the updates you  selected.
7. Updates are delivered in real time.

 To change your RSS subscriptions, simply go to “My RSS Feed” and check or uncheck boxes. Outlook will only deliver updates from the Discussion, Library, or Blog you have selected.

Subscriptions only affect how you participate in the Discussion Group. Subscriptions provide several options to receive discussion messages (see  “How Do I Control The Amount Of Email I Receive From The Discussion Group?” above). RSS, on the other hand, affects how you receive information whenever there is any new content posted on our Microsite. This includes discussion messages, library entries, and blog posts. You can also follow discussions via RSS. How you choose to participate is up to you. Changing your RSS feed updates will not affect your Discussion Group subscription.

When in doubt, use subscriptions to participate in the Discussion Group, and RSS to follow the NELA HQ blog and to get updates when new files are added to the library.

Please send an email to nelahq@nelahq.org if there has been a change to your contact information.

Please allow up to 24 hours for your updated information to appear in Member Directory.

There is a known issue with AOL users receiving email from the discussion lists. Below are some simple steps you can take to ensure you can fully participate.
 
You will need to add "DoNotReply@ConnectedCommunity.org" to your AOL address book by following these steps: 

1. From your AOL email inbox, click the "Mail" menu and select "Address Book."
2. Wait for the "Address Book" window to pop up, and then click the "Add" button.
3. Wait for the "Address Card for New Contact" window to load.
4. Once loaded, cut and paste "DoNotReply@ConnectedCommunity.org" into the Other email field.
5. Make our address the "Primary Email" address by checking the associated check box.
6. Click the "Save" button.

If you are already a subscriber but our email is not getting through to you, our email may be in your AOL Spam Folder.  Please use your web mail to check your Spam Folder.  If our email is in your AOL Spam Folder, open our email and click the This Is Not Spam button.

For further assistance using this site, please contact NELA at nelahq@nelahq.org.