Civil Service Live Network

Help

If you have any further questions about Civil Service Live Network please email network@civilservicelive.com

I don't remember my log in details - what shall I do?

Click on the Log in tab in the top left hand of this page. In the right hand box you'll see a 'Forgotten my log in details' link - click here to reset your details.

If you are still having problems, or are not sure whether you are a member of CSLN please email network@civilservicelive.com.

How can I make the most of my profile?

A profile on Civil Service Live Network is a powerful tool to help you find new opportunities - it allows you to share your professional skills and experience with nearly 30,000 members across the civil service.

To make the most of the profile, fill in as much information as possible - the more relevant information you provide, the more likelihood there is of fellow colleagues finding you to share information and opportunities.

Use the section titled 'areas of work' to list your skills and key project experience - this will help people to find you when they search for colleagues and potential colleagues on the network.

Use the About Me space to summarise your key skills, interests and experience, or to indicate what kind of projects or work you might be interested in.

You can create and update your profile by clicking on the 'Settings' tab above and then clicking on 'edit my profile'

How can I share information through Civil Service Live Network?

There are four main ways to share information on the Network:

Adding a page in a group
Uploading a file to a group or your profile
Posting a message to the Civil Service Wire
Writing a blog

Adding a page in a group

When you add a new page in any group, all members of that group will receive an email notification about that information. They will be able to comment on the page and - if you chose - they can also edit the page, updating information or suggesting new ideas where relevant. Please only add content to relevant groups, and bear in mind that members of the group will receive email bulletins every time you edit the page.

To add a page:

Go to the group in which you would like to add the page
In the left hand menu, click 'add a page'. (NB if you are not a member of this group you will automatically be joined to it)
Add information in the text boxes which appear.
You can tag the page with key words (finance, sustainability, diversity) which will help other users to find it.
Set the access settings - the 'read access' function allows you to control who can see the page; the 'write access' controls who can edit it.
Click save to publish the page. An email bulletin will now be sent to members of that group

Uploading files

There are two ways to upload a file in CSLN: in a page or blog, and on your profile. In both cases, your followers will be alerted when you upload the file. If you include the file within a group page, members of that group will be sent an email telling them the page has been added.

To add a file to your profile:

Click on the 'Files' button next to your profile picture
Enter the file title and a description of the file, which will appear in the notification your contacts will receive when you upload the file
Click on the 'Embed/upload media' tab above the text box. This will open a new screen.
Click on the 'upload' tab. This will open a browser window.
Find the file you wish to upload
Click open
Chose the privacy settings you wish to use - this controls who will be able to see the document
Click save.

To upload a file in a page or blog:

Add your page or click on 'update my blog' in the blog page. This will take you to the text editing screen
Enter the file title and a some text in the page - this will appear in the notification your contacts will receive when you upload the file
Click on the 'Embed/upload media' tab above the text box. If you have already uploaded files you will see a list of them here. Simply click the one you wish to embed into this page and click save.
If you have not yet upload files, click on upload and follow instructions as above.

Civil Service Wire

Civil Service Wire is a facility similar to twitter which lets you send short messages or web links to the whole CSLN community. Your message will appear on the home page, and your followers will receive an alert whenever you post to the wire.

To post on the wire simply enter text in the grey box on your home page.

Blogs

Any user can set up a blog and regularly write a log of what they're thinking or working on. Members can subscribe to blogs to receive an update when a new entry is added, and you will also receive notifications when someone you are following uploads a blog.

To set up Blog, click on the 'Blogs' tab above, which will take you to the Network's blogging centre. Here you can see the most recent blogs from across the network.

Click on the 'Write a blog' button on the right and you will be able to start your own blog.

Your followers will receive an email anytime you write a new blog, as will anyone who is subscribed to your blog.

How can I control the information I put on Civil Service Live Network?

Civil Service Live Network gives you complete control over each piece of information you share - whether that's details on your profile page, a post on the wire or information shared through a particular group.

You can pick a default setting for all information you share by:

Click on 'My settings' - you'll find this in the top right hand of this page
At the bottom of the page you will see a drop down menu with four options allowing you to set the default option for your information. These are:

Private - choose this option if you want to keep this section entirely private. The information here will not be visible, but it will still be available to the network administrators when they are gathering anonymous data from the network
Contacts - choose this option if you want the information to be visible to people you are following.
Logged in Users - choose this option if you want all members of CSLN to be able to see the information
Public - choose this option if you want the information to be available to all visitors to the site, including those who are not CSLN members.

You can also control each piece of information in your profile separately. As you fill in or update your profile information you will see a drop down menu to the right of each section which allows you to pick one of the four privacy options for that section.

What are groups and why should I join them?

Groups are communities within the wider Civil Service Live Network, based around professions, events, or shared interest in a particular topic.

When you join a group on Civil Service Live Network you will automatically receive email alerts telling you about news, features and events relevant to that group.

You can also share information with others members that group by adding pages or files, or starting a discussion. This provides you with an effective way to communicate with colleagues across the civil service who share your professional interests.

As well as joining existing groups, members of the Network can also create their own groups. You can use your group to:

Upload files to share with other members
Create news pages to share updates or ideas
Host online discussions on specific challenges or new ideas
Share case studies or best practice
Set discussion topics or development exercises for members

How do I set up a group on the network?

You need to be logged to do this

Click on the 'Groups' tab in the menu bar at the top of the page
This takes you to our Groups directory. In the top right hand box, click on 'Create a new group'
You can now fill in the various fields to create your group. Most are self-explanatory but some are a bit less obvious:
Groups permissions - chose closed group if you want to control who joins your group.
Enable group pages - click yes if you want all group members to be able to create pages
Enable group discussion - click yes if you want all group members to be able to start a discussion
View full group text - this lets you decide how much of the group profile to display on your group home page.

Once you're done, click 'Save'. Your group has now been created, and should appear in the User Groups section in our groups directory

How can I find other people on CSLN?

You can search for colleagues on the 'People' page - find it using the tab above.

The box on the right lets you search for colleagues by name - below this you will see tag clouds - groupings of keywords - which allow you to search for users by department, profession and work area.

As you find users with shared interests, colleagues and potential colleagues, you can follow them on the network. This means you are will be alerted when they update or share information on the site.

Can I contact other members of CSLN?

Yes - you can send a public message via their message board (in the top right of their profile page) or a private message through the network - you can find this option under their profile picture on the profile page.

Civil Service Live Network also allows you to send information to many people at once by uploading files or sharing information through groups (see 'How do I share information through Civil Service Live Network', above).

I keep getting emails from you - how can I stop them?

Civil Service Live Network will automatically send you email notifications for a number of things:

whenever someone comments on or edits your content on CSLN
when someone sends you a message on the site
when your contacts upload new information
when information is added to a group you are following.

For all of these email notifications, you can change their frequency or turn them off through the Settings page:

Click on 'My settings in the top menu bar
Click on 'group notifications' or 'site notifications' from the menu on the left hand side of the page
For each group you can chose from a drop down menu to specify whether you want to receive alerts daily, weekly or as events are added to the group. For each type of site notification you can chose whether you wish to receive an email alert, or a message in your CSLN inbox.
Click on the SAVE button

I am subscribed to group X but am not receiving any alerts - how do I subscribe to these alerts?

A: Your email setting is probably set to 'Never'. You can change this by:

Click on the 'my settings' in the top menu bar
Click on 'Group Notifications' from the menu on the left hand side of the page
Select the relevant notifications from the Email column and change these to daily or weekly
Click on the SAVE button

I received two (or more) identical alerts - why is that?

Some content is relevant to more than one group. If this is the case you will receive a notification from each group as the information is uploaded. You can change the frequency of all of these emails as above.

How can I delete my account?

If you simply want to stop email notifications, please follow the instructions here. If you want to delete your account entirely, please send an email to network@civilservicelive.com with your name and email address with DELETE in the subject line