User instructions for the BCNA Online Network

User instructions
BCNA’s online network
This user guide will help you get started and navigate your way around Breast
Cancer Network Australia’s (BCNA) online network.
Joining our free online network and connecting in real time with others
affected by breast cancer is easy!
Just go to www.bcna.org.au and select ‘Online network.’
A project of the Supporting Women in Rural Areas Diagnosed with Breast Cancer Program,
funded by the Australian Government
Contents
Joining our online network ........................................................................... 3
Registration .................................................................................................... 3
Creating your account .................................................................................. 3
Validate your details ..................................................................................... 4
Completing / editing your profile .................................................................. 5
Privacy settings ............................................................................................ 5
Your profile ................................................................................................... 6
Forgotten username or password ................................................................ 7
Manage your settings and publications ....................................................... 8
Settings ........................................................................................................ 8
My publications............................................................................................. 9
Creating a blog post .................................................................................... 10
Creating a post by using the ‘Post’ button .................................................. 10
Find members and add as a contact .......................................................... 11
Search the network .................................................................................... 11
Communicating with your contacts ........................................................... 12
Private message......................................................................................... 12
View your ‘Inbox’ ........................................................................................ 12
Send a message ........................................................................................ 12
Find an online group and connect ............................................................. 13
Search for an online group ......................................................................... 13
Join an online group ................................................................................... 14
Online group membership .......................................................................... 14
Online group privacy .................................................................................. 14
Create a group ........................................................................................... 14
Ongoing support .......................................................................................... 15
User instructions for BCNA’s online network as at July 2015
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If you have been affected by breast cancer, you are invited to join BCNA’s online
network.
The online network gives you the ability to find individuals and groups in similar
situations and with common interests to you.

You can control your privacy settings and determine how much information
you reveal about yourself to others.

You can join in discussion groups and send messages to others.

You can keep friends and family up-to-date through your own online diary.
Joining our online network

From BCNA’s website homepage you will see the ‘Online network’ button (see
example below) where you can join, find out more, and view BCNA blog posts
and other members’ activity.
www.bcna.org.au/online-network
Registration
Creating your account

BCNA’s online network does not allow anonymous users, so you will need to
register and set up an account.

From the online network homepage (see example above) select one of the ‘Join’
links (there’s a few!).
User instructions for BCNA’s online network as at July 2015
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
Enter your details into the form (see example below).
Note: Fields marked with an asterisk * are compulsory and will need to be completed to
progress to the next stage of your registration.

Once you have entered your details, you will need to indicated that you have read
and agree to the website terms and conditions.

You will also be asked to either select ‘I am not a robot’ or you will need to
describe an image you see. This step helps the system identify you are a ‘real
user’ and reduces the number of ‘spam’ or nuisance registrations.

Select ‘Submit’ and you will receive an onscreen confirmation.

The final step is to validate you account.
Validate your details

Check your email account (the one you provided when you joined) and locate the
validation email from [email protected]. If you are having problems
finding this email please check your junk/spam folder.

The easiest way to validate your details is to click the link; this will automatically
log you into your BCNA online network account and will take you to your profile.
User instructions for BCNA’s online network as at July 2015
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Completing/editing your profile

Providing information about yourself, or telling your story, will allow others within
the online network of similar interests and experiences to find and connect with
you.

In your profile, you can provide information on your breast cancer experience, tell
your story, upload an image, include your interests etc.

Although some of the fields within your profile are not compulsory, for example
‘My Story,’ we recommend you complete these fields if you want others to be
able to find and connect with you. Don’t forget to set the privacy to ‘public’ if you
want others to be able to see what you write (see instructions below).

If there’s something about your experience you’d like to add, but there isn’t a field
or an option for it, you can type it into the ‘My Story’ field.
Privacy settings
Privacy icon
User instructions for BCNA’s online network as at July 2015
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
There are three privacy settings that give you control over how much or how little
of your information is revealed to others.

As a default all fields will be set to ‘hidden’ when you first set up your account.

To change the privacy setting of any field, click on the icon to the right of the field
and a pop up box will appear (if there is no icon next to the field, that field is
private and cannot be made public e.g. date of birth).

Choose the privacy setting you want and click ‘OK’.

If you want to change your privacy settings, it’s a good idea to do it as you
complete your profile.

It is recommended that you leave the privacy setting of your contact details set to
private.

If you would prefer for your whole account to be set to private, you can do this by
selecting private or public in your privacy settings. If you select for your account
to be private, only your contacts will see your blog posts and not the greater
network.
Note: The online network ‘search’ functionality will only search fields that you have
designated public.

Once you have entered your details, and are happy with your privacy settings,
click the pink ‘Submit’ button at the bottom of your screen. This will save your
changes and you will be taken back to your Profile page.
Your profile
There are various ways to view and get back to your profile. Select ‘Profile’ at any of
the following points.
User instructions for BCNA’s online network as at July 2015
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
From your ‘Profile’ you can navigate around your personal information including
blog posts (if you have any), groups you’ve joined and to the members you have
connected with.

To view your posts, groups and contacts, see the headings under your profile
picture to the left of the screen.
By selecting:

‘My Posts’ you will be taken to view the blog posts you have made into the
online network

‘My Groups’ you can view all the online groups you have joined. Here, you can
also removed yourself from a group or create your own group.

‘My Contacts’ you can find the members you have connected with. Similar to an
address book.
Forgotten username or password

If you forget your username or password click on the ‘Forgotten password’ button
when you go to log in.

An email will be sent to the email address you registered with and you will need
to follow a similar verification process as you did when you registered.

If you’re still having trouble with this, contact one of the online network managers.
You can also find further information on our Help and Q&A pages www.bcna.org.au/online-network/help-faqs/
User instructions for BCNA’s online network as at July 2015
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Manage your settings and publications

The top left drop down allows you quick access to features such as your profile,
messages and feed, as well as the ability to update and manage your settings.
Settings
Password and account settings
Within your ‘Settings’ you can update your email address, change your password and
turn on or off your notifications.
User instructions for BCNA’s online network as at July 2015
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Notifications

If you check the notification box (see below) you will turn ON your notifications
and you will receive notifications to your private email account e.g. daily digests
and broadcast messages from online groups you may be connected with.

If you un-check the notification box (see below) you will be turning OFF your
notifications and you will not receive notifications to your private email account.

Press the ‘Save’ button to save any changes to your setting you have made.
My publications

If you choose to receive The Beacon or The Inside Story magazines you can
manage how you receive these publications through ‘My publications’.

If you would like to receive these publications or change how you currently
receive them, select either:
o hard copy (a printed version posted to your address)
o soft copy (an electronic PDF emailed to you).

If you choose ‘Hard copy’ your magazine will be posted to the address in your
contact details. Use this screen to keep your details up-to-date at all times.
User instructions for BCNA’s online network as at July 2015
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Creating a blog post
Creating a post by using the ‘Post’ button

To create a new blog post, hover over the ‘post’ button and select where you
would like to post.

You can post into your profile (‘My blog’), which will appear in the online network
or you can post directly into an online group that you may be connected with.

When posting in ‘My blog’ and your profile is set to public, your post will appear in
the latest posts section within the online network. Most members will post a
question or share their experience through the ‘My blog’ area.
Note: If you have not posted into the online network before, you must read the
network posting guidelines.

To see your post, go to your profile and click ‘My blog’.

If you wish to post into a group, you will see the group name appear in the list
(see above). Select the group you wish to post into and you will be taken to the
‘Create a blog’ page (see above) and the post will be made into the group you
selected.
User instructions for BCNA’s online network as at July 2015
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Find members and add as a contact
You can click on a user’s name anywhere in the online network to be taken to their
profile page or you can use the member search function.
Search the network

From the top navigation bar select ‘Members’ and you will be directed to the
search page

You can search by username (if known), gender, age, breast cancer experience,
diagnosis type and or by location.

Enter your search criteria and then browse the results.

When you have found a member you would like to add as a contact, you can
either select the ‘Connect’ button underneath the profile picture or click on their
picture to go to their profile and connect from there.

Once you have clicked on ‘connect’. You will be taken to a screen where you can
include a private message with your request.

The request must be accepted by the person you are contacting and will not be
instant.
User instructions for BCNA’s online network as at July 2015
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Communicating with your contacts
If you don’t feel comfortable connecting with someone you don’t know straight away,
you can interact and communicate with them in other ways, e.g. you can send a
private message, comment on a blog post or read comments within a group.
Private message

A private message is between you and the person you are communicating with
and is not seen by other online network members.

You can send private messages from your inbox or directly from a member’s
profile.
View your ‘Inbox’

To view messages in your inbox select ‘Message’ (see below).
Send a message

From your inbox select ‘New’ and write your message, being sure to use the
username of the member you would like to connect with in the ‘To’ section and
press ‘Send’.
User instructions for BCNA’s online network as at July 2015
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Find an online group and connect
Online groups are a good way to connect with a group of individuals with similar
interests or from a similar location. Any user can set up a group.
Search for an online group

To search and connect with an online group select ‘Groups’ from the top
navigation.

You will be taken to the groups search page where you can search by keyword,
category, support focus and radius from postcode.

Once you find an online group that is of interest to you, you can select the
heading or image and be taken to the group to find out more. You can also select
‘Join’.
User instructions for BCNA’s online network as at July 2015
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Join an online group

When you select ‘Join’ you may be required to add a message with your request
and you may or may not become a member straight away.

Once you select ‘Request’ if the group is set to open, you will become a member
straight away. If the online group is Moderated, you will have to wait for the
facilitator to approve your request.
Online group membership
Group membership varies depending on the group and facilitator needs.

When a group is set to open this means that a member of the online network is
able to join and participate in group discussions immediately.

When a group is set to moderated the member first needs to introduce
themselves and request to join. The facilitator will need to review the request and
accept membership before the member can see content or participate.
Online group privacy

A group facilitator has the ability to change the privacy settings of a group. For
groups with sensitive content e.g. breast reconstruction it is important for
members to feel safe to share their personal information and images and
therefore this group’s membership is moderated and the content is set to private.
Only members of the group can see, create and comment to posts.
Create a group

If you see a gap or need for a specific topic or interest group, you can create your
own within your profile.

Once you are within your profile, select ‘My Groups’ and the ‘Create a group’
option will appear.

As the person setting up the group, you will automatically become the group
facilitator and you will be able to nominate other facilitators to manage the group
with you. You will have permissions to mange group membership.
User instructions for BCNA’s online network as at July 2015
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
You can control the way members join your group through the membership
requests settings.

Once your details have been filled in select the pink ‘create’ button at the bottom
of the page.
Ongoing support
If you have any questions about BCNA’s online network or finding your way
around simply email [email protected] or call 1800 500 258.
User instructions for BCNA’s online network as at July 2015
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