Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

General
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Watch the brief video tutorials to help you login and navigate the features of ARVOConnect.

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Anonymous posting

Do you have a sensitive topic or question related to research or your career but prefer anonymity? Members can now post anonymously in the Open Forum and each of the Scientific Section and Cross-sectional Group Communities.

How?
To start a new discussion like you normally would via the "Participate" button on the top menu. Once you choose Open Forum or a Scientific or Cross-sectional community, you can click the "post message anonymously" button above the subject line. A message will appear below it, confirming your anonymous status. Your post will appear in the community's discussion board without a name attached to it. Please note that moderation of these posts is currently in effect, so your post will not immediately appear.

General | Top

Q: What is my username/password?

A: You will use the same username and password that you use to log in to the main site. Usernames are always an email address. If you have forgotten your login credentials or need assistance with your login information, click here.

Q: How do I change my password?

A: Remember, changing your password on ARVOConnect changes your password on the ARVO website and vice versa. Go to your profile, click on the “edit address” link below your mailing address. It will take you to a page with editable fields – your login information is listed on the bottom. Make sure you click “next,” and your information is considered updated.

Q: How do I update my contact information?

A: From your profile page, click on the button next to "Contact Details." It will take you to the ARVO database. Any information you update will also be updated in our system.

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

A: Go to "My Profile”  and click on the “My Account” tab. 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.

Q: How do I update my profile?


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

A: Go to "My Profile”  and click on the “Settings” tab. Choose "Privacy" 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.

Q: How do I change my email notifications?

A: Go to your profile, click on the “My Accounts" tab, then "Community Notifications" and presented will be your options for your email subscriptions. Need more detailed help? View the step-by-step tutorial.

Q: Why am I not receiving emails?


Contacts / Connections | Top

Q: How do I find other members?

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

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

  • Scientific Section
  • Research & Professional Interests
  • City/State and Country
  • Education
  • and more

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 allow you to participate in discussions and share resources with other members.

Q: What communities do I already belong to?

A: Go to “Communities” in the main navigation bar. Select “My Communities” to view the communities you’re currently a part of.

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 available communities. Click on the community that you wish to join and simply click "Join," then choose a delivery option for posts (Real Time, Daily Digest, Plain Text or No Email).

Q: How do I create a new community?

A: Under "Communities" > "All Communities," there is a link where you can request a new community.This will open a form for you to fill out with your suggestions for open communities, significant interest communities or private communities. The administrator will review your completed entry for consideration.

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

A: Go to My Profile and click on the "My Accounts" tab. Choose Subscriptions from the drop-down menu. On that page, you'll see an option for Text or HTML. By default, this is set to HTML, and we encourage you to leave it set to this if your email client can support it. However, if you are having problems viewing the HTML version or if it takes too long to open, please switch to the text version.

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
  • Plain Text: sends real-time text versions of the posts, which are compatible with Blackberries and most other handheld devices.
  • 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.

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

A:  Go to My Profile and click on the "My Account" 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.

Learn how to reply to a discussion via email.


Q: How do I start a new discussion thread?

A: Go to “Participate" > “Post a Message,” or click on the "Share your thoughts" button on the ARVOConnect homepage. From an email for a particular discussion forum, you can use the “Post Message” link in the bottom 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 "My Account" tab. Choose Community Notifications from the drop-down menu. Select the “Plain 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 was my post removed?

A: No commercial soliciting of products or services is allowed on ARVOConnect. However, one post is allowed for any meeting, conference or event that is not directly produced by ARVO that may benefit fellow members. Job postings are allowed if they refer directly to a listing on ARVOjobs, and should be posted within the Scientific Section community to which the job most directly relates.

If your post was deliberately removed, you will hear from an ARVOConnect administrator with the specific reason. If you do not hear from the administrator, your post was most likely marked as inappropriate by another member or didn’t follow the Code of Conduct.

If you have any questions in advance about the appropriateness of a post, please contact Julene Joy at jjoy@arvo.org.
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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.

Q: How do I update my signature block?

A: Go to your profile, and click on the "My Account" tab. Choose the last option in the drop-down menu: "Discussion Signature." You can type in specifically what you want, or choose from one or more of the variables provided to the right of the editing box.

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. Then, click on the arrow beside the "search" button. This will show the Advanced Search options. 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.