Hubs are the primary place that you will connect with groups, organizations, classes, etc. Depending on the settings your hub administrator applied, you may be able to do some or all of the following functions. *Indicates functions which may be turned off for users.
Home Page
The home page is the first page you will see when entering a hub.
Messages Instructions to Create and Send Messages
View messages sent from this hub.
Messages are split up between two options: Announcements and Discussions
Announcements are one-way messages to the entire group. They are designed for newsletters, general announcements and short, instant notifications like, “Ball game cancelled tonight because of weather.” Recipients of announcement messages can only reply to the sender.
An announcement can be received via e-mail or text message on your cell phone depending on your Hub Settings - Personal Settings in each hub.
*By default, an administrator is the only person in the group allowed to post announcements.
Discussions allow email recipients to reply-all and all messages in the discussion will be saved in the hub. Discussion messages are received via email only. If you don’t want to receive discussion messages via email you can opt out in Hub Settings - Personal Settings in each hub.
*Every hub has a custom email address. Sending an email to that address will automatically create a new discussion and record the thread in the hub. To discover the discussion board e-mail address for a particular hub, look in the sidebar of the Messages page.
Calendar Instructions to Create a Calendar Event
Every hub has a calendar where events related to the group can be posted. *When creating an event you can choose to notify members of the event and set up email or text message reminders to be sent during the time leading up to the event. You can also choose to show the event on the Main Calendar.
If you use a desktop calendar application like Apple’s iCal or Microsoft Outlook you can subscribe to the iCalendar feed of a hub calendar and it will automatically import events from the hub into your personal calendar. You can view a list of applications that have support for the iCalendar protocol on Wikipedia [here].
Files Instructions to Upload Files
View files associated with a particular hub. *If you have documents or other files that you would like to share with members of your hub, you can upload them to the file repository. This is a safe and central location for the group to store documents.
Members
*The members page lists all of the people who are directly affiliated with the hub. You can view the profiles of other members and thereby share up-to-date contact information. If the members are grouped by family, you can view a family profile as well as the profile of each family member. If the hub is set up as a classroom, you can also see teachers, room parents and hub admins.
Photos Instructions to Upload Photos
View photos associated with this hub. *If you have pictures you would like to share with members of your hub, you can create a photo album and upload photos. This is a safe and secure way for you to share photos, rather than posting them in a public social networking site.
Whiteboards Instructions to Use a Whiteboard
Whiteboards are great way to collaborate with other members in your hub. *Create whiteboards for your groups to brainstorm on a particular topic or share information you want to preserve in the hub. They are a great way for members to share ideas without flooding inboxes with emails from a Discussion.
Signups Instructions to Create a Signup
You can signup up for items or time slots associated with your hub(s). *You can create signups to for members to bring needed items or volunteer for time slots. Automatic reminders can be sent those who sign up.
Hub Settings Instructions for Hub Administrators
You can access the settings for a hub from the Hub Settings button below the hub navigation. Non hub admin users only have access to the Personal Settings tab.
- General
- Admins
- Joins
- Permissions
- Profiles
- Personal Settings Instructions for Adjusting Your Personal Settings
On the Personal Settings tab, you can configure your personal notifications for a hub. You can select to be notified via e-mail about announcements, new calendar events, calendar event reminders, discussion posts, and file uploads. For certain items you can also select to be notified via text message.