Listed below are the answers to frequently asked questions about My Communities. If you have a question that does not appear in this list, please contact us and let us know.
General Questions
Profiles
Communities
Discussions
Libraries
General Questions
What is My Communities?
My Communities is the social networking component of the American Association of Law Libraries. Members can use My Communities to start discussions, share resources, and connect with other AALL members who share the same interests and challenges. All of the features found within My Communities are key components identified by members in our surveys and discussions.
How do I access My Communities?
My Communities is located at http://community.aallnet.org. My Communities is limited to only AALL members and you will need to login (login link at the top right) to proceed.
If you're coming from AALLNET, login first and then hover over the "Member Communities" navigation button and click on "My Communities".
Profiles
How is my AALL profile on AALLNET different from my profile in My Communities?
In the My Communities section, you have the opportunity to create an additional "social networking" profile separate from your AALL profile on AALLNET. Your address information here is synced with your AALL profile and is automatically populated. In addition you have the opportunity to provide more demographics to your profile, such as your interests, honors, and awards. The more information you provide, the more networks the community site can automatically relate to you. This will allow you to easily connect with other members based on areas of interests, location, etc.
How can I control what information is displayed in my profile?
Click on down arrow button next to your profile picture on the top right, and then click on the "Profile" button. Next, using the drop-down list of options for the My Account tab, select "Privacy Settings". Remember to click on the "Save" button to save your changes.
NOTE: by default your address, phone numbers, and email address are hidden from your My Communities profile, and you may opt to display this information on your My Communities profile at your own discretion.
Communities
What is a community?
A community gives you the opportunity to connect with other members by posting messages through the community's discussion or share resources within the community's library. There are several types of communities on My Communities:
Committee and Jury Communities – All of the committee and jury communities are synced with the AALL committee/jury rosters. If you are currently on a committee/jury roster, then you will automatically be added to your community.
SIS Communities – All of the main SIS communities (14 total) are synced with the paid SIS membership dues received. If you are a current AALL member that is up-to-date with your SIS membership, then you will automatically be added to you SIS community.
SIS Subgroups – SISs have additional communities for their committees or for different areas of interest within their SIS. These are communities that you are free to join at any time, as long as it is open to all AALL members.
Caucus/Member Created Communities – These are communities that you are free to join at any time, as long as it is open to all AALL members.
How do I see all of the communities I can join?
Click on the "Communities" navigation button, and then click on "All Communities". Any community that you can join will have a green "Join" button. You may also use the different drop-down list of options to filter the results.
How do I access the communities I belong to?
Click on the "Communities" navigation button, and then click on "Communities I Belong To".
Discussions
How do I send a new message?
In general, any member may use the web form to send a new message to one of their communities. To use the web form, click on "Participate" on the top navigation bar, and then click on "Post a Message".
If you are subscribed to receive your community's discussion messages in real-time or as a daily digest, you have the option to send a new messages directly from your email client.
How do I reply to a message?
If you are subscribed to receive your community's discussion messages in real-time, you may reply to the entire community from your email client. If you wish to reply to just the sender, then you will need to manually change the To: line in your email message. If you are subscribed to receive your community's discussion messages as a daily digest, you may also reply to the entire community from your email client. However, you cannot simply hit your email client's reply button to reply to the digest because it won't know which message you'd like to reply to. Instead, within the daily digest each message will either have a "Reply to Group" or "Reply via Email" button, and you will need to click on either one of those in order to reply directly to a particular message.
How do I update my subscription preferences?
Click on down arrow button next to your profile picture on the top right, and then click on the "Profile" button. Next, using the drop-down list of options for the My Account tab, select "Discussion Settings". Finally, using the notification drop-down, update your options for each of your discussion. Remember to click on the "Save" button to save your changes.
What's the email address for my community?
If you are subscribed to receive your community's discussion messages in real-time or as a daily digest, you have the option to send or reply to messages directly from your email client. If you do not know your community's email address, you have two options to retrieve it.
- Open a recent message from your community in your email client. Then click on the reply button, and save the email address to your address book.
- Visit the Community Email Addresses page in the Help section, and find your community's name. (login required)
I saved a message using the web form, but where do I go to access the draft message?
Your My Contributions tab displays all of the messages you've sent in the past, along with any messages you've saved as a draft. By default, the most recent items are listed first, and most likely your draft message will be one of the top items. All draft messages are designated with an orange box labeled "DRAFT".
Libraries
How do I add a file to my community's library?
Click on "Participate" on the top navigation bar, and then click on "Share a File". Follow through the steps and remember to click on the "Finish" button to complete the upload process.
How can I share an item from my community's library?
When you are viewing the library item, you have several options located under the "Actions" box. The "Share" option allows you to share library item with another member. The "Permalink" option provides you with the permanent URL for the library item.
What recently changed with the community libraries?
We are excited to share the community libraries have been redesigned to provide a more user-friendly interface and better browser experience within each community.
- Folders Panel: Clicking the folder icon toggles the panel that reveals the library folders in the community (if any). Choose a folder to see its contents.
- Customizable Library Entries List: Lists can be customized by choosing a View, Sort Order, and/or Filter. Use any or all these options to customize which entries display and how.
- View: Row view or card view
- Sort Order: Date Created – Descending, A-Z, Z-A, Most Downloaded, Most Viewed
- Filter By: File Type
- Details Panel: When you click a Library Entry, in any of the views, a panel opens to display that entry's details.
- Ellipsis Menu: The ellipsis menu is available for each Library Entry.
- Visit the entry page
- Edit the entry (if you are the owner)
- Pin the entry
- Copy the Permalink for the entry
- Delete the entry (if you are the owner)
