Welcome to Networks! This page will be an online user manual for the ESA Networks. Listed below are the basic areas of the online Networks site that will help you as you make use of this technology. Please note that use of the Networks site indicates your willingness to abide by ESA's Rules of Use.

Logging in

ESA MEMBERS: To access the Networks pages, you can login through the regular entsoc.org login portal. Enter your username and password. You should be greeted by name and shown a list of options that are open to you, based on your security settings. In the list, click on the word "Networks" and you'll be transported to the site. Please note that you are now in a vendor's environment and are not on entsoc.org any longer.

NON-ESA MEMBERS: If you are not an ESA member, you can still join a Network. Simply go to our Member Registration page and under Membership Type, select "Web User." It costs nothing to do this. When you are finished, you can then log in and select Networks to join.
 

Getting started

Upon successfully logging into the Networks, you'll be greeted by a splash page which will be unique to you and your settings. The content on this page is driven by the Networks that you have joined. The more Networks, the more content. If your Networks have not posted any content, you'll see very little on the splash page. The Networks are broken into a number of areas which can be accessed in any number of ways. Click on the image to the left to see an example of a content-heavy splash page.

The red circle indicates your personal information area. Clicking here will show your profile, your time zone, your subscriptions, and other important settings. This is where you would change the delivery options for your subscriptions. Clicking through on 'edit my profile' brings you back to the entsoc.org site where you can add and drop Network subscriptions (you'll need to re-login).

Adding and dropping Networks

The 'edit my profile' option opens a new window that displays the Networks you currently belong to. Clicking the 'Make Changes' button at the bottom of the screen opens a new field that shows ALL Networks that are currently available. There is no limit to the number of Networks you may join, but there are some restrictions for some types.

• Branch-based Networks are for ESA members-only. ESA members are full members in one Branch but may choose to keep informed of the activities of other Branches. You may not opt-out of your home branch, but you may drop your 'keep me informed' Branch Networks at any point.

• Section-based Networks are also members-only. Since there is a financial component to Sections you may not join or drop your Section membership except during the renewal process. As such, you can neither opt out of nor join Section networks at this portal.

• Committee-based Networks in addition to being members-only are also slightly more restrictive, in that during your tenure on the committee you cannot drop your Network membership. Further, emails sent through the Committee networks will always be delivered immediately rather than in digest format.

The Splash Page Dissected

Section A: Personal Settings: There are 5 parts to this Section. From the top, they are:

• Your name and other info as recorded in the ESA database shows here, including the date and your current time zone.

• Your profile. Clicking here will open a page that describes you in some detail. The public directory for each Network will show less detailed information than you will be able to see about yourself.

• Your Subscriptions. As a user you have the option to choose the delivery for each of your Network subscriptions; all of your options are explained on the screen. It is important to note that hitting the “delete” button does not delete your membership in the Network, just your subscription to the lists. To delete membership in the Network you would need to return to the ESA side and handle that request there.

• Edit Profile. As described in Section 3, clicking here will take you back to the ESA side and allow you to update your record

• Edit Time zone: A nice feature about the ESA Networks site is the fact that all items are displayed per user based on their time zone.

Section B: Searching and Help: There is a built-in searching mechanism for the site that allows the user to find specific content on the Networks site. In this section you can also click on “Help” to reach the Network site help desk. The help address is networks@entsoc.org which will be answered by ESA staff.

Section C: Latest Files: This section will display the latest files posted in the Networks to which you belong. Clicking on an item in this section will take you to the file library, which can also be accessed through the tabs at the top of the screen. For some Networks, discussions are archived into the file library as well.

Section D: Latest News: Similar to the file library, this section will display the latest news items posted in the Networks to which you belong. News items can be submitted by NOs and Site Administrators only. If you have an item that you want posted as News on the Networks site, contact your NO or ESA Central.

Section E: Polls: Each Network can poll their members. Periodically your NO may create a poll to gauge opinions within your Network. These polls will only display to people who are in the Network that created the poll.

Network Home Pages

Each Network has its own home page which is fully editable by your Network Organizer (NO). The Network page has these sections:

File library: Share files with your fellow Network members. Anyone can post a file. What a great place to put committee charges, organizational notes, manuals, white papers, and more.

Listserv: The lists are probably the heart of the Networks. Each user can set their own delivery options in the personal settings as described above. For the most part, there are two main lists for each Network on the ESA site. These are:

• An Announcement list so that Network members can receive blast emails from the NO. An important point is that the Announcement list is not an open discussion list. The Announcements list is strictly for the NOs and the Site Administrators to communicate with the full constituents.

• A shared Discussion forum that anyone can post to as long as they are a member of the Network.

For each topic you are subscribed to you can set how you would like to receive delivery. If you click through on Subscriptions in the personal settings area, next to each topic you will see a drop down box showing the current delivery method. To change the delivery method, select the appropriate value from the drop down list next to the topic, and the screen will refresh with your change made. The various delivery methods are:

• Immediate Email (Default). This option will send you any forum posts directly to your email account as soon as they are received.

• Summary Digest. This option will send you a digest directly to your email account once per day listing the titles from any forum posts received during that day. Links will be provided to view the full forum post within the system.

• Full Digest with Attachments. This option will send you a digest directly to your email account once per day with the full text from any forum posts received during that day, and all of the attachments from those posts.

• Full Digest with Attachment Links. This option will send you a digest directly to your email account once per day with the full text from any forum posts received during that day, and links to download any of the attachments from those posts.

Important note: For Committee-based Networks, delivery of the forums is mandatory to email.

Membership Directory: At any point you as a Network member can view the full roster of members in your Network. To do this, follow these steps:

• Start by clicking on the Members tab.

• In the left hand navigation bar, select “Groups Home”.

• A window showing the Networks that you belong to will open. Select the Network that you want to view.

• In the left hand navigation bar, select “View Members”.

• Select the letter that starts the last name of the member you seek and an alphabetical list will show on the screen.

• Click on the name you are interested in and view that person’s profile.