Frequently Asked Questions

General Contacts / Connections Communities / Discussions Library / Resources

General | Top

Q: What is my username/password?

A: Your username is the email address you used to register for the account. If you have forgotten your password or need assistance with logging in, please click here.

Q: How do I update my contact information?

A: Click on the Avatar in the top right corner of Maddie's Pet forum and select "Profile" from the dropdown menu. On your profile page, select the pencil icon next to "Contact Details" in the left column to open the "Edit Contact Information" popup. To save your edits, scroll to the bottom of that page and click the "Save" button.

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

A: Click on the Avatar in the top right corner of Maddie's Pet forum and select "Profile" from the dropdown menu. Select the "My Account" tab and 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 Changes” button at the bottom of the page.

Q: If I have more questions about how to use the forum, who should I contact?

A: Email the Maddie's Pet Forum team at forumhelp@maddiesfund.org or submit this Contact Us form.



Contacts / Connections | Top

Q: How do I find other members?

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

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 currently belong to.

Q: How do I join/subscribe to a community?

A:  Click on “Communities” in the main navigation and select “All Communities” in the dropdown list 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 or No Email).

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

A: Navigate to your profile and click on the "My Account" tab. Choose "Community Notifications" from the drop-down menu.  On that page, you can view and control your subscription options.  

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.
  • 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.
  • Consolidated Digest: Allows you to combine multiple communities into one notification email. 

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

A:  Click on your avatar in the top right corner of the community and select "Profile".  Then click on the "My Account" tab. Choose "Community Notifications" from the drop-down menu. Here, you will see a list of available communities and those to which you’ve subscribed. Select "Leave Community” under the Actions column for the discussions you wish to leave.

Q: How do I respond to others’ posts?

A: To respond to a discussion post, please navigate to the discussion post and click “Reply" to send your message to the entire community.  To send a message to the only author of the post, please select “Reply Privately” (located in the "Reply" drop-down).  We recommend replying privately 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.

Q: How do I start a new discussion thread?

A: From the home page, click on the "Create New Discussion" button in the left hand column. From anywhere else on the site, click on the "Create" button in the top right corner of the page, then select "Discussion Thread".  To start a new discussion from an email for a specific community, you can use the “Post Message” link located at the top of the discussion email. Each community also has a unique email address. Save that to your address book, and easily start a new post like you would a regular email.

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 your profile page and click on the "My Account" tab. Choose "Community Notifications" from the drop-down menu. Select the “Plain Text” format option for each of the discussions you are subscribed to.

Q: Can I search for posts across all the communities?

A: Yes, please enter a keyword in the search bar located in the main navigation. To refine your search results, select one or more facets from the menu on the left side.

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.

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 affiliated community via the Communities tab > My Communities. 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: How do the libraries get populated?

A: The libraries are populated in two ways:
1.  When you include an attachment in a discussion post, the system automatically places it in the affiliated library.
2.  You can also upload documents directly to a library by clicking on the "Create Entry" button 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: Click the "Create Entry" button on any community's library landing page. Please note that uploading a document is accomplished by completing a few steps, and each step must be completed before you can move on to the next:
  • Choose a title for your document, and include a description (optional). Select the community library to which you’d like to upload it, and select a folder to which you’d like to upload it (optional).  Then, choose an Entry Type (most will be Standard Files, but be cognizant of any copyright licensed material). Once you have completed these steps, please click “Next.”
  • Upload your file.
  • Select “Next” if you want to further describe your files and/or add tags to your file.  Otherwise, please click “Finish” to post your library entry.

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 a great way to organize and categorize your content. Tags can be applied to discussion threads and library entries.  Tagged items are prioritized in the search results.