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| Frequently Asked Questions |
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GENERAL & MEMBERSHIP QUESTIONS |
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Is FriendCircles.com free to join? |
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Yes, FriendCircles.com is absolutely free. We currently have no plans in offering any charged services.
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Is membership at FriendCircles.com open to everyone? |
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Yes. Everyone is welcomed to join FriendCircles.com!
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What do I get with my membership at FriendCircles.com? |
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A lot! You will get a personal homepage with an easy-to-remember domain name, a photo album that allows you to upload and edit your photo collection,
an organizer with calendar, event manager, notes and address book.
Most importantly, you will get to know tons of people out there and communicate with them using our messaging system.
You will aslo get to set up groups and gather friends with specific interests and lots more!
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I get my own domain name? How does that work? |
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Typing in YourName.friendcircles.com will access your homepage at FriendCircles.com.
YourName is the handle you entered during the registration of FriendCircles.com membership and you can change your handle anytime you like provided it is not in use.
Be sure to share your FriendCircles.com domain name to your friends so that they will know what you have been up to lately.
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I recently signed up with FriendCircles.com. Will I be sent a confirmation e-mail to let me know that my membership has been accepted? |
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Yes, FriendCircles.com will send you a confirmation e-mail congratulating you on joining the FriendCircles.com network.
The e-mail will also include your login details.
You will need to respond to this e-mail to begin using the services at FriendCircles.com.
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Will I be notified of updates to FriendCircles.com? |
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Yes, we’ll keep you in the loop! We want you to be aware of and able to benefit from the latest services offered from FriendCircles.com. Any site updates, as well as details on how to use any new features, will be posted on your page, as well as sent to the e-mail address you registered with us.
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I can’t seem to log into my FriendCircles.com account. What's wrong? |
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This could be happening for several reasons. You may be using the incorrect password or user ID. You can retrieve this information by using the ‘forgot password’ link at the bottom of the login page. Once you fill out the form, your login information will be sent via e-mail to the address you registered with us. If your e-mail inbox is filtered for junk or bulk mail, check those folders as the e-mail might have went there. Keep your login information somewhere safe but accessible. FriendCircles.com cannot change your login details, only you are authorized to do so.
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What if I forget my password? (I have so many of them!) |
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No problem. There is a ‘forgot password’ link on your login page. Click on that, fill in the information, and your password will be e-mailed to you.
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Can I chat on FriendCircles.com? |
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Not now. We presently do not have a chat feature at FriendCircles.com. However, you can still start conversations by using the bulletin board feature.
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I have so many addresses to add! Can I import e-mail addresses into Friendcircles.com? |
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Yes, you can. We have made inviting your friends and contacts to FriendCircles.com easy! You are able to import e-mail addresses from address books of e-mail services like Yahoo!, Hotmail and Outlook. Just follow the instructions found in your e-mail accounts on how to import/export e-mail addresses.
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If I sign up for FriendCircles.com, will any adware, spyware or any monitoring software be installed onto my computer? |
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Nope! Rest assured that your visit will be ‘spy’ free. FriendCircles.com only uses session cookies, but they expire when you log out.
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Do you share my address and other information with anyone? |
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Please refer to our privacy policy for more information.
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I have a suggestion that might improve functionality of FriendCircles.com. Can I send this to you? |
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We love to hear ideas from our Friendizens! If you have a suggestion that could improve our community, by all means send them to us from the Contact Us page.
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How do I cancel my FriendCircles.com account? |
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First log into FriendCircles.com, click on the "Profile" link on the left panel. In your profile page, click on the "Cancel Account" link on the left panel to cancel your FriendCircles.com account.
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PROFILE |
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Why do I need a profile? |
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That’s simple! FriendCircles.com is a place to network and meet new people. Without a profile, people would not be able to connect to you, by finding similarity in your location, interest, likes, etc.
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Must all profile information be filled out in order for my account to be active? |
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Nope. You don't have to fill out all the information in order to keep your account active.
During sign up you are required to fill in minimum information for your profile.
However we do advice members to complete their profile so that other members can get to know more about you.
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Can my profile information be changed as and when I desire? |
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Sure. We realize that you may want to add or change things over time, so you are able to make updates to you account whenever you’d like.
To access this, just select the “My Account” button, and then click on “Profiles” on the left panel.
Next, click on “Primary Information”. This will display the information you entered when you signed up.
Once you are done, click on the “Update Primary Information” button to complete the process.
Your updated profile is now ready to be shared with other Friendizens!
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Is my profile information shared with everyone on the website? |
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While it is required to complete all profile information, you can make your profile private if you want. We encourage you to make it searchable however so that friends can find you, and so that new friends can be made!
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MY CIRCLE OF FRIENDS |
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Can I invite friends to join? |
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Absolutely. That’s the name of our game.
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How do I invite friends to join the FriendCircles.com community? |
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On your “My Home” page, click on the “Invite a friend” link.
You are able to send invitation to up to ten friends at each time, you can also include a personal note.
Simply type in the e-mail addresses of the friends you want to invite, type your personal note (or leave blank) and hit "Send"!
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If I have my own website or weblog, can I link to my FriendCircles.com page? |
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Sure! Just use HTML or your web authoring software to create a link right to yourname.friendcircles.com!
By the way, instead of using an external weblog, there is also a Journal feature at FriendCircles.com.
To access your journal, click on "My Journal" on the left panel of your member page after logging in.
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Is there a limit to the number of friends I can add to my circle of friends? |
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Of course not! We want our community’s population to explode, so there is no limit to the number of friends you can have at FriendCircles.com.
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If I want to delete someone from my circle, will they be informed? |
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Nope. The preference of deleting members from your circle of friends is your very own personal matter.
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If I sent an invitation to a wrong e-mail address will FriendCircles.com inform me? |
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We have no way to let you know if the invite was sent to a wrong address, so you will not be notified. Always try to be sure the e-mail addresses of your friends are updated. If you have not gotten a response from someone yet, try inviting him or her again.
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Can I check if my friends are already members of FriendCircles.com? |
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Sure. Just click the “My Friends” tab and you will see the “find/invite a friend” box at the bottom left of the page. You can search by specifying any one or all of the following options: e-mail address, user ID or first and last name. FriendCircles.com will check its database to see if there are matches to your search criteria. If they are not members, why not send an invite?!
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Can I contact or communicate with other members in FriendCircles.com? |
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Yes. You can send a message to the member you intend to know. You can also add the member into your "Hotlink" so that you quickly find him/her later (like a bookmark).
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Will my friends be sent a reminder e-mail if they do not join right away? |
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If your friend does not join when you invite them, you can always reinvite them too.
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If I don’t have many people to invite, how can my circle grow? |
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That’s okay! FriendCircles.com is a place to meet new people too! Simply search through the profiles using the filters you want to use, and find new friends that can join your circle.
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Do I only get once chance to send out invites? Or, can I invite people more than once? |
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When you sign up, that is not the only chance to invite people. If you want to invite someone new later on, you can. Or, if someone you invited does not respond, you can reinvite them as well.
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I invited some people to be in my circle. How can I tell when they join? |
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On your "My Friends" page, there is box that lists how many contacts you have, including pending requests. So, you are able to see how many invites you still have out.
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How can I see how many people are in my circle? |
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On your "My Friends" page, there is box, which lists how many contacts you have in your inner, middle and outer circle. Additionally, below the box, it will list your contacts by name as well.
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PHOTO ALBUM |
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How do I upload photos into my album? |
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To upload photos, first log in into your account. Then select “My Home” and proceed to the “Photo Album Option.” Then, click on the “Upload Photo” link. You will arrive at a new page where you will see the “Upload Photo Album” function. When you click on this, you are able to upload photos from your files by browsing and selecting. In addition to uploading your photos, you can also give them captions and descriptions. You are also able to create multiple albums and choose where each photo belongs.
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Is there a limit to how many photos I can upload? |
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For now, 100 photos is the limit.
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How many photo albums can I create? |
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You are able to create as many albums as you’d like, as long as the total number of photos does not exceed 100.
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How do I delete photos? |
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You are able to delete photos from your albums as well. Follow the same steps to upload photos- Log in into your account, select “My Home” and proceed to the “Photo Album Option.” When there, you will see the “Overview” link. Click on that, and you will see your photo albums displayed. Each album has a “delete album” link.
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Can I edit photos at FriendCircles.com? |
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As of now, you cannot edit photos. You can use your own photo editing programs prior to uploading the pictures to your album.
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TESTIMONIAL |
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What is a testimonial? |
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A testimonial is basically spreading the good news about a member, in your own words.
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How can I submit a testimonial about a positive FriendCircles.com experience? |
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We’d love to hear your what you think of other members, or success story about meeting a new friend! Just use the “Testimonial” link to submit your experiences or give a testimonial about a positive member, share with the rest of the community.
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If I provide a testimonial, do I get to approve it before it is displayed? |
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Yes, we will allow you to read the testimonial first to make sure it gets your approval.
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Can I delete a testimonial once I have approved it? |
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Yes. Just click on the "Delete Testimonial" link in each of the testimonial you approved.
You can view all the testimonials your friend wrote to you in the "My Testimonial" page.
To access the "My Testimonal" page, first log on to FriendCircles.com and click on the "Testimonials" link on the left panel.
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BLOCKING MEMBERS |
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Am I able to block members? |
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If there is a member you wish to block from your circle, you may do so. From your member page, find the member you wish to block, and click on the “Block Member” link. A pop-up will appear asking if you are sure you want to the specific member. Click yes.
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Can I unblock members? |
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Yes. Under your “My Home” or “My Friends” tab, click on “Blocked Members.” You will see a list of members you have blocked, with an “unblock” link next to their name. Simply click “unblock.”
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If I get blocked from another member, can I be unblocked? |
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Only if the member themselves unblock you. If you are contacted with the person outside of FriendCirlces, you could try to contact the member by another means to find out why they blocked you.
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JOURNAL ENTRIES |
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What is the journal for? |
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The journal is your area to share with your circle or whole community your new and information. It allows for personalization.
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How do I make a journal entry? |
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It’s easy to share your news with your circle of friends! Under your “My Home” or “My Friends” tab, click on “Make a Journal Entry.” A box with 3 links will appear. Click on the “New Journal Entry,” and begin.
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How often can I update my journal? |
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As often as you would like!
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Can I add photos to my journal entry? |
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No, but you can direct readers to a corresponding picture by providing a link to your photo album.
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Can anyone read my journal? |
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You have the ability to make your journal private to your circle of friends, or to the entire community. You get to choose who reads your news and stories, not us!
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Can people comment on my journal? |
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Yes. when you are in a member's journal page, under every journal you will see the number of comments that have been posted for this journal (For example, "0 comment", or "5 comments").
Click on the number of comments link will bring you to page showting that particular journal entry, you will find the "Post a Comment:" text box below the journal text.
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MY RECOMMENDATIONS |
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What is My Recommendations? |
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My Recommendations is a place for you to suggest anything from a book you read, a new recipe you discovered, a movie you just watched and more for your circle of friends and other members to read, and give comments on. It’s kind of like your soapbox!
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How does the “Star Rating” work in My Recommendations? |
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Star ratings work as feedback given by friends or other members who have read your recommendations. They can rate them from one to five stars, depending on how they agree with your suggestion! The star rating next to each recommendation is the average rating.
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Is it permissible to post anything under the sun in My Recommendation? |
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Yes. You are able to make recommendations at your own discretion.
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MY MESSAGES |
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What is My Messages? |
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My messages is an area that allows you to create, send and save messages to and from members of FriendCircles.com.
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How am I notified that I have a new message? |
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Just like with e-mail, you will have an inbox on your message page. It wil let you know if you have any new, unopened messages.
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Can I be SPAMMED from unknown sources in FriendCircles.com? |
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No. Messages you receive are from your friends and members at FriendCircles.com only. If you feel you are being SPAMMED by a member, you are can block that member to avoid receiving further unwanted messages.
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Can I store messages? |
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Yes. You can create folders and store messages by any subject or category you create.
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How long will the messages be stored in my in/out box before they are deleted? |
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Messages are stored until you decide to delete them. There is a trash can feature on your message page.
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Who can I send a message to? |
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Anyone! You can send a message to an individual member or your entire circle of friends. You can even send it to an external contact.
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How do I compose a message? |
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From the message center, you click on “compose new message.” From there you can select who you want to send the message to. First, you choose either individual member, group or external contact. Next, from the drop down menu you select either the group or member you wish to send to. Then, you compose your message in the text box and hit send. You can also change the font and style to make your message in your own style!
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Is there a word limit when I compose a new message? |
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Nope. We decided not to introduce word limit for sending messages for the time being.
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When I search for my messages, how are the results sorted? |
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You can search for messages from yourself, or from a friend. Just choose the option you want from the search menu.
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BULLETIN BOARD |
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What is the bulletin board? |
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The bulletin board is a forum where you can post and respond to messages. Start a discussion by making an initial post! Just click on the ‘create posting’ button.
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Will everyone see my messages that I post on the bulletin board? |
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That’s up to you! When you post, you have the option to make it private or share with you inner circle, or display it publicly.
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MY GROUPS |
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What are groups? |
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Groups are made up of members who share interests in a particular area. They are started and moderated by members just like you. You can join or create groups to interact in and meet people through.
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How do I create a group? |
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Click on the “My Groups” tab, and under the “Groups menu” box click on the “Start a group” link and you will be taken to the create new group page. Fill in the details on the page and you group is created.
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What can I do in a group? |
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Interact! Groups come equipped with message boards, journals, calendars and more that can keep group members in tune with each other.
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Can I search for groups? |
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Yes! We encourage you to do so! Just click on the Group tab from the top of the page to get started. Then, click on the search/browse function. A menu with dozens of categories will be displayed. From there, you can browse within categories for many subcategories.
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How do I join a group? |
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If you see a group that interests you, click on the titles to learn more about it. From there, click on the “join now” link. When you click on it, a window will pop up asking if you want to join. You must click okay to continue.
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How do I know that I am a member? |
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After you join a group, the group owner will be notified. Once your application was approved, you will be sent a message. After that, it is official!
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Are all groups open for membership? |
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No. Group owners have the chance to make a group private or public. This will be notated as you search for groups.
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If a group is private and I really want to join, what can I do? |
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You could search for the groups owner by doing a member search and invite them to be a contact. From there, you could express your interest in the group.
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Am I able to delete a group I have created? |
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Yes. Just use the “Delete Group” link from the “My Groups” page.
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Can I block members who want to join my group? |
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Yes. When setting up your group, you can select the “Review Required” setting, which means you approve every member yourself.
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Can I quit or leave a group? |
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If you no longer want to be a part of a group you joined, you can go to the “Overview” section of your “My Groups” tab. There, you will see all groups that you have joined, with a link stated "Unsubscribe". Just click on that, and you will be unsubcribed from that group.
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MY ORGANIZER |
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What is My Organizer? |
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My Organizer consists of tools that will keep your social life organized: a calendar, address book, event listing, notes and more.
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How can I access My Organizer? |
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My organizer can be accessed from the Organizer tab on the top of the homepage. From there, you can access the calendar, address book and notes to add to and edit the entries in each.
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How do I add a contact to my address book? |
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Click on the “add contact” button on top of the page and then fill in the appropriate information. You can add their first name, last name, nickname, home and work contact information, instant messenger information, what type of contact they are, birthday or other important date and more.
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How is my address book organized? |
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You can categorize your contacts by Personal, Business or Professional.
You can also create new categories, by clicking "New" on the Categories panel.
Therefore you can have your contacts sorted by "Best Friends", "Classmates", "Teammates" etc.
Alternatively, you can list contacts with the first letter of their first or last name, or their e-mail address.
Just click on the list of alphabets in your Address Book.
Contacts are sorted by Last Name by default, you can choose to sort them by first name or e-mail address by changing the "Sort By" criterium.
We currently only allow a maximum number of 10 contact categories inclusive of the pre-generated ones (Personal, Business and Professional), we figured that is more than enough for normal usage.
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Can I change the settings of the My Organizer page? |
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Yes. The default opening page of the organizer section is your calendar, but you can change it to either you address book or notes from the Organizer Settings section. You are also able to change your time zone, how you want the calendar displayed (daily, weekly, monthly, etc.), and of you want the week to start on Monday or Sunday.
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Is My Organizer private? |
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As for Address Book and Notes, they are limited to your private viewing only.
As for Events, you can choose to share a particular event to the public, to your friends within your circle, or strictly to yourself only.
Events that are shared will be shown on your Schedule and Calendar page.
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How do I add an event? |
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Click on “Add Events” and follow the instructions. You will be able to create a title for the event, and add notes like location, details and more. In fact, you can even select the frequency of an item. This means, if you have a meeting every Friday morning, you can just used the repeat box to select “repeat weekly,” which will save you the time from adding the event over and over again. In addition, there are start and end dates for repeated items.
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Can I set and receive reminders for the events in My Organizer? |
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Yes. When you are creating or editing an event, at the "Reminders" section, select the time you want FriendCircles.com to remind you before the event takes place.
Reminders will be sent in the the form of e-mail to your e-mail address.
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How do I know when there is an event listed on my calendar? |
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It is easy to see when you have something planned! When there is an event, it will be shaded on the calendar with the time and title listed as well.
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