How to use A4ID Connect

How to start a discussion

Discussion or Blog post? A Discussion and a Blog is similar in

function. However, the main difference between the two lies in their purpose.

The Discussion boards are excellent for creating a dialogue between you and other users. It is less formal than a blog post, and is similar to the “reply to all function” in an email.

How then, do you start a discussion on Connect?

How to start a discussion

If you want to start a discussion, first go to the discussions page by simply clicking on “Discussions” in the top navigational bar.

How to start a discussion You will then be taken to the discussion

pages, where you will be presented with a list of sub-topics. Start a discussion by clicking on the “Add a Discussion” button on the top right.

How to start a discussion

You will then be taken to a text entry box.

Editing your post

The text entry includes standard text formatting options.

Such as Bold Italics Underline And Strikethrough

Editing your post Simply highlight the

text you wish to format, and click one of the respective buttons.

The HTML code will appear, and bracket the selected words…

Editing your post but there is no

need to worry as these are merely there to format the text, and will look like this when you post your article. As you can see, the brackets do not appear.

Editing your post

Other more advanced options also exist, such as the ability to…

create a hyperlink ( ), which lets you link to another website, and to..

include images ( ),

Once again the HTML coding will appear.

How to make links

First highlight the text you wish to make a hyperlink and click on the hyperlink button,

How to make links

A text box will pop up asking you to enter the website address.

How to make links Once you do so, and press enter, or click on the OK

button, the code will be generated into the blog entry box.

The previously highlighted words (in this case the word is “here”) will then become a hyperlink to your desired website (i.e. “http://www.testwebsite.com”)

How to make links You can also use the hyperlink button to

create a hyperlink to an email address. Simply enter “mailto:” before the email address into the textbox that appears when you click on the hyperlink button

How to make links Likewise, the previously highlighted words

(in this case “email”) will then generate HTML code to create a hyperlink to the designated email address.

How to make links

This is what it will look like when you post the article.

How to add images Adding pictures is

simple. Simply click on the button and then a box will appear asking you to either provide the address to a picture that has already been uploaded, or to upload a picture from your computer, as you would an email attachment.

How to add images

You also have more advanced formatting options when you click on “options”

How to add images Once you click on “add” the code for

will be generated at the top of the text entry box.

How to add images If you wish for the picture to appear below

some text (in the example: “Look at this picture!”) , you must cut the code and paste it below the text you wish for the image to appear after.

How to add images

This is what it will look like.

How to attach files You may also attach files to

your post by the three attachment boxes on the bottom. Click on “Browse” once again a dialogue box appears. Simply locate the file as you would for an email attachment.

Once the discussion has been posted, the selected files will appear at the end of your post.

To conclude… Once you have finished

typing up your discussion topic, you should select the relevant category that the discussion should appear in through the drop down box.

You may also attach files that you would like to include in your post through the three input boxes at the bottom. Simply locate the file as you would for an email attachment and they will appear at the end of the post.

Once you have finished everything, simply click “Add Discussion” and your post will appear under the chosen category.

Replying to a Discussion If you want to reply to a discussion, first

click on the title of the discussion, and there will be a text entry box for your reply at the end of the post.