Topic Areas
Engagement
Discussion and comments are meant to stimulate conversation and keep you connected with others all year round. Every post should make a positive contribution and exchange best practices. This forum will be successful with equal contribution from all - ask questions, reply to content, and share what's working or not working for you with your communities.
A good discussion post will be applied to the most applicable community and will contain:
- Descriptive subject line
- Clear and concise content focused on one area
- Details to provide context to the question, statement, or reasoning
- If asking for help, describe the actual issue you're working to solve, not just the broken solution
- Polite, respectful tone to encourage response
- Call to action to elicit replies
Not sure how to create a discussion post? See the FAQ and User Guide.
Etiquette
- Do not post anything you would not want the world to see or what you would not want anyone to know came from you.
- Post messages and questions in the most appropriate discussions or libraries; do not spam multiple communities with the same content.
- Be transparent about who you are, where you work, your challenges, and your successes to build trust and relationships.
- Fill out your profile with your real name, agency details, and photo.
- See the FAQ and User Guide for more guidance on profile management.
- Venting and blowing off steam are appropriate, but remember to focus on constructively adapting to obstacles rather than dwelling on negativity.
- See the Terms and Conditions for more information
Getting Help
If you have a specific question for CPSE staff or would like to peruse the official CPSE resources, do so by visiting the CPSE Resources help page. This page contains Atlas, a helpful AI resource bot, the CPSE resource library, and a link to ask CPSE staff a question.
Use the search bar at the top of the page to search all communities, discussion threads, and libraries you have access to. Search results will be categorized by the type of entry that is applicable. Please note the general search box contains all user discussions and library uploads, not just those from CPSE.
If your search is unsuccessful, use the Ask your fellow humans button to have AI help you write a discussion post to gain input from other members.
Personalization
Profile Updates
Building online relationships requires a level of transparency and visibility. We recommend updating your profile with information about yourself and your agency, uploading a current photo, and creating a personalized discussion thread signature.
To update your profile:
- Click on the round profile button with your initials/image (if you've already uploaded one)
- Modify contact details by clicking the pencil next to the module
- Areas you cannot change are controlled by the CPSE database and can only be changed by using the CPSE portal
- Add other relevant details such as a biography, job history, associations, vendors, social links, and more by clicking the Add button under each module
- Applicable ribbons and badges you have earned will appear under your contact details
- If feel you are missing a particular ribbon or badge, please contact community@cpse.org and/or confirm the correct details exist on your account through the CPSE portal
- Click Actions under the large circle with your initials to upload (or change) your photo
To set a personalized discussion thread signature:
- Navigate to your profile and click My Account
- Select Discussion Signature
- Select from system fields or add free text
- Save or Reset to Default
- Signature can also be modified when creating a new discussion post
Email Notifications
To modify how often you receive emails from the communities to which you belong, navigate to your profile and click My Account. Select Communication Notifications.
From here you will see a list of communities your are a part of. For each, you can select what type of notification you'd like to receive:
- Consolidated Daily Digest: You will receive one email each day containing the previous day's messages from all communities you are a part of.
- Consolidated Weekly Digest: You will receive one email every Sunday containing a review of the previous week's messages from all communities you are a part of.
- Real Time: You will receive an email each time a new message is posted in this community.
- Daily Digest: You will receive one email each day containing the previous day's messages from this individual community.
- No Email: You will not receive emails from this individual community; if you've selected a Consolidated Digest, this community's content will be included in the Digest.
You can also receive notifications to an email address different than the one you log in with by setting a Discussion Email on the Communication Notifications page. This will send digests and community notifications to an email address of your choosing.
Visit the Email Notifications page to manage email types such as:
- Community emails
- Participation emails
- Promotional emails
- Smart Newsletters
Ensuring Community Success
To help with the success of this community for you and all its members, here are three tips to get you started successfully:
- Complete your Profile
- Fill out your profile completely with a picture to encourage trust, credibility, and build relationships
- Interact with Existing Posts & Start Your Own
- Peruse all the communities you have access to
- Read posts to understand the flow and community culture
- Respond to at least one discussion in each community to begin engagement
- Choose a community to post your first question, article, or resource to start conversation
- Use the Resources
- Utilize the CPSE Resource library, Atlas search, and general search to find answers to your questions