Q. I'd like some hints for making the Community Network part of my daily life

A. The Community Network is a flexible environment for learning and building community, and we expect that users will find many different ways to keep up with their projects, Groups and connections. Some early users of Golightly communities came up with these suggestions--depending on your available time, energy and level of participation, you might find an idea here that works for you!

Ideas

• Make the Community Network Your Home Page: In your web browser, set the URL of your ‘’Welcome’’ page as the page that first opens up when you start Internet Explorer, Opera, Safari, Netscape, etc. (often found under preferences, options, etc.—see How Can I Make The Community Network The Home Page On My Web Browser). This way, when you log on, you can check out what's new with the Community Network, see whether any new and interesting Groups have started, and visit any Groups you regularly read on the Web.

• Keep a Community Network Window Open at All Times: Some Members keep their computers open all day, and read email and surf the web off and on. Many community members are finding it very handy to keep a browser window open to the Community Network all day, and another window open to use for looking other sites they visit throughout the day. Those of us just learning the Community Network often keep the Help Files open in a separate window for easy reference.

• Encourage Others to Check In: Many of us read most of our Group messages in our own email software, and are not "in" the Community Network environment much of the time. A way to remind our colleagues to check in is to post items to the Shared Library and send the link to your Group members, use the Group Wiki to draft your documents and tell Group members about it, or point them to a new Group or other new feature of the Community Network. And if YOU find an interesting Web site, remember to visit the Community Network and add it to our Shared Library--we will soon have a great collection of resources if we remember to add useful URLs, review books we enjoy, or write stories about our lives.

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