FAQs

General Contacts / Connections Communities / Discussions Library / Resources

General | Top

Q: How do I login?

A:
  • Click on the Sign in button.
  • On the Log in page, click on Forgot Your Username and/or Password.
  • Under Retrieve Username and Password, make sure that Email Address is selected.
  • Enter your Email address and click on Send my password.
  • If your email address is on record, you will receive immediate confirmation with the following message: We have sent you your Username and Password in an email notification. If you do not receive the email shortly, please check your spam folder and make sure to add membership@counseling.org as a trusted sender.
  • If your email address is not on record, you will receive immediate notification with the following message: The email you entered was not found in the database. Please try again (you may have another email address on file), or contact our Member Services Department at 800-347-6647, x222/703-823-9800 x222 (M - F 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. ET) or email us at membership@counseling.org.
  • Click on Login here once you have retrieved your login information and proceed to login by entering your Username and Password.
  • You will not automatically be redirected back to the Community with this process, so once you have logged in, click on ACA Community and then ACA Connect.
  • You will know you are logged in by the presence of a Profile picture in the upper right corner and the absence of the Sign in button.

Q: How do I update my profile picture and contact information?

A:
  • Once you are logged in, click on the down arrow next to your profile picture, and then click on the Profile button.
  • Click on the down arrow in the Actions button beneath your profile picture to upload your photograph. You can also use this process to change or remove your photograph.
  • Click on the green Add button to link Social Networks to your ACA Connect Profile.
  • Click on Edit Contact information (this will update your permanent record with ACA) to edit your contact information. Editing your contact information here will update your permanent record with ACA.
  • While on the My Profile tab you can fill out your Profile information. Options include Bio, Education, Job History, Professional Associations, and Honors and Awards. You can also import information from your LinkedIn page.
  • While on the My Profile tab you can click the green Add buttons to link Social Network information to your ACA Connect Profile page.
    Click on the My Connections tab to add friends/colleagues to your Contact list. You will see which contacts you have already, and will be able to Send Messages or Remove Contacts.
  • Click on My Connections and then Networks to see a list of the Networks you are included in.
  • Click on My Connections and then Communities for a list of the Communities you belong to. From here click on Enter to go to that Community's home page.
  • Click on the My Contributions tab to see all of your activities with ACA Connect.
  • Click on the My Account tab to access the following options: Inbox, Privacy Settings, Email Preferences, RSS Feeds, Subscriptions, and Discussion Signature.

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

A: Please navigate to your profile page, then 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.


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

Switch to the “Advanced Search” tab to refine your search results by:

  • City
  • State
  • Country
  • Community
  • Education

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 and the affiliated discussion group?

A:  Click on “Communities” in the main navigation and click on “All Communities” 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, there are subscription options: Real Time, Daily Digest, No Email.  

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.

Q: How do I unsubscribe from a community discussion?

A:  Go to your profile and 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.

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 Discussion” to send your message to the entire community.  To send a message to the only author of the post, please select “Reply to Sender” (located in the "Reply to Discussion" drop-down).  We recommend replying to the sender 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: Go to “Participate" > “Post a message.” From an email (HTML version) for a particular discussion forum, you can use the “Post Message” link located at the top of the discussion 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, please select "Show Advanced Search".

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. “Show Original Message” at the bottom of all of the posts in a thread will display the original message that started that discussion.

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 All Communities page. 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: Can I search for specific file types?

A: Yes. Enter your desired keyword in the main search box. From the search results page, click "Show Advanced Search."  Then click on “Search for Specific File Types.” This gives you the option to specify file type: Document, Image, Spreadsheet, etc.

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 using the “Share a File” link found under “Participate” in the main navigation or "Create New Library 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: Select the “Share a File” link found under “Participate” in the main navigation or "Create New Library Entry" on any community 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 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 great way to organize and categorize content on your site. Tags can be applied to blogs, library entries, events, and glossary terms.  Tagged items are prioritized in the search results.