How Do I...?

Good question! Here are some frequently asked "how do I"s along with their answers. If you look through here and are still wondering about something, contact us with your question.

...search for information?

Searching for information in connectipedia is very similar to searches you may have done in Wikipedia.org or Google.com. In the "Search cards" box at the top of the page, simply type in "education" or "domestic violence" or another key word of the subject you are hoping to learn more about, then hit Enter.

All cards with matching information will appear in a list.

You can peruse the information by clicking on the title (which will open that card to see any contextual information inside). Once you have found a card you are interested in, click on the page icon to the left of the title to be taken to that card's page.

You can use the "Go to card" box at the top of the page to move directly to a specific card. Start typing the title of the subject or organization and the auto-completed options will appear. You can keep typing or click on the appropriate option you are looking for to navigate directly to that card.

...edit an existing card?

If you have information that would be beneficial to other connectipedia users (see "...know what information to include?" to help identify important information) and it is not already available in the knowledgebase, you can enter the information yourself.

First, locate the card associated with the reference, research, contact, etc. You can do this by using the search box at the top of the page (see "...searching for information?") or the Subject Table of Contents. If the card you need does not exist, you can create a new card for the information—see "...create a new card?"

Once the card has been located, you can edit it by either clicking on "Edit" in the upper right-hand corner of the card box or by double-clicking in the content box of the card. You can use the formatting pallet at the top of the edit box to include bold, italic, red, highlighted, or bulleted text so your information is easy to locate and read by other users.

Note: Be sure to click "save" at the bottom left-hand corner so your information is not lost!

...create a new card?

If you have information that would be beneficial to other connectipedia users (see "...know what information to include?" to help identify important information) but no related card exists, you can create the card and input the information yourself. First, double-check that the card you are looking for does not already exist by searching a key word in the search box at the top of the page.

To create a card, click on "New Card" at the top of the page. After naming your card and entering any information you have in the content box, hit save.

Note: If some or all of these options do not appear for you, it is most likely because you do not have permission to make the change. If you think there is a permission error, please contact us so we can investigate.

...make an internal link?

When entering information to a connectipedia card, you can put links to other cards—this is helpful when entering information related to other topics or pointing the user to another bit of helpful information. Simply put the link between brackets. For example, typing this:

Amy Sample Ward
will give you this link:

Amy Sample Ward

or, you can change how the link appears like this:

Amy's info

will give you:

Amy's info

...make an external link?

When entering information to a connectipedia card, you can put links to other websites—this allows you to enter only the most crucial information about a resource, report, or organization and allow an interested user to visit the website to learn more on his or her own. To make a link to an outside website, simply put the link in the content box as it appears in your web browser. For example, typing this (without quotes):

"http://www.google.com"

will give you:

http://www.google.com

You can also change how the link appears by putting your chosen text in a single bracket (Note: Internal links use two brackets and this link is using only one) followed by the link in a single bracket. For example, typing this:

Google.com is an external link
will give you:

Google.com is an external link

...make a link to page/s that do/does not exist yet?

If you are entering information and know that a specific internal page does not exist, but needs to, you can still link to that page, and in so doing you create it. (Note: You just have to click on that link to create it.) For example, typing this:

I don't exist

will give you:

I don't exist

or, typing this:

An example new card

will give you:

An example new card

...know what information to include?

As you use connectipedia as a resource, you may come across a section where information is missing that you know. This information could include a recent authoritative report on the topic, contact person or organization that could answer questions either a grantmaking or a grantseeking group may have on the topic, a resource (preferably online) that contains information, research, or frequently asked questions on the topic.

Likewise, as you conduct your normal business, either as a grantmaker or a grantseeker, you may come across information that would be best shared with others around the state. connectipedia is designed for just this! You can search for an appropriate topic area in connectipedia (see "...search for information?") and enter the information for other users to see (see "...edit an existing card?"). This information could include a recent authoritative report on the topic, contact person or organization that could answer questions either a grantmaking or a grantseeking group may have on the topic, a resource (preferably online) that contains information, research, or frequently asked questions on the topic.

The most important information to include is:
• the web address where the information can be located
• contact person or organization's name/information
• brief description of what the information, reference, report, or contact is about
• your name, so users know where the information came from (see "...tag information?")

...tag information?

Whenever you enter information into connectipedia, it is useful to tag that entry with your name so other users can see where the information came from and to whom to address any questions if necessary. Tagging is easy to do. Simply put your name inside two brackets (make an internal link). A user card exists for all users where you can enter your email address and other contact information. It is to this card that the link will be connected. For example, typing this:

Amy Sample Ward

will give you:

Amy Sample Ward

...identify quality information to include?

Here is a list of questions that can help in identifying important information to include in connectipedia for the benefit of yourself and others.

• Are there internal resources?
• Are there other local/regional foundation resources (GOSW)?
• Use web (beginning with Google, wikipedia, etc.) to locate non-local resources, issues, findings, best practices, etc.
• Is there a grantmaking affinity group?
• Are there national/regional organizations that have useful information?
• What are the local resources?
• Who delivers service/operates program? State agency? Other government lelvel agency? Are there legal requirements?
• What is the nonprofit landscape?
• Who knows the most? (E.g., specialists? academics? practitioners? associations? membership organization? etc.)
• Who collects data? Who keeps the data current and offers it in the most usable form?
• Who cares about this?
• Who/what perspectives are we leaving out?

...change my password?

First, go to your User card - just click on the "My Card: " link at the very top of every page
near the right corner. Then click on the Options tab and you'll see two text boxes labeled "Password" and "Confrim Password". Just fill them in with your new password, then click on "Save Changes".