How to sign up to and use communities on BT Tradespace

Networking and reputation are key to your success on BT Tradespace. The buzz word here is communities.

What are communities?

Communities are the place to talk to other members. Anyone can set up a community on any topic, with the most popular communities listed on our homepage.

Communities are a great way to:

• share expertise
• get advice
• network
• increase your contacts list.

Your profile name on every post will link back to your Tradespace or personal profile. The more you post, the easier it is for people to find and trust you.

How to find communities

1. On the homepage

The most popular communities appear on our homepage.

2. At sign up

Step 3 of the sign up process asks you to enter at least one keyword and brings up a list of communities to match. You have the choice to join the communities on the list then and there.

3. Through search

Type in the word or phrases that best match your interests and we’ll provide a list of relevant businesses, members and communities.

Now click on the ‘Communities’ tab or look for these buttons on search results:

• ‘View community’ takes you to a community.
• ‘View topic’ takes you to a discussion within a community.
• ‘View post’ takes you to a message within a topic.

Found a community you’re interested in? Good, you’re ready for the next step: Join.

How to join to a community

It’s easy to join a community.

• Click on the community you want to join.
• Now click on the ‘Join this community’ button that you’ll find at the top of every community.
• You’re in! Membership is instant and you’ll now receive updates in your newsfeed when people post in and join this community.

How to use communities

Communities hold message boards for chatting and are organised into three tabs:

• Overview: this shows a list of topics (discussions) in the community.
• Topics: active discussions in the community where members post their opinions.
• Members: people who receive updates in their newsfeeds when someone posts a message, starts a topic or joins.

To read a discussion, click on the topic you’re interested in.

To post a message, click on the ‘Reply to topic’ button.

• Give your post a title.
• Now write your message.
• Click ‘Post it!’
• Your message will appear at end of the discussion.

To return to the main topics page, click on ‘Back to list of topics’.

You can also comment on posts within a topic.

• Click on the post title.
• Click on ‘Reply’ and type your message as before. Your message shows when someone clicks on the post, not on the main topic page.

To create a new discussion:

• Click on ‘Create topic’ at the top of the page.
• Give your topic a name.
• Describe what you want people to chat about.
• You now have the option to kick off the discussion with a post.
• Your post will need a title and some text.
• Now click ‘Continue’.

Once you’re comfortable posting and joining communities, you may be ready for the next step: running your own! Anyone can set up a community and it’s a doddle to do.

How to set up a community

To create your own community:

• Log in to your BT Tradespace account.
• Click on ‘My Tradespace’ at the top of the screen.
• Go to the ‘Communities’ tab.
• Click on the button ‘Create a community’ to start the set-up wizard. You’ll need a small image and a description for your community.
• Click ‘Begin’ at the bottom of the page.

Step 1

• Now enter the name of your community.
• Write a sentence to introduce your community to let people know what it’s about.
• Upload your image by clicking on ‘Choose file’.
• For new images, click ‘Add from PC’. Select your image. Now enter a title for the image. You can also add keywords if you like. Click ‘Save’. Your image is also saved in your media library, so you can use it again!
• To add an image you’ve already uploaded, click ‘Add from library’, select your image, then click ‘Save’.
• Enter keywords for your community. Pick words or phrases that will help visitors find your community.
• Click on the colour you want for your community pages.
• Click ‘Continue’.

Step 2

Your community is ready, you just need to create your first topic.

• Give your topic a name.
• Now describe what you want people to chat about.
• You now have the option to kick off the discussion with a post.
• Your post will need a title and some text.
• Now click ‘Continue’.

Step 3

Your community is ready to publish.

• Click ‘Publish’ and you’re done – or take the chance to announce it to your network.

To publish and announce:

• Choose the contacts who will receive your notification by clicking on the arrow ‘>’.
• If you want to add new people to the list, use ‘Add new contacts’ to do this, then click ‘Save new contacts’ to return to this page.
• Scroll down and type your message in the box.
• Click ‘Publish & announce’. This will send your message and publish your community.

Success! Your community is live on BT Tradespace.

How to manage communities

Click on ‘My Tradespace’ at the top of the screen.

• Go to the ‘Communities’ tab.
• To leave a community, click on ‘Leave’. If you own the community, ownership will revert to BT Tradespace admin.
• To ask for a post to be deleted, visit that community by clicking on its title. Now click ‘Contact administrator’ and send your request.

Community owners

• Community owners can click on ‘Close’ to remove a community from BT Tradespace.
• ‘Edit’ allows you to change the details.
• Click on ‘Block’ to remove members.
• To delete a post in your community, find the post you wish to delete. If you’re logged in, you’ll see a ‘Delete post’ button next to it.   Click on it to remove the text (the message will be replaced with ‘This post has been removed by the administrator’).