How To Get The Most From CCS

How To Get The Most From CCS WITHOUT Getting Completely Overwhelmed!

When CCS began, for maybe the first month it was possible to follow every discussion and be a member of every group.

These days, because of the amount of stuff going on, it’s simply impossible. But still sometimes we may feel we have to join every new group or keep up with every discussion. Then what happens? We get completely overwhelmed and stressed, and inevitably give up on the whole thing. Which is exactly the OPPOSITE of what I want members to feel!

So here are 5 top tips for getting the most from CCS, WITHOUT being totally overloaded:

1. Always visit the Main Page first. Here you’ll find the key to following the activity on CCS in the “Latest Activity” box. You can see who’s replied to what and click on the links underlined blue to take you to that page to read more, for those parts you’re interested in. If you only visit your own Profile Page, you’ll not see what else is happening on CCS. Wherever you are on CCS, return to the main page by clicking on the main CCS header at the top of every page.

2. Pick two or three groups and focus only on those. Currently there are 35+ groups on CCS, some are ongoing, others are one off projects that have now ended. New groups appear each week, started by myself and other members. Click on the “Groups” tab (just below the main CCS header on any page) to go to the Groups main page. You can click the little drop down “Sort By” menu to choose how to display the list of groups. Browse through, see what takes your interest, join a group or two and enjoy the activities and discussions. Better to thoroughly enjoy two to three than dip your toe in 15 and never really get into any of them!

3. Use the Forum main page. The Discussion Forum is the central interactive part of CCS where all manner of creative discussions take place. Go the main Forum page by clicking on the “Forum” tab just below the main header on any page of CCS. Like on the Groups page, click on the “Sort By” drop down menu to choose how to display the list of discussions. Browse through, see what takes your interest, click on the heading and you’ll go to that discussion. Click on one of the “Reply To This” links where you want to leave your thoughts and comments. Or click “+ Start a Discussion” link at the top of the main Forum page to start a new one.

4. Get to know other CCS members. CCS is nothing without its community of members. You can click on someone’s photo/avatar wherever you see it to go to their Profile Page, or click on the “Members” tab just below the main CCS header to go to the main members page, then click on someone’s photo to go to their page from there. Read their profile, leave a comment on their page in the “Comment Wall” section, or send them a message by clicking on the “Send a message” link just below their photo/avatar on their page. We’re a friendly, creative and supportive group, so don’t be shy.

5. Use RSS Feeds. RSS Feeds are simply like having reporters out in the field to bring you updates about your favourite websites. Say you have 10 favourite websites/blogs you like to keep up with. Rather than visit each one yourself every day just in case there’s new content, use an RSS Reader (Google Reader is free and easy to use) to gather all the RSS Feeds in one place. Then you become like the editor of a news network, sitting in your office while all your roving reporters bring back info to you when they have it, rather than you running around the internet trying to check everything yourself. Different parts of CCS have RSS Feeds, including the Latest Activity box, Photos, Forum Discussions, Blog posts etc, anywhere you see the orange and white RSS symbol.

Bonus Tip: How to manage your email notifications. Go to your Profile page (click the “My Page” tab just below the main CCS header), then in the right column click on “My Settings”. Then, in the left column , click on “Email”. You’ll see the question “What network activity do you want to receive an email notification for?” and the various boxes ticked below. This can be useful to receive messages sent out to members in groups you belong to, and to see when someone’s replied to a discussion you’ve replied to for example. If none are ticked, you won’t receive any messages from CCS to your external email, you’ll have to then manually visit CCS to find out what’s happening. Tick as many or as few as you wish, whatever works for you.

These tips will help you follow CCS more easily without feeling overwhelmed. The key is to pick a few things you’re interested in and get involved.

Imagine CCS as a large town full of wonderful restaurants. When you want a meal, don’t go racing around grabbing a handful of food from one before dashing off to another and another. You just feel dizzy, sick and exhausted! Instead choose one restaurant you like the look of, then go inside, take in the ambience, enjoy the company and savour a relaxing and delicious meal. Maybe once in a while you can try a new restaurant, but remember to return to your favourites.

If you need help with any part of CCS, don’t hesitate to drop me an email:

dangoodwin@coachcreative.com

Don’t worry that your question is too “basic”, we all were new on CCS once and had exactly the same questions…

Enjoy the community!

Dan 

(You can return to this tips page whenever you wish by clicking on the link underneath the "need help?" icon in the right column on any page of CCS...)

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