Use Your Local Group's Page in Connect: News, Files and Photos

This guide helps you use the pages for your local group (the chapter, council or other unit where you hold your membership) in Connect. It covers the tabs on a group's page, reading news, commenting, opening files, looking at photo albums, and what to do when something is missing.

In this article

• Open a group's page
• Read the news
• Comment on a news post or event
• Open a file
• Look at photo albums
• Why you can't see something

Open a group's page

Every local group, district (a set of local groups), region (a set of districts) and parent group (the organization above them all) has its own page in Connect. The page has a few tabs, and each tab shows one kind of information.

Open the page

1. On a phone, tap the menu icon, then tap the group under My Groups. On a tablet or computer, click the group under My Groups in the left menu.

You can also tap a group's name in a card on My Feed, or use search or the Directory. See Find Your Way Around Connect.

Move between tabs

1. On a phone, tap the menu icon, then tap a tile under the group's name. On a tablet or computer, click a tab across the top of the page, or an item under the group's name in the left menu.

An officer appears on Officers and Past Officers only if that officer chose to show their name. If no one has, the page says the information is private. Visitors who aren't logged in see fewer officers than you do. To learn about that choice, see Your Profile and Privacy.

What the Home page shows

On a computer, the Home page has three columns. On a phone, the same cards stack into one column.

Tap More Information in the group details to open Legal And Support Information. It tells you who the group is, how to get help with a payment or a membership question, and who the website is for.

The Preferences switches save the moment you touch them. Touch one only when you mean to change it.

If you don't see this

A group has a page in Connect only when your organization has set it up. If your local group's page is missing, ask your secretary.

Read the news

News posts are how a group shares announcements with its members. You see them on My Feed, on a group's Home page, and on its News page.

Open the News page

1. Open the group's page. See Open a group's page.
2. On a phone, tap the menu icon, then tap News. On a tablet or computer, click the News tab.

Each post shows its title, the name of the group that posted it, a small icon that says who can read it, how long ago it was posted, and a short preview with any photos. If comments are on, it also shows how many comments it has. The icon is explained in Why you can't see something.

Read a whole post

1. Tap the post's title, or tap Read More.
2. Read the post. To see a photo larger, tap it. In the larger view, use the arrows to move to the next or previous photo.
3. To go back to the list, tap the arrow at the top left of the post. Its hover name is All Posts.

Connect sends no email when someone comments on a post. To learn which emails you do get, see Choose What Connect Sends You.

If you don't see this

A post appears only if you are allowed to read it. See Why you can't see something.

Comment on a news post or event

You can comment on a news post or an event when its group has turned comments on. The comments sit at the bottom of the post or event, under a heading that shows how many there are, such as 3 Comments.

Add a comment

1. Open the post or event and scroll to the bottom.

2. Tap in the box that says What's on your mind?. Above it, Connect shows Posting as with your name.

   

3. Type your comment.

4. Tap Post. To leave without posting, tap Cancel.

Reply to a comment

1. Tap Reply under the comment.
2. Type your reply in the box that opens.
3. Tap Reply again. Your reply appears under the comment, marked with a small arrow.

Change or remove your comment

1. Under your own comment, tap Edit or Delete.
2. If you chose Edit, change the text under Editing comment, then tap Update. A small "edited" note with the time then appears under the comment.
3. If you chose Delete, your browser asks you to confirm. Deleting also removes every reply under that comment, and you can't undo it.

You can change your own comments at any time. You can't change anyone else's. The people who manage your group's Connect pages can edit or delete any comment.

Connect sends no email when someone comments or replies, so no one is told about yours. Check back to see answers.

If you don't see this

• You see the comments but no box to type in. To comment, Show My Name must be switched on under In Connect. See Your Profile and Privacy.
• You see "Log in to join the conversation." Comments are open only to logged-in members. Log in, then try again.
• You see a note that comments are disabled. The group has turned comments off for that post or event. Ask your secretary.

Open a file

The Files page holds documents, pictures and other files that a group shares, often in folders.

1. Open the group's page. See Open a group's page.
2. On a phone, tap the menu icon, then tap Files. On a tablet or computer, click the Files tab.
3. Tap a folder's name to open it. To go back up, use the trail of folder names under the heading, or the house icon at its start.
4. Tap a file's name to open it.

The list shows each name with a short description under it. A search box above the list helps you narrow it down.

Connect shows the file on the page when it can, for example a PDF, a picture, text, a video or a sound recording. Otherwise you see No File Preview Available and a Download button.

To keep a copy, tap the download icon (an arrow pointing down). It is beside each file in the list, and at the top of an open file.

If you don't see this

Each folder and file is shown only to the people the group chose. See Why you can't see something. If you believe a file is missing, ask your secretary.

Look at photo albums

The Photos page holds a group's photo albums.

1. Open the group's page. See Open a group's page.
2. On a phone, tap the menu icon, then tap Photos. On a tablet or computer, click the Photos tab.
3. Under All Albums, tap an album. Each tile shows the album's name, how many photos it holds, a cover picture and a short description.
4. At the top of the album, a slideshow shows the photos with their captions. Use its arrows to move between them. Below it, small pictures show every photo.
5. Tap a small picture to see it larger, then use the arrows to move to the next or previous photo.
6. To return to the list of albums, tap Back To All Albums.

If the group has no albums you can open, you see No Photos Here.

If you don't see this

Each album is shown only to the people the group chose. See Why you can't see something.

Why you can't see something

The people who run a group's Connect pages choose who can see each news post, page, file, folder and photo album. There are three choices.

You see the icon beside each news post, next to the group's name. On a computer, hold your pointer over it to see its name.

Things you can't open don't appear in lists. For example, a file marked Your Group Only by another local group doesn't show in that group's Files list for you.

Following a group doesn't make you a member of it. Items marked Your Group Only are for current members, not for people who only follow. To learn about following, see Choose What Connect Sends You.

If you aren't logged in, you see only Public items. To log in, see Get Started with Connect.

If you don't see this

If you believe you should be able to see something, ask your secretary. They can check that your membership is current.