Help/FAQs

General Contacts / Connections Groups / Discussions Library / Resources

General | Top

Q: What is my username/password?

A: Your login credentials are the same username and password that you use to log in to the main site. Your username is typically the preferred email address you have on file at NCFR. If you have forgotten your login credentials, you can reset your password. If you need assistance with your login information, please contact us.

Q: How do I update my contact information?

A: On your profile page, please select the pencil icon next to "Contact Details" in the left column.

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 NCFR members?

A: Click the "NCFR Member Directory” link found in the main navigation bar. The Directory lets you search for other users based on:
  • First and/or last name
  • Organization name
  • Group 

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

  • Job Title
  • Email Address
  • City
  • State
  • Country
  • Area of Expertise 


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 group 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.


Groups / Discussions | Top

Q: What are groups?

A: Groups allow you to participate in discussions and share resources with other members.

Q: What groups do I already belong to?

A: Go to “Groups” in the main navigation bar. Select “My Groups” to view the groups you currently belong to.

Q: How do I join an NCFR member group and its affiliated discussion group?

A:  To participate in a discussion group for any of NCFR's member groups — such as sections, focus groups, and affiliate councils — you must be recorded as a member of that group on your NCFR member record.

To Join a Section:

Log in to the NCFR member and customer portal at my.ncfr.org using your username and password. Choose the additional section/s you'd like to join, click "Continue," then click "Checkout" to pay and finish joining.

Section dues apply for participation in each section. Section membership is concurrent with your base NCFR membership. You may join or change sections anytime during your NCFR membership period, but section fees are not discounted or refunded. To see current section fees, please visit this link to our website: https://www.ncfr.org/membership#Levels 

To Join a Focus Group:

Log in to the NCFR member and customer portal at my.ncfr.org using your username and password. Click "Join Focus Groups," select the focus group/s you'd like to join, and click "Confirm."

There is no additional fee to join a focus group.

Other Groups:

Affiliate Councils (local chapters): NCFR members with a mailing address in a state that has an affiliate are added automatically to that affiliate's discussion group.

Students and New Professionals (SNPs): Individuals with an NCFR membership at the student level or new professional level are added automatically to the SNP discussion group.

Certified Family Life Educators (CFLEs): Individuals with CFLE certification are added automatically to the CFLE discussion group.


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 "Group 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 group site.


Q: How do I leave a group or unsubscribe from a discussion?

A: You may unsubscribe from notifications from any discussion group/s while still remaining an official member of the member group — section, focus group, or affiliate council.

Or, you may choose to entirely remove your status as member of a section of focus group from your NCFR membership record, which will also remove you from that section or focus group's discussion group.

To Unsubscribe from Discussion Group Activity, But Retain Your Status as Part of a Section or Focus Group:

On the groups.ncfr.org discussion groups website, 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 groups and those to which you’ve subscribed. Select "No Email” under the Discussion Email column for the discussion groups from which you wish to unsubscribe.

To Remove Yourself From a Section:

Email info@ncfr.org to let NCFR staff know which section/s to remove you from. Please include your NCFR member number in the email.

You may remove sections anytime during your NCFR membership period, but section dues fees are not discounted or refunded.

To Remove Yourself From a Focus Group:

Log in to the NCFR member and customer portal at my.ncfr.org using your username and password. Click "Join Focus Groups," deselect the focus group/s you'd like to leave (so the boxes are no longer checked), and click "Confirm."


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 group.  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 group 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 group, 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 "Group 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 groups?

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 group?

A: Locate the group you are interested in viewing from the appropriate groups page. Click through the groups 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 group via the All Groups page. Click through the groups 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 groups 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.