Getting Started, Tips & Tricks

In this post we will gather together a few tips and tricks to use when in Connections Online. Some of these are simple things that are easy to over look, but can be very useful.

Completed Projects

Once a project has been completed for 30 days it will be removed from the projects list. These projects are not deleted, just filtered out. If you need to see completed projects further back than this you can, just follow the directions from this post. An important thing to remember if you decide to change or remove this filter as the list of projects grows larger it can have a negative impact on performance.

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Deleting

Delete an Item by Mistake?

Most items in Connections Online are never really deleted. They are marked with a deleted flag so that they can be easily retrieved in the event that they were deleted by mistake or just needed again. In either of these cases it is a simple matter to bring these objects back. It is important to note that not all items are like this, some like comments will be gone forever when you delete them. So please keep this in mind when you decide to delete something. If you would like more information on how to use the undelete feature please take a look at this post: Undelete Symbol: Restoring Deleted Items (Version 4.1).

Delete a User:

You can delete a user from the site administration page, before you do be aware you cannot have duplicate usernames on a site and deleting a user will NOT remove them entirely from the site. It will mark them as deleted, this means if you delete a user by mistake you can always go back and restore the user. This also means if you want to give someone else that user's username you will have to first change the user to be deleted's username and then delete them.

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Feature Requests

Do you have a feature you would like to see in Connections online? Have a great idea of something that will help Connections be even better than it already is? Head over to the Feature Request Forum and post your idea today! Even if you don't have an idea now feel free to look at the current ideas and vote for any you would like to see implemented. We would like to implement everything that is requested right away, but sadly there are only so many hours in a day. That is why it is important to vote. Voting lets us know what is important to the community, and helps us prioritize how we develop Connections Online in the future.

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Microsoft Office

Excel

We support both imports and exports from Excel. Please note with imports from excel you will need to use our templates. Exports can be done directly from Connections Online anywhere you see the Excel symbol in the upper right corner of a module. Interested? Head over to our Excel Templates forum post to get the latest templates and information.

Outlook

Want your Connections Online information in outlook? We have you covered. Go here for the most up to date version of our outlook connector, instructions on how to use it, and how to install it.

Project

If you like Microsoft Project and would like to connect it to Connections Online, just head over to this post: Microsoft Project and you will have all the information you need to get Connections Online running with Microsoft Project.

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Need Support?

There are several ways you can get help while using connections online. You can search our forums, ask the community on the forums, or send us a support ticket. We are always more than happy to help our users solve their problems. You can also search our forums and send us a support ticket directly from Connections Online. Just click the feedback button at the bottom of the page. If you want to search use the search bar to the right of "How can we help you?". If you can't find your answer just fill out the information there and submit us your question.

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Passwords

In this digital age it is better to be safe than sorry when it comes to our passwords. With Connections Online it is no exception. We do everything we can to secure your data and the connection to that data but no matter how secure our connection or data is, it is your job to make sure the key to that lock is strong. There are many ways to make a strong password and not all of them involve making a password so complex you cannot possibly remember it. Here are three articles which talks about a strong method of protecting your passwords called haystacking, ABC7 How safe are your computer passwords?, Consumer Reports How to create a strong password (and remember it) and Haystacking calculater a brute force calculator.Now that it is secure, what if you forget it! Just click the “Forgot Your Password?” on the login menu. Just in case you are not familiar with it here is a short post talking about the Forgot Your Password feature of Connections Online.

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Related Links

Connections Online is where you store and share your data. Using related links you can store links to other places inside or outside of Connections Online. Now you can use this same place to store and share files as well. If you want to start uploading files into connections online's Related link section we recommend using Secure Sypher. You can find a post on it here. This method will keep all your links and data in one safe and secure place.

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Usernames

Administrators have the ability to set and change usernames. We recommend all usernames to be set to the full email address of the user. This will make it easier for the user to remember and if the user has to reset their password they will need their email address, but won't enter their username until they try to log in again. If they are not the same this means they will need to remember not only that they are different, but what each one is, and there currently is not an automated way to retrieve a user's username.