Your professional information
When you sign up, you are asked to say which organisation you belong to. If you are a sole trader, you can provide information about your areas of work, or as they are called throughout the site, your "practices".
Connecting to people and pages
As you browse the site, you can keep track of people, products, events etc. by "connecting" to them.
To connect to an item, simply click the the connect button:
A link will then appear in Your Connections list as shown above.
Recent updates
Whenever you log in, you will see a list of "Recent Updates" on your home page.
Recent updates is a good way to find out what's new on the site.
Any items you are connected to are more likely to appear in your recent updates, so you can keep track of the things that interest you.
Your profile
There's a link to your profile on the left of every page.
Your profile page is your chance to tell other GVEP International partners a little about yourself and your work.
To change your profile information, click the "Edit this item" link near the top of your profile page.
Only approved GVEP International partners can view your profile information.
Finding people
Click on the "people" link in the main menu. You will see a list of GVEP International partners, with links to their profiles and contact information.
With all list pages, you can sort the list either alphabetically or by most recent first. If you click on a person's name, you will see their profile information. You can see what they are "connected to" on the right of their profile.
At the very top of a person's profile, you can see which organisation/s they belong to and in what capacity.
Organisations
On the people page, you will also see a link to organisations. Click here to see all GVEP International partner organisations.
Clicking on the name of an organisation takes you to its profile page. You can see all the products and services it offers and see its GVEP-registered staff members.
Products and services
An important benefit of the GVEP International site is to be able to view relevant products and services offered by partner organisations.
Click the "Products" link on the main menu. You will see a list of all products posted by GVEP International partners.
Click on the name of a product for further details. You will be able to see which partner organisation offers it, where in the world it is available, and who to contact for details.
You can add products offered by your organisation. Simply click the "Add new product" link on the product page.
On the Products page, you will see link to other kinds of "practices" that organisations can post. These include services (such as consultancy), "civil actions" (such as advocacy, government or education) and funding opportunities.
You can tell other partners about your organisation's practice by adding your own products, services, civil actions or funding opportunities.
Sending messages
You can send a personal message to any GVEP International partner. Simply go to their profile page and click the "Send Message" button.
Your inbox
Messages sent to you will appear in your inbox. Access your inbox by clicking the envelope icon on the left side of any page.
Projects
In the project section, you can see what on-the-ground work is being undertaken by partners throughout the world.
Click on a project's name to see its aims, description, location and who is working on it.
Any partner can submit a new project. When you give details of your project, you can also fill in its "requirements". This lets others know what needs you have so that people in the partnership can be found to help.
Conversations
The project section is one of three collaboration tools available on the site. The others are Conversations and Events. These can all be accessed from the Projects page.
Click on the Conversation link and you will see a list of conversations posted by other GVEP International partners.
You can start a conversation about any topic. Other users will see the new conversation appear in the their Recent Updates section.
Conversations are an excellent way to get advice, or conduct a discussion about a specific issue.
Events
Click on Events to see a listing of upcoming or recent events posted by other GVEP International partners. You can add your own event by clicking the Add new event link.
Adding images or audio
You can add images, sound files or documents to any of your projects or practices. You may have some detail images of your product, for example, or you may want to post the audio of a speech associated with your project, or a detailed report.
Simply view your item. If you are the author of a project or practice, you will see this button on the right:
Click it and you can then enter some brief details and upload a file from your computer. The resource will be available to all partners viewing your project, product etc.
Resources
Any resource added anywhere on the site is available in the Resources section for easy access. Resources are organised into "shelves".
You can access any recently added items on the top shelf. Simply click the shelf, and you will see the items appear.
On the other shelves, you can see items selected by GVEP International as being of particular interest to partners.
If you are looking for images, documents or audio about a specific subject, simply use the "search resources" box.