Frequently Asked Questions

Foreword: If you do not find the answer you need in the following Frequently Asked Questions, please contact us with your question/issues. This FAQs page was last updated on May 19, 2010. Thank you!

Getting Started

What is GHDonline?
GHDonline is the online platform of communities developed by the Global Health Delivery Project. For more information, please read the About page.

Who can join GHDonline?
Global health practitioners (inc. volunteers and students) should consider joining GHDonline. GHDonline enables open collaboration between global health implementers and organizations in online “communities of practice” in order to create a new breadth of knowledge applicable in the field. GHDonline was created with the vision to democratize access to critical information and to build upon the "know-how" that we all have but that rarely gets published. Eight public communities focus on critical delivery challenges and are guided by expert moderators. GHDonline also hosts private communities designed and maintained for specific organizations and collaborative initiatives.

Who are the members of GHDonline?
GHDonline members come from all over the world and play a variety of roles in the delivery of health care including stakeholders from governments, universities, clinical facilities, non-governmental organizations, for-profit organizations, international agencies and trade organizations. You can view membership for each community by accessing a specific community home page (click on the community name in the home page), and then clicking on “Members” at the top of the community page.

Why should I join GHDonline?
Joining GHDonline is free, easy-to-use and enables you to become part of a unique collaborative platform developed by and for global health practitioners. GHDonline members engage in problem-solving with peers in “discussions”, and enrich their practice by sharing experiences, challenges, and lessons from the field. They also exchange critical knowledge and tools by uploading documents and links to communities. And because GHDonline has integrated email capabilities, members can seamlessly contribute via email, a great functionality for busy professionals and in areas with unreliable Internet connectivity! Last but not least, all content is archived and accessible via our search engine.

Do I need to have an account to use GHDonline?
While anyone can visit GHDonline, only members can start or contribute to discussions, add resources, receive notification emails about activity in the communities, and access member-only content. Joining GHDonline is free and easy, so we encourage you to become a member!

How can I create an account?
To become a member of one or several GHDonline communities, please complete the sign up form. You will be asked to enter your full name, type a password, your organization, your role/profession, the country where you work, and the communities that you want to join. After submitting your sign up form, you will receive an email with a confirmation link. Once you click the link in the email, your account will be confirmed and created.

What if my organization is not listed in the sign up form?
Please note that organizations are listed by alphabetical order and names are spelled out. If your organization does not appear to be in the list, please check the box that reads “My organization is not in the list” and fill out the information appearing below the list.

How can I join a community?
When you become a GHDonline member using the sign up form, you will have to choose at least one community to join. If you want to join another community later on, you can do so by signing in, clicking on “My Profile” in the upper right-hand corner, and checking the box left to any community you’d like to join.

Who are the moderators and what is their role?
GHDonline moderators are experts in their respective fields. They guide the communities on a volunteer basis by keeping discussions and resources relevant and up to date. They also encourage more participation among members and help build bridges between organizations and individuals. Moderators work with the GHDonline Team to identify a community's mission and goals, topics, publish content, and invite new members to a community.

My Account

How do I edit my personal profile?
Please sign in to GHDonline (Sign in link at the top right corner), then click on “My Profile” in the upper right-hand corner. Once on your profile page, you will be able to make changes such as typing in a new password, adding an image to your profile, or changing your community membership and email notification settings. We also encourage you to fill out the “Bio” information so that other members of GHDonline can learn more about you and the work you do.

Can other members view my email address?
No one except you and the GHDonline Team can view your email address. GHDonline web site visitors can only view your publicly available profile information. You can view it by clicking on “My profile” and on “Submit & view profile.”

What happens to my profile information?
Your profile information is stored in the GHDonline database. Third party organizations have no access to this information. If you wish to learn more about this, please read the Privacy Policy page.

Why should I change my password?
Your password is personal and confidential. It enables you to sign in to GHDonline to contribute to discussions and add resources in communities. You are entirely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password. If you wish to learn more about this, please read the Privacy Policy page.

How can I change my password
To change your password, please follow these steps:
1. Sign in to GHDonline
2. Click on “My Profile” at the top right corner of the home page
3. Click on “Click here to change your password” under your account’s primary email address
4. Type in the old and new password information
5. Click on “Change my password”
A confirmation of your password change will be sent to you via email.

How can I change my email address used for sign in?
To change your email address, please follow these steps:
1. Sign in to GHDonline
2. Click on “My Profile” at the top right corner of the home page
3. Type in your new email address in the “Email Address” field
5. Click on “Submit”

I would like to use another email address than the one in my profile to contribute to communities. I can I do this?
If you wish to use a second or even a third email address to contribute to GHDonline, please follow these steps:
1. Sign in to GHDonline
2. Click on “My Profile” at the top right corner of the home page
3. In optional information (at the end the bottom of the page), type in your alternative emails in “Alternative Email Address(es)”
4. Click on “Submit”
This will allow you to send emails to your GHDonline communities from multiple email accounts.

I have forgotten my password. How can I retrieve it?
If you have forgotten your password or are getting a “The email/password combination you entered is not valid” error message when you try to sign in, please reset your password by using the password reset form: type in your account’s email address (the one you used to join GHDonline). You will receive an email message with a temporary password which you can then use to sign in and set a new password in your profile. If you do not remember which email address you used to sign up or that an error message “The email address you have entered could not be found in our system” appears, please try with all your different email addresses. For security reasons, GHDonline cannot provide you with the email address you used to join GHDonline.

Using the Communities

How can I use discussions in my community?
Discussions take place between members of a community. They are highly valuable as they help create and improve the knowledge base for global health delivery. Discussions allow you to ask specific questions, such as "How can I set up an Internet connection in Lesotho?" or "Could you recommend a good TB Lab in Rwanda for our program?" Discussions also enable you to share your "know-how" and thus help other members by sharing, for example, your program’s newest intervention or your organization’s outreach projects, experiences, etc.

Can I promote/advertise for a commercial service/product in a discussion/community?
GHDonline Content and Services may not be used in connection with any commercial endeavors except those that are specifically endorsed or approved by GHDonline. Please note that advertisements, commercial postings, and other forms of solicitation such chain letters and pyramid schemes, are inappropriate on GHDonline, and may result in membership termination. Please read the Terms of Use for more information on this.

How can I start a discussion?
Depending on the topic of your question/discussion, select the community in which you would like to start a discussion and follow these steps:
1. Sign in to GHDonline
2. Click on the name of the community to which you would like to start the discussion
3. On the community home page, click on “New discussion”, fill out the form, and submit!

You can also start a new discussion by sending an email to your community! Email addresses of communities are located on their home pages, in the right column, in “Email notification options”. Make sure to save your community email address to your contact book.

Can I correct a discussion I started?
Yes, you can edit any discussions that you have started. To do this, please follow these steps:
1. Sign in to GHDonline
2. Click on the name of the community on which you started the discussion you would like to edit
3. Click on the title of your discussion to view the detailed discussion page
4. Click on “Edit this discussion”
5. Once your changes are made, click “Submit”.
Your changes will appear in the discussion page, but note that discussions are automatically shared with members of the community via email upon initial posting. Therefore, no email notification of your changes will be sent to members. If you wish members to be aware of your correction, you can reply to your own discussion with a message explaining your change to the community.

Can I remove a discussion I started?
As a member, you can only edit your discussions (see above). If you think the topic of your discussion is out-of-date, you can submit an update to your discussion post in a reply for all members to read, or click on "edit this discussion" to change the content of your post. If you have other concerns (such as privacy information breach or feel the discussion you posted is inappropriate) and still want to remove your post, please contact us directly indicating your primary the link to the discussion you wish to remove. The GHDonline team will get back to you as soon as possible.

How do I reply to a discussion?
Click on the "+ Add reply" button, then type your message in the text box and click on "submit" and you're done! Note that you can also contribute to discussions by email.

How can I tell a colleague about a discussion?
If you would like to recommend a discussion to a colleague, please click on “Share this” link in the right column of a discussion’s detailed page. You can email several colleagues at the same time, and add a personal message. If you would like your colleague to contribute to the discussion, please invite him/her to sign up to GHDonline.

How can I attach a file to my discussion?
Yes, you can attach a resource to your reply! In the discussion, once you have clicked on "+ Add reply" you will view the reply box (for your message) and a link to "Attach a resource to this reply." Simply type your reply message then fill out the form for your resource as indicated and click on "submit."

What is a resource?
A resource is a link or a file with a summary and other optional information as published by you and other members of GHDonline communities. A resource can be any of the following documents: guidelines, protocols, check lists, photos, or presentations. Posting a resource is a great way to share a document or link with members of a specific GHDonline community. Members will be able to search for and download the resource.

How do I add a resource?
Go to the community where you want to add a resource, click on “New resource”, fill out the form, and submit! The source of the document/link (i.e. the organization responsible for publishing the content you are submitting), and the "+ New resource" button on the right side of your community home page. Then just fill out the form as indicated, and remember to check the box next to: “The source I am looking for is not in the list” if the source or organization that authored the resource is already not in the list of organizations, and "submit" your resource.

What is “Featured” content?
Moderators and the GHDonline team select on a regular basis specific discussions and resources that they wish to highlight to community members. Features always appear at the top of each community’s home page.

Can I get emails about new content in my communities?
Yes! You can get an email each time a new discussion, resource or reply is added to any of your communities. To do so, simply access your profile by clicking on “My Profile”, and select “Per Post ” for the community(ies) for which you want to be notified of all new activity as it happens thus enabling you to reply right away and participate seamlessly via email. You can also choose “Digest” notifications for an email each day there is activity in your community(ies) with excerpts. But remember that you can only participate to discussions via email by choosing “Per Post ” notification settings. For more information on email notification settings, please read the answer to "How can I be notified of new activity in my community(ies) by email?"

How can I contact a member individually?
GHDonline does not have a private messaging feature, and members’ email addresses are not shared with other members of GHDonline in order to protect your privacy but you can choose to include your email address in a discussion or reply.

How can I find discussions that have already taken place or resources that have already been posted?
You can use the “Discussions” and “Resources” tabs at the top of communities’ pages to browse existing content. You can also search for specific discussions or resources by using the Search box. See “Using the Search Engine” for more information.

What are “Moderators’ Topics”?
Moderators’ topics are keywords selected by moderators of communities to help structure content. You can access discussions and resources by topic simply by clicking on one of the community’s topics in the right column of the page. Moderators invite you to tag new discussions and resources with the appropriate topic(s) and add your own keywords. This will help other members when searching for relevant content.

How can I start a new community?
If you have ideas for creating a new community, public or private, we invite you to contact us with detail contact information. We will get back to you as soon as possible.

I'm not sure about the copyright status of a document or article that I would like to add to my community. What should I do?
Disclaimer: The information in this section is for information only and should not be construed as legal advice.

When posting a file, either PDF or a Word document, in a GHDonline community, you should always make sure not to infringe any copyrights or other Intellectual Property (IP) rights. On a general basis, you own the rights to original content work that you have personally created and authored on your own (i.e. not as part of an organization or a contract with a company for example). In an organization, you should contact the manager responsible for this (varies depending on the organization) before posting any documents. For articles that you have not authored or do not own the copyrights of, you should always refer to the publication's or publisher’s copyrights before publishing any articles. For more information on “Fair use” excerpts, you can read the Stanford University page on this. You can also share/link back to all articles published in open-access journals such as PLoS Medicine. If you have a specific concern regarding a resource’s document or file as posted in a GHDonline community, please refer to our Terms of Use Contact section.

Email participation

What is email participation?
Email participation allows members to start and reply to discussions in a community completely via email. This is an especially powerful tool because anyone with an email account can stay updated and involved in discussions, even without accessing the web. There are two aspects to email participation: email notifications and starting discussions by email.

How can I start a discussion by email?
You can start a new discussion by sending an email to the appropriate community but only for communities you are a member of. Community email addresses are located in the "Email notifications options" in the right side of the home page of any community. Type your discussion title in the “Subject” field and the discussion in the body of your email. Once you hit “send”, your email message will be posted as a new discussion in the community and sent to members who subscribe to email notifications. Make sure to save your community(ies) email address(es) in your contact book!

How can I be notified of new activity in my community(ies) by email?
You can be notified of new activity in your community(ies) by email by choosing either “Per Post ” or “Digest” email notification. By choosing “Per Post ”, you will be able to contribute to your community(ies) via email simply by replying to emails from the community(ies). The “Digest” email notification setting format provides you with the title and excerpts of all daily activity in one or several of your communities. Please note that you can only reply to "Per post" and not to "Digest."

How can I reply to a discussion using email?
You need to subscribe to “Per Post ” notifications. Please note that your replies to the community’s emails are automatically published in the community(ies) and shared with members who subscribe to email notifications. Also remember that your reply is posted as is in the community so be sure to remove any contact information or other personal details that you would like to keep private such as your signature.

Will my email address be visible if I start or reply to a discussion by email?
No. If you reply to a discussion by email, your email address will not appear in the discussion unless you include it in your message. However, you may want to remove your email signature at the bottom of the email that may contain private contact information.

Using the Search Engine

How does the GHDonline search engine work?
The GHDonline search engine is entirely custom-built with the Endeca technology. By searching in GHDonline, you can find highly relevant content from discussions and resources in GHDonline communities, from our partners’ content, and from a comprehensive and regularly updated selection of news feeds and web sites from expert organizations such as the World Health Organization or PubMed.

How can I use the filters in the left column of the search results page?
You can use filters to narrow down your results and find exactly what you are looking for. You can filter results by information type, organization, file format, keywords, etc.

Partnerships

How can my organization partner with GHDonline?
The GHD Project gathered IT experts and health implementers from founding collaborators’ programs in various countries to build GHDonline, a platform for professionals in resource-limited settings to engage in problem solving and share information they need to improve health outcomes. At its core, GHDonline is a collaborative effort: members share knowledge that is applicable in the field but not found in traditional media such as vendors’ recommendations or advice on interventions, and partner organizations work with us to provide expert content, services and tools to members.

These custom partnerships provide GHDonline members in resource-limited settings with professional services and content to support their work. For example, UpToDate, Inc., an electronic evidence-based medical information resource and decision-support tool, joined GHDonline.org to provide a limited number of subscriptions to qualifying members who provide health care services in underserved communities outside the U.S. Discussions with organizations to provide platform of collaboration at international conferences so that connections can be made and lessons can be disseminated before, during, and after these gatherings are also ongoing. We invite you to join this unique collaboration effort so please contact us with inquiries.

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