Design Aid - the Creative Charity, is building an online community for us all

The new Design Aid website is now open to all…
it is very exciting and it is here to benefit all of us who work in our communities and the Charity Sector.

There is a fantastic range of features with this busy Web 2.0 website that will benefit all of us; from the largest of organisations, to the smallest of community groups.

As a members of the Design Aid site…
you can login and use the site directly to publish your own news, links, stories, events, etc. and even have items included in our e newsletter.

This is better than posting in forums, or an obscure social network page, (though designaid.org.uk has a great forum). This is e-publishing that uses your important news story, or article as real content in a high ranked popular and busy charity website.

Getting your project noticed…
by Design Aid members and visitors could not be easier, whether you are looking to drive more people to your own fantastic website with news items and links, or you have some great news, perhaps an appeal that you need to get out there, either way this website is a great marketing and publicity tool for your charitable organisation or community project.

Here is an overview of how it all works…
Use the drop down control panel at the head of the page to register your membership or login if already a member. You can also set your preferred colours for the site. The registration process will send you an email so you can confirm your email address; just click the link to confirm.

Once logged on as a member…
you will have access to the additional Web 2.0 features through an additional menu that will now show just below the main menu items. You can use these links to access your membership profile, edit your profile, invite a friend to the website, submit a link to the links pages, view other members, and change your login details, (password). When logged in you will now be able to post on the forums, you will also see that you can comment on and rate the news items.
Please do use the “invite a friend” feature as much as you can. It sends a simple email link with an invite to take a look. The more key people from the Charity Sector we can attract as members, or visitors the better this website will work for every member and project involved.

Upgrading your membership…
To feature your project or appeal as a news item, or story you will need to have your membership upgraded to that of “Author”. To do this, simply send us an email with your request, including details of the organisation, or the project you are involved in. We will then upgrade your membership for you, there is no fee involved. This is just a simple security measure for us to the publishing on the site relevant and responsible.

Design Aid hope that this new website will bring many benefits to the Charity Sector and your project. The site is very user friendly with wysiwyg editors and simple instruction as well as a help feature. Should you require any help when submitting or publishing content please do get in touch so we can help out. This will also help us build on the FAQ’s so that others can benefit from your questions.