How to use the Storage Network

The Lascon Storage Network is about being able to contact your fellow storage professionals for advice or just to share ideas. The Network is built around the following principles

People join the Network and provide some information about themselves, their experience and their business. (See our privacy statement to find out what we do with your data.)
You then search the Network for people with interests that are similar to yours and ask them to form a contact relationship with yourself.
You can search for specialist interest groups that deal with topics that you are interested in. If you can't find a suitable group, start one yourself and and ask others to join.
If you have an interesting story to tell write it up in your blog. You can also comment on what other people have written, but keep the comments constructive.

This is the beginning of the journey. There will be more to come.

Maintaining your Profile

Profiles are key to the Storage Network. The more information that you provide, the more useful and accurate contacts will be.

To change your profile, select profile[edit] from the lower white menu and set of tabs will appear. The first three tabs are used to describe you, your experience and your company. Please provide relevant information under each tab.
The next two tabs allow you to describe your current status, and to upload or change your photo or avatar.

The final tab is 'Profile Settings' which is used to control your privacy; you decide how much information that others can see. The default setting is that anyone can see your profile, including people who are not members of the network.

Making contact with others

So once you have described yourself, you need to find the right people. To do this, click on "My Home" then the "browse for People" link in the small table on the left hand column of your screen. This takes you to a search screen. Initially the search fields will blank and you will see all the people in the network.
To narrow the list down. fill in details in the boxes then click on "update results" and you will see a list of people that match at the bottom of the screen.
Click on the avatar of the person that you wish to make contact with and you will be taken to their profile page. Click on the "+ add to my contacts" link in the left hand of the page, and after adding a few details, a contact request will be sent to that user.
Nore that the Lascon Storage Network is a closed contact system, the other person must agree to be a contact before the relationship is established.

Working with Groups

If you want to set up or join a group, click on the Groups option from the lower menu. This opens up four tabs.
The first tab will list out all the groups that you are a member of.
To find out what groups are available, select the Browse Groups tab and that will list out all available groups. If you wish to join one of these groups, select the join group option. However be aware that some groups are 'closed' in that you cannot join automatically, but only if approved by the group leader.
A group member or leader may ask you to join their group and in this case, you can see and accept the invitation from the Group Invitations tab.
From the Group Settings tab you can decide what type of notifications you want to see about group activity

To create a new group, select the My Groups tab then the Create New Group option. When you create a group, you become the group leader and you can decide if the group is 'open' or of you want to confirm membership. You can also decide who is allowed to look at and post comments in the group space. By default, anyone can post comments, including people who are not Network members.

Writing a blog

You can write blog entries by selecting Blog from the white menu then Compose new Entry. The Blog Settings tab allows you to apply your own HTML formatting to your blog.

Changing your settings

Take the Settings option from the white menu to change your e-mail address or Network name. If someone is annoying you for any reason you can also block then from viewing your profile from this page.