Thank you for agreeing to participate in one of our online discussion groups. Below are some basic instructions on how to participate in an itracks Board discussion.
Quick links for this article
Accessing the site using a mobile device
Your email invitation
Prior to the discussion board opening, you will receive an email with instructions and login details. Please read the instructions fully as they will inform you of the length of the project, project start time, and tech support information. Your login information will also be present in your email invitation.
Registration and Login Page
If a Registration and Login Page link is in your invitation, you will be asked to create a password and confirm your information the first time you log in.
Your password can be anything that you would like it to be as long as it meets the system complexity requirements. This will be the password that you can use to log into the project and attend sessions.
Passwords must be at least 8 characters long.
Passwords must contain multiple character types. Try:
- Adding both upper and lowercase letters.
- Adding numbers.
- Adding punctuation.
Enter your Password and Confirm Password in the fields as shown below. The passwords need to match. When done, click Continue.
Terms of Service: The terms of service must be agreed to register. To read the Terms of Service, click on the link in the account information area to accept the Terms of Service, check the ‘I accept the Terms of Service’ checkbox. Click the Continue button once you have agreed to the Terms of Service.
In some cases where the research team has determined it is important that the Terms of Service is fully read by each user, the terms of service will appear on a page that needs to be agreed to before entering the study. The accept button will remain gray until the Terms of Use page has been scrolled through all the way to the bottom. It is not until the document has been scrolled and read that you can accept the Terms of Service.
Accessing using a mobile device
If click the login and registration link on your smartphone or tablet you will be asked to use the itracks mobile app once you have registered. Click OK to download and use the app. You can also click Cancel to opt to use the browser on your phone.
If you are not prompted to use the app while on your phone or tablet you can search for ‘itracks Board’ in the Apple or Google Play app store.
If you are in China, you will not have access to the Google Play store. If you would like to use the app please reach out to itracks at help@itracks.com for further directions or you can use the web browser on your phone.
What if I log in early?
If you log in before the project start time you will get a message indicating that the group has not yet started. Please log back in after the start time of the group.
Once the group has begun, you can log in at any time between the start and end times listed in your email invite.
Profile and Avatar Setup
When the board is open you will begin the board by getting a profile page where you can answer questions and load a picture to represent yourself in the group. This picture is called an avatar.
To load your avatar:
- Click the drop-down box under the default avatar picture on the right of the questions.
- Choose the Upload New Avatar option.
- Browse for the picture on your computer and upload it.
Welcome Page Instructions
The Welcome page will be your landing page each time that you log into the discussion. This page will have instructions on how to proceed and what to expect next. Please read through this message in case the moderator has additional items here that you need to pay attention to.
Once you have done reading through the instructions on the welcome page, click the Discussion tab to proceed.
How to Answer Questions
Once in the Discussion tab, you will see a Questions column on the left-hand side of this screen. These are topics of questions that you will be answering. To begin answering questions click on the Next Available Question button under the Introduction Message.
The Next Available Question button will appear any time that you have questions available for you to view or answer and clicking it will take you to the next question that is available.
Once you have chosen to enter a question, the right-hand side of the screen will now be the question instead of instructions. There will be at least 2 areas to each question. The moderator question text and the area(s) where you need to make an input to answer.
Below is an example of what this may look like. Once you have inputted text you will then need to click the Post Reply button to submit your answer.
In addition to answering questions, you may also have the ability to reply to others' posts. To reply to a post made by you previously, by another participant, or by a moderator, click the Reply button that appears below each posted response.
When you do this, a text box will appear for you to type into and comment further (similar to that which you replied to the question in). Click Post Reply when you are done.
If you need to record videos, we have a separate set of instructions here: Participant Instructions: How to Record or Upload Video to Video Questions in itracks Board
Moderator Follow up Questions
One of the jobs of the moderator is to make sure that the information that s/he gathers is as clear, precise, and in-depth as possible. To facilitate this, the moderator may be required to ask you some follow-up questions.
Moderator follow-up questions, also known as probing questions, are blue and in response to one of your posts.
In some cases, the moderator may send you an email similar to the one below:
Hello Orange: The moderator has requested you return to Day 1 - Question 2 to provide additional information. Thank you, we look forward to seeing you back in the group!
Username: mary@itracks.com
Project ID: 0046z
Login Page: Registration and Login Page
Click on the question link (in the case above it is Day 1 - Question 2) or log back in and click on the question that is noted in the email.
If the moderator has chosen not to send an email like above, there are also notifications in the Questions on the board. If there are new posts that you have not viewed on the board, there will be a bubble with a number beside it. The number will indicate the number of new posts you have not looked at yet.
Moderator posts will be indicated by a blue bubble as circled below.
If someone, like the moderator, has replied, his or her reply will be below your post as below.
Accessing Technical Support
If you still have questions or require any additional tech support while in the discussion group you can email us at any time at help@itracks.com using your regular email provider.
We are also available via phone at 1-888-525-5026.
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