Hackpad Help: DandDTrans Inquiry
A "community of inquiry and action" regarding the role that dialogue and deliberation can play in addressing the mega-crises of our time.
Image courtesy of www.NewStories.org
 
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Here are some basic pointers on using these hackpads. This is a very flexible tool--basically a set of blank pages that can be formatted as desired, easily linked together, and edited by many people at the same time (like a Google doc). Hackpad is not specifically designed for the use it is being put to here, so that explains why some of the features you might expect in an online platform, such as a built in profile section for each participant, are not present in this space.
 
If you need immediate help, you can Email Ben Roberts or look for him on Skype any time (his contact info is benjamin_j_roberts)
 
You will find a detailed guide on how to use hackpad here. Below are some basics and some pointers about the DandDTRans pads in particular. 
 
 

Navigation

The +Welcome pad serves as an online "home base." Please read it and the +About pad to get oriented. Note that hackpad also has its own "home" (reached via the icon in the upper left), which will show you a list of all the pads you are "following," with the most recently edited ones on top. There is also a "Collections" list in the right hand margin of that home page, which should include a link to the "Dialogue, Deliberation, and Systemic Transformation" collection. If you do not see that, click here, and then on the "follow" button in the upper right, to automatically track all the DandDTrans pads.
 
There is a menu bar for navigation at the top of all DandDTrans hackpads just below the banner image of the travelers at the crossroads. Some pads also have sub-menus to help you move among related subsidiary pads. 
 
If you don't see the banner image or the DandDTrans menu, you have left the DandDTrans hackpads. Go to hackpad.com and look for a DandDTrans pad in the home list there, or look for the Dialogue and Deliberation "category" in the right-hand margin of that page, or use this short url to return to the welcome pad: www.bit.ly/DandDTrans.
 
In addition to the menu bar at the top for easy navigation among pads, the right hand margin of each pad (in most browsers) contains an index for quick navigation within that pad. New items are automatically created in the index whenever a line is added that is formatted all in bold.
 
 

Adding Content/Editing a Pad

You must sign into hackpad to edit a page, using either Facebook, Google, or an email and password you set up. 
 
Only certain (unmoderated) pads can be edited by participants, as they are intended as conversation spaces. On these pads (which contain a note to that effect) all content can be changed (or deleted!) Please write only in the spaces indicated for discussion (e.g. the "post questions here" section at the bottom of this pad). If you delete something by mistake, Ctrl Z is undo on a PC, and F1 is undo on a Mac. 
 
If you see a notice that a pad is moderated, that means it is an informational pad and is not intended as a place for your comments or discussion. You can still submit changes to the DandDTrans hackpad hosts, if you wish to suggest something.
 
If you are concerned that you have erased something by mistake and cannot get it back, Email Ben Roberts  or look for him on Skype any time (his contact info is benjamin_j_roberts)
 
 

Notifications about changes to the pads

To stay up to date on all the DandDTrans hackpads, click here and then click on the green "Follow" button in the upper right of the new page you come to. Once you have done this, you will see the most recent changes to these pads whenever you go to hackpad.com or click the "home" icon in the black hackpad menu bar from any individual pad. From that home page, you can also go to the list of pads in this collection by clicking on the link under the word "Collections" in the right hand margin.
 
You automatically are set up to get notices about changes to any pad you have edited, or any pad in a collection you are following. If this is resulting in your receiving too many emails from hackpad, here are three options:
  • Stop getting all emails. Click on the three little lines ("burger") in the upper left corner of any pad, then on your name and "Account Settings." Uncheck the box next to "Email me updates about pads I follow." 
  • Stop getting emails from pads you haven't edited. Do this by "unfollowing" the DandDTrans collection (see the graf above).
  • Stop getting emails about a particular pad. Simply "unfollow" that pad using the icon in the upper right. or any single pad. It is grey when you are following it, and green when you are not.