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Frequently Asked Questions about Connect

What do the badges next to a user's name represent?

Here's a great explanation written by one of our community managers.

What is a Trusted Advisor? How do I become a Trusted Advisor?

The “Trusted Advisor” designation is given to an elite group of Symantec Connect community members who voluntarily share their expertise and experience with the Symantec Connect Community. Trusted Advisors are identified in the community with a special badge and are the front line of support for community users. Trusted Advisors are not Symantec Corp. employees. For more information about becoming a trusted advisor, you can check out this post.

How can I check my Connect Rewards point balance?

Your current Connect Rewards point balance is available on your user profile page (if you're logged in):

  1. Log in to Connect.
  2. Click the "Account" menu (or the "Profile" submenu that's located under the "Account" menu).
  3. Look for the words: "Rewards Points Balance"
  4. For extra credit, click the "view" link next to your rewards balance and you'll see an historical log of all your rewards transactions.

How do I change the email address that's used by SymAccount (and Connect)?

"I have changed my employer and my email address has changed. I don't want to create a new Connect account. What can I do to make the change and continue to participate on Connect?"

  1. Log into Connect using your old SymAccount credentials.
  2. Visit your profile page by clicking the "My Profile" option under the "Account" menu.
  3. Click the "Edit Account" option on your profile page.
  4. Directly under your username, click the "SymAccount" link in the sentence that begins with "To change your password ..."
  5. You should be taken to your SymAccount edit page where you can change your email address, SymAccount password, and the contact details that are stored in the SymAccount system.
  6. Once you've successfully changed your SymAccount information, your Connect account will be synchronized with the updated information from SymAccount.

How do I attach a log file or image to a comment?

When you reply to a forum post or comment on a Connect article, sometimes you need to attach a supporting screen capture or log file. Attaching a file to a comment is very easy once you know where to look.

Under the comment submission form, you'll find a link labeled "File attachments". Clicking this link will open the familiar file upload wizard. You can use this wizard to attach approved file types to any comment.

How do I change my notifications preferences to use HTML (or txt)?

To modify your settings so you'll receive HTML or Text notifications, you'll need to change settings in two areas of the site.

Let's assume you want to start receiving HTML notifications. Here's how to change your existing subscriptions to use the HTML Email option:

  1. Visit your profile page by clicking the "Profile" option under the Account menu.
  2. On your profile page, click the "Notifications" tab.
  3. Click the "Administer your subscriptions" link.
  4. Click the checkbox next to the subscriptions you want to modify. Clicking the checkbox at the top of the page (next to the "Type" label) will check all the checkboxes on the page.
  5. Using the dropdown selector next to the "Update" button, select the "HTML Email" option.
  6. Click the update button.
  7. If you have more than one page of subscriptions, you'll need to use the links at the bottom of the page to navigate to your other subscriptions and make the same changes to them.

Here's how to change your preferences so new subscriptions will automatically be saved with the HTML preference:

  1. Visit your profile page by clicking the "Profile" option under the "Account" menu.
  2. On your profile page, click the "Profile" tab.
  3. Scroll down the page and find the "Messaging and Notifications settings" section.
  4. Change the "Default send method" to "HTML Email" by selecting the HTML option.
  5. Save your settings by clicking the "Save" button at the bottom of your profile page.

How do I add a poll to my post?

Adding a Poll to a post on Connect is a two-step process:

  1. Using the "Poll" option under the "Create" menu, create a poll.
  2. Type the name of your poll in the "Poll attachment" field that now appears on the create/edit form of each of Connect's content types.

Where can I learn more about the Connect Rewards program?

You can learn about earning rewards points here: http://www.symantec.com/connect/points.
And you can learn how to redeem rewards points here: http://www.symantec.com/connect/rewards.

Have more questions you think should be added to this FAQ? Post them in the "Symantec Connect" forum.

How do I add an image to my Connect post?

This article provides step-by-step instructions for inserting an image to your Connect post How to Add an Image to a Connect Post

When/why are forum threads closed to new comments?

  • A thread will be locked if it has not been replied to in 6 months (six months from the last comment).
  • A thread will be locked if it has been marked as solved and has not been replied to in 1 month (1 month from the last comment).
  • A thread with no replies will stay open indefinitely.

How is the "Helpful" score calculated?

  • Forum post that is marked as "needs solution"
    - The Helpful score is the total number of up-votes in comments
  • Forum post that is *not* marked as "needs solution"
    - The Helpful score is the number of up-votes on comments + the number of up-votes on the node itself

This makes the helpful calculation account for posts where the author is just sharing information, and the up-voters of the node are indeed implying that the main post is "helpful".

How can I link to a list page that I've filtered?

  1. Go to the List Page Link Builder.
  2. Use the wizard to select the target community, utility, products and associated taxonomy terms.
  3. Watch the helper in the blue bar at the bottom of the tool to keep from building links that will return 0 results.
  4. When you're finished refining your selections, copy the URL that's output and use it to create a bookmark or to email to members of your team.

How can I generate a URL that only gives me content -- via RSS -- on the specific product, or topic, or community that I'm interested in?

  1. Go to the RSS Builder.
  2. Use the wizard to select the target community, utility, products and associated taxonomy terms.
  3. When you're finished refining your selections, copy the URL that's output and use it pull a targeted RSS feed from Connect.