In this overview, you can find how to sign up to the Procurement Forum, create and manage groups, manage your profile and notifications, access and upload to the Resource centre, manage your files.
If you need help you have a number of options. Firstly click "Help" to access the various access points. Once there check the FAQ for the most common questions, if your question is not there, check through this User Manual for more detailed explanations. If your problem is not listed or can’t be resolved by following the steps outlined here, please contact the Administrators at info@procurement-forum.eu.
In the log in box on the top right of the page http://www.procurement-forum.eu click the "Sign Up" link. Enter your details and click the orange "Sign up" button. You can also sign up by connecting your LinkedIn or Google account.
A confirmation link will be sent to the email address that you have specified. Please click on this to be able to complete your profile and use the rest of the Procurement Forum features.
Fill in your email address and chosen password into the box on the top right of the page http://www.procurement-forum.eu
To make logging in easier for your next visit, tick the "Remember me" box under the login and password fields. This is not recommended for shared devices.
If you wish to login but cannot remember the password your have chosen, click the "Password Forgotten?" link under the log in box on the top right of the page http://www.procurement-forum.eu.
Then enter the email address under which you created your Procurement Forum account and click the orange "Submit Address" button. A password reset link will be sent through to you.
It is important to complete your profile as much as possible to facilitate networking and build a sense of community. It is particularly important to add a profile picture, to add the face behind the name to your posts, comments and uploads.
Complete the following information so that when your profile is displayed other members can learn about you and your public procurement interests.
| Information | Description |
|---|---|
| Title | Mr/Mrs/Ms |
| First Name | Enter the first name you are known by |
| Last name | Enter the family name you are known by |
| Organisation | Enter the organisation that you work for |
| Type of organisation | What type of organisation is this? Public authority, national agency, association, stakeholder group, etc. |
| Job title | Enter the position that you hold |
| Skills & expertise | Enter any particular skills and expertise you have relating to public procurement |
| About me | Enter any other information relating to your work, other interests relating, but not exclusive, to public procurement |
| Areas of interest | Enter the particular aspects of public procurement you are interested in, e.g. GPP, SPP, PPI, standards, etc. |
| Location | Enter the city and country that you are based in |
| Website | Enter the URL of your website to encourage other members to visit |
You can view your profile at any time by clicking on My Profile.
Go to the My Profile page. Change any information in the various information fields. At the end of the page, click the orange "Save Changes" button to confirm the changes.
On the My Profile page, go to the section entitled Password. Click "Change Password".
In the form that appears, enter your new password twice and click the orange "Change Password" button
Your Procurement Forum account is tied to a particular email address. Should your email address change due to updated corporate priorities or as a result of an updated name (e.g. from marriage), please contact the administrator on info@procurement-forum.eu.
On the My Profile page, go to the section entitled Profile and under the Profile Photo avatar you have two options to upload a profile picture. Choose your image from your files.
At the end of the page, click the orange "Save Changes" button to complete the upload.
Your profile picture can be found on the My Profile page, in to the section entitled "Profile". Under the Profile Photo, the file name of your chosen image will be displayed.
To delete this picture, click the little x to the left of the file name.
Your profile picture is now deleted and you can upload a new profile picture following the steps listed above.
It is possible to link your Procurement Forum account to your LinkedIn or Google accounts.
To do so, on the My Profile page, go to the section entitled Social Media.
Click on the social media service that you wish to link with your procurement forum account. Click "connect account" and follow the instructions of that social media service to complete the connection.
As a default all accounts are set up to send notifications when someone:
Tick or untick these options to match your personal preferences.
In addition, activity recaps from the homepage (Public Space) and your groups are set up to send on a daily basis. Other options include Send me a 3-day recap showing what happened or Send me a weekly recap showing what happened. To disable notifications, untick all.
To apply your changes click the orange "Save changes" button.
To turn off notifications for a particular group of which you are a member, go to the Groups page and complete the following steps:
Once logged in, you arrive at the homepage of the Procurement Forum. This is an open space for sharing general information, promoting activities and getting quick feedback on a question. It is not the place for extensive discussion on one particular topic. That is done best in a specific group.
On the homepage, you can make a post, comment on a post, upload files to a post or comment or add an event in the event calendar.
In the box at the top of the homepage, you can make your post. You must fill in the following information:
Should you see an interesting post in the Latest Discussion feed, you may comment on this.
The link to the post text will be blue. Click on the post title. You will be brought to a page which displays the full post and all comments. To add your comment click on the orange "Create comment" button.
Adding a heading to your comment is optional, though recommended.
Add your comment, filling in the box as you would a post. To share your comment, click the orange "Update" button.
If you see that you have made spelling or grammatical errors in your post or comment, or if the status has changed and you wish to add more information, instead of adding a duplicate post, you can edit the original post or comment. You have this right on all the contributions you make to the Procurement Forum.
Looking at the post or comment you will see the option to "edit" or "delete" next to your contributions.
If you see that a post or comment you have made is no longer valid for any reason, you can delete it. You have this right on all the contributions you make to the Procurement Forum.
Looking at the post or comment you will see the option to "edit" or "delete" next to your contributions.
If you need to add a file to support your post or comment, you may do so in two ways:
The upcoming events box can be found on the upper right hand side of the homepage. It also displays to non-members on the landing page of the Procurement Forum.
To upload an event:
There are a number of ways to view the profile of another Procurement Forum member.
Procurement Forum groups give you the opportunity to discuss and exchange in small, secure units within the Procurement Forum. Groups can be used for discussion or to structure project management.
If you need to create a new group, please follow the following steps:
Add members by typing in e-mail addresses of participants. If the person is already a member of the Procurement Forum, the email field will fill itself.
If the person is not a member of the Procurement Forum, you will need to enter their email address. They will receive an invitation to join your group and sign up to the Procurement Forum. Only members of the Procurement Forum can join groups. External observers are not possible.
By going to the Groups page, members are able to see the full list of groups that are active on the Procurement Forum.
Members can join or request membership of a number of groups. In the "My Groups" section of the page, you can see which groups you are a member of.
Based on the groups that you are a member of the system will make suggestions of other "Groups that you may like".
Groups can be open, closed or private.
Open groups can be joined by anyone who clicks on the "Join Group" button. This type of group displays in the list of groups on the Groups page. Discussion is topic focused and not sensitive. An engaged moderator facilitates and stimulates discussion.
Closed groups allow Procurement Forum members to "request membership". An administrator will review the request and assess if the member may join the discussion at hand. This type of group displays in the list of groups on the Groups page.
Private groups admit members on an invitation only basis. Administrators issue invitations through the system. This type of group does not display in the list of groups on the Groups page.
Once you are a member of a group you will need to abide by the rules of conduct of the group as set out by the Group Manager. The functions that are available to members are as follows.
In the group homepage, click on the orange "Add file(s) +" button. The process is similar to that required to make a post. In the box displayed, fill in the following compulsory information:
In the group homepage, click on the blue "All files" link displayed underneath the file list.
This takes you to the "File Archive" for your specific group. You can search for files via a free text search that searches the file description, as well as file contents. Enter a keyword and click on the magnifying glass icon to launch the search.
You also have the option to search through the files via upload date, author, file name, file size, file type, or via labels.
Another option to locate files quickly is by using the "label cloud" that displays in the upper right-hand side of your group homepage. Each label used is displayed, along with the number of files tagged with that label. Click on a label to see all files connected.
In the group homepage, click on the orange "Add image +" button. The process is similar to that required to make a post. In the box displayed, fill in the following compulsory information:
In the group homepage, click on the blue "All images" link displayed underneath the image display.
This takes you to the Image Archive for your specific group. You can search for image via a free text search that searches the file description, as well as file contents. Enter a keyword and click on the magnifying glass icon to launch the search.
One also has the option to search through the files via upload date, author, file name, file size, file type, or via labels.
You can only post to the group from within the group homepage. Once there, the discussion feed is located under the image reel. In the box at the top of this section of the homepage page, you can make your post. You must fill in the following information:
Should you see an interesting post in the Latest Discussion feed on your group homepage, you may comment on this.
The link to the post text will be blue. Click on the post title. You will be brought to a page which displays the full post and all comments. To add your comment, click on the orange "Create comment" button.
Add your comment, filling in the box displayed as you would a post, including labels if relevant. To share your comment, click the orange "Update" button.
If you see that you have made spelling or grammatical errors in your post or comment, or if the status has changed and you wish to add more information, instead of adding a duplicate post, you can edit the original post or comment. You have this right on all the contributions you make to the Procurement Forum.
Looking at the post or comment you will see the option to "edit" or "delete" next to your contributions.
If you see that a post or comment you have made is no longer valid for any reason, you can delete it. You have this right on all the contributions you make to the Procurement Forum.
Looking at the post or comment you will see the option to "edit" or "delete" next to your contributions.
The full membership of the group can be viewed by clicking on the blue "All members" link contained under the profile pictures in the "Latest members" box on the right hand side of the group home page.
New members can be invited to the group by clicking the + in the orange box at the head of the "Latest members" box on the right hand side of the group home page. All group members can invite new members.
In the "Invite people to join" box simply enter the name or email address of those persons you wish to join the group and click the orange "Invite" button.
If the person is already a member of the Procurement Forum, the email field will fill itself in. If the person is not a member of the Procurement Forum, you will need to enter their email address. They will receive an invitation to join your group and sign up to the Procurement Forum. Only members of the Procurement Forum can join groups. External observers are not possible.
Group tasklists can be created by clicking the + in the orange box at the head of the "Tasklists" box on the right hand side of the group home page. A number of tasklists can be created and these can run in parallel. To create a tasklist, follow these steps:
In the "Tasklists" box on the right hand side of the group home page, click the tasklist name to activate the tasklist. All fields can be modified as necessary.
Confirm your changes, by clicking the orange "Save this tasklist" button.
Tasklists cannot be deleted. Once your tasklist is complete, edit the list title to add the word DONE to the list to signify that it is finished.
The group-specific upcoming events box can be found on the right hand side of the group homepage. It is only visible to group members.
To upload an event:
The group-specific polls box can be found on the right hand side of the group homepage. It is only visible to group members.
To create a poll:
If you no longer wish to be part of a specific group, please go to the Groups page
If you are a group manager you will have the following functions available to you:
The Resource Centre can be found at procurement-forum.eu/resources. One does not have to be logged into the Procurement Forum to find documents in the Resource Centre, but one must be logged in to upload or remove material.
Search for documents via a number of different options, e.g. country, category of document, procurement topic, language, related product or service, implementation level. You may also search using a keyword.
Document rating has been enabled in the Resource Centre to give a visual clue to visitors regarding the quality and relevance of a document. You must be logged in to give a rating.
To give a rating,
You can always change your rating. The rating formula is as follows:
| One star | = | Bad |
| Two stars | = | Poor |
| Three stars | = | Regular |
| Four stars | = | Good |
| Five stars | = | Excellent |
You must be logged in to upload a document to the Resource Centre.
You must be logged in to edit a document in the Resource Centre and the document in question must have been uploaded with your account.
You must be logged in to delete a document in the Resource Centre and the document in question must have been uploaded with your account. Deleted resources can not be reinstated by an administrator.
