User Guide

As the go to hub for the global social change community, we rely on support from our members to cover our many operating costs including staff, web hosting, site development, outreach, content development, events, and more. PCDN’s mission is to democratize access to information for everyone.

We believe in open access to ensure anyone in the world can benefit from our network.  Not all members can afford to pay, but we strongly encourage you to make an annual payment in support of work (at the level you can afford, ranging from $9.95 to $99.95 a year). For those who cannot pay we do offer a free membership option (the curious level).

PCDN provides a vital service that benefits thousands of individuals and organizations around the world each year. We run a very lean operation and rely on support from our members, partners and advertisers to continue our work. Please take a minute to think about the impact or benefit of PCDN for you and others, and choose a membership level that will help us sustain and scale our work/impact.

Please note PCDN is a limited liability corporation and thus payments are not tax-deductible.

The membership levels are as follows:

How can I tell when my membership expires? Membership is for 12 months. Prior to the expiration of your membership term, you will receive an email notifying you that it is time to renew your subscription.  Or if your membership expires when you login again you will be asked to choose to a membership level.

I have already made a payment, but my membership isn’t active? If you have any problems please contact us at help(at)pcdnetwork.org

PCDN is the go-to hub for the global social change community. Please see below for our terms of service.

The following are the PCDN Terms of use. Members are entirely responsible for their  conduct and content on the the site  and compliance with these terms. By registering, joining or browsing on PCDN, you  acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these terms. PCDN is for individuals 17 years and above. Users who provide their personal information on PCDN represents that they are 17 years of age or older.

This site is provided as a public service. It is the responsibility of the user to ensure that information uploaded to the site does not violate any copyright laws. By registering for the site you agree to use it at your own risk and in no way is the PCDN responsible for the content posted on the site. Any users who post photos or other copyrighted material without permission may have their account terminated without warning.  This website include chat rooms, and forums available for our users. Please remember that any information that is disclosed in these areas can become public information and you should exercise caution when deciding to disclose your personal information as Google indexes the site (it is possible to adjust your privacy settings under your user profile under settings). If your profile is set to be viewable than it is likely your information can show up on a Google Search. If your profile set to private, your name may still show up in a Google Search.

You agree not to upload, distribute, or publish through forums on this website any content that is or may be, in whole or in part: false, unlawful, criminal, libelous, defamatory, slanderous, profane, obscene, pornographic, harassing, threatening, inappropriate, unprofessional, invasive of privacy or publicity rights, abusive, inflammatory or otherwise objectionable, racist, sexist, promoting or soliciting for commercial purposes, containing any known viruses or bugs, promoting or soliciting for criminal purposes, violates the rights of any party, or otherwise creates liability or violates any law. You shall remain solely liable for the content of any posting by you on this website. PCDN has no obligation to monitor the forums. However, we reserve the right to review materials posted to the forums and to remove any in its sole discretion. Anyone who violates these principles may have their account terminated.

In addition, users are strongly encouraged to double-check any information posted on the site to ensure it is valid and from a legitimate source. The PCDN network is providing an information service to users and does not bear any responsibility for the accuracy or legitimacy of individual postings (Posting on the site does not an endorsement from PCDN). It is the individual user’s responsibility to decide to explore information provided on this site and users are encouraged to exercise caution and do a thorough investigation of any opportunities (particularly if financial resources are involved). Users are strongly recommended to not provide any financial resources to participate in opportunities without a thorough investigation to ensure the legitimacy of the organization/opportunity. If you see a posting that seems dubious or fraudulent in nature please use caution in responding and also contact PCDN so it can be removed. Any user posting fraudulent opportunities will be permanently banned from the site.

While we encourage postings and discussions of difficult topics related to conflict related issues around the world, which may often lead to strong disagreements, we do not allow postings of personal attacks on the site. Moreover, while individuals are also encouraged to discuss their respective faiths, this is not a site for proselytizing. Individuals who post personal attacks or engage in proselytizing will have their accounts terminated.

 

PCDN also doesn’t permit individual fundraising or job search requests.

By using the site you agree you will not post, email or make use of content that :

• In a manner that infringes, violates or misappropriates any third party’s intellectual property rights or other proprietary rights or contractual rights;
• in a manner that contains software viruses or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment;
• to engage in spamming, “chain letters,” “pyramid schemes”, advertisement of illegal or controlled products or services, or other advertising or marketing activities that violate these Terms of Service, any applicable laws, regulations or generally-accepted advertising industry guidelines;
• in a manner that is misleading, deceptive or fraudulent or otherwise illegal or promotes illegal activities, including engaging in phishing or otherwise obtaining financial or other personal information in a misleading manner or for fraudulent or misleading purposes;
• in a manner that is libelous or defamatory, or in a way that is otherwise threatening, abusive, violent, harassing, malicious or harmful to any person or entity, or invasive of another’s privacy;
• in a manner that is harmful to minors in any way;
• in a manner that is hateful or discriminatory based on race, color, sex, religion, nationality, ethnic or national origin, marital status, disability, sexual orientation or age or is otherwise objectionable;
• to impersonate any other person, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity, or to obtain access to this Network without authorization;
• to interfere or attempt to interfere with the proper working of this Network or prevent others from using this Network, or in a manner that disrupts the normal flow of dialogue with an excessive number of messages (flooding attack) to this Network, or that otherwise negatively affects other persons’ ability to use this Network;
• to use any manual or automated means, including agents, robots, scripts, or spiders, to access or manage any user’s account or to monitor or copy this Network or the content contained therein;
• to facilitate the unlawful distribution of copyrighted content;
• in a manner that includes personal or identifying information about another person without that person’s explicit consent;
• in a manner that employs misleading email or IP addresses, or forged headers or otherwise manipulated identifiers in order to disguise the origin of content transmitted through this Network or to users; and
• in a manner that constitutes or contains any form of advertising or solicitation if emailed to users who have requested not to be contacted about other services, products or commercial interests.

Additionally, you agree not to:

• “Stalk” or otherwise harass anyone;
• Collect, use or disclose data, including personal information, about other users without their consent or for unlawful purposes or in violation of applicable law or regulations;
• Request, solicit or otherwise obtain access to usernames, passwords or other authentication credentials from any member of this Network or to proxy authentication credentials for any member of this Network for the purposes of automating logins to this Network;
• Post any content containing child pornography to this Network;
• Post any content that constitutes pornography, contains nudity, or is adult in nature.
• Use automated means, including spiders, robots, crawlers, data mining tools, or the like to download data from this Network – except for Internet search engines (e.g. Google) and non-commercial public archives (e.g. archive.org) that comply with our robots.txt file, or “well-behaved” web services/RSS/Atom clients. We reserve the right to define what we mean by “well-behaved”;
• Post irrelevant content, repeatedly post the same or similar content or otherwise impose an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on the Network’s infrastructure;
• Attempt to gain unauthorized access to our computer systems or engage in any activity that disrupts, diminishes the quality of, interferes with the performance of, or impairs the functionality of, this Network;
• Take any action that may undermine the feedback or ratings systems (such as displaying, importing or exporting feedback information off of this Network or for using it for purposes unrelated to this Network); and
• Develop, invoke, or utilize any code to disrupt, diminish the quality of, interfere with the performance of, or impair the functionality of this Network.

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, by participating on PCDN you agree to indemnify and hold harmless PCDN all matters related to your interaction with others using this platform.

Individuals are not allowed to post their individual requests related to their job or funding searches on the site. Anyone posting such requests may be banned. There are many resources related to jobs and funding on the site, but if we allowed such individual requests the site would be deluged. In addition see the career resources section (including guides to jobs, internships and academic jobs) with links to relevant websites and publications.

PCDN is an open network indexed by Google to help us reach the broadest community possible. You can adjust your privacy settings at anytime by logging in and clicking. You can also adjust privacy options for particular sections/postings. Please note that the network is an open network meaning outsiders can currently view the comments you make on your wall and others make on your profile.  Thus, it is strongly recommended not to provide very personal information on the comment walls (nor your personal contact information).. As highlighted above the network content is indexed by Google and other Internet Search Engines.

If you set your profile to private or viewable by friends only, your name (or PCDN activity) may still show up in Google searches, but hopefully your profile will not be accessible via Google. While the network will try to ensure privacy settings are followed, we cannot make a 100% guarantee. Thus, any user with strong privacy or security concerns (such as individuals from a conflict country) is urged to use caution before posting anything personal and to make sure you adjust your privacy settings following the steps below.

To minimize the chances for spam please ensure you do the following:

1. Never post your email address in your public profile.
2. If you do post your email address in a posting ensure that you write out the address in the following manner, (at) instead of using the @ sign. For example, a
   sample address would be test(at)google.com
3. If you want to communicate with individuals on the site, the best way to do this is
   using the send message you can access on member profiles as this is way
   to send messages internally via the network.

To manage your user account, click on your name in the top menu or your photo. This will bring you to the member settings page.

Clicking on the username will bring you to the main ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT PAGE, while clicking on the use photo will bring the account management page as a sidebar.

Within the account management area a user can access the following items:

ACTIVITY – A summary of f your recent PCDN activity.

PROFILE-  A user can edit his/her bio or information on PCDN. In addition privacy settings or photo can be changed.

NOTIFICATIONS – Periodic updates from the PCDN Team.

MESSAGES– This is where users can send or receive messages from/to other members on PCDN. Users can manage/send/see sent messages via the menu. Click on messages and the inbox will show any new or current messages. Click on Compose to send a message to another user.

FRIENDS – This is a list of added friends on PCDN or pending requests for friendship.

To add a friend view the user’s profile and click on the add friend box.

GROUPS –  This is a list of all groups to which a member belongs or invitations to join a group on PCDN. A user can view all groups. Groups can be joined by clicking on join group. If a group is public a user can be added immediately. If a group is private, the user will need to be approved by the group administrators.

FORUMS – Is a list of recent forum discussions started by a user. You can view new topics, replies, favorite and which forums you will receive updates regarding new activity under subscriptions. SETTINGS– This is where a user can adjust one’s profile, privacy settings and email settings. 

EMAIL SETTINGS – This is a place to adjust a user’s settings regarding which emails one would like to receive. Such as when you receive a friend request, response to a posting, etc. Note the PCDN newsletters are managed in a separate space.

DELETE ACCOUNT – To leave the network click on delete account.

GALLERY – The space to see/organizer a user’s video/photo uploads.

PCDN 3.0 uses cometchat one of the leading chat systems in the world to create a true interactive community. Cometchat has a wealth of features that include the following:

• Text, voice and video chat options
• Individual & Group chat options
• Integration with G-chat
• Ability for users to create public, password protected and invitation-only chatrooms
• Send Files &Share Collaborative Documents
• Ability to use Emojis
• Users can Translate conversations to different languages
• Users can Save conversations
• Temporarily or permanently ban members
• Ability To broadcast sessions

There are many, many more features. The best way to learn how to use the chat system is to play around and test out the incredible tools. We do provide a short guide below to key features, but we urge you to try out and familiarize yourself with the many tools. In addition, take a look at the detailed Comet Chat user manual.

How do I start using the Chat?

The chat system can be seen at the bottom of the screen.  The bottom menu bar has a few key features including (each is explained below)

A) Home Page – Click on this to return to the PCDN Home Page.

B) Join or Start a Chatroom – Click on this to open the Chat Room Page. A screen will open up which will display the lobby with existing chatrooms or the ability to create new chat rooms. Click on the any of the existing chatrooms to join in a session.

In joining an existing chat room users can invite their friends (you need to be friends with a user to invite him/her to join a chat).

To start a new chatroom users will have the option of creating a public space, a password protected, or invite only chatroom. First give the chatroom a name and then big the desired setting.

C) Announcements – This section will display general announcements from the PCDN team related to the chatrooms.

D) Scroll – This will bring the user to the top of the screen.

E) Chat Now – This will bring up the option to chat with current friends (and show their status) or with  gchat friends (will require a separate login).

F) Chat Options – Brings up a screen where user’s can type a status update. In addition a user can adjust settings that include available, busy, invisible or offline. There is also a section to disable sound or popup notifications.

G) Open/Close – Click on this to open or close the chat bar.

 

CHAT OPTIONS

When chatting with users there are many different tools available. Below is a brief summary. Also hoover your cursor over any of the menu options to see what the feature is.

1) Open/Close Chat Features Menu

2) Minimize – Minimize the Chat bar

3) Close – Close the current chat

4)  Clear – Clear the chat history

5) Time/Date – Show the time/date.

6) Audio Call – Start an audio chat with a user or users.

7) Video/Audio Call – Start a call with a video option.

8) Broadcast – Start a video or audio broadcast to share with many people.

9) Block  – Block users.

10) History – View chat history.

11)  Share File – Send a file to a user.

12) Handwrite – Draw a message.

13) Save – Save a conversation.

14) Language – Users can choose to write in 20 languages (see below) and have it translated to English.

15) Collaborative Documents – Users can co-create (or import existing files) and edit documents collaboratively. Files can be saved and exported in different file formats.

Go to the sign-in page and click the “Forgot Password?” link. You will receive a secret key via email that you can use to reset your password. If you don’t receive an email please check your spam folder. If you still have problems please contact us at info@pcdnetwork.org

PCDN is an open network indexed by Google to help us reach the broadest community possible. You can adjust your privacy settings at anytime by logging in and clicking. You can also adjust privacy options for particular sections/postings. Please note that the network is an open network meaning outsiders can currently view the comments you make on your wall and others make on your profile.  Thus, it is strongly recommended not to provide very personal information on the comment walls (nor your personal contact information).. As highlighted above the network content is indexed by Google and other Internet Search Engines.

If you set your profile to private or viewable by friends only, your name (or PCDN activity) may still show up in Google searches, but hopefully your profile will not be accessible via Google. While the network will try to ensure privacy settings are followed, we cannot make a 100% guarantee. Thus, any user with strong privacy or security concerns (such as individuals from a conflict country) is urged to use caution before posting anything personal and to make sure you adjust your privacy settings following the steps below.

To minimize the chances for spam please ensure you do the following:

1. Never post your email address in your public profile.
2. If you do post your email address in a posting ensure that you write out the address in the following manner, (at) instead of using the @ sign. For example, a
   sample address would be test(at)google.com
3. If you want to communicate with individuals on the site, the best way to do this is
   using the send message you can access on member profiles as this is way
   to send messages internally via the network.

If you want to remove yourself from PCDN you can do this within your user profile or send an email asking to be removed to info@pcdnetwork.org

To post an opportunity on PCDN there are two options. We do strongly encourage employers to consider signing up for membership and post directly. This will allow you to manage and edit postings on PCDN directly.  It is also possible to send postings to info(at)pcdnetwork.org If you have any questions please contact us at help(at)pcdnetwork.org

For registered members the steps to postings are as follows.

1. Loginto PCDN

2. Click to Submit a Job – Users can click on careers and submit a job or in the job listing page click on the submit a job link.

3. Fill out the Job Form

Title of the Position

Location

Job region (Please check any area, but not this an error in the system that will be fixed soon)

Type of position Choose full-time, part-time, consultancy or internship

Enter Tags or Keywords Enter a few relevant keywords about the job such as skills required.

Job Description – Put the full or summary job description in this space. Use the formatting menu to change font size, type, etc.

Application Link or Email Address for applications – If appropriate enter the URL for applications to apply to the position or an email to receive applications (this isn’t required)

Closing Date – If possible it is best to list a closing date.

Company Details – This information isn’t required but helpful to include. Users can add

• Organization Name
• Organization Website
• Tagline or brief description of the organization
• Video – Link to a video about your work
• Twitter Link
• Logo
• Attachments (such as application forms, a PDF job decription, etc.) can be added in this section.

Click on Preview when Finished

Review your posting. Click on edit to make changes or once you click on submit the posting is live.

PCDN 3.0 offers an entirely new career system that allows users to do the following:

• Search for Jobs
• Setup customized job alerts via email
• Upload a resume
• Save Jobs

Each function is described below. Note we will also be adding more features in the months to come including a resume database searchable by employers. Currently the job alerts send users an individual email alert and we hope to setup a job alert digest.

Search for Professional Opportunities – go to Careers on the main menu and click on job listings. This will bring the full list of jobs. It is possible to search by keyword, type of posting (full time, part time, consultancy, internship or location).

Browse through all the listings or try a search.

Alerts – Users can setup alerts to be notified via email when jobs with particular keywords or geographic locations are posted. Note currently, when a user sets up more than one alert the user will receive different emails for each one. For example if a user sets up an alert for social entrepreneurship and then a separate alert for development, the user will receive separate email alerts for each. Alerts can be setup as daily, weekly or bi-weekly. PCDN is hoping to develop a system where all alerts will be combined in a single message in the future.

To setup an alert click on add Alert. This will bring you to the add alert screen.

 

To setup an alert do the following

a) Create a name for the alert

b) Pick a keyword you want to search for such as social change, development, evaluation, etc.

OR

pick a geographic location to search use such as New York, Colombia, etc.

c) Tags – We recommend leaving this blank for now (use Any tag)

d) Type – Select if you want to be notified for full time, part-time job, consultancy and/or internships.

e) Email – Choose if you want to be notified daily, weekly or bi-weekly via email.

f) Save – Click save alert

You can setup as many alerts as you would like.

To cancel or modify alerts, click on Careers and my Job Board.

RESUMES

Users can upload a resume under careers/my job board. Uploading a resume will allow users to apply directly for select jobs on the site (if the employer is accepting resumes via PCDN). Also employers are using PCDN to proactively find candidates. We will be adding a searchable resume database (only open to approved employers), thus having an up to date resume is essential.  Go to the Resume Page and click on Add Resume. And follow the steps.

In addition, users should upload professional data here including:

a) Name

b) Contact Email

c) Professional Title

d) Location

e) Picture (this is optional)

f) Video

g) Resume Content – Cut and paste your resume here.

h) Add some core skills

i) If desired add social media or other links (not required)

j) education can be entered

k) experience can be entered

l) additional documents can be uploaded

Save Jobs – Users can Bookmark any job by clicking within any position on Add Bookmark and even enter notes. Bookmarked jobs can be viewed in the user’s My Jobboard Section.

PCDN currently offers a #beintheknow daily digest (only available to members) and a weekly newsletter (open to all). The daily digest email is carefully curated select information with key postings (jobs, events, funding opportunities, blogs) sent daily to our members.  This is a great way to stay informed on key opportunities. However given the tremendous amount of info on PCDN the best way to ensure you’re up to date in addition to subscribing to the #beintheknow digest is to visit the site regularly and follow us on social media.

The PCDN #gotchange weekly newsletter contains highlights of relevant content from PCDN and the global social change community in general. Both PCDN members and visitors can subscribe to the newsletter. The public can sign up for the newsletter via the PCDN home page by entering an email and following the subscription steps

Where can I view/edit edit postings – Your user profile section serves as a central place to edit blog postings, events, and forum topics. Click on your user profile and then click on contributions and use the pencil edit button to change postings. Job postings that you have made can be edited in the dashboard at https://pcdnetwork.org/jobs/job-dashboard/

Individuals are not allowed to post their individual requests related to their job or funding searches on the site. Anyone posting such requests may be banned. There are many resources related to jobs and funding on the site, but if we allowed such individual requests the site would be deluged. In addition see the career resources section (including guides to jobs, internships and academic jobs) with links to relevant websites and publications.

The site has a wealth of information and you’re encouraged to look through older postings, as there is only a limited amount of information that can fit on the main page (which changes daily). In particular, you can find hundreds of job, funding opportunities, blogs, and events more by looking around the site. Users can search the entire network. This can be done in several ways including:

Home Page Search – Go to the home page and in the upper right side next to your user profile picture, click on the magnifying glass

 After clicking on the magnifying class you will displayed the following page

Searches can be done by keywords (such as social sector, funding, social entrepreneurship, peacebuilding, conflict resolution, international development, specific organizations, resource guides, social entrepreneurship etc.) and results (from the entire site) will be displayed almost instantly.

This will bring you to a list of posts across the site (jobs, forums, etc) with this keyword. You will also see a screen where the search settings can be adjusted to specific sections of the site as seen below.

Each sub-page also has a search box (forums, blogs, events, etc.) that can be used. Also on some pages on the site (such as on the forums) tags are included (keywords of frequent postings) where members can click and see all postings with the same tag.

Member Search – The member database can be searched by various categories including:

• NAME
• SECTORAL EXPERTISE
• COUNTRY
• YEARS OF EXPERIENCE
• LANGUAGE

Choose the appropriate categories and click on search as shown below.

This is a site to encourage open interaction between members. However, if a member posts offensive and/or inappropriate material (including personal job or funding solicitations) the member may be banned.

While we encourage postings and discussions of difficult topics related to conflict related issues around the world, which may often lead to strong disagreements, we do not allow postings of personal attacks on the site. Moreover, while individuals are also encouraged to discuss their respective faiths, this is not a site for proselytizing. Individuals who post personal attacks or engage in proselytizing will have their accounts terminated. Also while this is network designed to promote open interaction, please do not place blind generic postings/comments across multiple user profiles or send unsolicited spam to members. If anyone does violate this policy you may be banned from the network. You can also block communication from individual users if you so choose. Please free to contact PCDN if you have questions/concerns about something on the site.

There are several things members can do to help the site grow which include:

• Follow PCDN on TWITTER, FACEBOOK AND LINKEDIN
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Instagram

• Provide Suggestions for how to Improve the Site (new ideas, materials, etc.).
• Create a Link on Other Websites or invite others to join – You are encouraged to add this page to recommended links on other sites. To create a link please use the following text

Please join the

Peace and Collaborative Development Network, the go-to hub for the global social change community

PCDN is the go to hub for the global social change community connecting over 36,000 individuals/organizations engaged in social change, peacebuilding, social entrepreneurship, development and related fields. We provide a one-stop shop to inspire, connect, inform and provide the tools and resources to scale social change. The network has over 250,000 hits per month and 75,000 + unique visitors and has helped thousands of individuals and organizations worldwide network, obtain funding, jobs, and be inspired.

Visit https://pcdnetwork.org to explore and become a member!

Becoming a member is free, though we do ask for a small donation, if you are able, to help support the work of PCDN. We do have organizational membership options as well.

KEY STATS ON PCDN

• Approximately 30% of PCDN’s visitors come from North America, the rest represent nearly every country and territory in the world.
• Since PCDN was founded in June 2007 over 5,000,000 unique visitors have visited the network.
• Advertisers report an increases of 10-200% in traffic when advertising on PCDN.

WHAT OTHERS SAY

PCDN is vital to the work of Atlas Corps as we recruit professionals from around the world. It has also become a network builder as the majority of our Fellows use PCDN to forward their long-term professional goals. Since Atlas Corps started in 2006, PCDN has helped us reach more than 130 countries as we receive on average 500 to 1,000 applications a month.

– Scott Beale, Founder & CEO, Atlas Corps

The Peace and Collaborative Network is an invaluable resource for reaching a large swath of the international development community. Advertising on PCDN for our 2014 Annual Conference was a great success, as it generated the second highest number of referrals, equaling 20% of the total number. These referrals also brought in 22.5% of our new users in the months leading up to the conference. We would not have been able to reach these new users without PCDN’s exposure.

– Kara Frazier, Program Manager, Society for International Development

The site has limited ads from relevant organizations and companies to help covers expenses. Please feel free to explore services provided by advertisers if you find them of interest by clicking on the appropriate ad.  We try to ensure the ads are consistent with the site values, but if you see an inappropriate ad, please let us know. If you’re interested in exploring placing an AD on PCDN please see the About Advertising Page.

For example if you made a new contact, research project, etc. it would be wonderful if you could share a brief summary of the experience. This will greatly aid in trying to track the “impact” of this site. You can contribute your feedback in the Forum Section under user feedback

In general, cross-posting content written by the core PCDN team or events, jobs, etc. should be fine. However some authors who post on PCDN in the blog section have copyrighted their work. Thus if you have a question please always check with the particular author of the content before crossposting. The overwhelming majority of people posting on PCDN should be open to cross-posting but you need to get their permission if it isn’t part of the core PCDN staff.

Below is some sample language (again please check with the particular writer of content prior to sharing)

This material is cross-posted from the Peace and Collaborative Development Network (and list the author of the content)  , https://pcdnetwork.org

Anyone cross-posting materials should include this text. Individuals or organisations who do not do this may have their PCDN accounts cancelled.