Epilepsy.com members can create their own story webpages to share with other members, their friends, and their families. Use your individual space to tell the world a bit about yourself, to upload photos, and even start your own podcast! Your page will also feature your blog and any groups to which you are a member.
Finding People Stories
People Stories can be found under the blue “My.epilepsy.com Community” navigation item. Once on this page, individual stories can be found in the center column’s “People Stories Index” and “People Stories Activity.” In the Index, the default view displays the 25 most recently updated Stories. Other tabs in this section display the 25 most popular stories, an alphabetical listing of all Stories, and a tag cloud of the tags/keywords most commonly used in stories, which can help you find a story of interest quickly. Clicking on a link in these categories/tabs will take you to the individual People Story, where you can learn more about the person.
Starting a Story
Start your own Story by clicking on the orange “Share Your Story” button in the center column of the page. This will take you to a basic form where you enter the basic details of your story. All fields on this page are required as they will help other members find your pages:
- Title: enter the title you would like to display to other members looking for People Stories
- My Story Tags: insert several tags/keywords that will help describe your story, photos, and/or podcast to other members. For example, if your story mainly addresses your health, you might want to enter keywords about any procedures or medications you take. If your story primarily discusses your hobbies, appropriate tags might include your favorite teams, activities, and other interests!
- Brief Description: enter a short (2-3 sentence) description about your story that other members will see in the “preview” mode when browsing all epilepsy.com People Stories
- Story Content: this is your main story page. Write about the topics that are important to you – as long or as short as you wish! While this is your main story, the content can be edited or changed on any of your future visits to epilepsy.com.
Once you have completed this form, simply click submit and your story has a home on epilepsy.com! You will notice that the page you see at this point may look fairly empty, depending on what else you have started on epilepsy.com. Don’t worry! To add additional features to your page, follow the steps below.
- Photos: To add photos to your story pages, ensure that you are first in your story. In the left (orange) navigation, click the “Photos” button. If you have no photos uploaded yet, you will see a link that says “Click here to upload new images.” After following this link you will see a form to enter one photo at a time. Type in the description of your photo, the “weight” you would like to assign it to show up in a list (rated -10 through 10 where -10 will show up at the top of the list and 10 will show up at the bottom), and then select the photo itself from your computer by clicking the “Browse” button. Then click the orange “Upload” button to add the photo. You will see a preview of the photo you have uploaded and a form to continue adding more photos. When you are finished, click the orange “Save Changes” button and these photos will be added to the “Photos” page of your epilepsy.com story for the community to see!
- Podcast: Podcasts are pulled in to your story automatically if they have already been created. If you have already started adding podcasts, it will be featured in this section and you are all set!
If you have not yet created a podcast, you can do so in the Multimedia Center, under the Resources section of epilepsy.com, at http://www.epilepsy.com/mmc/podcast. On this page, get started by clicking the orange “Upload Podcast” button in the center of the page. Here, upload your audio file from your computer by clicking “Browse” and then clicking the orange “Attach” button. When the audio file has finished uploading, you can enter the podcast’s title, tags (or keywords, which help describe your podcast so other members can find it), and the body text to describe what your podcast is about. Click the orange “Submit” button and you’re set! You can upload as many podcasts as you like to create your own audio show. Once you have uploaded at least one podcast, back on your story pages you will notice that the “Podcasts” page has pulled in these audio files to share with the community.
- Blog: Your story pages automatically pull in your blog and any entries you have created. If you already have a blog created, it will be featured in this section and there is nothing more to do!
If you have not yet created a blog, you can do so on the Blog page within the My.epilepsy.com Community, at http://www.epilepsy.com/blog. Get started by clicking the orange “Write a Blog” button in the center of the page, which will take you to a form to enter your first blog entry. Fill out a title for your entry, tags (or keywords, which help describe your blog so other members can find it), and the body of your entry. Click the orange “Submit” button and you’re set! You can edit and add to your blog at any time, and other members can post comments on your entries. Once you have added at least one blog entry, back on your story pages you will notice that the “Blog” page has pulled in these entries to share with the community.
- Groups: Your story pages automatically pull in and feature links to any Groups to which you belong. If you already are a member of at least one group, it will appear on these pages and there is nothing more that needs to be done!
If you are not yet a member of any groups, simply go to the Groups page within the My.epilepsy.com Community at http://www.epilepsy.com/groups. Here you can browse through the groups that other members have created on many topics – health issues, hobbies, geography, age, etc. Click on a group title to learn more about their interests! If you wish to be in a particular group, you can join by clicking “Join this Group” in the right column. At this point, your story page will update with a list of the groups you have joined. Learn more about joining and participating in groups in the Groups Help section.
Your story pages will also include listings for any groups that you have created. To learn more about creating a group, visit the Groups Help section.
- Guestbook: Other epilepsy.com members can post messages to your guestbook to leave notes after visiting your story. After members begin posting entries, this page will populate to include their messages.
Remember, your story can be updated as frequently as you wish. Keep members up to date with activities in your life. Watch your blog and groups listings grow as your network of friends expands!
Promoting Your Story
Your story will be promoted throughout epilepsy.com based on many factors. On the main People Stories page (http://www.epilepsy.com/stories), the most recently updated, the 25 most popular, and all stories in alphabetical order are promoted. The more often you update your story, the higher the chance that other members will find it!
Your story will also be promoted throughout epilepsy.com based on the tags you entered to describe your story, in order to provide other visitors to the website information that is related to what they are looking for. For example, if on your story you talk about surgery and one of the tags you entered is “surgery,” your story might appear on the epilepsy.com Surgery page.
Finally, you can promote your story yourself! On any of your story pages, at the top of the left (orange) navigation you will see an orange button for “Invite People to My Story.” This resource is designed to allow you to email your friends and family to see and share in your corner of epilepsy.com! Enter your contacts’ email addresses and if you wish you can enter a personal message. Click “Send Message” and they will receive notification of your story.
