Q: What can I do when I am logged in as a member vs. just browsing as a visitor? A: When browsing as a visitor, you will not be able to submit or comment on articles, comment on forums or use messaging. If you are not currently a member, please join now so you can interact with others on the site and communicate your knowledge and opinions.
Q: Is it free to be a MySolutionSpot™ member? A: Yes, it is absolutely free. This site was created and is maintained for educational purposes of the small business community.
Q: How do I sign up/create an account? A: In the My Account box on the upper left-hand side of the screen, click the link Create an Account and follow the subsequent screens.
Q: I lost my password. How do I get a new one? A: Click the Forgot Password? link in the My Account box in the upper left-hand side of the screen and enter your email in the box provided. Your password will be emailed to you.
Q: I can't remember my Member ID. Can you send it to me? A: Since you log in with your email address, you can go to My Settings, Profile Options to view your member ID.
Q: Can I change my Member ID? A: Member ids cannot be changed.
Q: How do I change my e-mail address? A: In the My Account box on the upper left-hand side of the screen, click My Settings, Profile Options and scroll to the bottom of the screen until you see Private Email. Change the email address in the text box and click the Save button.
Q: My account has been suspended. How do I get it reactivated? A: If you received an email that your account has been suspended , you may request reactivation by emailing . We will review your request and contact you if approved.
Q: Why do I see incorrect timestamps on my forum posts and article posts? A: Timestamps are controlled by your time zone setting in your preferences. In order to adjust your time zone settings, log in and click on ‘My Settings’ in the left hand menu and go into the 'My Preferences' section. From there, you can adjust your settings to the appropriate time zone.
Q: Is creating a profile on MySolutionSpot™ free? A: Yes, it is absolutely free. This site was created and is maintained for educational purposes of the small business community.
Q: How do I create a profile? A: In the My Account box on the upper left-hand side of the screen, click My Settings, Profile Options, enter in your information and click the Save button.
Q: How do I upload a profile image? A: From with your Profile Options under My Settings, scroll to the bottom of the screen until you see Avatar. Select “Yes” to enable avatar. Click the Browse button next to Upload Avatar and file the image file you want to use and click Save. The path name will be displayed in the text box and click the Save button.
Q: I just uploaded a new profile avatar, how come the image has not changed? A: It can take up to 10 minutes for some profile updates to take affect. If your saved changes do not appear after 10 minutes, please contact us using our feedback form. Simply click on the ‘Feedback’ link at the bottom of every page to access the form.
Q: Why won't my profile image upload correctly? A: It could be that the file is too large and/or it is the wrong file format. The image must be 5MB or less and in one of the following formats: GIF, JPG, JPEG or PNG.
Q: How do I edit my profile? A: In the My Account box on the upper left-hand side of the screen, click My Settings, Profile Options. Change the information and click the Save button
Q: Why isn’t the ‘Recent Activity’ portion of my profile updated immediately after I post a new article or forum entry? A: It can take up to 10 minutes for some profile updates to take affect. If your saved changes do not appear after 10 minutes, please contact us using our feedback form. Simply click on the ‘Feedback’ link at the bottom of every page to access the form.
Q: Can I stop other members from viewing my profile? A: Yes, you can change your Privacy Settings. Select “Edit Privacy Settings” under My Settings. You can select to what information, if any at all, can be displayed and to what groups of people. All – everyone can see the information. Registered users – only members of the MySolutionSpot™ site. Related Contacts are people who are directly connected to one of your direct contacts, but not to you. My Contacts – members listed under My Contacts that you have invited to be a contact or where you accepted someone else’s invitation. Private – no one will be able to see the information.
Q: Can I choose what information other members will see about me? A: Yes, you can change your Privacy Settings. Yes, you can change your Privacy Settings. Select “Edit Privacy Settings” under My Settings. You can select to what information, if any at all, can be displayed. You can choose to display your online status, biography, personal information, contact information, professional information, business(es) information, contacts information and site activity.
Q: Whose profile can I view? A: Anyone who is a member of MySolutionSpot™ and has their privacy settings set to allow others to view their information. Any member can change their Privacy Settings to allow or not allow select groups of people to see groups of personal information. To see your privacy settings, select “Edit Privacy Settings” under My Settings. You can select to what information, if any at all, can be displayed and to what groups of people. All – everyone can see the information. Registered users – only members of the MySolutionSpot™ site. Related Contacts are people who are directly connected to one of your direct contacts, but not to you. My Contacts – members listed under My Contacts that you have invited to be a contact or where you accepted someone else’s invitation. Private – no one will be able to see the information.
Q: How do I add someone to My Contacts? A: There are multiple ways to add someone to your Contact list. 1) Select My Contacts then Add New Contacts under My Account. Enter their email address, a message and click Request Contact button. When the recipient accepts the invite, they will be added to My Contacts. 2) You can search for people by entering their name in the Search for box. If you see the person you are looking for, click Add as a Contact link. A Send a Contact Request box will display, you enter a message and click Send Request. When the recipient accepts the invite, they will be added to My Contacts.
Q: How do I invite someone to join the site? A: Under My Contacts, select Add New Contacts. Enter their e-mail address and message to the recipient and click Request Contact.
Q: How do I search for people I know? A: There are two ways: 1) In the search for box in the upper right-hand corner of the page, enter the name of the person you are searching for, select People from the drop-down box and click the magnifying glass. 2) Select Search Contacts under My Contacts in the My Account box.
Q: What are Related Contacts? A: Related Contacts are basically MySolutionSpot members who are not in your Contacts list, but they do, however, belong to your Contacts’ professional networks. There is a good chance that your Related Contacts share your background and/or interests and may become a worthwhile addition to your professional network.
Q: Can I delete someone from My Contacts? A: Yes by finding the contact you want to delete and selecting Remove From My Contacts button.
Q: If I delete someone from My Contacts, will they be notified? A: The deleted contact will not be notified
Q: What happens if someone declines my invitation to connect? A: You will be notified of the decline, you will not be connected and you cannot invite the member to be a contact for 30 days.
Q: Can I send messages to non-members? A: At this time, you cannot send messages to non-members.
Q: How many messages can I have in my inbox? A: Currently, there is no set limit on the number of message that can be in your Inbox.
Q: How long are my messages stored in my inbox and/ or deleted items folder? A: The inbox messages will remain until you have deleted them. The deleted folder will remove messages that are 30 days old.
Q: How do I create a new folder in My Messages? A: Select My Messages, Folders, New Folder. Enter the name of the folder and select the Create button.
Q: How many folders can I create in my Inbox? A: You cannot create folders within the Inbox but you can create a maximum of 20 folders outside of the Inbox. They will be displayed under the Folders folder.
Q: What is a Subscription? A: Subscriptions are generated when you manually “subscribe” to a forum, another member or an article. For example, if you subscribe to a forum post, you will receive an update each time someone contributes to that forum. You can turn off each individual subscription by selecting “unsubscribe” on your “My Subscriptions” page.
Q: Why is my account suspended? A: Your member id could have been suspended because it was reported by a member as abusive or because of a terms of use violation. If you have additional questions, please contact the site administrator.
Q: How do I submit an article? A: If you have not already done so, you will need to create an account first. Without an account, you will not be able to submit an article. Once you are a member, click Create New Article under My Articles folder in the My Account box. Select a category, enter a title and summary, type the article, enter tags for the article and when you’re done, click the Post button.
Q: How many articles can I submit? A: You can submit an unlimited amount of articles and we encourage it.
Q: Will every article that I submit be published? A: Yes, unless it is reported as offensive or violates the Terms of Use conditions. We reserve the right to remove any content that we deem unsuitable for the nature of the site.
Q: Is there a fee for posting articles? A: No there is not. Please post as much as you want.
Q: Can I delete an article I already published? A: Once an article is published it cannot be deleted by using the web site. Please contact the site administrator to request an article deletion.
Q: How can I include my website address in my signature for my articles? A: You can include your website address in your articles signature. Select My Settings then Profile Options. In the Signature box, you can enter a website address and then select Save. The next time you create a new article or replying to an article it will display.
Q: What do the icons mean in the formatting box for a new article? A: They are ways to enhance the text of your topic. You can bold, italicize, underline and strikethrough your text, add a bulleted or numbered list and add emoticons. You can mouse over each box to see what they do.
Q: Why is my articles still showing 0 when I have submitted at least one article? A: It can take up to 10 minutes for the update to be made and displayed on the site.
Q: How do I post in the forums? A: Click Forums in blue header bar. Click Start New Topic in Quick Links and select a category. The Start New Topic screen will display for you to enter a title, tags and body of the topic. Click Add New Post button when you are done.
Q: Can I track a specific forum topic? A: Yes by subscribing to a forum. To do this, find the topic you want to subscribe to and click on the No link to change it to Yes under the Subscribe column.
Q: How can I include my website address in my signature for the forums? A: You can include your website address in your forum signature. Select My Settings then Profile Options. In the Signature box, you can enter a website address and then select Save. The next time you start a new topic or replying to a post it will display.
Q: What do the icons mean in the formatting box for a forum post? A: They are ways to enhance the text of your topic. You can bold, italicize, underline and strikethrough your text, add a bulleted or numbered list and add emoticons. You can mouse over each box to see what they do.
Q: How do I report an inappropriate post on the forums? A: Open the inappropriate forum and click the Report Abuse link in the bottom right-hand corner of the page.
Q: What happens if I report a post in the forums? A: Posts that you report will be reviewed by a moderator. If the post violates our Terms of Use, it will be removed. You can also refer to the Terms of Use for acceptable use of the site and the consequences of a violation.
Q: Can I start a new Topic in the Forums? A: Click Forums in blue header bar. Click Start New Topic in Quick Links and select a category. The Start New Topic screen will display for you to enter a title, tags and body of the topic. Click Add New Post button when you are done.
Q: How do I report SPAM from other members? A: From the My Messages section that the SPAM email is in, select the email and click the Report Spam button
Q: What happens if I report someone for sending SPAM? A: Members you report will be reviewed by a moderator. If a member violates our Terms of Use, that member will be removed. For more information, please refer to the Terms of Use for acceptable use of the site and the consequences of a violation.
Q: Why aren't I getting any search results? A: There are multiple reasons for not receiving search results. Try using different words, search all if you have selected a specific area.
Q: How do I submit feedback about the site? A: From any page on the website, scroll to the bottom. There you will find the “Feedback” link below the double blue bar.
Q: How do I contact a site administrator? A: You can contact the site administrator at
Q: How do I unsubscribe from the Small Business Newsletter? A: If you signed up for the Small Business Newsletter on MySolutionSpot, simply go to this link and enter in your email address to unsubscribe.