Help & frequently asked questions

Thank you for visiting the online NS&I Research Community, we can't wait to hear from you! Here are a few pointers to get you started.

Definitions

“We”, “us” and “our” refers to NS&I and Explain Research.

“Content” means everything contained in, or accessible from, the online Community which has been produced by or on behalf of NS&I. “Content” does not include Postings made by members.

“Postings” means all information, data, artwork, text, photographs, videos, messages, and any other material which you or any other member posts on or uploads to the NS&I Research Community.

“You”, “your” and “yours” refers to you, the person using the NS&I Research Community.

Postings

The NS&I Research Community is a place for our members to chat with one another, share their experiences, thoughts and ideas, and have lively debate about all the services we provide. On your home page you will see a feed of discussions, polls and surveys which we would love you to get involved in.

We will be adding new discussions, surveys and polls regularly, so you can keep checking in to see what has changed.

Discussions

• Discussions are specific topic areas or questions where you can provide your comments
• You can also start your own discussion by clicking in the ‘start discussion…’ banner at the top of your feed. Simply input a ‘discussion title’ such as ‘recent events’ and then in ‘your comments’ add in the comments you’d like to make and questions you’d like to pose to the rest of the Community

Search function

• You can also use the ‘search’ function to look for any existing posts – it may be someone has already created a discussion relating to your topic or question

                                                           

Filter function

• You can filter the Community for posts within a category. At the top of the page you will see two drop down boxes labelled ‘All Categories’ and ‘All content’. To select the category you would like to read posts from on the Community, select the ‘All Categories’ button to list the categories to pick from.

Surveys

• ‘Surveys’ are sets of questions on specific topics that we’d love you to take part in – you’ll be redirected to a partner site to complete these. For further information on policies please visit our Privacy Notice page here. You can find our partner site’s Privacy Notice here.

                              

Poll 1)

• ‘Polls’ are single questions that are quick and easy to answer – simply click on the option you’d like to vote for                         

                             

Poll 2)

• To vote on numerous options within a poll, simply click on the option you’d like vote for beside each statement/answer option

                           

Poll 3)

• To vote using a slider on one of our polls, using your cursor on your device drag the slider to your preferred option on the poll, then ‘submit’ your response. 

                         

Agreeing and disagreeing with comments

• You can agree or disagree with Community member’s or moderator’s comments on a discussion

                                          

Email updates

• You should expect to receive one email per week to update you on new content and activity
• If you ever need to get back to the homepage on the main content feed, you can select the NS&I logo in the top-left hand corner of your webpage.

                                                     

Experiencing a problem?

Check out some frequently asked questions below:

How do I change my password?

To change your password make sure you are logged in and click on the dropdown menu at the top right of the homepage, then click ‘change password’. You will need to input your current password for this to update.

    

I can't upload a profile picture

To upload a profile picture make sure you are logged in and click on your user icon at the top right of the homepage. You will then be taken to ‘My profile’ where you can update your picture. Click on ‘choose file’ and select a picture you have saved on your computer to upload. Please note the file type must be .jpg .png or a .gif file.

When selecting your member profile picture, be mindful that this can be seen by all other members in the NS&I Research Community. Please do not use a picture that is identifiable to you or anyone else. Community member profile pictures can be copied (via right clicking on the image and copying). Explain would recommend that when uploading a profile picture, you do not use any personal or current images from different platforms.

    

                           

How do I check my notifications

To check your notifications on the Community, you will need to locate and click on the bell button in the top-right hand corner of the webpage.

              

After clicking on the bell, your notifications drop down menu will appear, you can scroll through the drop-down to view your notifications. Here you will see who has commented on your discussions, posts you have commented on, and whether members have reacted to your comments.

How do I post a discussion?

Discussions are a way for you to talk about what matters most to you. It is easy to start a new discussion:

• Click in the ‘start discussion…’ banner at the top of your feed
• Input a ‘discussion title’ such as ‘recent events’. This will be shown on your post as the title.
• In ‘your comments’ add in the comments you’d like to make and questions you’d like to pose to the rest of the Community
• Once you’re happy click ‘start discussion’ to post this on the feed

For comments, your username will automatically be attached, but if you don’t want your name to be visible tick ‘post anonymously’ before clicking ‘submit’.

                    

                         

How do I comment on a post without starting a new discussion?

If you would like to comment on an existing discussion or poll on the Community, you will need to click on the comments button at the bottom of the discussion or poll. This will take you to the existing comments on the post/content where you can scroll down to read the comments thread from fellow Community members and Community moderators. When you have a comment you would like to post about the discussion or poll, you need to scroll down to the bottom of the comments thread and click into the box ‘Write a comment…’. Type in your comment and then click submit. You can support your comment with either an image, video, link, document or GIF.

For comments, your username will automatically be attached, but if you don’t want your name to be visible tick ‘post anonymously’ before clicking ‘submit’.

            

How do I reply to a specific comment on a post?

This will take you to the existing comments on the post where you can scroll down to read the comments from fellow Community members and Community moderators. If you would like to reply to a specific comment from a member, you will need to find that specific comment and click on the ‘reply’ button. From here, you will have the opportunity to write a reply to the comment you would like to respond to. If you are unsure what you can or cannot comment on a discussion, please see the Community guidelines here.

For comments, your username will automatically be attached, but if you don’t want your name to be visible tick ‘post anonymously’ before clicking ‘submit’.

        

How so I vote or comment on a poll?

Polls will appear in the central feed with all other postings/content. All poll votes are anonymous.

If you have already voted in a poll you won’t be able to vote again, but you will be able to see how the results have fallen across members.

                  

You can also leave a comment on any polls that are live. For comments, your username will automatically be attached, but if you don’t want your name to be visible tick ‘post anonymously’ before clicking ‘submit’.

          

Why can't I see an old discussion on the Community?

To ensure the Community is as up to date as possible, Community moderators will de-activate Community member discussions if they have not had much member interaction in a number of weeks.

Why can't I see a discussion I created on the Community?

If a member has posted a discussion in response to an NS&I discussion we will merge the two together so that it’s included within the main thread. This allows other members to comment in response and also helps build a joined up view from members.

Where can I find information on incentives and prize draws?

To see the list of current incentives, you can find this on the ‘Incentives’ page on the Community drop menu on the top right-hand side of the Community.

What does the 'Points Leaderboard' mean?

The ‘Points Leaderboard’ on the Community homepage shows how many points members have earned each month. As a feature of the Community, the leaderboard will automatically show the usernames of the ten members with the most points.

What are 'badges' and 'levels'?

Levels are based on the points you collect in the Community. You move through the numbered levels as you earn points becoming an active Community member.

You can look at your points and level progress in your profile box. On desktop this features at the top left of the main feed. On mobile, you can find this my tapping "info". You can find out more about what points level you are at here

Badges are a way for us to recognise and thank you for your participation within the online Community. There are different ways for you to earn badges and some badges will be quicker and easier to earn than others.

Your top three badges you have earned will also be displayed in your profile area. Badges are available for all members to see by clicking a profile picture. You can see which badges you have earned already and which are ‘in progress’ on the My Badges page here.

I've seen something that I find offensive or abusive, what action do I take to report this?

Any language that is insulting towards others on this Community or elsewhere is unacceptable. This includes abusive or offensive comments that degrade race, religion, gender, age, abilities or politics. We also politely ask you not to swear in your posts. Members can flag anything inappropriate to the moderator by contacting nsandi@explainonline.co.uk

What information of mine will be public on the Community?

Your username will be public on the Community. If you upload a profile picture to the Community, your profile picture will also be public to fellow members and moderators. If you decide to update your profile’s bio section on the Community, this will also be public.

What are the cookies and how do they work?

A cookie is a small data file that’s stored on your computer. It contains the address of the Website and codes that your browser sends back to the Website each time you visit a page there. Cookies may contain limited personal information, for example to remember your username when you re-visit.

The Website uses four cookies. The first cookie is a 'session' cookie, which is essential for the activation of the page and is deleted when your browser is closed.

The second cookie is for Google Analytics. Google analytics is optional for Explain’s website, if you would like information on Google Analytics cookies and how to update your preferences, please visit:

https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/collection/analyticsjs/cookie-usage

The third cookie is contained within the ‘cookie banner’ which appears when you visit the Explain website. This cookie is used to remember when you have clicked on the cookie banner to accept the use of cookies on the Website, so that you are not shown the cookie banner the next time you access the Explain website through the same device. This cookie remains active on your device for 12 months.

The fourth cookie is called ‘comm_login’ which becomes active when you select the “keep me logged in” checkbox on any device. The cookie stores a hashed token for 60 days after initially selecting “keep me logged in”, which will keep you logged in on that device for that period. After 60 days from the initial selection of “keep me logged in” you will be required to re-enter your password.

What are my rights with data?

Explain tries to be as open as it can be in terms of giving people access to their personal information. Individuals can find out if Explain hold any personal information by making a ‘subject access request’ under the General Data Protection Regulation. Please see the “Access to my personal information” section in Explain Privacy Notice page here. Community members have the full range of data subject rights available to them, so long as they can be identified by the data Explain hold.

How do I log out?

To log out, select the Community drop menu on the top right-hand side of the Community and select the ‘logout’ at the bottom of the menu.

                                               

If you have any other problems not covered here, please send us an email via the ‘contact us’ page.