What is the new tutor community, and why have you launched it?
Our tutor community is an online space where we can support you and where you can support each other. It’s just like any other forum you’ll have come across before but with some MyTutor-added extras.
To start with, you can post a question or comment/react to others. Who better to ask for help than another tutor who’s stood in your shoes before?
We’ve also made it possible for you to share and download lesson plans. We listened when you told us that lesson resources would make your life easier. Now experienced tutors can pass on what they’ve learnt and built to other tutors.
And finally, there’s space for you to report issues and suggest improvements. We admire the work you do, and every day, we strive to make it easier for you to do it. You can vote for your favourites, and we’ll get stuck into the ones with the most votes first.
How do I join?
Look out for an email invite from us. We’ll invite new tutors every Friday. So you’ll be invited the Friday after you successfully become a tutor with us.
Contact us via Live Chat if you didn’t get an email invite.
Did you consult tutors about the new community?
Of course! We worked on it with a number of you to make sure it fit the bill. And 100% of tutors we tested it with told us they liked it more than our old Facebook forum.
We’ll be asking for your feedback on a regular basis so we can keep making it work better for you.
What is Circle?
We decided to run our tutor community using Circle, an all-in-one community platform.
Unlike social media platforms, Circle:
Is built for communities just like ours. You can type up a detailed post, share a file, vote in a poll - and much more. You can engage in whatever way suits you best.
Doesn’t have ads or distractions. Forget Facebook ads or Instagram influencers. We’re building a community where tutors can connect away from the noise.
Allows us to house everything in one place. We know you’ve got a lot on your plate, so we hope with Circle, you can find things quickly and easily.
We’ll be in safe hands with Circle; they’re trusted to run communities for the likes of brands like Adobe and Harvard.
How do I download the mobile app?
➡️ Download the iOS app here.
➡️ Download the Android app here.
Once you’ve downloaded the Circle app, log in using the email address and password you created when you joined the MyTutor Tutor Community.
How do I set up my profile?
To set up or edit your profile, click on your profile picture in the top right corner and then select Edit profile.
From there, you’ll be able to…
Upload a profile photo: We recommend using an image that is 300x300 pixels
Update your headline: This is where you can share a brief overview of who you are and what you do
Select your timezone: Doing so will ensure that any events are displayed in your local timezone
Update your bio: You can share a more in-depth intro in this section
How do I navigate around the community?
Our community is organised into different spaces, and you’ll find the names of these spaces in the navigation bar to the left. Spaces are where all of the action happens.
To navigate around, simply click on one of the spaces in the left navigation bar. Note that some spaces are read-only, while in others, you’ll be able to post.
You’ll also notice that these spaces are broken up into several different groups - this is to make it easier for you to find what you’re looking for. Learn more about these different groups and what you’ll find in each below.
🏁 Welcome: Start Here!: This is where we’ll help you get up and running in the community. Check out our guidelines here.
Discussions: These are spaces where you can post questions and chat to other tutors. We’ve separated out spaces for different topics so your message doesn’t get lost in the crowd.
Resources: This is where you’ll find support from MyTutor HQ (think lesson plan templates, training modules or live events).
Feedback: This is a direct line between tutors & MyTutor HQ. A place for you to report issues with the site, suggest new features and upvote ones that you’d like us to focus on.
How do I create posts?
To create a post, simply head to one of the discussion spaces in the community and click on the New Post button in the upper right corner. From there, you’ll be able to start drafting your post.
There’s a lot that you can do with posts, so take some time to familiarise yourself with what’s possible. You can format your text in different ways, add emojis, tag other community members, include images and videos, embed PDFs and social posts, and more.
💡 Top tip: Try typing a forward slash symbol (/) into the body of your post to pull up a menu of all your options!
Once you’re happy with your post, click on Publish a post to publish it to the community, or select the downward arrow to save your post as a draft or schedule it to be published at a later date.
You can also edit your posts even after you’ve published them. To edit one of your posts, click on the three dots (•••) in the upper right corner of the post and then select Edit post.
For more information on creating and editing posts, check out these articles from Circle:
How do I manage my notifications?
Customising your notification settings is the best way to stay on top of the activity in the community that you’re most interested in.
The important thing to keep in mind is that you always have total control over your experience: it’s up to you to decide what you want to be notified about and how you want to be notified.
To manage your notification settings:
Click on your profile picture in the upper corner
Click on Notifications to open your notification settings.
From here, check the notifications you want to receive and uncheck the ones you don’t
You’ll notice that you can adjust your notifications for new activity in the community (including comments on your posts, mentions, likes on your posts, etc.) and new posts (which can be adjusted for each space, so you can opt-in to notifications for the spaces you care about most).
How do I RSVP to events?
To find community events and RSVP, head over to 🎥 Webinars. From there, you’ll be able to see our upcoming events and RSVP by clicking on the RSVP button to the right of each event. Once you RSVP, you’ll also be able to add the event to your calendar.
If you’re interested in learning more about a specific event, you can click on the event title to read the full event description. Below the description, you can also comment with any questions you might have about the event, the format, or the content.
💡 Top tip: RSVPing to an event ensures that you’ll receive email and in-app notifications reminding you about the event an hour before its scheduled start time - so if you’re interested in a specific event, be sure to RSVP!
How do I join events?
There are several different ways to join an event. For the most seamless experience, first, make sure you’ve RSVPed to the event - this will ensure that you receive an email and in-app notifications reminding you when the event is about to start.
At the event’s start time, you’ll be able to join:
Through the event page: Navigate to the event page and click on the link under the Location heading in the right sidebar (in the mobile app, you can find this link under the Virtual heading at the top of the event description).
Through the calendar invite: If you’ve added the event to your calendar, you can easily join via the link in your calendar invite.
Through the notification: Once we go live, you’ll receive an in-app notification that you can click on to join the event.
Through the live banner: Once we go live, you'll see a banner in the bottom left corner of the screen inviting you to join the event, even if you haven’t RSVPed. To join, simply click on the Join stream button. For more information, check out this article from Circle.