GENERAL
What is the Practice Support Center?
What is the CDA Compass?
Who can register for the Compass?
What will I have access to if I register with the Compass?
Why can't I access certain information on Compass?
How do I contact the Practice Support Center Staff?
How does the Compass differ from cda.org?
Which browsers are recommended for best viewing the Compass?
What is a tag cloud and how do I use it?
How can I share some of the resources I like with my colleagues?
How do I rate content on the Compass?
What is single sign-on?
What is RSS and how do I add Practice Support Center to my reader?
What is Stages of Practice?
FORUMS
How do I start a new thread in the Forums?
How do I reply to an existing thread?
What do the stars underneath my forum alias indicate?
What does the pencil icon on some posts indicate?
Can I change the way I view threads in the Forums?
How do I view all of the posts I have made?
How can I update my subscriptions?
How do I edit my Forums profile?
EDUCATION
Where can I find a list of all upcoming CE courses?
Can I filter the CE course calendar to narrow my options?
How do I register for a CE course?
Where can I find a list of all available online CE classes and how do I register?
I started an online CE class previously and wasn’t able to finish. Can I still finish the course?
How will I receive my CE certificate?
What is a podcast?
How do I download or listen to a Compass podcast to my MP3 player or computer?
Do I receive CE credits for listening to a CDA podcast?
GENERAL
What is the Practice Support Center?
The Practice Support Center is a resource-rich center that provides expert assistance and advice to members in areas critical to developing and maintaining a successful dental practice. The four primary areas of support are:
- Practice management
- Employment practices
- Dental benefit plans
- Regulatory compliance
What is the CDA Compass?
The cornerstone of the Practice Support Center is this Web site, CDA Compass, offering a host of features and options that maintain focus on the four primary areas mentioned above. While resources are online and in hard copy, live assistance is also available. See the following question and answer for contact information.
Who can register for the Compass?
The Compass is designed for dental professionals in California. As a key benefit of membership, the Compass provides the highest level of access to information to CDA members.
Nonmembers are invited to register, which provides access to some resources and the ability to view forums. To gain full access to the Compass resources, including the ability to post comments in the forums and on the blogs, you must be a CDA member. For more information about membership or to join, please visit cda.org.
What will I have access to if I register with the Compass?
A benefit of CDA membership, the Practice Support Center and the Compass are fully accessible to members. Members have access to and can rate all resources, can participate in the forums and can view and comment on blogs.
Nonmembers have access to some resources and can view forums, but not participate in them. Nonmembers do not access to those items developed specifically for CDA members, which are marked with an icon indicating for members only.
Why can't I access certain information on Compass?
Many of the resources and information contained on the website are "member protected," meaning you can only have access to this information if you are a CDA member. To view these resources, you must be registered as a CDA member on the site. If you are a member and have already registered, the registration may have been completed improperly, preventing your account from being given the appropriate full access to all the resources and the ability to participate in the forums and blogs on Compass.
During registration, a member's contact information will be displayed once a match against our membership database is located. If this does not occur, but you still proceed with registration, a non-member account is being created. If you believe you may have registered in error, please re-register and ensure that your record is located before continuing. It may be necessary for CDA to reset your password. For assistance with registration, please feel free to contact CDA at 800.232.7645.
How do I contact the Practice Support Center staff?
If you need help locating information on the Web site or want to speak directly to a staff member, live assistance is available (during regular business hours):
How does the Compass differ from cda.org?
The resources available from the Practice Support Center and the Compass focus on the four primary areas that relate to managing the business side of your practice. Although there is some clinical information contained within the Forums, clinical information is not a focus of the Practice Support Center or the Compass.
The official Web site of the California Dental Association, cda.org, provides dental professionals information about association membership as well as some clinical information, and it provides the public information about oral health.
Which browsers are recommended for best viewing the Compass?
While you can view the Compass with a variety of browsers, the site is most compatible with Firefox 3.0 or Internet Explorer 7.0.
What is a tag cloud and how do I use it?
The tag cloud reflects the most popular words or terms assigned to resources by CDA Compass users. The bolder and larger the word in the tag cloud, the more popular the term. Click any tag to see all the resources on the site associated with it. As user activity changes, so do the tag clouds. So check back often.
How can I share some of the resources I like with my colleagues?
When you find something you like on the Compass, look for any of the icons listed below. If you see them, that is your cue that you can share the information with your colleagues. Following is an explanation of the site icons and how you can use them to share Compass resources.
 del.icio.us |
Delicious is a social bookmarking service that allows you to bookmark favorite Compass pages on the Internet and share them with colleagues. To bookmark a Compass resource on your Delicious page, click this icon. You must have a Delicious account to use this feature. |
 Facebook |
Facebook is a social networking Web site for users to connect with colleagues and friends. To share a Compass resource with your Facebook network, click this icon. You must have a Facebook account to use this feature. |
 Digg |
Digg is a Web site where users submit links to their favorite online articles, images or videos. Other users will then see the submitted links and, if they also like the link, can vote to “Digg It.” This gives the material more credibility and moves it up in the sites rankings. To submit a Compass resource to Digg, click this icon. You must have a Digg account to use this feature. |
 Share This |
To suggest a Compass Resource to a colleague, click this icon. A box will appear. Enter the e-mail address of the person to whom you would like to receive the link to the resource. Click Submit. |
How do I rate content on the Compass?
When you rate and comment on Compass resources, you help your colleagues identify resources that they may find helpful for their practices. Your feedback may also help the Practice Support Center develop additional resources.
At the bottom of every resource overview page is a drop-down menu called Rate It. Choose any rating 1 to 5, poor to excellent, respectively, based on how helpful you found that particular resource. We encourage you to also add comments sharing what you liked, what you didn’t like and suggestions on how it could be improved.
What is single sign-on?
Single sign-on enables users to log in one time to access multiple related Web sites. This means if you are logged in to CDA.org, you can click over to the CDA Compass and stay logged in. The same is true if you are logged in to the CDA Compass and click over to CDA.org. To take advantage of single sign-on, you will need to enable cookies on your computer.
What is RSS and how do I add Practice Support Center feeds to my reader?
RSS (short for Real Simple Syndication) is an easy way to receive updates from all of your favorite Web sites without having to check each one. Using an RSS reader, you subscribe to RSS feeds from the Web sites of your choice. Then you simply check your feed reader for all the latest updates from all your subscriptions.
In order to subscribe to RSS feeds, your browser must have a feed reader. A number of readers are available for download, many at no charge. Here is just a small sampling of some popular readers that you may want to consider:
Google Reader
Bloglines
NewsGator
Once you have a reader, visit the Compass RSS page to see the list of available feeds. Click the link text of the feed you want to add and follow your news reader's instructions for subscribing to (or adding) feeds. You may add as many Compass feeds to your reader as you like.
What is Stages of Practice?
CDA members have told us that there are four distinct career stages you’ll experience as a dentist, each with specific needs. And allied dental health professionals have shared their own unique professional needs with us. From this feedback, we developed a concept called Stages of Practice, which is based on your years of practice or stage of your career, as a method to providing you a more customized membership experience:
- Dentists beginning a career
- Dentists starting a practice
- Dentists seeking career enrichment
- Dentists preparing for retirement
- Allied dental health professionals
We’ve gathered key resources for each stage to help you get started in managing the business side of dentistry. You can find them by visiting
Stages of Practice.
FORUMS
How do I start a new thread in the Forums?
Click the Forums tab at the top right of any page. In the Forums section, scroll down to the Topics section and click the tab of the category in which you are interested. Choose the most appropriate sub-section related to what you wish to discuss. Click New Thread.
A box will appear where you can type your post. The Forum box is prepopulated with the name of the topic area in which your post will appear. In the Subject field, type what you would like to appear in the subject line of the thread.
Next, choose one of the format radio buttons: Basic Text Box or Rich Text Editor. Basic text supports standards characters (e.g., letters, numbers, symbols and spaces), but it doesn’t support any type of text formatting. Therefore, you cannot use bold, italics, underlining or different font sizes. Rich text, on the other hand, enables you to format your posts and add your personal style. In addition to making text bold, italicized and underlined, you can use different font types, sizes and colors.
Then, type your thread post, as desired, in the text box. If you would like to be notified by e-mail when others respond to your post, check the Notification box.
Last, to see how the final post will look, click Preview. When you are satisfied with your post, click Submit.
* Please note: The Safari browser is not currently compatible with the forums. Please use Internet Explorer or Firefox if you wish to post in the forums.
How do I reply to an existing thread?
Click Reply on the right-hand side of any post. A box will appear that shows you information about the original post to which you are responding: original author of the post, the message, the forum name and the subject line. All are prepopulated with information; however, you can change the subject to whatever you wish.
Start by choosing one of the format radio buttons: Basic Text Box or Rich Text Editor. Basic text supports standards characters (e.g., letters, numbers, symbols and spaces), but it doesn’t support any type of text formatting. Therefore, you cannot use bold, italics, underlining or different font sizes. Rich text, on the other hand, enables you to format your posts and add your personal style. In addition to making text bold, italicized and underlined, you can use different font types, sizes and colors.
Next, type your response, as desired, in the text box. If you would like to be notified by e-mail when others respond to your post, check the Notification box.
Last, to see how the final post will look, click Preview. When you are satisfied with your post, click Submit.
* Please note: The Safari browser is not currently compatible with the forums. Please use Internet Explorer or Firefox if you wish to post in the forums.
What do the stars underneath my forum alias indicate?
For every 100 posts you make in the Forums, you earn a half star, up to a maximum of five stars. This lets other users know how active you are in the online community.
What does the pencil icon on some posts indicate?
When someone creates a new thread or replies to an existing one, the date and time of that post show up in the blue bar at the top of that post. If that person returns at a later time and edits the post, the pencil icon appears and indicates to the reader that the post was edited to change or add content and on which date and at which time that occurred. Hover your mouse pointer over the pencil icon to see when the post was modified and by whom.
Can I change the way I view threads in the Forums?
Threads automatically display with the original post and all subsequent responses. They are displayed in chronological order, oldest to newest.
To change how threads are displayed (either in format or order), look to the bottom right of the page, where you will see two drop-down menus. The first one lets you choose from two different views:
· Flat view—original post and all responses visible
· Tree view—only the original post or any one response is visible at one time
The other drop-down menu enables you to choose if you want the posts listed oldest to newest, or newest to oldest.
How do I view all of the posts I have made?
From the main Forums page, click the My Posts tab and it will display a list of all the discussions in which you have participated.
You can also find your posts from any post within the Forums. Simply click My Posts at the top center of the page.
How can I update my subscriptions?
If a certain forum or subtopic interests you, you can signup to receive email notifications when new threads are posted. To subscribe to an entire forum or subtopic, go to My Settings at the top of any Forums page and make your updates under Tracking / Subscription (you can also access this area by clicking "Manage Forum Subscriptions" from within the Manage My Profile page. While in a particular forum subtopic, you may also click the Email me when this forum has a new thread box.
When you start or reply to a thread, you may choose to stay informed of replies within it by checking the "Notification" box. If you have not posted to the thread but are interested in the discussion, check the box in the bottom right corner of the page that reads Email me when this thread has replies.
You can view all your favorite topics and threads by clicking the My Subscriptions tab on the main Forums page. To remove subscriptions, click the red X next to the item to delete it, or go into the My Settings area as described earlier and uncheck those you no longer wish to receive.
How do I edit my Forums profile?
Once you log in to the Compass, you can access your main profile three different ways:
· From anywhere on the site, click your name at the top of the page next to the Practice Support Center logo
or
· From anywhere on the site, click the Home tab at the top left of any page. Click Manage My Profile in the dark orange bar underneath the tabs at the top of the page.
or
· From any Forums page, click Manage My Profile in the dark blue bar underneath the tabs at the top of the page.
Once you open your profile for editing, click Edit next to any section that you wish to change. Once you update your information, click Save.
EDUCATION
Where can I find a list of all upcoming CE courses?
For a list of all the upcoming courses, click Education in the top right of any page, then Course Calendar. Here you will find a list of all courses offered by California's dental schools, local dental societies, ethnic dental societies and specialty organizations.
Can I filter the CE course calendar to narrow my options?
For quick reference, you can sort the list of CE courses (by sponsor, topic, date, speaker, location, cost or number of CE units) by toggling the column title by which you wish to sort.
How do I register for a CE course?
For more information about or to register for a course, please contact the course sponsor. Find this by clicking the name of the course in which you are interested. A box will appear with all the course details and contact information of the course sponsor.
Where can I find a list of all available online CE classes and how do I register?
For a list of courses, click Education in the top right of any page, then Online Classes. This will take you to the e-Learning section on cda.org. Here you will find a list of all available online CE courses offered by CDA and its subsidiaries CDA Foundation and The Dentists Insurance Company (TDIC).
For more information about a specific class, click its name. You will find an overview of the class, tuition and a link to add the class to your cart or sign up.
I started an online CE class previously and wasn’t able to finish. Can I still finish the course?
To resume a class in progress, visit CDA Online Services.
How will I receive my CE certificate?
CE certificates are provided by the course sponsor. For CDA online CE classes, you will be able to print your CE certificate at the end of your class.
What is a podcast?
A podcast is a pre-recorded online audio or video file that can be downloaded to and played back on your MP3 player or personal computer.
What differentiates a podcast from other digital media formats is that it can be syndicated, subscribed to, and downloaded automatically, using an aggregator or feed reader.
How do I download or listen to a Compass podcast to my MP3 player or computer?
Click the Download link underneath the podcast description. If you have not previously downloaded an MP3 file you will be prompted by a pop-up window to choose between opening the file or saving it. (If you have previously downloaded an MP3 file, you may have set the option in your browser to perform one of these actions directly without being prompted by the pop up window.)
PC users: To download the file, click Save. A Save-As window will appear. Navigate to the folder in which you wish to save the file and click “Save.” To listen to the podcast, click “Open” and it will begin to play in your default media player.
Mac users: Choose “Save”, to download the file to your default downloads folder. If you choose “Open”, the file will still be downloaded, but it will then open automatically in iTunes or your default media player.
Do I receive CE credits for listening to a CDA podcast?
Our podcasts don’t qualify for CE, but we promise they provide great tips and helpful information on managing your practice.