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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Contents of this document

  1. What happens if our town plan covers a parish, but the parish has also got their own plan or we are a cluster and have a joint and individual plans?
  2. What do I do if I want to put in specific information about an area that is not a parish. E.g. an estate or village?
  3. How do I know what is an issue, what is a proposal and what is an action?
  4. How do I know what stage I am editing or adding?
  5. What do the different parts on the home page mean?
  6. How do I know whether I'm a registered user?
  7. How do I login or sign in?
  8. How do I register?
  9. How do I put my PLAN onto the website?
  10. WHAT do each of the fields mean?
  11. Some of my ACTIONS are much simpler than others. How will I put this info onto the website?
  12. The group that wrote the plan has since finished meeting, what should we put in that box?
  13. Will I be able to find out if there is a plan in my area?
  14. Will I be able to find similar projects to mine that other people in the county are working on?
  15. We are a group of parishes that have written our own plans, but we have done some projects in partnership with each other, can the website handle this?

1. What happens if our town plan covers a parish, but the parish has also got their own plan or we are a cluster and have a joint and individual plans?

You can enter all plans. So for example for a cluster of 4 parishes, The Parish Partnership has 5 plans, 1 each and 1 cluster plan. Enter the cluster plan and set it to cover all parishes. Enter each of the other plans only selecting the single Parish the plan belongs to.

Refer to Help for instructions on using the system.

2. What do I do if I want to put in specific information about a target area that is not a parish. e.g. an estate or village?

If you want to put a description about an estate or village, then put it at the Parish PLAN stage under “Introduction”.

At the ISSUE stage, if you would like to show that a particular estate or village has a specific ISSUE within the Parish then you do two things (1)Title your issue including the name of the village accordingly and (2)place detailed information within the “Description” field of the ISSUE.

At the PROPOSAL stage you do two things (1)Title your PROPOSAL to include the name of the particular estate or village, (2)when you enter a PROPOSAL put the estate or village name in the PROPOSAL 'Specific area covered' field.

At the ACTION stage you also do two things (1)Title your ACTION to include the name of the estate or village, (2)In the ACTION “Specific area covered” field type in the estate or village name.

3. How do I know what is an issue, what is a proposal and what is an action?

Very briefly an ISSUE is normally the broad problem heading under which you have placed information in your plan.
A PROPOSAL is the specific suggestion made to address some or all of a problem ISSUE and the information is often contained in the action plan. An ACTION is the actual events that take place and the projects that actually happen, not what is desired.

4. How do I know what stage I am editing or adding?

The are only 4 stages (see model below). You will see this diagram as a prompt when you are creating or editing any; Plan, Issue, Proposal or Action item. You should try to upload evidence any type of file including small pictures (e.g. 2 or 3 inches wide by few inches high) for each stage.

The 4 Stage Model:

Figure: 4 Stage Model

You create your Plan item from the 'Your Info' area. Fill in the fields & click 'Save Data' to save your PLAN.
After you save your plan, you create a problem ISSUE item using the 'Create Issue' button on your plan.
After you save your issue, you create its solution PROPOSAL by clicking 'Create Proposal' on your issue.
After you save your proposal, you create its implementation ACTION by clicking 'Create Action' on your proposal.
Refer to Help for instructions on using the system.

5. What do the different parts on the home page mean?

The Screen Layout:

Figure: Screen Layout

The HEADER panel is always on view and after you log in, the SIGN IN> prompt changes to the user name & logout prompt.
The MAIN panel is always on view and the content changes to display the main information.
The LEFT Panel is usually on view and provides extra navigation links.
The RIGHT panel is on view on the Home page but is removed to give more space for content when you move off the home page. Moving off the home page includes runing a search or clicking to Reports or other menu items. The Right panel is removed When the system displays the results of searches, reports or items (i.e. a Plan, Issue, Proposal or Action which need to be viewed or edited).

When you click 'Home' on the Header Panel Menu then the Main Panel offers you some favourite searches you may like to try. You can click to search devon-wide for topics of interest to you, or for who has benefited from community-led planning. Above these you can search for any keyword or also any district or parish you are interested in. (There is also a dedicated 'Search' option and 'Report' option on the Header Panel Menu. Refer to Help for instructions on using the system.)

When you click to run a 'Search' or 'Report' then the Main Panel offers you your result list.
When you click on one of your results then the Main Panel offers you the display of your result, and a diagram above it showing you the chain of items that link your result to the Plan it is part of.
(Refer to Help for instructions on using the system.)

6. How do I know whether I'm a registered user?

There are two levels of ordinary users that have passwords and can logon. Those who do not logon can still read and search the content of the system.

If you are a contributing user you will know because you have been trained to input items from the 'Your Info' option on the Header Panel menu.

If you have registered you will have a password. The system allows users to register themselves with a password of their choosing. Registering only requires the user to complete the fields on the registration screen.
(Refer to Help for instructions on using the system.)

To find out whether you are registered as a contributor, please contact one of the following people:

Devon wide:

Contacts for District areas:

7. How do I login or sign in?

Refer to Help for instructions on using the system.

8. How do I register?

Refer to Help for instructions on using the system.

9. How do I put my PLAN onto the website?

If you wish to add or edit your own contributions to this site you will need your registered user account and password, upgraded to one of contributor level. (See above for who to contact for this request).

When you have a contributor level user account then simply log on using the unique username and password. Go to the Your Info area and click to view your entries or to make a new Plan.

10. WHAT do each of the fields mean?

Prior to entering content yourself, you can see all the fields and example content by just looking at any of the Plan, Issue, Proposal or Action items already entered by other Parishes. This is the best way to understand what the fields are and what they are used for.

When entering values yourself you have a field label plus as an extended reminder you have on-screen hint text. The fields are explained in the hint text on the right hand side of each field. You will see the fields and any option droplists or tick-box choices from which you can choose when you are completing a field in 'edit mode'. You must logon with a contributor user level in order to see the 'Edit' or 'Create' buttons displayed on items you are reading. To make your Plan or to edit your own entries go to the 'Your Info' area.

11. Some of my ACTIONS are much simpler than others. How will I put this info onto the website?

If you are a contributing user you will have received training. You can also use the system search to look at how others have entered similar Actions to yours; both complex and simple (e.g. from infrastructure like roads, to the placing of a dog litter bin).
Your system manager has also provided guidance in the Help system:

System Manager Guidance ~ For Community Plan Content to be Handled by the System

Worked Example ~ Modbury Community Plan
Definitions ~ Classifying Your Content in the System

12. The group that wrote the plan has since finished meeting, what should we put in that box?

If the group has finished and you can remember what they were called then put the old name in. If you can’t remember what they were called, put in a name the same as you put into the PLAN 'Title' box.

13. Will I be able to find out if there is a plan in my area?

Yes. Go to the Home page of www.communitiesinaction.org.uk and select the area (district or parish) you would like to find out about in the search box. Refer to Help for instructions on using the system and to see searching tips to find what you want.

14. Will I be able to find similar projects to mine that other people in the county are working on?

Yes. Go to the Home of page www.communitiesinaction.org.uk and type in the keywords you would like to find out about. Refer to Help for instructions on using the system and to see searching tips to find what you want.

You can also click on of the county-wide 'topic' searches or click on one of the county-wide 'who is benefiting' searches.

15. We are a group of parishes that have written our own plans, but we have done some projects in partnership with each other, can the website handle this?

A single Action can be related to more than one proposal but these proposals all stem from one Plan (click to see 'related proposals' when reading an Action item). See FAQ question 1 (above) on how you can enter an additional shared plan for just things you have tackled together.

16. How do I get started? - Once you have signed in, you may now have a number of options, you may:

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