If you’re on Twitter you have probably selected a link similar to http://tiny.cc/xphnk which redirects you to the much longer URL https://apicciano.commons.gc.cuny.edu/2010/07/20/e-books-outselling-hardcover-books-at-amazon-com/. You may ask yourself — how is this done? Well look no further!

There are many free web services that will take your lengthy URLs and shorten them for you. This not only allows frees up more characters for your Twitter post, but generally makes it easier to cut and paste URLs into emails, text messages, chats, etc…

Some of these services out there are:

• Tiny URL – create a shorter link
• is.gd URL Shortener – The Shortest URLs Around
• bit.ly | Basic | a simple URL shortener

To use Tiny URL as an example, you would simply paste the URL that you wish to be shortened into the big box then select ‘tiny!’. Once the shortened URL is generated you can use it however you’d  like and also monitor stats.

Want to add a user to your blog? No problem, just follow these 5 steps…

1. Log into the Dashboard of your blog.

2. Navigate to the Users tab located in the left navigation bar of your Dashboard and select ‘Add New’. (The Users tab is located between the Plugins and Tools tabs).

3. Enter the member’s username (this can be found on their profile page).

*Please note- Only Commons members can be added to a blog.

4. Enter the member’s email address.

5. Set the role of the new user to: Administrator, Editor, Author, Contributor or Subscriber.

A bit about the WPMU member roles:

• Administrator – Somebody who has access to all the administration features.
• Editor – Somebody who can publish posts, manage posts as well as manage other people’s posts, etc.
• Author – Somebody who can publish and manage their own posts.
• Contributor – Somebody who can write and manage their posts but not publish posts.
• Subscriber – Somebody who can read comments/comment/receive news letters, etc.

That person will be sent an email asking them to click a link confirming the invite.

*New users will not need a new username or password to log into the blog — once they log into the Commons they will have access to the blog under ‘My Blogs’ on the top navigation bar.

So you signed up for the CUNY Academic Commons with your full name and required CUNY email, but you would prefer to be called Susie instead of Suse ( <–insert funny Seinfeld quote here–> )… or you would prefer to display your yahoo email address for members to contact you. This video from Screen Toaster will guide you through the easy steps and will also show you how to change your email account where you receive notifications through the Academic Commons. If you don’t want to view the video, you can also just follow the easy steps below.

If you want to change your display name and email address:

1. Select: My Commons> My Profile> Edit Profile

2. To change your display name, re-write your preferred name in the ‘Full Name (required)’ field

3. To change your display email, re-write your preferred email in the ‘Email Address’ field

4. Select Save Changes

*Note, this will not change the address where you will receive notifications through the Academic Commons.

To change the email address where you recieve notifications through the Academic Commons:

1. Select: My Commons>  My Settings> General

2. Re-write your preferred email account in the ‘Account Email’ field

3. Select Save Changes

…Voila!

**UPDATE 5/15/2011** An exciting new feature called “Docs” has been added, allowing you to write and edit collaboratively with members of your group. In order to avoid confusion with Docs, we’ve changed the old “Documents” tab to “Files”. All the files you uploaded to your group in the past can be found on the new “Files” tab on the left side of your group’s page.

Whether you want to post a related article, power point presentation or a record of minutes from a meeting, the “Files” tab can help members share information and collaborate. Tag your file with a category to easily access minutes, syllabi, or whatever you upload. Want to learn how to upload your files?

Just follow the instructions from the video below… or click here to view in HD.

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/9762417[/vimeo]