Navigating Sutra guide for the participants

Making the most of your experience on Sutra

1. Welcome to Sutra - a platform of relational learning spaces

If you are new to the Sutra environment and are using Sutra in a desktop web browser, the following suggestions will help you get oriented. Please note that Sutra works best in Google Chrome.

2. Setting up your profile

1. To edit your profile, click on your avatar icon in the top right-hand corner. Select Settings from the drop-down menu to access your account settings.

2. On the left sidebar select the Edit profile tab and choose your option.

   Please, don't forget to press the blue Update profile button to save the changes.

Here you can:

1. Add or replace your profile image.
2. Edit your name, surname or username, email address.
3. Write a short bio (there's a limit of 2000 characters).

3. Managing email preferences

Sutra sends a regular email digest with the discussion updates to all the members of a particular program space.

1. To edit your email preferences click on your avatar in the top right corner of your screen and select Settings.
2. Next select the Email preferences tab in the sidebar. From here you can adjust your email preferences. You can see the recommended settings on the screenshot below.

• Email digest preferences

This option allows you to select between having discussion email updates per space or having updates digested into one email for all your spaces (recommended).

• Email digest frequency

This option allows you to set the frequency with which you will get email updates. The default is once per day.

• Space specific preferences

If your updates are not grouped into one digest, you will have the option to specify the frequency of updates for different discussion spaces.

If your updates are grouped into one digest, then your frequency will be controlled by the Email digest frequency above.

4. Joining a discussion space

Inside your program on Sutra there can be some discussion sub spaces. You need to be a member of a discussion space to be able to post messages and receive a regular digest with the discussion updates.

Usually managers add their members to all the important discussion spaces but you can also join a discussion yourself by clicking on the blue Join space button inside of it.

5. Posting in a discussion space

You can post a new message by typing it in the pop up window in the bottom of the discussion space and then clicking on the green Create post button.

You can upload a file, insert an audio and a video, add an image or a link to your message.

• Mentioning people

Make sure to @mention other participants (@username) or all the members of this discussion space (@space) to draw people's attention to your post.

If you want to direct a message to a specific person in the discussion, you can @mention their username like so: @natasha.

You can also start the post with @space for all the members to receive a notification and for this post to be included in the Sutra digest of all the members of this space.

• Editing discussion posts

You can edit/delete the posted messages. To edit a message click on the three vertical dots on the right-hand side and select Edit post. The managers can also pin messages.

• Tagging discussion posts

One of Sutra's most unique features is the ability to tag yours and other people's posts. Tags let you save and organize what people share in the discussion feed. Often, someone will say something interesting or insightful, and a few days later the comment is so far back stream that it’s pretty much lost. How do you save that and somehow make it available for future reference? Tags are designed to help you solve this problem.

📝 Note: If you want to add a tag to the post you are creating, you need to publish it first and only after that tag it.

When you click on the Tag button next to each message, you’ll see a pop up with an option to add tags. You can tag other people's messages as well as your own.

You can choose a tag from the created ones (if there are any in this discussion space) or create a new one. The tags are saved automatically. After that click on the x to close this window.

Now you can zoom in on all the posts tagged with this tag by clicking on the colored tag of any post. After that you will see all the posts tagged with it.

You can also delete tags by clicking Tag button first and the on the "X" next to a particular tag. Then just close the tag pop up window.

6. Sending a direct message to another participant

If you want to send a private message to a participant, click on the name or profile icon of this person.

You'll be directed to the profile page of this participant, where you need to click the blue Message button.

7. Leaving a space

When you no longer want to be a member of a space you can leave it without cancelling your Sutra account.

➡️ Important: If you are participating in a program with a regular paid subscription, please, know that to cancel this subscription and stop regular payments you will need to leave the space or be removed by the manager. This will cancel the repeating Stripe payments. If you don't plan on using Sutra for anything else, you can then delete your Sutra account if you want to.

• To leave a space, press the name of your space to get inside. Then click on the three dots and choose the Leave space option here. This allows you to remove your membership from the space and you won’t see this space on your main screen.

8. Downloading the mobile app

If you're on a mobile device, downloading the mobile app for iPhone or Android will give you a better experience. You can find the Sutra Spaces app in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store by searching for "Sutra Spaces".

📝 Note: You always register for a program via the browser version. Only after the registration, you will be able to see the program space you joined on the app.

9. Sutra support

As a participant, you can find some useful support resources here.

You can always email us at support@sutra.co if you have any technical challenges or questions about navigating the platform.

➡️ Important: For all the questions related to the program itself, please contact the manager of this program directly.