HowTo: Channels

HowTo: ChannelsWhat are channels and what functions do they offer? In this article you will learn everything about the creation, editing and administration of channels.
General information
What are channels?

The new DocCheck is a source for tailor-made medical news. For this purpose, all kinds of posts are published in channels. Your personal user profile as well as a self-created channel allow you to present medical content in one place.

What functions does a channel have?

Follow: The core feature of the channels is the "Follow" button. As soon as you follow a channel, all activities of the respective channel appear in the news feed of your homepage. People following your channel will, in turn, be notified in their news stream when you are active on DocCheck (e.g. when you publish or share a post). That way you can gain followers and build your own small community. Find more information in the article: "HowTo: Follow".

Posts: You can create your own posts and publish them at a desired time in the channel of your choice. For this purpose, there are different types of posts (questions, articles, files) you can choose from. Further information can be found in the article "HowTo: Posts".

Share: You can share interesting contents (posts/channels) from other users in your channel. Find more information on this topic in the article "HowTo: Share".

Visibility: Whether visible for medical members, DocCheck members or everybody - you decide who can see your channel and its content. There is more information on this function later in the article ("How do I create a channel").

Is creating a channel free?

Yes, you can create channels free of charge.

Creation, editing & administration of a channel

Important: Upload your professional certificate. Only verified members can create channels.

1. How do I create a channel?

IMPORTANT: When creating channels with German content, the interface language (flag at the bottom of the page) must first be changed from English to German. Only then should the channel be created and saved.

Click on your profile picture (top right) and select "Profile and data".

In your profile, go to the tab "Channels" and click on "Create channel". The following page will appear:

Note: The more you fill out, the better your channel will look. Here are a few tips on what you should pay attention to.

Title: Keep it short and concise. 50% of our users access the website via mobile devices. Long titles break and disappear at some point.

Description text: This text is shown in your channel and each time the channel is shared.

Cover picture: The picture is automatically placed into a round shape (modifications are still possible afterwards). In the smallest version, which can be seen in the news feed, the image is only 40x40 px, so we generally do not recommend too detailed pictures.

Header image: The header image is new and gives your channel a fresh, new look. It can be changed regularly, e.g. for campaigns. Depending on the device you're using, it adapts to the respective screen size.

Visibility:You decide who can see your channel.

public = The content is public. This means that people who have clicked on the corresponding link to the channel or article or who have become aware of the page via a search engine can access this content even without logging in to DocCheck.
all DocCheck members = Anyone who is registered with DocCheck and has logged into the portal can view the content.
healthcare professionals = Medical members (see next group), medical students and logged-in DocCheck users who exercise a medical profession regulated by federal law have access to the content.
medical members = Logged-in physicians, pharmacists and medical students who have been activated (after presentation of a valid professional certificate) for content that is subject to the German Drug Advertising Act can access it.

Detailed information about the visibility settings on DocCheck can be found in the article "HowTo: Visibilities".Note: The visibility of a channel is applied to all of its posts after they are published. You can still adjust the visibility of each post afterwards.

Contact: Please fill in your name/name of your company as well as a valid eMail address at which you can be reached. After creating the channel, you can add further contact information under "Contact".

Once you have filled out the basic information of your channel, you can either publish it directly ("Publish" button) or save it as a draft (drop-down menu/"Save as draft"). After that, you can make further adjustments. Important: Once a channel has been published it cannot be reset to draft mode!

2. How do I edit a channel?

To make changes to your channel, simply click on the green "Edit" button below the cover picture.

Now you can edit text and images (point 3 & 4), adjust the visibility of your channel (point 5), invite new members to the channel (point 6) and complete your contact information.

Please save your changes with the "Save" button before you finish editing the channel by clicking the grey "Done" button.

3. How do I edit a cover picture?

To make changes to your channel, simply click on the green "Edit" button below the cover picture.

Click on the green "pencil icon" to upload a cover picture.
Note: The optimal image size for cover pictures is 240x240 px.

After uploading, you can select a section of the picture for your cover picture. To do this, move the "cross icon" and/or scroll with your mouse to zoom in or out. Save your selection by clicking the green "check icon".

To save your new cover picture, first click on the green "Save" button and finish editing the channel with the grey "Done" button.

4. How do I edit a header image?

To make changes to your channel, simply click on the green "Edit" button below the cover picture.

Click on the green "pencil icon" to upload a header image.
Note: The optimal image size for header images is 1920x550 px.

After uploading you can select an image section for your header image. To do this, move the "cross icon" and/or scroll with your mouse to zoom in or out on the image section. Save your selection by clicking on the green "check icon".

To save your new header image, first click on the green "Save" button and finish editing the channel with the grey "Done" button.

5. How do I change the visibility of my channel?

To make changes to your channel, simply click on the green "Edit" button below the cover image.

Below the description text you will find the visibility setting ("Visible for..."). Via the dropdown menu you can select the following options:

public = The content is public. This means that people who have clicked on the corresponding link to the channel or article or who have become aware of the page via a search engine can access this content even without logging in to DocCheck.
all DocCheck members = Anyone who is registered with DocCheck and has logged into the portal can view the content.
healthcare professionals = Medical members (see next group), medical students and logged-in DocCheck users who exercise a medical profession regulated by federal law have access to the content.
medical members = Logged-in physicians, pharmacists and medical students who have been activated (after presentation of a valid professional certificate) for content that is subject to the German Drug Advertising Act can access it.

Detailed information about the visibility settings on DocCheck can be found in the article "HowTo: Visibilities".

To save the new visibility of your channel, first click on the green "Save" button and finish editing the channel with the grey "Done" button.

6. How do I invite new authors to a channel?

To make changes to your channel, simply click on the green "Edit" button below the cover picture.

Via the subitem "Authors" you can manage the authors of your channel.

To add an author, click on "Invite new author" and send an invitation to the eMail address with which the future channel author has registered on DocCheck. IMPORTANT:For the invitation process to work, a new channel member must already be registered with DocCheck before receiving the invitation. You can assign the following roles, which have different editing rights:

Editor (max. 20): Editors can publish content in the name of the channel.
Administrator (max. 10): Administrators can publish content in the name of the channel, edit channel information and invite new authors.
Reader (max. 50): Readers can only view the published content of the channel (regardless of its visibility). They are added as followers of the channel.

The person you invite receives an eMail. After accepting your invitation, they will automatically be added as an author as well as a follower of the channel.

7. How do I add Content Pages to a channel?

To make changes to your channel, simply click on the green "Edit" button below the cover picture.

You can create up to 5 more pages, so-called Content Pages, via the submenu "Content Pages". Simply click on the "Add page" button, fill in the editing mask accordingly and save your content via "Save changes". You can finish the editing process by clicking on the grey "Done" button below the cover picture.

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The created Content Pages will appear in a channel as additional tabs. That way, you can make relevant information clearly visible for visitors of your channel.