The social network is built on the relations established between the users of the area who belong to the same portal.

You will see that the system of classification places users you have in your list of contacts on the first level, while the second level is for your contacts' contacts and so on.

It is a quick, easy way to view your social network graphically and see who your contacts' contacts are.

You can also see the degree of proximity of your contacts.

There are two views of the social network: the Flash view and the Java view.

a) Flash view:

1- Go to Main > Social network area. The Flash view appears by default.

2-   To check user contacts click on the icon which appears beside each user's name:

This opens up a list of all their contacts. You will see an image like this:

3- To prevent the contact lists from overlapping, you can rotate the image by clicking on the icon in the middle of the circle.

4- The system allows you to move the image so that it is centred on the screen. You only need to click and drag the image to do this.

5- If you want to obtain more information about a particular user click on their name. A window will open with all the information available about the person:

b) Java view:

1- Go to Main > Social network area

2- From the menu on the left select Java view. You will see a network which looks like this:

3- If you position the cursor on a user's name, a small window opens with their details and a photograph (if available).

4- To see the proximity of your contacts, select the level from the pull-down menu. You will then be able to see your contacts graded from level 1 to level 5.

5- You can use the “Zoom” option to see details of your social network more clearly.

6- With the “Rotate” option you can rotate the network to bring each of the elements to the foreground in turn.

Note: To access this alternative view you need to have the Java plug-in component installed in your browser.