DINA – FAQ
We have compiled some questions for you here to explain what DINA is about and to help you get started with all the features the platform has to offer.
Contents
What is DINA.international?
What is the “DINA.international” portal?
DINA.international is a non-commercial online platform for international youth, school and professional exchange.
Our platform features the privacy-compliant and secure video conferencing tool BigBlueButton, which you can use for your own events and meetings. You can create your own project and plan a digital first meeting with your international partner organisations, for example. You can also run a professional symposium or organise a digital youth exchange. Important materials and results may be stored neatly and accessed directly in the project.
What is the purpose of DINA.international?
DINA.international aims to strengthen the ties of the international youth exchange community. As a dedicated portal for those involved in youth exchange encounters, DINA.international offers new networking opportunities. With our growing membership numbers, the contributions you post here in our forum will reach the right people. In addition, you can locate neighbouring projects via our integrated world map and establish new contacts. In addition, a great selection of tools (incl. shared document storage, video conferences and calendars) supports you in implementing your youth exchange encounters online. Last but not least, DINA provides professional project management support to the users of the platform.
Who are the target groups of DINA.international?
DINA.international is aimed at anyone involved in international youth work. This includes teachers and other specialists, as well as young people who are interested in youth exchange and who are participating or have participated in encounters before.
Journalists, parents of participants or other people involved and interested in youth exchange are also very welcome to register on our platform.
Is DINA.international also relevant for young people?
Yes, it is! DINA has been developed especially for young people. With its combination of features for networking and professional tools, DINA is an exciting and versatile platform. Even before the exchange takes place, young people have the opportunity to connect and get to know each other within the project. They can also contribute their own ideas while the youth exchange is still being set up. After the exchange, they can stay in touch, too. We also take special care to ensure that the data of our young people is secure and is not passed on to third parties.
Who is behind DINA.international?
Together, ConAct – Coordination Centre for German-Israeli Youth Exchange, the Franco-German Youth Office (FGYO), the German-Polish Youth Office (GPYO), the Foundation for German-Russian Youth Exchange (DRJA Foundation) and Tandem – TANDEM – Coordination Centre for German-Czech Youth Exchange operate the platform. The portal administrators are provided by these specialised and funding agencies and coordinated by a team at the DRJA Foundation. Currently, Benjamin Holm, Angelika Wall and Jannik Knaack act as coordinators. DINA is funded by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, as well as the Globus Foundation.
How many members does the portal have?
You can access the current number of members on the DINA.international homepage under “Currently on the platform”. Alternatively, you can use the search function in the navigation bar too and filter for “People” to see all profiles that are visible on DINA.
First steps
How do I register on DINA.international?
Visit our Landingpage or that of a specific partner institution (portal partner) to register on DINA. Please make sure to indicate your portal partner during your registration. If you do not feel associated with any specific portal partner, simply select DINA in the “Portal Partner” field.
Partner institution landing pages:
ConAct, OFAJ | DFJW, DPJW, DRJA, IJAB, Tandem
What do I do if my email address is already in use?
In this case, you may already be a member of the platform. You can initially try to log in (if you have not already tried that). If necessary, you can reset your password .
I have registered on DINA.international. What’s next?
Hello and welcome to the platform! You can now explore our website. Have a look at the map or click the “DISCOVER” button in the navigation bar to discover neighbouring groups, projects and people, for example. Visit the forum to read current posts on youth exchange and access event information. You can also click the “plus” sign in the navigation bar on the top right to create your own project, group or conference and gain access to professional tools to implement your project.
Make sure to choose a name for your project that others can understand, too. Then, we encourage you to upload relevant pictures and to maintain your project’s homepage (which we call a microsite here) to share your project with others.
May I participate even if my exchange project and the associated languages are not yet part of DINA.international?
DINA was developed for international youth exchange. The platform was initiated by the aforementioned specialised and funding agencies and is funded by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, as well as the Globus Foundation.
Account & profile
How does DINA.international protect my data?
Our portal takes data protection and data security extremely seriously. DINA.international is a non-profit platform that does not pursue any commercial interests and does not use your data for targeted marketing. Furthermore, you can decide for yourself with whom you want to share your contributions. You are in complete control of your data, which you can exercise under “Visibility” settings in your profile, as well as under almost all of your activities (posting, creating events, assigning tasks etc.).
The portal is hosted on a German server that was set up specifically to support international youth work. The server has been checked for data security and is TÜV-certified. This is how we ensure the confidential handling of your data.
How do I change my password?
You can change your password in your profile at any time. To do this, click on your profile at the top right and go to your profile settings. In the navigation bar on the left, you will see the Change password button.
How do I change my email address?
You can change your email address in your profile at any time. To do this, click on your profile at the top right and go to your profile settings. In the navigation bar on the left, you will see the Edit Profile button.
I have forgotten my password! How do I reset it?
No problem! You can reset your password at any time. To do this, go to the login page and select “Forgot password?” in the menu on the left. Now you can simply enter your email address and follow the instructions on the page.
Why am I receiving so many notifications from DINA.international?
Whenever a new post is published on the forum, in your groups or projects, you will receive a notification from the portal via email. This keeps you always up to date without the need to log in every day.
Visit “Notification Preferences” to manage what you would like to be notified about and how often. You can receive daily or weekly news bundles, for example. You can also deactivate notifications entirely, if you want.
Who can see my profile?
This depends on the settings you have saved in your profile. In your profile settings under “Who may see your platform profile?”, there are currently three levels of visibility.
1. “Members of your projects and groups only”: only those with whom you are already connected via a group or project can view your profile.
2. “Registered users only”: with this setting, your profile is visible to anyone who is registered on DINA.
3. “Everybody”: your profile may also be found and seen by unregistered people on the internet.
How do I delete my user profile/account?
To delete your account, go to your profile settings and select the “Delete profile” button on the left.
Organising & networking
What is the difference between a project and a group?
On DINA, you can create groups as well as projects to support your ideas and encounters. The same apps are available to you in both formats. As an exception, the Marketplace app is only activated for groups.
For one-off meetings, we recommend that you create a project. If you are a group of people who organise projects on a regular basis, then it makes sense to create a group that may be linked to the individual projects. For example, the group could be created at a higher organisational level for multiple encounters going both ways.
What is a microsite and why should I maintain one?
Each project that is created on DINA comes with a microsite. It is a homepage and your project’s “business card”, so to speak. All DINA users but also non-registered visitors may view your microsite. It may be found and accessed via search engines.
A dynamic microsite design may improve the outside visibility of your project. If you are looking for participants, partner organisations or supporters, for example, you can advertise this on your microsite.
Do upload some pictures and provide information about the timing of your projects, what the underlying ideas of your projects are and how people can potentially get involved.
Our homepage and the homepages of our partner organisations will display randomly selected projects including their cover pictures. This is a good way for other users to find out about your project.
What is the Marketplace app?
The Marketplace app is an additional feature available to groups. It was developed to connect all those involved in youth exchange effectively. For example, you can use the app to spread the word that you are still looking for participants for your encounter. You can also use it to search for partner organisations for international exchange projects. Furthermore, it gives you the opportunity to share your expertise: for example, you can use it to search for interpreters here.
Please only use the app for offers concerning international youth exchange and not for other advertisement purposes or tourist offers.
What is the forum all about?
DINA has several forums. The DINA forum, accessible to all of DINA’s members, and a forum each for the respective partner organisations (which users are asked to specify when registering on DINA).
You may access the forums using the topmost navigation bar under “FORUM”. Here, you can post international youth exchange news, enter upcoming events in the calendar, create surveys or post offers in the Marketplace app. Please make sure that you only share information here that is relevant to international youth exchange. Please also use these public spaces only to share project-related information, rather than general information or have private conversations.
How do I recruit participants for my youth encounter?
There are several ways to promote your project and look for participants in the portal:
a) We recommend that you post an offer in the forum. You can do so by clicking the “plus” sign in the navigation bar and by selecting “Add Offer”. Then, describe your project and your criteria for potential participants in as much detail as possible.
b) You can also post your request in the forum and therefore address all of DINA’s members. Here, too, it is important to provide as much detail as possible when writing your request.
How do I find a partner school or organisation?
DINA provides several options for finding a partner school or organisation:
a) One option is to post a request in the forums. You can write a post in the forum to contact all portal members and thus make a public request.
b) You can also send a direct message to other people/projects/groups to get in touch.
How do I invite people to a project who are not yet registered on DINA?
The platform has the functionality to send email invitations to register or join a group, to people who are not yet members of DINA.
Each group features an “Invite people” button on its member page, which you may use to send email invitations to people to register or join a group or project.
PLEASE NOTE: if a person registers on DINA via the link in the email invitation, this person does not automatically become a member of the group for which they have received the invitation. After registering on DINA, they still have to apply to become a member of the group. The link to the group can be found in the email invitation.
How do I report inappropriate posts?
Our portal relies on our members to communicate respectfully with each other. We created our platform as a space for intercultural dialogue and collaboration.
In order to ensure this, we have developed guidelines in our Terms and Conditions of Use on how to communicate on our platform. These guidelines outline what violates those rules.
Content that is discriminatory or otherwise violates our Terms and Conditions of Use will be deleted as soon as we become aware of it. Due to the growing number of members, groups and projects, we depend on your help. This is why we have a “Report offensive content” button.
A Report button is available at any point where content may be published on the platform. The button looks like an exclamation mark. If you come across content that seems inappropriate to you, you can use the Report button to contact us. If you report something, please include your reason(s). We will then take a look at the content and delete it where appropriate.
Platform tools
What work tools does DINA.international offer?
Work tools are your means of collaborating on a project. DINA offers a long list of work tools, which is why we have created a separate list of all their features.
On DINA and in your projects, you can post news, create events, assign tasks, create documents, upload and share files, create surveys, use the Marketplace app or host your own telephone and video conferences.
A short overview of additional tools: with Rocket.Chat, you can communicate in real time on the platform or stay in touch on the go via the mobile app. With the BigBlueButton video conferencing tool, you can meet online. Multilingual encounters are no problem either, thanks to its integrated interpreting booth. Nextcloud, our integrated cloud, makes collaborating on projects even easier with its shared file management system.
These are only some of the many tools and features DINA has to offer.
Does DINA.international have an option for relay interpreting?
DINA’s BigBlueButton solution that enables video conferences also features relay interpreting. This can be implemented by multiple language channels and interpreting microphones.
The interpreters have an additional microphone button, which they use to speak into their interpreting channel. The participants can select “their” language by clicking the appropriate button. This also enables relay interpreting for multilingual events.
Detailed questions from our manual!
If you would like to see more detailed explanations for specific features, please also take a look at our manual:
The manual answers the following questions, for example:
Just what might a digital conference on DINA look like?
How do I start a digital event with DINA?
What is a (digital) conference room?
What is your definition of events?
I have never organised a large event before, how can I activate and engage participants?
How do video conferences work in the digital conference centre?
How do I present my event to the outside world?
Do participants of a digital conference need to have an account with DINA?
For further questions…
Who do I contact if I have use-related questions or am experiencing technical difficulties?
If you have any questions, suggestions or problems, we are ready to assist! You may either contact our helpful DINA team from the Foundation for German-Russian Youth Exchange or the contact person(s) at our partner institutions.
You can find our contact details at:
DINA, ConAct, OFAJ | DFJW, DPJW, DRJA, IJAB, Tandem
Are there any workshops on how to use DINA.international?
Are there any workshops on how to use DINA.international?
Yes, we offer DINA workshops regularly. Contact us with your request and we will let you know where our next workshops are being held. We can also plan workshops just for you. Should you be interested, please send us a message or give us a call. Click here to find our contact details.
Any other questions?
If you have any other questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.