The ActiveRain "HELP" Toolbar for Your Browser - created to help members and non-members find important pieces of information in and around the network.
In this post I wanted to explain each section of the toolbar and show how it might be helpful. The "Toolbar" is not just for AR members, it's also for anyone who wants to keep up with what's happening in the world of Real Estate on and through the AR Network. It works on Explorer, Firefox, and Safari browsers and it's FREE.
The first section of the toolbar allows you to access AR with a single click on the logo. Next to the logo is a pull-down menu where you can login to AR or Join. You can also search by member "category" which helps save time if you're looking for a specific type of Industry professional.
There are 28 Industry categories to choose from, this makes it quick and easy for members and consumers to access any category with the single "point and click" option.
The "Read" button IS for ActiveRain members and those interested in joining the network. Unlike most boring community guidelines and terms of service, ours is unique and is a "must read!"
Can you say Weltanschauung?
The "Help" button and pull-down menu gets you access to the ActiveRain Manual, The ActiveRain University, The ARU Training Calendar, the Help/FAQ Group on AR, Information about Real Estate RainCamps, and member contributed guides and how-to articles and posts. This is one of my favorite parts of the toolbar and may be the most useful part for members needing "help" and tutorials about ActiveRain.
The "Daily Drop" is for those who want to be kept informed via AR's Daily Newsletter. Click To Subscribe.
The "Featured" pull-down menu gives you "live" real-time access to what's "Featured" on ActiveRain right now. You can browse ALL featured posts right from the toolbar and do it from any website or page you're on. Whether you're a member of AR or not, this is a great tool to be kept informed of what's going on in and around Real Estate all over the Country and Canada. (Your neighborhood included)
The "Blogs" button is a direct link to ALL AR Blog posts which can be sorted using the built in ActiveRain sort options. This makes getting to the newest and freshest content fast and easy.
Many networks, blogging platforms, and social media sights make it difficult to try and reach staff members. With this button, the entire AR Team is only "one-click" away.
Member support on ActiveRain is something we take seriously and are very passionate about. Our members' satisfaction and our reputation have been built on how well we support our friends on AR. The "Support" button pull-down on the toolbar shows we listen to our members, and we care. You are literally one click away from contacting AR support, making suggestions, sending us your feedback and comments, and emailing us directly.
The "Message" button is for communicating important messages. This will ONLY be used to make important announcements. IE: New AR features, Upcoming special events, RainCamps, Trainings and Classes etc. The message board has its' own set of built in tools for users to manage and respond to incoming messages.
The "Facebook and Twitter buttons" give you direct access to ActiveRain's Facebook page and to our "live" Twitter stream. No need to even leave the toolbar to see our latest tweets, but to become a friend or fan on Facebook, you will need to click the Facebook Icon.
This covers most uses for the AR Help Toolbar. It is completely customizable for each user. You can remove/hide any of the above predefined components that you don't need or aren't using by selecting the "toolbar options" in the main menu and checking the box next to those items you'd like hidden. If space on your browser is an issue, there's a "shrink toolbar" option that will minimize the space used. I hope you'll find it to be a useful addition to your browser tools and an efficient source for interaction and help on ActiveRain.
Select your browser below and install the ActiveRain Help Toolbar.
Download The ActiveRain "HELP" Toolbar for your Browser
ActiveRain University Calendar 
Real Estate RainCamp The ActiveRain Manual
Brad, the AR toolbar is the most helpful tool I have found. Talk about a time saver. Thanks for this massive improvement for our platform.
Thanks Frank - the goal was to put everything that might be useful and helpful to members and visitors in a single location which would ultimately save them time trying to find all these resources scattered through-out the community. I'm Glad you like it and see it as a time saver! Goal accomplished!! :-))
Your work of genius has proven to be one of the most used apps on my computer!
Great job Brad!
ActiveRain for mobile use on the Blackberry, iPhone and Android phones is next....right?
Brad,
OK...now installed and will play with it! I am sure it will be a timesaver!
Thanks for sharing this information. I had not spent the time to check out some of these options for AR. I will be experimenting with it so I can save time, one of my most precious resources.
I use this toolbar all the time, excellent feature!
Thanks you guys - I posted this because many were asking and wanting to know what features the toolbar offered before they added it to their browsers. I use it everyday, and it has definitely saved me time in helping and supporting other friends and members on AR.
Great idea...I got it downloaded! thanks so much!
Brad, This sounds like it will be very useful for everyone....I'm going to be downloading it after I comment but I wanted to thank you for all the help everyone at Activerain is always providing us! Thank you!
Brad - another wonderfully informative post - another "How To"....
Have downloaded and am enjoying it.
Brad,
The toolbar is a great idea and is full of a lot of good stuff. Thanks for the pelpful post.
Brad.. I always look forward to your blogs. They are a wealth of information... this is no exception. I've added the toolbar and can't wait to use it.
Valerie - I'm sure you'll be able to put it to good use! ... and thanks! :-)) (BIG SMILE)
Very cool Brad! Thank you for the outstanding tip!
Brad - this or something similar would be really appreciated and a great tool as part of the members dashboard.
I just don't know if I am ready for yet another tool bar in my browser ..... If I keep adding them I wil soon have a browser full of tool bars and no room left for anything else.
I'm going to add this -- anything that simplifies sounds good to me.