Welcome to the Pain Community: Your Quick-Start FAQ

Everything you need to know to log in, jump into conversations, and get the most out of our community.

The Pain Community is the online home for APTA Academy of Orthopedic Physical Therapy members who work in, study, and advance the field of pain management in physical therapy. It's a place to ask questions, share resources, keep up with events, and connect with nearly 600 peers who care about the same work you do.

The community runs on Higher Logic Thrive, a member-engagement platform built specifically for professional associations. If you've used another association's online community, this will feel familiar. If it's your first time, this FAQ will get you comfortable in a few minutes.

First Things First: You'll Need an APTA Orthopedics Membership

The Pain Community is part of the APTA Academy of Orthopedic Physical Therapy, so an active APTA Orthopedics membership is your key to the door. Before you can log in and start participating, make sure you're set up:

1. Fill out the Pain SIG membership form. Head to orthopt.org/content/s/become-a-pain-sig-member2 and complete the form. You'll sign in with your APTA Orthopaedics membership credentials — you must be a member of APTA Orthopedics to join the community.
2. Not a member of APTA Orthopedics yet? Join first through your membership on APTA.org by selecting APTA Orthopedics (formerly called the Orthopedics Academy). Once your Orthopedics membership is active, come back and complete the Pain SIG form above.

Once you're a member, the rest of this FAQ will get you comfortable navigating and participating in just a few minutes.

Find the community here. Or use the QR Code. You can login with your APTA Orthopedics Membership Login.

Getting Started

How do I access the community?

Head to the community link above and sign in with your APTA credentials. Because it's tied to your membership, you don't need a separate password — the same login you use for other APTA resources gets you in.

Do I have to "join" it?

You're already a member of the community as part of your APTA Academy of Orthopedic Physical Therapy membership, so you can read and post right away. When you first arrive, you'll be prompted to choose how you want to be notified about activity (more on that below) — you can change those preferences any time.

Should I set up my profile?

Yes — it takes two minutes and makes the community far more useful. A completed profile with your name, photo, and areas of interest helps other members recognize you, find you, and connect. It also powers features that match you with peers who share your interests. Look for your profile menu (usually your name or photo in the top corner) to edit it.

Finding Your Way Around

The community is organized into a handful of tabs across the top. Here's what each one does.

Community Home

Your landing page and dashboard. It pulls together the latest activity — recent discussions, new resources, upcoming events, and announcements — so you can see what's happening at a glance and jump straight into whatever's relevant to you.

Threads (Discussions & Q&A)

This is the heart of the community — where members post messages, ask questions, share ideas, and answer each other. Higher Logic supports two kinds of posts, and this community uses them both, which is why the tab is labeled Threads:

• Open-ended discussions — for starting a conversation, floating an idea, or sharing something you think the group will care about.

• Questions (Q&A) — for posts where you're looking for a specific answer. Other members can weigh in, and the person who asked (or a moderator) can mark a best answer so future readers find it fast.

Threads are lightly moderated to keep things on-topic and useful, and many can be tagged (you'll see labels like ClinicalResources, QST, Research, and Introduction on existing threads) so related conversations are easy to find.

Library

A searchable, organized home for resources — documents, images, videos, toolkits, slide decks, recordings, and more. Both the Academy and members can contribute files here, so it becomes a shared knowledge base that grows over time. Instead of digging through old email threads, you can find and download what you need in one place. Files can be organized into folders, and any attachments members add to discussion threads can flow into the library too.

Blogs

Longer-form posts (like this one) where the Academy and community leaders share perspectives, updates, guidance, and thought leadership. Blogs are a great way to go deeper than a quick discussion post — think announcements, how-tos, reflections, and calls to action.

Events

Where you'll find community events — town halls, educational sessions, and meetings — with details and, where applicable, registration. After an event, recordings and materials often get posted back to the Library or a follow-up thread, so the conversation keeps going even if you couldn't attend live.

Members

The community directory. Here you can search for peers by name or interest, view their profiles, add them as contacts, and send direct messages. With nearly 600 members, it's one of the fastest ways to find the right person to learn from or collaborate with.

Participating

How do I start a new thread?

From the Threads tab, click Start New Thread. You'll choose whether you're posting an open-ended discussion or a question, write and format your message, and click Send. Your post then appears in the community and goes out to members who've subscribed to notifications. If you're not ready to post, you can Save as Draft and finish later — the system also auto-saves your work if you pause.

How do I reply to a thread?

Open any thread and you have a few options:

• Reply posts your response inline so the whole community can see it and join in. This is the default and best choice most of the time — it keeps knowledge shared.

• Reply Privately sends your response only to the original poster, when you'd rather keep it one-to-one. (This isn't available if the author posted anonymously.)

• If a post is especially helpful, you can recommend it so others know it's worth a look, and on Q&A threads you can mark a best answer.

Can I participate from my email without logging in?

Yes — this is one of the platform's most convenient features. If you subscribe to real-time notifications, you can reply to a discussion right from the notification email, and your reply posts back to the community automatically. As long as the system recognizes your email address, you never have to log in just to keep a conversation going.

Staying in the Loop (Notifications & Digests)

You control how much email you get and how often. When you join — or any time afterward from My Account → Community Notifications — you can choose your notification style:

• Real Time — a near-instant email each time someone posts or replies. Best if you want to respond promptly or stay on top of active conversations. (Real-time emails are the ones you can reply to directly.)

• Daily Digest — a single once-a-day email that bundles the previous day's discussion posts, so your inbox isn't flooded. Great for busy threads.

• Consolidated Digest — a daily and/or weekly roundup of all community activity, including new library uploads, blog posts, announcements, and events — not just discussions. Perfect for a big-picture view.

You can mix and match, and you can turn any of it down or off whenever you like. If email volume ever feels like too much, that settings page is where you dial it in.

Community Etiquette

A few simple norms keep this a place people want to be:

• Reply to the group when you can. Public answers help everyone, not just the person who asked.

• Use clear thread subjects so others can find and follow the conversation.

• Tag your posts where relevant to help resources surface later.

• Keep it professional and on-topic — discussions are lightly moderated, and shared respect is what makes the community valuable.

• Give back. Answer a question, share a resource, or welcome a new member. Communities thrive when members lean in.

Need Help?

If something isn't working or you have a question about the community itself, reach out to the Academy staff or a community moderator — you'll find them active in the Threads. And if you're brand new, the best first step is easy: introduce yourself in the Threads section and say hello.