Before IRC and Internet chatting in general came popular, the most used form of communication besides e-mail was forums. Also known as bulletin board systems(BBS) and messageboards, forums have developed and come to more general use. Unlike chatting, forums are not about real-time communication, but about long and interesting debates or a source of help. Posting to a forum is also great way to get your voice heard.
This is how the Forums works:
- The Forums section has many different forums divided into categories.
- You can start a topic of discussion in a forum.
- This creates a thread for the topic.
- You can post messages to a thread.
There are three views in the Forums: forums, topics, topic thread. Some buttons and features are only available to administrators and will not be visible to other users. These are be marked with an asterisk(
*) on this help page. The editing feature is available to administrators and the author of the message.
The Forums view shows all the different forums and forum categories. This is the view you see when you enter Communication -> Forums. Use the buttons Add forum*, Remove forum*, Edit forum* to control the forums. There is a small folder-icon infront of every forum's name. Click a Forum name to view that forum's topics.
Columns:
The amount of topics in that forum is in the Topics column.
The amount of posted messages in that forum is in the Posts column.
Information on the last post made to that forum is in the Last Post column.
Form elements:
Add forum* - Click to view the form for adding a forum.
Remove forum* - Click to view the form for removing a forum.
Edit forum* - Click to view the form for editing a forum.
The topics view shows all the topics in the forum. There is a small icon (depending on the type of topic) infront of every topic's name. Click a Topic name to view that topic's thread.
Columns:
The type of thread (solution, urgent etc.) is in the Type column.
The topic starter's name is in the Topic Starter column.
The amount of replying posts on the topic is in the Replies column.
Information on the last post made to that topic is in the Last Post column.
Form elements:
Monitor forum - Click to monitor forum (receive posts via e-mail).
Stop monitoring - Click to stop monitoring forum. This is only visible if you are monitoring the Forum.
New topic - Click to view the form for posting a new topic in the forum.
Select topic in 'forum name' - Choose a topic you want to open(view topic thread) from the drop-down menu.
Monitoring a forum:
When you click the Monitor forum button you will receive every post made to that forum via e-mail. Make sure that the e-mail address you have in your profile at Config -> Profile is correct! To stop recieving e-mail, click the Stop monitoring button.
The thread view shows all the messages posted to the thread. This is the view you see when you click a message's title on your Desktop.
Columns:
The author, time, date, and type are in the Author column.
The title of the message, the actual message and control buttons are in the Message column.
Form elements:
Delete thread* - Click to delete the thread (and topic).
Next to each post's title:
Delete* - Click to delete the post. You can't delete the first post that started the thread.
Edit* - Click to view the form for editing the post.
Reply - Click to view the form for replying to the post.
Select topic in 'forum name' - Choose a topic you want to open(view topic thread) from the drop-down menu.