A beginner's guide to using the forum

[Josh Shields]

Welcome!

Since this is a new function of our website, I thought that I would write a short guide on how to get your member account set up and then how to get into posting and reading other folks messages.

First off, if you're reading this post, it means that you've been authorized by myself or another OSW web moderator or administrator. That's great since it means that you're now a fully "active" member of the forums.

Getting Set Up

So let's get you set up:

Towards the top of this box, you'll see a tool bar that looks like this:


Select the "User CP" link.

This will bring you to your User Control Panel. From here you can make adjustments to your personal settings including your email, profile information, forum and email options, and including pictures in your personal profile (Profile Picture) or individual posts (Avatar).

Along the left hand side of the window, you'll see the some options. They are described below:

• Edit Signature - Just like an email, you can add a personal message or tagline at the end or all of your posts on the forums. You can do that via this option.
• Edit Email and Password - Change your email or password. Remember that your email MUST be a valid email address to participate in the forums. Accounts that have email returned due to invalid email will be deactivated.
• Edit Profile - This edits the "personal information" that is shown to the left of each post. If you'd like to include your birthday, it will be added automatically to our online calendar for other members to see. There is also some information at the bottom of the page that will help other members learn more about you.
• Edit Options - Most of these settings have been set up for the average user and shouldn't need to be changed. From this panel you can make changes to basic forum permissions such as receiving email from members or private messages (more on that later).
• Edit Avatar - This is the picture that is shown to the left of each post that you make. You can either choose from our (currently limited) selection of avatars, or upload one of your own to the forums. If you have trouble with this function, please email or message me and I'll be happy to help you out.
• Edit Profile Picture - Essentially the same as the Avatar function, except this is the photo that pops up when people look at your personal profile.

Forum Basics:

The forums are broken down into individual "threads" or topics. These can each be accessed from the main page of the forums. To read posts that have been made, you have two options. You can either enter each thread individually, you you can simply click on "New Posts" at the top of each page. Selecting the "New Posts" option will show you all of the posts that you haven't read or marked "as read". (I prefer to use the new post option since it is the easiest way to see all of the posts on the board that have changed since my last visit).

To post a new topic or start a new discussion, select the most appropriate thread, and click on the "New Thread" button. This will bring you to the text editing page. The text edit page is a "what you see is what you get" entry form. Type what you want and use the formatting tools at the top of the box to change your text size, font, or color.

If you're reading a topic and would like to reply to a post that has already been made, you can do so by clicking the "post reply" button near the top/bottom of the page, or you can quote from a particular post by clicking the "quote" button in each post. Once you click one of those, creating a reply is just like starting a new topic.

Sounds complicated, but if you play with it for a few minutes, it should be pretty easy to figure out.

Private Messages:

One of the neatest functions of these forums is the ability to send private messages or PM's back and forth between members. This will eliminate the need for folks to know email addresses, particularly as we increase the participation in the member forums. A private message is just that! A message sent from a member to one or more other members.

You can send a message in three different ways.

First off, while looking at threads, you can send a message to a member right from a post that they (the intended receiver) has written. Clicking on their name will expand a drop down menu:

From here you can choose to send them a message (as well as other options such as send email or see other info depending on how that user has their account set up)

Next you can go to the "Members List" link located in the forum toolbar. From there you can choose a member and contact them through the link provided on their member profile page.

Finally, you can send messages directly from your Private Message center. To access this area, click on the "Private Messages" link located at the upper right hand side of the forum toolbar:



From this section you can choose "Send New Message" from the toolbar on the left hand side of the screen. You'll have to manually enter names when you use this method.

This is just a quick primer into using the forums. Play around and look at stuff! Don't forget the Calandar function too! (Members can post events, but they must first be approved before they will be visible on the calendar).

If you have questions or issues, please feel free to email me or PM me! Enjoy the new forums!

~Josh