Discussion Board
Tutorial
When you pass through the gateway you will see a page which gives broad guidelines of where to place your messages. This tutorial indicates how to do it.
In the pictures below it is not intended that you should be able to read all the fine detail; the pictures merely give an impression of the web-page and show you where the buttons and links are placed. Due to the pictures on this tutorial page it will be slow to load, please be patient.You might want to print this tutorial and keep it as a handy reference.
An "Internet Browser" is the general name for a program used to view pages on the Internet. Microsoft supply one called "Internet Explorer" built into the Windows operating system. Apple supply one called "Safari" in the MAC OS X operating system. Other popular Internet Browsers are Firefox, Opera and Google-Chrome. All of them provide the same main functions but they differ in small details. Also some are quicker than others and some are safer than others.
Refreshing (or Reloading)
When using the forums (or any other place on the Internet), you may need to click the REFRESH or RELOAD button on your browser at various points, to make sure that you are seeing the latest revisions of the webpage.
With Microsoft Internet Explorer it is the REFRESH button:
With Firefox it is the RELOAD button.
Reading the Messages
The first page of the discussion board shows the Main Index of Forums or Sections which are broad categories of messages.
You click on the name of a section to open it.
Initially it is not necessary to register. New members are welcome to view the messages in the discussion forums without needing to Register and Log-In; at present all of the sections can be read, but it is possible that later on the more personal sections may be restricted to members who have registered and logged in.
How to register and log-in is shown later in this tutorial
Each page also contains other useful links.
For instance: SHOW which lets you choose to show only recent message or to show ALL messages.
and "Profile", which lets you update your personal information details, or "Home" which is the link to leave the Discussion Board to return to the KAS home page.
When you have clicked on a Section name, you will be able to see the Index of Topics for that section. These are sorted into date sequence, with the topic having the most recent message at the top. Busy sections will have their index divided into pages; move to successive pages by clicking page numbers near the bottom of the index page.
When you decide to post a message about a fresh theme, click on the "Post New Topic" link.
Click on the name of a topic to open it.
When you have clicked on a topic name, that topic opens. Short topics fit on one web page but long topics are divided into successive pages. As each member adds replies to the topic, they are added on the end of the web page(s) of the topic. To add your thought to the topic too, click on the "Append to Topic" link.
However if what you read sparks you into posting a message about an unrelated theme, then don't put irrelevant stuff in the topic that you are viewing, return to the Topics index page for that Section and click the "Post New Topic" link instead.
From the picture above you can see that there are other useful links on a topic page. You can read the details about, or send a private message to an author by clicking on his/her name. At the top of the page are links upwards to the Index of topics or Index of Sections.
The author or Webmaster can re-edit a message by clicking the icon at the right side.
Registering
Registering will enable you to post messages; you will find a link to "Register" on every page near the top.
When you click on "Register", you get a simple form like this: choose a passkey
you haven't yet got an email address put in:not.available@kas-ploen.org.uk
for the time being. You can create a Web based email box for yourself on say Hotmail or Yahoo or Eudoramail, then come back and correct your profile later. Details
You have to fill in a User Name (preferably your present-day ordinary name) and set a password (typed twice to make sure there are no typing mistrakes) and your email address. The rest is optional
If By clicking the submit button, you are accepting the legal terms listed at the bottom of the page. They basically say that you are responsible for what you post, that you should not post anything defamatory or obscene, and that you have given permission under the Data Protection Act for us to store the personal details which you supply.
Replying to Messages
You cannot reply to messages or post new topics untill you have registered and logged in.
When you decide to post a reply or comment, click on the "Append to Topic" link, this gives you a simple form on the screen. You put in the name you registered, plus the password you set when you registered, then in the bigger box you type your message. When finished, check over your wording, correct it if necessary add any layout embellishments then click on the "Add Comment" button.
If you have forgotten your password, but remember your user name and the email address which you registered, click the password reminder to ask the web-site to send you an email with the password.
Starting a new set of Messages
When you decide to post a New Topic, the form is almost the same, except for an extra line in which to put the title of the topic. This title will appear on the topic summary page, so make it informative but not too long, avoid using the same title as an existing topic, to avoid confusion.
If it is a message in the People forum, asking about your old friends or describing what you have done since leaving KAS, we strongly suggest that you make the title the same as the name by which you were known at KAS; this will then be easily spotted by your old friends and that topic will become your own personal web page for messages.
Now that you are all clued up, click HERE to enter the Discussion Forums.