Posted:
Tue Apr 03, 2007 11:35 am 
We believe that the forum will become a vital tool for all members in the future - sharing advice, asking for support as well as general banter and helping everyone to get to know each other.
In order to help everyone use the forum to it's full potential I would like to give you all some simple instructions and advice for using the forum. Please read the tips and advice below and please experiment with the forum.
How to... Use the Forum
To access the forum, please click the
Forum link on the menu on the top-left of every page.
Main Forum Index:
When you enter the forum you will see something like the following:
At the top of the page is simply the title of the forum, followed by links below:
These links take you to:
Forum FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions, please consult these if you have problems using the Forum.
Search - Please do a seach of the forum before posting a new topic - someone may have already answered your question, or there could already be a discussion on the topic you are looking for.
Memberlist - Only visible to members of SOHSA - here you have the ability to contact other members of the association.
Usergroups - This will allow you to view members of the association and the executive committee.
Profile - allows you to edit or update your website user profile.
No New Messages - this will change to alert you to any private messages you may have received.
Log Out [username] - gives you the ability to log out of the SOHSA Website.
Below these links you will see the following:
On the top-left information is given showing the current time and that of your last visit to the Forum.
On the top-right links are provided so that you can View All New Posts since your last visit, View Discussions that have not been Replied-to, and you may also mark all messages as read.
Immediately below these links begins the Forum Board:
The left-hand column displays Forum Categories (with a Grey Background) and then the Forums that are within each Category (white Background) - to the right of each forum the number of discussions ("Topics"), messages ("Posts") and the most recent Member who has posted is given for your information.
Each Forum title is given, followed by a brief description of that forum and also the "Moderator" of the forum is given. A Moderator is someone who may edit, delete and move messages around in the Forum - the Executive Committee are Moderators in this case.
To the left of each Forum is an icon, these icons change to alert you to new messages that you have not read, as follows:
- No New Messages
- New Messages
To access a forum and read the discussions within, simply click on the Title of the forum.
Topics Within A Forum
Once you have clicked on a Forum, you will be able to see the discussions ("Topics") contained within:
In the above example there is only one discussion within the Forum - "Forum Rules & Guidelines". To read the messages contained within click on the Title of the topic.
Posting Messages and Replying to Others
Below I will touch on the main functions that you will need to in in order to post and reply to messages:
To Post a New Topic in a forum, please click the 
button.
To Reply to someone else's post, please click the 
button from their message.
To Quote someone else's message in your response, please click the 
button on the top-righthand side of their message.
If you make an Error in a post, you can edit your message by clicking the 
button on the top-righthand side of your message.
You can add some emotion to your messages by using "emoticons", you can add these through the use of common "smiley" codes such as : - ) to display 
, alternately click the "View more Emoticons" link to the lefthand side of the text box when writing your message.
And finally...Please Remember to Preview your message, before clicking submit.
Need More Help?
Please remember, that if you do need any further help, that I will be happy to walk you through the site or help in any other way that I can - don't hesitate to contact me for assistance. :D
Best Regards,
Phil
_________________
Hon. Assistant Secretary and Webmaster | www.sohsa.org.uk
