A message board
is a way of having a conversation with other people on the Internet.
The conversation is made up of messages that are 'posted' on the
board by visitors to the website. Each conversation is called a
'Discussion' or 'Thread'. Once someone starts a new discussion,
other visitors to the site can join in that discussion by posting
their own messages. A conversation like this can often go on for
months.
Why use a
message board?
A message
board has many advantages over other forms of communication.
When you
post a message, you can be talking to thousands of people, so
if you have a question to ask, there's a better chance of someone
knowing the answer.
The conversations
you have can help many people - your discussions may help people
who read them later on. Likewise, you may find answers to your
questions in other people's conversations.
Using a message
board is a great way to make new friends! Over time, you will
get to know other people that use the message boards.
Message boards
are anonymous. If you are a registered user, only your Username
will appear with your message (remember you don't have to use
your real name).
Using these
message boards is very easy. Just follow these simple instructions.
View and
join in a discussion
On the left of the page in this section you'll find a list of
all the current discussions. You can also see who started each
discussion and when a new post was last added to it. The nearer
the top of the list a discussion is, the more recently it has
been added to. To view the discussion, click on its description.
You can now see the original message, and all its replies. At
the bottom of the page you'll see a reply form that allows you
to join in the discussion.
Start a new
discussion
At the bottom of the first page of each board, you'll see a form
for starting a new discussion. Give a brief description of your
discussion in the first box, and your full message in the second.
Once you have written your message, click on 'Post Message' If
you want to edit the message, simply click 'Edit' or you can 'Delete'
it. You will also find 'Mark Private' which will only allow the
original author of the discussion to view your response.
