1. Make sure that you're in one of the forums. If you want to
start a new thread, look for the new thread button, located
near the upper-right corner of the page, and click on it.
2. You will be taken to a web page where you can type in a new
thread. Look for the text box labeled Subject. Here,
you can type in the name of what you want the thread to be.
3. After you type in a subject name, you can choose whether or
not you want to include a message icon in your post. There are
quite a few icons to choose from, such as smiley faces, thumbs
up, and others. To pick one of the icons, use your mouse, and
click on the radio button of the icon you want.
4. The next section after the message icons is for formatting
your text. This is called vB Code, and it allows you to
change the look of your text in your thread. You can use your
mouse to select such options as making your text bold, italic,
or underlined. You can change the size, font, and color of certain
text. If you want to be a little daring, you can even add in hotlinks
to web sites, e-mail addresses, and images to your thread. For
images, however, the image must already be saved at an online
location, such as your Rutgers eden or rci web space, in order
for it to appear in the thread.
5. When you're done playing with the text features, you can then
type in the actual message of your thread in the large Message
text box. All you have to do is type in there as you would if
you were using a word processor, or e-mail.
6. To make your message a little more fun looking, you can add
in smilies. If you look to the left of the large message text
box, you will see a small panel with smiley faces. By clicking
on any one of them, you can add a code to your message that will
make a little smiley appear in your message when it is posted.
Please note that the code representing the smiley face is supposed
to be there. When posted it will be displayed as the smiley icon.
7. Below the message box, there are some options for posting.
You can do things such as having the signature you created (see
above) appear after your message, or choose to have an e-mail
sent to you every time someone replies in your thread.
8. Under the options section, you can choose to attach a file
to your message. By clicking on the Browse button, you
can search for you computer to find a file you want to attach
to your message. If you have ever sent an e-mail with an attachment,
this is very similar to doing that. You can find detailed instructions
on adding an attachment below.
9. Finally, you can also choose to add a poll to your message.
When you are finished typing in all your information for posting
a new thread, you can choose to either preview what you have typed
(do this by clicking on the Preview Post button), or you
can just go straight ahead and click on the "Submit New Thread"
button to post your thread in the forum. When you have submitted
your thread, you will automatically be taken to the thread.
10. Be sure to logout on the main page when you're done
in the forum.
1. When you click on the button, you will be taken to a page
that looks just like the post thread web page in the previous
step (see above).
2. In the Subject text box, type in the name of the subject
that you want your reply to be. You can choose to have a message
icon, as well. To choose one, use your mouse, and click on the
radio button of the icon that you want to use.
3. Then, you can type in your reply in the large Message
text box. To change the look of specific text in your reply, you
can use the features of the vB Code section. You can add
smilies to your reply by using the panel of smiley faces located
to the left of the large Message text box.
4. Then, you'll see some options for posting, and attaching files.
When you are finished typing your reply to the thread, you can
choose to preview your reply. Do this by clicking on the Preview
Reply button. Or, you can go ahead and post your reply by
clicking on the Submit Reply button. After you submit your
reply, the browser will show the thread you just replied to, now
listing your reply with the rest of the page.
5. If you want to quote the message you are replying to in the
thread, click on the quote button for the specific message
you want to reply to. You will be taken to the same screen you'd
use to a reply to a thread in general, but the message you want
to quote will be included for you. Simply add your reply after
it.
6. Be sure to logout from the main page when you're done in the
forum.
