The tips below can help both experienced and novice Web users fully participate in, and benefit from, this online event discussion.

Understanding the Lingo
New technology often assigns new meaning to familiar words. Here are some commonly used terms you may encounter when you participate in online discussions throughout this session:

• Message Board: The software used to support online discussions among training participants and our staff.

• Discussions: Online "conversations" taking place within central discussion areas of the Message Board. Discussions appear on the left-hand side of the screen. One or more discussion areas will be available to you during a session.

• Topic: A specific thread of discussion within the conference area of the Message Board. Topics appear indented, under a particular conference.

• Post: Sending a message to the conference area of the Message Board that begins or continues a thread of discussion. You must first select a conference before posting a new topic (or continuing an ongoing one).

• Reply: A posting/message made in response to another posting/message, always threaded under an existing conference on the Message Board. Replies appear indented beneath the messages to which they respond.

Viewing Topics
To view topics within a discussion, click on the plus symbol (+) next to a discussion name, or click on the discussion name itself. You can also click on the plus symbol next to a topic to view the replies beneath it.

Keeping Track
The average week-long course produces between 75 and 125 individual postings. Keeping straight which messages you have and have not read can get complicated. The Message Board has two features that can help you stay organized:

• The Board automatically flags as “new” messages that have been posted since the last time you logged in.

• The Board has a “Mark Read” option that allows you to flag messages that you have read. To enable this option, go to the menu bar at the top of the screen, click on “Mark Read,” and click on the appropriate conference. The Board will then automatically mark all items you have read each time you log off of the Board.
  
  
• Use the "Search" function at the top of the page to look for messages. You may not have had an opportunity to try this, but you can use it to search for your own messages, or ones that you recall an interest in. You can type in the name or word that you want to search for, and even limit the discussion conference in which to search (e.g., just search within the Activity 2 discussion).

Posting a Message
If the message you are sending to a discussion begins a new topic (rather than adding to a current topic), you are posting a message. To post a message, follow these steps:

• Select a discussion by clicking on its name.

• Use the Post button on the top (color) toolbar, or open a message in the topic and select Post from the options at the top of the message. You will see a message creation form. Enter your new topic in the topic field.

• Type your message in the text box. (You can also compose your message in a word-processing program, such as Microsoft Word, and then copy and paste it into the text box.)

• Select the Post button on the form to send it.

• Put your name in the title of your post. This may seem a bit odd because your name pops up when your message is posted; however, it goes away once someone replies, and that makes it much more difficult to go back and find your message.



• Try to come up with a creative name for your posts, perhaps something related to one of your main points.

Replying to a Message
To respond to a message, follow these steps:

• Open the message by clicking on it. Make sure to reply to the original message so that others can follow the thread of discussion.

• Select Reply from the menu at the top of the message.

• You will see a message creation form; the current message's topic will appear in the topic field. You may edit the topic if you wish.

• Type your response in the text box.

• Select the Post button on the form.

Subscribing to a Discussion Via E-mail
You have the option of subscribing to a discussion via e-mail, which means that you can receive new conference postings as regular e-mails and respond to them as regular e-mails as well. To subscribe to a particular conference, follow these steps:

• Select More from the toolbar.

• Select Mailing Lists from the list of options.

• Subscribe to the discussions you want by clicking the appropriate checkboxes.

• Save your changes-and you're done!

Attaching a File to a Message
If you use Netscape 3 or above (or Explorer 4 or above), you can attach documents to a message in a Message Board discussion. To attach a document, follow these steps:

• Create a message either by posting or replying.

• Select the Attach File checkbox by clicking on it.

• Post the message. Do you have Preview/Spell Check selected? Click Post twice.

• You will see a form for uploading documents. Click on the Browse button to look for the document you wish to attach.

• Select the document and click Upload Now. You're done!