Logging Into A Forum
In the forum header, the
following will be displayed: the name of the forum, and the number of new
messages since the user’s last visit, any news posted by the Administrator, and
the main navigational bar, which offers links to other features within the
forum, such as: profile, help, my forums, calendar, refresh, and logout, as
well as quick links to the latest topics and statistics.
The “profile” link will
direct users to their personal profile, where they can update their personal
information and password, update their location and other miscellaneous
information, and personal settings. (Refer
to “User’s Profile” for more information.)The
“help” link will initiate the online Help documentation. “My forums” lists information about a user’s
posts, his/her favorites, identified keywords, a list of specified “ignored
users” and general statistics regarding his activity within the forum. The user’s calendar will display the events
as set by the Forum Administrator. (Note: a user may add entries to his own
calendar if granted permissions that authorize him to do so by the
Administrator.)
In the user’s personal navigation
menu or sidebar, which is located in the left pane, the member’s username will
be displayed, as well as a list of his categories (if he is not on his “Home”
page of the forums), and a search bar.
The user can hide the side bar if he/she wishes to.
In the Category Listing
pane, members can view a listing of their categories and their Private Topics
(if Private Topics has been enabled by the Administrator). An RSS link is also available for members who
prefer to read the latest messages/topics through their RSS reader. General statistics relating to the categories
are also provided for viewing, such as the number of topics posted within each
category and when and who made the last post within the corresponding category.
In the Statistics pane, the
number of users who are registered to the forum will be displayed, as
well as
the number of users who are currently logged into the forum. A link to
find the users is available. Specific to the member, the statistics
pane
will identify the number of messages that he/she has posted to the
forum, and if
the member is a global user, the overall number of messages that he/she
has contributed
in all global forums.
