A forum consists of 4 components: the forum itself, its categories, the topics and the messages.  Each component, or level of hierarchy, is illustrated in the diagram below.

Each forum can have an unlimited number of categories and sub-categories.  Categories are like placeholders in which topics of discussion and messages are contained.  Henceforth, a category manages the forum’s topics into folders or groupings.  This is a logical method of sorting topics.  On the home page of the forum, a listing of all the categories to which the user has access, excluding those categories that the user wishes to block from viewing (refer to “How do I update my profile?”), will be displayed.  In addition, the user will see the number of topics posted within each corresponding category, and the date/time/author of the last posting made in the corresponding category.  To find out quickly if new messages have been posted since the last viewing, simply hover over the clipboard icon corresponding to the category in question.