About the nms Public Policy Forum

Welcome

This is very powerful forum software. You can do a lot of things with it if you familiarize yourself with its capabilities. At the same time, using it in its most basic and common ways (to all online forums), it's as easy to use as your email program. Here are those basics:

• Clicking the Publisher link at the top of the main screen will always return you to the new millennium salons main site page (from any forum in the system).

• To read a question or comment, simply click on whichever topic on the "New Questions" list interests you.

• To answer a question or respond to a comment, click on the link at the bottom of the window the question or comment is in that says, "Contribute an answer to...(question or comment title)." That will bring up a screen in which you can enter and submit your answer.

  Messages can also be typed in email programs or word processors and copied and pasted into the text box used for submitting questions and answers. (You may want to use the "Post Composition"/Practice forum if you have more complex posting. See below.)

• To "Ask a Question" click on those words in the upper left of the main window (above the list). A screen will come up that will allow you to enter a new question or topic. The "subject" of that question or topic will appear on the main list after you've submitted it."

  If this forum has categories be sure to select a category for your thread from the pulldown menu in the text entry area (You'll see it if you initiate a new thread by clicking "Ask a question"). If you don't see a category that seems to fit, leave it set to "Don't know."

• CAUTION: Please doublecheck your email address when entering a new question or topic. Responses to initial, "top level postings" you make will be forwarded to you via email. Your address will also be inserted at the end of any messages you leave so that people can communicate with you "offline" if that seems more appropriate.

• To receive automatic updates of new postings , click on the link below that says, "request to be notified," or click the link at the bottom of the forum's main screen that says, "add an alert." This is a powerful feature of this forum software you'll want to take advantage.

• The Post Composition forum: A special practice and "workspace" forum/salon has been set up for hands-on practice with this software, or for doing "pre-posting" work. Click here when you're done reading this page to find out more about that.

  Disclaimer: Neither myself or anyone else connected with the establishment of the new millennium salons will be repsonsible for any actions anyone takes as a result of reading anything on the site or in its forums, or any sites linked from the new millennium salons. All information is provided for informational/educational purposes only, or are the views of the people providing it. The management of this forum also reserves the right to delete any posting or thread at any time, with or without explanation.

  Bill Dale - June 5, 1999

  How this System Works

  This bboard software was written by Philip Greenspun and hosted for free by him started in 1995. Anyone could come in and create a forum and moderate the discussion. Most of the thousands of forums on this server were and are publicly searchable by Google and other Web indices.