About this forum

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About this forum

The idea here is to create a convenient place and way to work on whatever needs working on, keep notes, reminders, etc. And - no small thing - it will also store everything in handy chronological order, and, as more stuff gets added, it can all be catergorized (if that seems likea good idea).

The software is simple and easy to use: If you have questions, want clarification on something in here, want to add something to a note, make a related suggestions, just click on the button that says, "Contribute an answer," that's at the bottom of each "thread," note, subject. Your question, addition, comment will be added to the page, and a copy of it will be emailed to the person who put the intial subject into the forum, as well as to anyone who has added an "alert."

To start a new topic, start a batch of notes related to "something else," add something the main list of subjects in on the main screen of this forum, just click the "Ask a Question" link at the top left of the main screen (it doesn't have to be in the form of a question - the link could just as easily say, "Start a new topic," "Create a new batch of notes," or "Click to add the lastest chapter of your new novel"), and your posting will create a new thread, and its subject title will be added to the list of topics on the main screen.

(And by the way, you can type things in a word processor and simply copy and paste them into the text entry field that comes up after clicking either "Ask a Question" or "Contribute an answer." For example: While this note is being typed directly into that text entry field, I could just as easily be typing it into MS Word to copy and paste it in here when I'm done (it works well when putting together longer pieces). Some people don't like typing things into text entry fields. If you're one of them, just use your favorite WP program and use the copy and paste method...)

"Alerts" is another powerful feature of this software and it's highly recommended you take advantage of it. If you do, you'll receive emailed copies of whatever's posted into this forum by those participating in it. You can add an alert right now by clicking here, or by clicking the "add an alert" link in the lower part of the main screen. (You can change the rate at which you get them, or cancel your alert at any time by clicking that same link in the future).

Jeff and Dave: No need to worry about that one: I already set an alert for eachaya... This "About" note is a generic thing I stick in most forums I set up, but I'll leave the above paragraph in this one in case you want a reminder of how and where to change your alert settings (email address and "message delivery frequency").

Also, the link near the top of the main page that says "Publisher" is the link that will always take you back to main "WEThink" page, although you'll probably want to make a Bookmark or add the forum's main page to your Farvorites list for "rapid direct access."

If you make an entry and later discover you've made some kind of major mistake you'd like to change (something that came out wrong, wasn't what you meant to say, is missing words, or is something you don't think others will be able to figure out because of a mix-up, etc.), just let "the manager" know where it is and what changes you'd like made (the manager has access to the administrative section of the forum where changes are made).

There's more information on the mechanics of the software available under the "About" link, or, if you have any questions just email me directly or give me a call...

If you'd like to see a prime example of a "mature" forum that uses this software, this link will take to the photography forum at photo.net, the web site created by this forum software's author. It's more of a "straight questions and answers" forum - photography people from all over the world sharing their ideas and experience - as opposed to one in which the object is to facilitate working on a "work-in-progress," but it provides and excellent look at what one of these things looks and acts like after it's been used a while (the homepage at photo.net says there's something like 130,000+ messages/posts in it: think about that every once in a while if you ever get to feeling like there's a lot to look at here!).

-- Anonymous, April 06, 2002


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