Discussion Groups: Common Tasks
Here are some quick start answers to common tasks when using the OISC Discussion Groups. If you find any of these answers incomplete or difficult to follow, please let us know.
This is completely new, where do I start?
For a tour of the Discussion Groups area and an introduction to its features please view the overview page. When finished, return here and these quick start answers will help you get up to speed.
How do I view messages?
You may view messages in two ways; the first is to wait for the digest of messages to be sent to you by email. For this to happen you must ensure that the Digest feature is turned on. Please review the How do I turn on or off the Digest feature?" section below for how to do this. The second way is to go directly to the Discussion Groups area of the OISC web site. To do this, go towww.inlineottawa.com, and select Discussion Groups from the main menu on the left side of the page. Then click on the name of the forum you wish to view. For example the "Skating" forum. Once in a particular forum, simply click on the title of a message to view it.
The messages with a yellow note icon beside them are new messages. To view the author's profile, just click on their userid listed on the left side of the message or in the details on the right in forum where all messages are listed.
How do I create a new message (i.e. post a message)?
Go to the club web sitewww.inlineottawa.com, and select Discussion Groups from the main menu on the left side of the page. Then click on the name of the forum you wish to post a new message in. Then look for the NEW TOPIC icon:
Click on it and you will be given an input form where you can input the message along with a subject line (message title)
The content of your message can be plain text, or you may include HTML tags to style your message text. Most HTML tags are supported. You may also use the option buttons along the top of the input form to style your message text.
When you are done entering your message you may preview it by clicking on the Preview button, or you can create it directly with the Submit button. Both buttons are at the bottom of the input form.
How do I reply to a message?
Go to the club web sitewww.inlineottawa.com, and select Discussion Groups from the main menu on the left side of the page. Then click on the name of the forum you wish reply to a message in. Then click on the title of the message you wish to reply to. Now that you are viewing the message, you can reply to it simply by clicking on the POST REPLY button:
Click on it and you will be given an input form where you can input the reply. You do not need to enter a subject line (title) even though there is an input field for one.
The content of your reply can be plain text, or you may include HTML tags to style your message text. Most HTML tags are supported. You may also use the option buttons along the top of the input form to style your message text.
When you are done entering your reply you may preview it by clicking on the Preview button, or you can reply directly with the Submit button. Both buttons are at the bottom of the input form.
How do I change my picture (i.e. avatar)?
The picture displayed above an author's name at the left of a message is called an "avatar". Your avatar is just one of many preferences you can modify in your Discussion Groups profile. To edit your Discussion Groups profile, click on the Profile link at the top of the Discussion Groups area:
Scroll down to the bottom of the profile details, and look for the "Avatar Control Panel". It should look like this:
Use the Browse button to find a picture on your computer to upload, or provide a URL in the "Update Avatar from a URL" field. Note that your avatar must be no bigger then 80x80 pixels. You can use photo editing programs such as IrfanView, or The Gimp to edit photos. Most modern computers come with accessory programs for editing images as well.
To make the avatar change for all of your messages, past, present and future, click on the Submit button at the bottom of the profile form.
How do I change my message signature?
When you create new posts or reply to existing messages, the bottom of your message can have a signature that is consistent in all of your messages. This can help personalize your messages. If you wish to add a "signature" to your messages, go to your Discussion Groups profile by clicking on the Profile link at the top of the Discussion Groups area:
In the entry field for Signature enter the text of your signature. If you wish to style the text, you may use HTML tags. Most HTML tags are accepted.
When you are done editing your signature, you can make the change for all future messages by clicking on the Submit button at the bottom of the profile form.
How do I turn on or off the Digest feature?
To turn the digest feature on or off, or to configure how often you receive a summary of Discussion Groups messages, click on the Digests link at the top of the Discussion Groups area.
Scroll down to the "Type of Digest Wanted" section:
Now select the frequency of delivery, if you select None, then you will be turning off the Digest feature. The other sections allow you set what time of day to receive the digest, and what the "new" threshold is. In the "Send digests for these forums" section at the bottom you can choose which forums to get a summary for. This will allow you to filter out entire forums if you are not interested in their content.
Once the Digest feature is turned on, you will receive emails that look like this:
The blue links lead directly to the message threads and the individual responses.
How do I search the messages?
You may search all messages that have ever been posted in the Discussion Groups. To start your search, click on the Search link at the top of the Discussion Groups area.
Then enter one or more keywords in the "Search for Keywords" input field. To find messages containing these keywords click on the Search button at the bottom of the Search form. The other fields of the Search form allow you to narrow the search and format the matching results.
When the results are listed, just click on the Topic title to view the actual message.
How do I send a private message to someone?
The Discussion Groups may also be used to send a private message to any other club member who has registered with the club web site. The Discussion Groups area never shows a member's actual email address, but does provide each member with a personal message inbox. To send a private message to another members message inbox, just click on the Private Message (PM icon:
You can find this icon at the bottom of any message that other members have posted, or in the profile for a given member. You can see a member's profile at any time by clicking on their userid (a link). Member userids are shown to the left of messages and in the summary line of forums to the right. You can also click on the Profile button:
At the bottom of a member's message to view their profile. To see the list of all members, just click on the Memberlist link at the top of the Discussion Groups area.
How do I check my private messages?
The Discussion Groups area never shows your actual email address, but does allow other users to send you private messages. When they do, you will receive an email notification of the message and the message will be stored in your Discussion Groups message inbox. You can view your Discussion Groups message inbox at any time, but clicking on the Private Messages link at the top of the Discussion Groups area:
After clicking the link you will be shown your inbox, and it will list the various private messages you have received. To view a message just click on its title (its a link to the actual message). The list can be managed in the same way that most email applications work, check the messages to delete, then click the Delete Marked button.
You can also save messages to Save box. However your message boxes have a fixed capacity, and once the capacity is reached you will not be able to send/receive/save more messages. There is an indicator at the top right of each kind of message box to show how much of your capacity has been used in that message box:
When creating private messages or responding to private messages, the same steps can be used as in the "How do I create a new message (i.e. post a message)?", and "How do I reply to a message?" sections. When viewing a private message just click on the POST REPLY button to respond. From the main private messages Inbox area you can send a new private message to any other member by clicking on the NEW POST button. The input form will have a field where you can search for and select the member to send to.
I forgot my password, what now?!
To retrieve your password, go to to the OISC club web site www.inlineottawa.com, and in the upper right corner click on the "Forget Password?" link.
The input form will ask you to verify your email address and birth date. If both pieces of information match our records, your password will be sent to the email address you supplied when you registered. You may also use your userid instead of your email, the birth date is mandatory though.
Where can I find out more?
Our Discussion Groups area is "bulletin board" implemented by the phpbb package. The bulletin board as a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) sheet, which you can refer to for more details on all of the advanced features of phpbb. You can also find out more about phpbb through its homepage or by searching on the Internet.
