Welcome to this discussion board! This document gives you the basic knowledge that you need to use this board effectively. If you experience any difficulties with the board, contact one of the moderators listed under the Contact link from the Main Menu.

• Reading Discussions
• Contributing to Discussions
• Searching the Board
• Getting an Account
• Where to get further information
• Rules and "Netiquette"

Contributing to Discussions

To post a message to an existing discussion, fill in the "Add a Message" box at the bottom of the page. You may use formatting codes or basic HTML tags to improve the appearance of your post. Contributors must read and agree to our posting guidelines and terms and conditions.

Where available, you may click on a "Start New Thread" link to start a new discussion. This will add a subtopic with the subject you specify and start a conversation with the initial message that you specify. After filling in the subject line, post a message as described above.

Searching the Board

This discussion board can be searched by time of post (New Messages search) or by matching text (Keyword Search). Each of these searching mechanisms provide convenient methods to locate discussions of interest.

To search for new messages, click the Search link from the Main Menu. If you have an account with a valid username and password, fill in your username and password in the appropriate boxes to search for messages since your last check. If you do not have an account, you can still search for new messages posted since a given date. The Last 1 | 3 | 7 Days options on the Main Menu are equivalent to searching for messages posted within the last day, last three days, or messages posted within the last seven days, respectively.

To search the board by keywords, click the Search link from the Main Menu. You can then specify the words that will be used in the search. Additional instructions for using the Keyword Search option are displayed on the search screen itself.

When you have performed the search, click on any of the links to the pages to view the page, or click on a link in the result to go to the post where that text occurs.

Getting an Account

Having a user account on this discussion board gives the following benefits:

• Ability to specify your full name or user name to be included on your post
• Ability to prevent anyone from posting with the your same user name or full name.
• Ability to enable e-mail notification of all posts or replies to topics you select
• Ability to view your total number board postings
• Ability to change your own password
• Ability to specify miscellaneous preferences for operation of the board, and to give more information about yourself that others can view

To get a user account, first click the Register link from the Main Menu of this board. Registration is instant and you can begin posting immediately after signing up. You must register to be able to post and reply messages.

Where to get further information

For additional information on using this system, read the Formatting document and the Troubleshooting document, available from the Main Menu. If you have additional questions or concerns, post them to an appropriate area on the discussion forum, or contact one of the moderators or the board administrator from the Contact page.

Rules and "Netiquette"