The web site consists of four main sections: the Front Page, the Forums, the user Profile and the Communications system.  The Front Page is Information Central. I will cover it in greater detail in upcoming issues of the newsletter, but in this issue I would like to talk about one of the most important, and least used sections, the Forum.

You can visit the Forum section by clicking on the word Forum on the main menu bar at the top of the front page.

The Forum consists of Categories, Boards, Topics and Posts.

CATEGORIES
Categories define the major divisions of the forum and and designed to group similar ideas together.
The categories are:
Howdy - This is where you can learn about the site and other members can learn about you.
QSO - General discussion
Swapmeet - Classified ads
License Prep - Helping people get their license
Event Planning - Work area to prepare for Field Day and other events
Hardware - Discuss everything from Antennas to Test Equipment, and more.
Emergency Services - Discussion about ARES and RACES

BOARDS
Each category is further divided into message boards.  For instance the QSO category has three boards, HAM Related QSO, General Discussion and Joke Bin.  A brief description of the content of each board is included under the board name.
There is a board read indicator for each board. If the BR symbol is black it means there is nothing new on the board and if it is orange it means that new posts have been added since you visited the board.

TOPICS
When you click on the name of a board you will see a list of Topics.  For instance, under the QSO category, if you click on the HAM Related QSO board you will see three topics. "VE's", posted by Wayne, "Make your own business cards", posted by yours truly, and "Possible change in On-Air meeting time", also posted by me.

POSTS

IMPORTANT - YOU MUST BE LOGGED INTO THE SITE IN ORDER TO POST

The first post in a topic is made by the person who started the topic. Other people who read that post can click the REPLY button and create their own posts. Just type your post in the box below all the smiles then click the Post button.  before you Post, you can also check the spelling or see a preview of what your post will look like by clicking the appropriate key.

The posts are arranged in date order, from oldest to newest.  Some people prefer to see the newest post first. If you desire, the sort order can be changed in your profile as follows:
1. Click on PROFILE, then ACCOUNT SETTINGS
2. Click on MODIFY PROFILE, then LOOK AND LAYOUT
3. Near the bottom of the list of check boxes, click on the box that says SHOW MOST RECENT POSTS AT THE TOP
4. Click on the CHANGE PROFILE button on the bottom right side of the screen

NEW TOPIC
If you want to start a new topic on a new subject, first click on the name of the board that you want to add the topic to, then click the bright orange NEW TOPIC button.  When the Start New topic screen appears, enter the subject of your topic. Try to make the subject meaningfull rather than cryptic.  For instance, if you need help building a moxon antenna, enter the subject Need help building a moxon antenna, rather than just entering Help.  As people read the forum they are more likely to stop and read a topic if the subject is meaningful.

The editor allows you to add special formating to your post such as bold, italic and underline, plus much more. We don't have the time to cover all the features now, but they will be covered in a later issue of the tech corner.  Feel free to experiment though.  You can use the Preview button to see what your post will look like and you can change it as many times as you like before you finally click the Post button and save your post.

HOMEWORK
Well, we have ran out of time.  The forum will be covered in greater detail in future issues of the News Letter.  If you have questions, please ask.

For your homework, I would like you all to go to the Howdy category, then the Meet and Greet board and create a new topic.  The subject of the topic should be something like, "Hi, my name is Ron Austin".  Then write a short paragrpah and tell us a little about yourself.   Be sure to check your spelling and preview your topic before you post it.

For extra credit, read the other member's topics and reply to them.

Ron Austin
KK4HGY@arrl.net
386-688-4057