Forum Basics  

Here is a list of tips and terms to help you find your way around the forums. Each appears as a different post, to make it easier to read.

This is a closed thread so you can't reply here. If you have any questions - please start another thread in this forum or email me:

Anne@TheCatSite.com

[Edited by Anne on 12-16-2000 at 02:18 PM]

Let's start with some terminology, so that we speak the same language:

Post - is a message from one member. It can be long or short and it appears in a line of itself when you view it.

For example, this is a post about terminology. The previous paragraph (starting from "Here is a list" and ending with my email address is a different post.

Note that each post appears on a line with a different background color. This helps telling which is post is which. Each post has an adjoining line, of the same color, in which you can see the time of posting and several icons (profile, www, search, edit/delete, quote). Don't worry about this line - it's created automatically.

Thread - is a list of related posts on the same subject. Any forum member can start a thread. That member chooses the subject title of the thread. Other members can view the original post that started the thread and them add posts by replying to the thread.

For example, this is a thread about how to use the forums. It has several posts, all posted by me.

Threads can get quite long. There is no limit to the number of posts in a thread.

Forum - is a collection of threads dealing with a specific topic. The administrator creates the different forums and she's the only one who can change them (I am her by the way )

The Forums - also known as "The Board", are the collection of all the forums together. When you access the forums main page through http://www.thecatsite.com/forums, you get a list of all forums. From there you can access a specific forum and view the titles of all the threads in that forum. Next, you would click on a thread title and read all the posts in the thread. Finally, if you want, you can add a post of your own.

So far for terminology... This has become a long post




[Edited by Anne on 12-16-2000 at 02:22 PM]

Have a look at my name, right here, next to this post. It says, Anne and then there's my title "administrator". Every member has a title next to his or her name and I thought I'd let you in on their meaning.

TCS Head Cat - administrator and owner of the forums.

TCS Home Cat - A moderator. Moderators can edit and delete posts in the forums. These are nice people who come here a lot and help run the place.

Kitten - A resigtered member that posted less than 20 posts.

Young Cat - A resigtered member that posted between 21-100 posts.

Adult Cat - A resigtered member that posted between 101-300 posts.

Alpha Cat - A resigtered member that posted between 301-700 posts.

Super Cat - A resigtered member that posted between 701-1200 posts.

Top Cat - A resigtered member that posted between more than 1200 posts.

You have to register if you want to post in the forums. Registration is really simple. I promise I won't add your name to any mailing list. There's a mailing list to TheCatSite.com and I highly recommend this excellent publication However, you'll have to subscribe to that list from the site itself and not from the forums.

Back to the registration...
You can register by clicking on the little register icon that appears at the top of each page (the one with the letter "i" in a circle). If you try to post and you’re not a registered user, you’ll be taken from that page directly to the registration form.

You can then read the terms of agreement. Basically you need to agree that you will not post any messages that are obscene, vulgar, sexually-orientated, hateful, threatening, or otherwise violative of any laws and that the owners of TheCatSite.com Forums have the right to remove, edit, move or close any thread for any reason.

After you hit the "Agree" button, you will get to the registration form. Here you must fill in the following details:
[list]
[*]User name - this doesn't have to be your real name. It's going to be the name that you'll be recognized by in the forums. This is the one thing that you won't be able to change later so think well before you choose the name...
[*]Password - you'll need to re-enter the password to make sure there were no typos.
[*]Email address - please use a real email address. This will be the only way for me or for other members to contact you. The system will also use this email address to notify you when someone answers your posts. You can later choose to hide this email from other users if you like. You will need to re-enter the email to make sure there were no typos.

That's it! All you need to do now is hit the submit button in the bottom of the page and you're a member! If your user name is already taken you'll be asked to choose another user name (Note: in that case you will also need to re-enter your password!)

As you can see, the registration form has some optional parts. These are intended to allow other forum members learn something about you and to modify your membership according to your personal preferences. This is what we call your profile.

I suggest you go over these and see what you'd like to change - but you can always access your profile by clicking on the profile icon at the top of the page (that's the one with the little card).

Phew... another long post

When you want to say something on the forums, you can do one of two things - either start a new thread or post a reply on an existing thread.

Start a new thread only if you want to discuss a new topic. If you want to reply to someone, give us an update, or give your opinion on a previously discussed topic, you should go to the relevant thread and there post a reply.

To post a reply or a new thread - At the top and bottom of each thread there is a dark blue line. On the right side of that line, it says "new thread" and "post reply". Just click on one of these, depending on what you want to do.

It'll take you to a special form where you have your username and password (if you are not logged-in you'll have to type these). If you're starting a new thread, you need to fill in the subject (this optional for a reply). Then simply type away and hit the "submit" button.

That's it and believe me it takes longer to read about it than to do it

Now you can start posting away!

Or you may like to read the other thread of advanced "posting tips".