Since you are reading this page then it is safe to say to that you
already know basic website navigation such as typing web addresses,
clicking through links and maybe even watching or listening to
multimedia. That's great! What I want to do now is familiarize you with
how to use our forum and its many options.
When you get done reading this you will be able to reply to existing
posts as well as make new posts. You will know how to format your text,
make links, add images and videos and much more. I'm not trying to
teach you how to use every little button, doo-dad and gadget on the
forum but rather to give you a good enough working knowledge for you to
feel comfortable enough to get involved here in the forum.
Set up your profile
When you find a community and forum that you like and plan on staying
with for a while it is a good idea to set up and complete your profile.
You access your profile by clicking 'My Profile' located at the top of
the forum. This area is not much different than any other form you have
filled out online or in real life except that much of the information
in here is optional.
Personal Info
- Summary - All your settings from other tabs summarized.
- Edit Your Details - Edit your login name, email address and password.
- My Avatar
- Select an avatar from those available or upload your own image. If
you upload your own image, you can upload an image up to 250 x 250
pixels and 50 kilobytes. The forum will automatically scale the image
for use in various locations.
Forum Settings
- Look and Layout - Tweak a few forum appearance settings.
- My Profile Info - Fill in personal information that you don't mind sharing publicly. This is also where you fill out your forum signature.
- My Posts - List of your posts ordered by most recent. Handy for finding a post that you don't recall which board you posted it in.
- My Subscribes - List of topics that you have subscribed to send you an email notification for all new responses.
- My Favorites - List of topics that you have ticked as a favorite of yours so they are more easily identifiable in the forum list.
Remember to press the 'Save' button any time you make changes in your profile.
Reply to an existing post
So, you have been lurking around the forum for a while reading every
post and getting to know everyone. You have just read someone's post
and you have finally decided you are going to reply and contribute some
information of your own. Great! This is done by pressing one of the
'reply' buttons.
- Quick Reply - this brings up a small text area
(without reloading the webpage) where you can quickly type a short
reply. Press 'Submit' when you are done typing your response. If you
have a change of heart you can press cancel and nothing gets posted
regardless if you typed anything or not.
- Reply
- This is the standard method in which you should reply when you want
to reply primarily to the most recent post. The reason for this is
because the subject line of your reply will autofill with the subject
of the post from which you are replying. In case you were wondering,
yes, you can change the subject. OK, now you are looking at what is
called a WYSIWIG
(What You See Is What You Get) editor. Think of it as a slimmed down
version of a word processor (such as Microsoft Word) in which you can
format your text, add links, images, smilies, etc. More on how to
format your post later. For now, type your response and press the
'Preview' button at the bottom of the page if you wish to view your
post prior to submitting it. When you are done editing and are
satisfied your post is ready to contribute to the forum then press the
'Submit' button.
- Quote - If you wish to
quote someone's post whether in whole or in part you simple press the
'Quote' button located beside the 'Reply' button nderneath each post.
The is very useful if you wish to make light of or expand upon a prior
post. Once you press the Quote button you are brought to the same
WYSIWIG editor that you used to edit or create any other post. At this
point, you type your response directly to that quote. When you are done
replying, press the 'Submit' button.
- Reply Topic
- This button functions the same as the 'Reply' button with the
exception that your subject line will autofill with the subject of the
original post (OP). This may come in handy if you replying to a long
post whose subjects may have changed over time but you want to reply to
the OP. When you are done replying, press the 'Submit' button.
Create a new post of your own
Now that you have responded to a few other posts, and feel like an
accepted member of the community, you want to tell us a little bit
about yourself. To do this, you should start your very own topic so we
can properly respond and greet you. Navigate to our 'Hello'
board and click on it so that you can see the list of all of the
existing posts. At the top of the list is a button labeled 'New
Thread'. Click that button to start your very own topic. Your are
placed at the same WYSIWIG editor that you used earlier when replying
to posts. Simply type your message telling us all about yourself and
press 'Submit'. Now you have your own post topic in the list.
Format your post
Remember when I said earlier that the WYSIWIG editor is very
similar to a word processor? Well, as in any word processor you can
format and arrange your text for emphasis here in the forum.
The first, basic thing you should know is that the forum uses what's called bbcode
or Bulletin Board Code. bbcode uses 'tags' to 'mark up' your text. Each
'tag' has an opening and closing 'tag' denoted withing brackets. An
opening tag will look like [ ] and a closing tag will look like [/ ].
Notice the slash in the closing bracket is the only thing that is
different. If you forget the slash, the forum will interpret your
closing bracket as an opening bracket.
The easiest way to 'mark up' your text is usually to type it out first
then highlight the text and press the appropriate button at the top of
the editor. For example, if you wanted to make 'some text' bold you
would type it out 'some text' then highlight 'some text' then press the
'b' icon at the top of the browser. You will then see: [b]some
text[/b]. Alternatively, if you know them, you can type the tags
manually right along with the rest of your text or you can use the
buttons at the top of the editor to insert the tags the fill in your
text.
The bbcode Wiki covers the basic mark up tags so I won't. Let's jump on into what the Wiki does not cover.
Lists
There are two types of lists: ordered and unordered. An ordered list is
a numerical list like you might use to list the finishing order of a
race. An unordered list is a list you might use to list groceries.
There are two different tags needed to create a list.
First, you use a tag that creates the kind of list you want.
[ul] [/ul] = unordered list
[ol] [/ol] = ordered list
Second, you use a list tag for each item in the list
[li] [/li] = each list item.
So, the code for an ordered list would look like this:
[ol]
[li] 1st place[/li]
[li] 2nd place[/li]
[li] 3rd place[/li]
[/ol]
Edit your own post
There will be times when you make a post and you don't catch a
misspelled word, fix a broken link or something that will require you
to edit you post. It happens to us all so the edit button is easily
accessible. When you are looking at one of your own posts that you need
to edit you will find the 'Edit' button at the bottom of your post.
Simply press the edit button and you will the same WYSIWIG editor you
used to create your post populated with the actual post. Edit your post
as you see fit and, when you are satidfied, press the 'Submit' button
at the bottom of the page. All done!
Visibility and notification of your favorite postsNow that
you have settled into your new community and everyone has met you, you
want to be able to keep up with your favorite posts without checking in
every five minutes to see if something new has posted. There a couple
of ways that you can do that.
Subscribe
At the top and the bottom of every thread you will find the 'Subscribe'
button. Pressing this button subscribes you to that topic so that any
responses to that topic will generate an email notification to your
email address stating that a new post has been made along with a link
directly to said post for your convenience. You will notice the button
now reads 'Unsubscribe' indicating that you are subscribed and pressing
the button again will remove your subscription to that thread. Remember
that you can also manage your subscriptions in the your profile.
The Karma SystemThe karma system is one of those neat little things that
contributes to the community aspect of a website by empowering you to
give feedback to those who deserve it. It is a tool you can use to show
appreciation or disapproval for anything that another member has done.
Maybe you posted for help on how to do something and got such a swift
and helpful response from another member that you want to show
appreciation in more than just words. You can applaud them by giving
them Karma. Perhaps another member responded to that same post
negatively offering no help and unnecessarily making you look foolish
when you genuinely needed help. You can smite them by take away Karma.
However, should you smite someone, you should follow that up with a
message to an admin or moderator and let them know just in case there
is a larger issue.
Please use the karma system responsibly. Don't abuse it by artificially
inflating someone's karma or waging a personal war against someone by
reducing their karma unnecessarily. If abuse is detected the karma
system will be shut off as it is not a necessity.
The karma controls are located in the top, right of each post we make
in the forum. The '+' sign adds karma and the '-' takes it away. You
can can not adjust your own karma.
Conclusion
Now that you know how to create your own posts, edit them, set
notifications, etc, you are ready to explore the rest of the forum.
Don't be afraid. Go click things and see what they do. If something
'breaks' or you don't understand how to use something make a post in
the forum and ask about it or PM an admin and they will help.
|
Forum
Actors can find out about auditions, classes, networking opportunities in every issue. Be on the lookout for articles and tips from working professional actors.More... 
Get all the latest info about Australian theatre from emerging fringe and established mainstream theatre companies. Theatre listings cover shows on near you.More... 
Find out about Films in production, new trends in the Film industry, and plenty of inside info for screen buffs everywhere. Check out the production articles.More... 