Help: Allaire Forums Text Conference Main Page

A Brief Guide to the Use
of the
DCN/ICN Text Conference Application

Overview

The DCN/ICN Text Conference is a web centric, Commercial-Orff-The-Shelf (COTS) collaboration tool that provides the features of a both an electronic bulletin board and electronic mail. To share information, users may post messages with attached files (much like an e-mail attachment). Messages are grouped into topics called threads. If you want to post a message under a new topic, simply click on the new thread button and give the thead a name that indicates the topic. Topics or threads are grouped into a text forum. Forums in the pilot programs have restricted memberships. Two or more forums compose a text conference. We have set up a text conference for each pilot program or virtual user group. Our public text conference (available to all pilot programs) consists of three forums: a user help forum, a security forum, and a technical support forum. The User Help Forum contains information about COTS products like Microsoft Office, browsers and Windows. The security forum provides security alerts about viruses and product specific security vulnerabilities. The technical support forum is intended to share customer problems and their solutions. The remainder of this tutorial provides specifics on the features of the Allaire Forum COTS product that we are using for text conferencing.

Conference Main Page

The Conference Main Page is the primary page of the conferencing system. From the Main Page you can access all of the major components of the system. If you plan to visit this conference more than once, you should bookmark the Main Page.

The Main Page has four major sections: the Toolbar, the Announcement, the Form for Creating New Threads, and the Forums and Threads List.

1. Toolbar

The Toolbar contains a number of buttons that launch various tools that will help you use the conferencing system effectively. The buttons that are displayed depend on the type of user, the settings for the conference, and the conference status. Therefore, you might not see on your toolbar all of the buttons that are explained here.

Exit - exit the conference.
New Messages - see all of the messages posted since your last visit. This button is not available for guest users.
Search - search for messages and threads in this conference. This button takes you to the Search Page which is described below.
Options - personalize the Main Page by setting filters to limit the number of forums and threads that are displayed. Options also lets you change your registration information.
Logout/in - go to the User Login box to login in as a new user. If you are sharing your browser with other users, you can use this button to logout and then to log back in. This button will be visible only if you have already entered your personal data.

2. Announcement

The announcement section is used in some conferences to post general information for all of the conference users. It is not visible in all conferences.

The announcement section also contains buttons to create a New Thread and to Refresh the current screen. To create a new thread, use the form described below.

3. Form for Creating New Threads

If you want to begin a discussion about a new topic within a forum, you should create a new thread and then post an initial message to get the thread rolling. If you have not been granted permission to post messages to any forum you will not see the New Threads button in the announcement section of the Main Page.

To create a new thread, first type in the subject of the thread in the Topic Field. Choose a short, descriptive name for the thread, one that will be clear to other users. Then, choose the appropriate forum from the Create in Forum box. Finally, click on the OK button. You will then be prompted to post the first message to the thread.

4. Forums and Threads List

The heart of the Main Page is the list of forums and threads. A forum is a general discussion area. A thread is a collection of messages that relate to a specific topic within the general discussion area.

The title of each forum is highlighted by a green bar. Under the title of each forum is a list of the threads associated with that forum. Each thread shows both the date of the most recent message posted in the thread and the total number of messages posted to the thread. You can read the messages posted in the thread by clicking on the hypertext subject of the thread.

Beneath the Forums and Threads List is the Subscribe to Thread option. You may subscribe to a thread by clicking on the dot beside of the thread's name. If you have subscribed to a thread, its dot will be red and you will receive a copy of any new messages as they are posted to that thread. Also, you may cancel your subscription by clicking on the red dot beside of the thread's name.

Logout/in Page

The User Login box can be used to login or logout of the conference if you are sharing your browser with other users. This box asks the user for both their username and password. It also provides a link (Registration Form) to the User Registration box for those who are not a registered user for the conference.

New Messages Page

The New Messages Page lists all of the postings that have been added to the conference since your last session.

The Page has three major areas:<\P>

1. Announcement

The announcement section is used in some conferences to post general information for all of the conference users. It is not visible in all conferences.

The announcement section also contains a Back button that returns the user to the Conference Main Page.

2. List of Links to the Postings

Links to the postings are listed in reverse chronological order. Each link includes both the name of the thread in which it was posted and the name of the author who added the posting.

3. Toolbar

Every posting listed in this section of the page has a set of buttons at the top of the message:

Top - go to the top of the New Messages Page.
Show Thread - go into the thread that includes this message. Once you are in the thread you will be able to post a reply or a new message. You will also be able to see other postings in the thread.
Previous - go to the previous thread.
Next - go to the next thread.

Thread Page

On the Thread Page you can see all of the messages and replies posted in a selected thread, and you can post new messages or replies.

The Thread Page has three major sections:

1. Toolbar

Back - return to the Conference Main Page without saving any changes.
Refresh - refreshes the screen.
Options - personalize the Main Page by setting filters to limit the number of forums and threads that are displayed. Options also lets you change your registration information.
Search - search for messages and threads in this conference. This button takes you to the Search Page which is described below.

2. List of Links to the Postings

The conferencing system recognizes two types of postings: messages and replies. Messages are postings that are directly related to the topic of the main thread. Replies are postings that respond to a message or to another reply. Replies are nested below the posting they reference.

Beneath the thread name, the links within that thread contain the first 60 characters of each posting and the name of each posting's author. The messages are listed in chronological order. Replies to a message are nested below the message (again in chronological order).

The link located at the bottom of the postings list, post new message in this thread, should be used to add new messages to the thread. Please note that if you want to post a reply to an existing posting you should use the reply button in the toolbar at the top of the specific posting you want to reference.

3. List of Postings

Every posting listed in this part of the page has a set of buttons at the top of the message:

Top - return to the top of the Thread Page.
Previous - go to the previous message in the thread.
Next - go to the next message in the thread.
Print - print this message.
Reply - post a reply to the message. (Remember a reply will be nested underneath the posting where you reply.)

Posting Page

Use the Posting Page to reply to postings or to add new messages. If you are posting a reply, the initial message will be shown above the posting form. Enter your name and your message in the appropriate fields on the form. When you are posting to a thread, you must enter your name and a message. If you press cancel, your message will not be posted, and you will be returned to the thread page.

1. The Message

When you are typing a message, leave an empty line between each new paragraph. If you are familiar with HTML, you can include HTML tags in your message. You can use HTML tagging to improve the formatting of your message, to display images, or to add hyperlinks to other URLs. In order to avoid mistakes in your HTML, always preview your message to confirm that all of your HTML tags are correctly closed.

In some conferences you will also be given a text area for posting HTML and/or CFML code. HTML or CFML code written in this area will be presented in its original form as source code.

2. Options

The posting page may contain additional options:

I want to use fixed-width font to display this message - If this is selected, your message will be displayed in a fixed-width font, which lets you post text that requires consistent spacing. (Note: You can't rely on text wrapping with fixed-width fonts. You must press the ENTER key after each line).
Notify me by E-Mail about all messages posted in this thread - If this is selected, you will be E-Mailed whenever a new message is posted in this thread.
I want to send this message to every participant in this thread - If this is selected, your posting will be E-Mailed to all of the authors who have posted in this thread.
The Quote button - This button allows you to copy the previous message into your new posting.
The Post button - This button posts your message to the conference thread.
The Cancel button - This button cancels your message from being posted and returns you to the thread page.
The Advanced button - This button provides more options, such as adding attachments and a text box for HTML and CFML code.

3. Preview

If the preview option is selected, you will be given a chance to preview your posting before it is submitted to the conference. If you find mistakes, you will be able to correct them before you confirm the message. The use of this feature is strongly recommended.

4. Attachments

If this option is selected from the advanced posting page, you will be able to add or remove attached files from your posting. Use the Browse button to locate the file you want to attach to your message. Then, use the Add button to add the attachment to your message. Finally, select the OK button to close the attachments dialog box.

To remove an attachment from your message, select the file from the Currently attached: box and select Remove. The file will no longer be attached to your message.

Search Page

Using the search form below, you can select any of a number of criteria for a search. You do not need to set all of the criteria for the search to work.

Back - return the user to the Conference Main Page without saving any changes.
Query - specify keywords and phrases for which you want to search.
In - specify where you want the system to look for the keywords, in either the titles or title and text of the postings.
Age - limit the results to messages posted in the last xx days.
Scope - specify which forum you want to search in the conference.
Author - search for messages posted by a specific person.
Display - set the maximum number of messages per page returned by the search and allows the user to choose whether they want expanded messages.
Search - performs the search function.

Search Results Page

The Search Results Page lists all of the postings retrieved as a result of the search criteria entered on the Search Page. The Search button returns the user to the search page. A green bar highlights any messages resulting form the search, such as how many messages were found containing the search criteria.

The Search Results Page has two major sections:

1. List of Links to the Postings

Links to the postings are listed in reverse chronological order. Each link includes the relevance ranking, the name of the thread in which it was posted, and the name of the author who added the posting.

2. Toolbar

Every posting listed in this part of the page has a set of buttons at the top of the message:

Top - go to the top of the Search Results Page.
Show Thread - go into the thread that includes this message. Once you are in the thread you will be able to post a reply and see other postings in the thread.
Previous - go to the previous thread.
Next - go to the next thread.

Options Page

The Options Page gives you some choices about the conference settings. This page allows you to change the conference display to accommodate your general preferences. The six areas where you may personalize your view of the conference are described below.

1. Forums

The Forums section lists all forums available in the conference and allows you to chose whether or not you want to view the postings in each forum. The list of forums available will vary with each conference.

2. Global Settings

The Global Settings section gives you the choice from various fonts and formats for the conference display. Any change made in these settings will have a global effect on your account in that conference.

If you choose to use frames, your pages will look similar to this:

If you choose to use text buttons, your toolbars will look similar to this:

3. Listed Threads

There are two ways you can apply a filter to restrict the number of Listed Threads on the Conference Main Page. This is desirable if there is a lot of traffic on your site. You may also change the information viewed about each thread.

First, you can filter by the date the most recent message was posted to a thread. For example, if you select, "From 'last 7 days'," you will be shown only those threads that contain messages that were posted in the last seven days. The status of these filters will be displayed at the top of the Conference Main Page.
Second, you can filter by a keyword. If you enter a keyword in this field, you will be shown only those threads that contain messages with that keyword. Leave this field blank if you do not want to apply any filter by keyword.

4. Thread window/frame

The Thread window/frame section provides choices regarding the use and splitting of frames as well as allowing you to embedded images in your messages.

5. Default Settings

The Default Settings section allows you to personalize the messages you post by adding a signature to the end of your messages.

6. Personal

The Personal section allows you to enter and update your personal data. Your personal data includes all of the information you had to enter if you had to register for the conference. Some conferences are set to autoregister. In those conferences, you are not prompted to fill in this information. You should fill out the personal data anyway if you want other users to be able to use your browser to access the conference.