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Forums
A Forum is simply a category, or container, which will contain one or more topics. Members and visitors can post messages to the individual topics.

Forum Moderators
Forum Moderators are allowed to edit or delete forum posts, they are usually committee members or MEA staff.

Using the Forum
The main Forum page will list all forums and all topics within each forum. There will be an icon next to each topic. A plain folder icon means that anyone can read messages in this topic. An icon with a lock on it means that viewing is restricted (requiring at least a site login).

At the top right of the Forum page will be a Search button. Use this to search forum posts by keyword. Also, there may be a Preferences button if the administrator has enabled preferences tracking. (If you are not logged in, there will be a Login button instead, because you need to be logged in to modify your Forum Preferences.)

You can click the name of any topic to view posts to that topic. You can also click the name under "Last Post" to go directly to that particular post.

Discussions list - posting and responding
Once you click on a Topic name, you will be taken to a list of discussions for that topic. A "discussion" is a thread with at least one post. The number of posts in a discussion, in addition to the number of times it has been viewed, will be displayed to the right.

If you have posting access for this topic, you can add a new discussion by clicking the Add A Discussion button in the upper right. (If you only have read access, you will not see this button.) When you click the button, you will be taken to a page where you can create a new discussion title, type in your discussion, and indicate whether you want to be notified on a response. Click Post New Discussion Thread when you are finished.

To respond to a posting by someone else, simply click the name of the discussion. This will bring up the original post and all responses. Then click the Add Message button to reply to this discussion. (If you only have read access, you will not see this button.)

If you would like to receive notifications of all posts to the discussion you are reading (assuming your administrator has set up this feature, and you are logged in to the site), you can click the Receive button. This modifies your preferences so that you will get all responses to this thread.

At any time, you can navigate back to the list of discussions by clicking the Topic link at the top of the page. You can also navigate back to the list of Forums and Topics by clicking the Forum link at the top of the page.

Discussions list - posting and responding
Once you click on a Topic name, you will be taken to a list of discussions for that topic. A "discussion" is a thread with at least one post. The number of posts in a discussion, in addition to the number of times it has been viewed, will be displayed to the right.

If you have posting access for this topic, you can add a new discussion by clicking the button in the upper right. (If you only have read access, you will not see this button.) When you click the button, you will be taken to a page where you can create a new discussion title, type in your discussion, and indicate whether you want to be notified on a response. Click Post New Discussion Thread when you are finished.

To respond to a posting by someone else, simply click the name of the discussion. This will bring up the original post and all responses. Then click the button to reply to this discussion. (If you only have read access, you will not see this button.)

If you would like to receive notifications of all posts to the discussion you are reading (assuming your administrator has set up this feature, and you are logged in to the site), you can click the button. This modifies your preferences so that you will get all responses to this thread.

At any time, you can navigate back to the list of discussions by clicking the Topic link at the top of the page. You can also navigate back to the list of Forums and Topics by clicking the Forum link at the top of the page.

Setting your forum preference
You are allowed access to Forum Preferences, and will see a Preferences button or a button on the tops of most pages. Click this to access your Preferences, which allow you to configure your email notifications from the Forum as well as your profile information that can accompany your Forum posts.

Notification Preferences
In this section, all the topics you have access to will be listed. For each topic, you can choose whether to be notified by email when someone posts to the topic. The choices for each topic are:

• All: You will receive a notification email when someone posts or replies to any discussion within the topic.
• Threads: You will be notified only on posts to the threads you choose. When you click this option, a list of all the current discussion threads for the topic will pop up. You can check off as many or as few threads as you like. (Any time a new discussion thread is created, you will have to modify this option if you want to be notified for it.)
• None: You will not receive any notifications for this topic (unless you post a discussion yourself).

Following these choices, you need to fill in some other preferences related to email.

• Notify me for replies to any discussion thread I have posted a message on (any topic or discussion): Check this off if you want to automatically get notified for any discussion you have participated in.
• Preferred Email Address: The Preferred Email Address you have saved in your database profile will be listed in parentheses. Check the box to use this email address for notifications. (If you do not have a preferred email address saved, this option will not appear.)
• Work Email Address: This option will appear if you have this email address saved on your profile. You can check it off as notification address if you desire.
• Other E-mail Addresses: If you wish to receive notifications at one or more email addresses besides the options given above, check off this box and enter the email address or addresses (separating multiple addresses with a comma).

Profile Preferences

• Allow forum users to view my profile information by clicking my name: If you check this box, then anyone can click your name to get a pop-up of information from your profile. The "Web Master" determine what fields get displayed. This site uses the Member Directory, the pop-up will be the same on the Forum as it is on the Member Directory.
• Signature: If you wish to include a signature on all your forum posts, type it in here. Your signature will be appended to the bottom of all your forum posts.

HINT: Make sure you include at least one blank space or a horizontal line at the top of your signature. Otherwise, your signature will appear on the very next line after your message when you post.