Getting Started with Forumer.com

[Huntn]

9/3/09- Please note, the recent reorganization of the Miniapples Web Site has broken the graphics in this post. They may be reinstated at a later time.

Getting Started With Forumer.com
by Pam and Harry Lienke

The Minnesota Apple Computer Users’ Group, the mini’app’les, has established a bulletin board service (BBS) using the facilities of forumer.com. Everyone is encouraged to make use of the BBS to ask and answer questions that cannot wait until the next Special Interest Group (SIG) meeting. Although guests can make use of this new BBS, mini’app’les members have some special privileges and, so, should register as members to take advantage of those privileges.

Getting started is easy. Connect to the Internet and fire up your browser. Navigate to the mini’app’les BBS on forumer.com either by entering 
http://miniapples.7.forumer.com/index.php into the Address Bar of your browser or by going to the mini’app’les web site at http://www.miniapples.org/ and clicking on the mini’app’les Forums Quick Link on the left side of the window. This brings up a window like the one in Figure 1.



Figure 1. mini’app’les forumer.com Starting Window

The registration process begins when you click the “Register� text button at the right just under the “mini’app’les forums� heading. At the click of that text button, a new window appears; this window contains the registration agreement terms. If you agree to the terms and conditions, you need to click the appropriate line under that text to proceed. The next window asks you to enter your registration information and set your initial preferences (see Figure 2).



Figure 2. Registration Window

You must enter a username and password. The username need not be (but can be) your given name; two usernames currently in use are Ottertail and Huntn. An email address is required as part of the Registration Information because that is how the administrators communicate with individual members and how you are informed if you have received a Private Message from another member. To keep the nasty folks who patrol the Internet from accessing your account, your password should be at least eight characters long and should be a combination of lower case letters, upper case letters, numbers, and special characters. The Confirmation Code is used to prevent the software of those nasty folks from registering automatically and thus save much grief and work for our forum administrator. The default values shown for the Preferences are quite sensible and can be accepted as is; the preferences can be changed once you have been registered as a mini’app’les member. After you have established your Registration Information and Preferences, click the “Submit� button at the bottom of the window. This sends a message to our friendly administrators telling them you would like to be registered for the mini’app’les forums.

Your submittal of a registration request sets off a series of emails. The first email shows the username and password you entered as well as letting you know the administrator must approve your registration request and establish an account for you; save this email so you can check your username and password if you are unable to log in to the forums later. The second email lets you know your account has been established and you may now log in to the mini’app’les BBS. The third email informs you that you have been added to a particular group; different groups have different privileges in the forums. If the administrator was unable to identify you as a mini’app’les member and assigned you to the “Guest� group, you will receive an email letting you know you have a private message on the BBS. Clicking the link contained in the email takes you to the window shown in Figure 3.



Figure 3. Logging in to Check a Private Message

Forumer requires you to click in the text box for the username first. Then enter the username and password you provided when you registered and click the “Log in� button; if you forgot the username and/or password or you are unable to log in, check the first email you received for the correct information or click the “I forgot my password� text button to get an email with your username and a new password. Once you have entered the correct information, you are taken to the screen shown in Figure 4.



Figure 4. Accessing Private Messages

Click the name of the message (“Welcome� in this case) and a new window appears, allowing you to read the Private Message (the new window is not shown here). The message may indicate you were placed in the Guests group and ask you to identify yourself if you are a member; if so, click either of the “Post Reply� buttons in the window and, in the “Reply to a private message� window, enter a message identifying yourself to the administrator (this window is not shown here); click the “Submit� button after your message has been entered. An interim window appears for a short time before you are returned to the window of Figure 4. At this point, you may access the messages in the forums by clicking on the “Miniapples Forum Index� text button in the middle of the window, point your browser at a different web site, or quit your browser.

After you have received an email from the administrator indicating you may now access the BBS with all the privileges and responsibilities of a member, you can log in by navigating to the web site as described at the start of this article to the window shown in Figure 1. Click the “Log in� text button next to the “Register“ text button and a window like that of Figure 3 appears. Enter your username and password as before and click the “Log in� button. A window similar to Figure 1 appears; any forum with a message you have not read has a green apple next to it.

Happy browsing!

[Huntn]

New Forum Members
And after you have gotten started, when you get a chance read the Forumer.com Terms of Use, required before posting any messages and then optional, browse through the Forum FAQ message. Both are in this forum. The Forum FAQ has a long list of items that users have had questions about.

And don't forget to visit your Profile Page via the link at the top of every page to change personal settings regarding your account including things like automatic notification of replies to your messages, your time zone (so messsages display accurate times), your signature (if you desire to have one), and many more settings.
_________________
"Something I missed, I don't know, something not in the plans!"

Hardware: - 2.2 Ghz 15" MBP, Mac OS 10.5, 4GB RAM, Geforce 8600M GT (128MB VRAM), Boot Camp- 32bit Vista.

[Huntn]

The recent reorganization of the Miniapples Web site has broken the graphics in this article. They may be reinstated at a later time.
_________________
"Something I missed, I don't know, something not in the plans!"

Hardware: - 2.2 Ghz 15" MBP, Mac OS 10.5, 4GB RAM, Geforce 8600M GT (128MB VRAM), Boot Camp- 32bit Vista.