Please note - there is help available from within the web board application. Once the application is open, click on help for more details about using web boards. The links below will take you to major topics on this page.
Bypassing the Login Page To have WebBoard remember you on future visits, check the "Remember my password" box on the login page. (If you don't see the checkbox, this feature is unavailable.) As long as you enter the board from the same browser, WebBoard recognizes you, skips the login page, and immediately displays the board's conference list. To reverse this setting, see Making WebBoard Stop Remembering Your Password .
Making WebBoard Stop Remembering Your Password To have WebBoard no longer remember your password (so you will see the login page every time), follow these steps:
From the WebBoard menubar, click Log Off.
From the WebBoard menubar, click Log In. The WebBoard login page appears.
Make sure there is no check in the Remember my password checkbox.
Enter your login name and password.
Click Log In.
Editing Your User Profile
On a board with registered users, each user has a profile, which contains information WebBoard uses in various ways. The most important way is that it stores your login name and password, which WebBoard uses to give you access to boards requiring authentication. Your profile also includes information WebBoard uses (such as your email address), as well as information other users can view (such as your professional information, hobbies, and other interests). You do not have to include personal information if you don't want to.
Your user profile is also a place for setting up your work environment, for example, turning off paging or selecting full topic view. When you first log in as a new user, WebBoard asks you to fill out a New User Information form. This information is part of what makes up your user profile.
You can edit your user profile at any time, by following these steps:
Click Options on the WebBoard menubar. The Options menu appears.
Click Edit Your Profile from the Options menu. The User Profile page appears.
Make any changes necessary (see the list below). Do not leave any required field blank.
Click Save to update your profile.
Continue with your WebBoard session.
Most user profiles contain the following information. If the administrator has customized the user profile, you may find other fields or similar, but differently named, fields. The standard fields include:
Login Name (required)
This name is your unique key for entering WebBoard. You were either assigned this name or created it when you registered on WebBoard the first time you logged in as a new user. In general, this name is not displayed to other users unless the WebBoard administrator has opted to display login names instead of real names for message postings and chat.
First Name (required)
This name is normally your real first name. Of course, you can choose to use a pseudonym or even have more than one account under the same or different names on the same board (you'll have to log in as a new user to create the second account).
Last Name (required)
This name is normally your real last name. As with your first name, you can use a pseudonym or have a second account under a different name.
Password (required)
This entry is masked (shown as *s) for security. You can change your password to protect your postings and user information. If you do, you must enter it twice on the form to ensure you typed it correctly. The password is never shown to other users.
Email Address (required)
This address is used for WebBoard's email notification and mailing list features. It is also included with each message you post to make it easy for other board members to respond to you directly and in the Search User list. If the email field is too small to hold your email address, contact your WebBoard administrator.
Hide Email
Check No to hide your email address from other users. The board manager and site administrator will still be able to see your email address. Mailing lists and email notification will still work.
City/Town
Your city or town can be of interest to other members of this board. It is often fun to see how widely scattered -- or how close by -- WebBoard participants are. In a corporate setting, the city field can be used to identify your building location or department.
State/Province
Your state may be either the two-letter abbreviation or the full name. If you are an international user, put your province or locality in this field.
Country
Again, the country where you live can be an opportunity for more discussion on WebBoard. You can use either the two-letter country code or spell out the country name in full.
Home Page
The URL you put in this field is displayed when someone looks at your user information. If you do not have a personal home page, you can enter one that you find interesting or useful.
Bio
This field can hold up to 2,000 characters (about 400 words) describing interesting things about yourself. You can include information about your profession, family, hobbies, or other interests and activities. If this WebBoard focuses on a specific topic area (say, for instance, model trains), you might want to write about that topic and your involvement in it (for example, listing some of the most special trains you own). In a business setting, you may want to use this area to help your colleagues understand your goals, vision, and qualifications. You can include HTML in the description.
Signature
This field holds information that is attached to every message you post. Similar to an email signature, you may want to include your name, contact information, a quotation or vision statement, and so forth. Your signature can be up to 2,000 characters and can contain HTML. Remember, however, that other users probably appreciate short signatures that don't take long to download.
Note The information you put in your user profile is used across all boards at the same WebBoard site. If you participate in more than one board, make sure your user information such as hobbies and signature is appropriate for all boards. On the other hand, you can have different user profiles by creating a different account on each board you use, or even creating multiple accounts on a single board. To create a new account, simply log in as a new user as described earlier in this chapter.
Reverse Topic Order
WebBoard lists topics in chronological order. This option lets you decide whether to start with the most recent or the oldest. A Yes means topics are listed from newest to oldest. Select No to view topics with the oldest first.
Mailing List Format
This option allows you to choose which format WebBoard uses to send you mailing lists. The three formats are non-digest, messages sent individually when they are posted; digest, messages sent once a day in a single email message that is indexed by message; digest/ZIPped, messages put into digest format and then zipped up to compress the size of the email. Depending on the traffic and your need to respond to the conferences you participate in by email, you can select the best delivery method. For example, if you want to respond to many messages that are posted, you should select the nondigest form. If you simply need a record of messages posted on a board, select the digest/ZIPped format. Selecting a mailing list format does not subscribe you to any WebBoard mailing lists; you complete that task from the Options menu. Mailing lists are described in more detail in Chapter 14. We recommend you read that chapter before changing the mailing list format.
Automatically Mark New
This setting allows you to configure how messages will be marked read. If this option is enabled then messages will be automatically marked as having been read as soon as you view them. If the option is disabled you will need to manually mark messages as having been read from the Options->Mark Conferences Read area.
Image
Here you can upload a custom image (avatar) to be shown in your profile and in the author box of messages you post.
Optional fields
You may see other fields that were added by the WebBoard administrator. If you have questions about these fields, email the board manager.
When you post to a conference, you are starting a new topic. If you have something to contribute to the general theme of a conference, but it doesn't relate to an existing topic, you can start a new topic. To post a new topic, follow these steps:
Select a conference by clicking the conference name or expansion box (+ to the left of the conference name).
Choose from one of these two ways to display the Post form:
From the WebBoard menubar, click New Topic.
From an open message, click New Topic on the message menu.
Enter the new topic name in the Subject field. Keep the topic name short.
Choose any of the following options by checking the appropriate boxes in the menu at the top of the message posting form:
Type in your message. Note: You can include HTML tags for formatting. (Because browsers interpret HTML tags, you must use the normal escape characters for angle brackets if you want HTML tags to appear as text - or substitute square brackets for angle brackets as a shortcut.) On most boards, you can include links to other web pages and images. Note that any links you include must have the full URL, such as http://www.myserver.com/linked.html. Some boards may not allow active links in messages. If you have a question about this feature, contact the WebBoard administrator.
When you complete your message, click Post.
Previewing Your Message
If the Administrator has enabled the extended Post Message form, you can preview messages before you post them to ensure that they say what you really intended. Previewing allows you to see what your message looks like before posting it.
To preview your message without spell checking, follow these steps:
Click Preview on the Post message form.
WebBoard displays your message exactly as it will appear to other users on WebBoard.
If you are dissatisfied with your message and want to change it, return to the PostMessage form and make any changes you like.
Once you are satisfied with the appearance of your message, click Post. Your message is immediately posted to the conference, and WebBoard displays it in the Message window.
Attaching Files and Pictures to Your Message
Attaching files to your WebBoard messages is a handy way to give users ready access to information that doesn't fit well in a text message. You can also attach digital pictures, which display in the message. Your browser must support file attachments (Netscape Navigator 2.0 or higher; Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 with plug-in, or Internet Explorer 4.0 or higher) for uploading files. Almost any browser can download file attachments. Additionally, those who want to open the files must have the same or similar applications to open them.
To attach a file to your message, follow these steps:
Check Attach file on the Post message form.
Type in your message and click Post. The Attach a File form opens.
Click the appropriate Category radio button for the file you want to attach. The category you select causes WebBoard to display the corresponding icon next to the file-attachment link in your posting, which gives other users a quick idea of the file type. The categories are as follows:
Application if this is an application.
Audio if this is a sound file.
Document if this is a text file.
Image if this is a graphics file.
Multimedia if this is a multimedia file.
Inline Image if this is a digital image file (such as JPEG or GIF).
Unknown if you do not know what type of file you are uploading.
Enter the name and path to the file in the File to upload field;- OR - Click Browse to select the attachment you want to upload from your computer. A File Upload dialog opens. Navigate through your folders to select the attachment. Click Open to continue or click Cancel to return to the file attachment form. If there is no Browse button, your browser doesn't support file attachments.
Enter the description of the file attachment in the File description field.
If you want to attach more files, click Yes for Upload another.
Click Upload Now to attach the file to your message. Depending on the size of the file and speed of your connection, this process may take a few minutes. Your message is immediately posted to the conference. The attachment appears as a hyperlink at the end of the message. If the attachment is an image, it should display in the message body (although the administrator can configure a board so that images also appear as links). An icon indicating the file type and the size of the file in kilobytes follows the filename.
If you clicked Upload another, the Attach a File form appears again. Repeat Steps 3-7 for each file attachment you want to upload.
Posting a Reply
You can post a reply to any message within a topic. For example, if a topic has 10 messages, you can reply to the first message or to the tenth message. Whenever you reply to a message, your new message is indented under that message in the Conferences list to show other readers the thread of the conversation. Replies are displayed chronologically within each topic.
Replying Publicly
To reply publicly to the message you are currently reading, use one of the following options:
Select Reply from the menu at the top of the message you want to respond to.
Select Reply/Quote from the menu to include text from the original message.
WebBoard displays a message-creation form for you to complete. The form is the same as the one for posting a new topic except the topic from the current message is displayed. You can use this topic or change it. Otherwise the form works the same as described in "Posting a Topic Message" above. Please refer to that section for details.
Replying Privately
Rather than post a reply to the whole conference, you may prefer to send a reply only to the individual who posted the message. WebBoard lets you reply privately to the message author by email. If a message was posted anonymously or the author has checked Hide my email address on his or her user profile, you can't send a private response. To reply privately to the author of the message you are currently reading, use one of the following options:
Click the poster's email address link in the From field of the message.
WebBoard starts the email program associated with your browser with the recipient's email address included (but not the topic or any text from the message posting). You must enter a subject and your response. You may also want to cut and paste the WebBoard posting to provide context for the recipient.
Editing Your Message
You can edit messages you have posted. For example, if you want to add or remove information from a message -- including removing file attachments -- you do so by editing it. Or, if you want to change the topic for a message, editing it is the way to do it. Note that if you posted a message to a board that does not require authentication (that is, you did not have to give a username and password to log in), the editing feature is unavailable.
To edit your message, follow these steps:
From the Conferences list, locate the message you want to edit. Click its name to display it in the Message menu. Click Edit from the message menu. An Edit Message form opens.
Make the desired changes to the topic or text.
Make edits to the message body.
To remove a file attachment, check the box next to the attachment.
When you complete your edits, click Post. If this conference is moderated, the message is not posted until the moderator verifies it.
Deleting Your Message
Once you have posted a message, you can delete it from the conference. If you posted a message to a board that does not require authentication (that is, you did not have to give a username and password to log in), the delete feature is unavailable. If you want to delete a message you posted, contact the WebBoard administrator. To delete a message, follow these steps:
From the Conferences list, locate the message you want to delete and click its name.
Click Delete from the message menu. WebBoard displays a message asking if you are sure you want to delete the message. Once deleted, a message cannot be retrieved.
Click Delete Message if you want to delete this message. Your message is immediately deleted from the conference.
Watching Topics
If you like, WebBoard will notify you by email when new messages are posted to topics or conferences you want to watch:
For topics, a notice is sent whenever a new message is posted in the topic you are watching. Remember that a topic is a message thread, including a topic message and all responses.
For conferences, a notice is sent once a day whenever one or more new messages is posted to the conference you are watching. The time the email is sent is determined by the WebBoard administrator.
To Watch a Topic You can tell WebBoard to watch a topic in one of two ways:
When you create a message, check the Watch this Topic option on the message creation form.
When you read a topic, check the Watch this Topic option at the end of the topic (if you are reading in full topic view, this option is at the end of the entire topic).
To Stop Watching a Topic You can tell WebBoard to stop watching a topic in ond of two ways:
When you read a topic, check the Stop Watching this Topic option at the end of the topic.
Review a list of all topics you are watching and change their status on the My Watched Topics page:
Click Options on the WebBoard menubar. The Options menu opens.
Click My Watch Lists. The page displays all topics you are currently watching as well as all the conferences on the current board.
To stop watching a topic, remove the check from the box next to the topic.
Click Save when you complete your selection(s). The topic(s) you deselected are removed from the list.
Environmental Database
Web Boards
Northern Everglades
