Beginner's Guide: How to post a new topic, A simple walk-through of how to make that first post Options

[Fredd]

For people who are unfamiliar with using this type of forum, we've put together this quick-start guide that we hope will be of help. It provides a walk-through of how to make a post with images of typical pages you should see, and what to do.

If you're unsure how to post your first message then please have a look and try using this example to make your own new topic (using your own Username and Password, of course!). Click on any of the thumbnails to see the full screenshot.


Go to the FightBack forums: http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php. Enter your Login username (not your Display name, which may be different) and Password, and click on the GO button.




You'll now see the main forum index. Click on the name of the forum you want to post a message in (in this example it's the Cameras forum).




You'll now see a list of all the topics in the Cameras forum. To post a new topic, click on the NEWTOPIC button.




Enter a subject for your topic in the Topic Title box, and a short description of your post in the Topic Description box if you wish (this is optional), then type your message in the white message body text box.

There are a number of other options available to make your post more visually interesting: emoticons (or smilies), text formatting and bulleted lists. You can try these out when you're confident about the process of posting a message, but for now you can ignore them. It's the content of your message that's really important, not flashy formatting!

If you're an ordinary member with a free (non-subscription) account, you won't be able to upload images as attachments to your post. There's a separate FAQ which describes how to upload images to a free image-hosting service, and display that image in your forum post.

When you're happy with your message, click on the Post New Topic button.




You'll now see your message as it appears on the forum. Your message has now been posted and you don't need to do anything else. Otherwise from here you can now go to the main forum index, back to the Cameras forum, post another topic, or log out.

To see your new topic click in the forum index on the Cameras link.




You're now back in the Cameras forum, and can see the new topic you just posted. You can see how many replies other people have made to your topic, how many people have read it, and who last posted a message in your topic and when.

To read your topic, including all the replies you've received, click on the name of the topic - in this example "This new topic is a test".




You'll now see your message and all the replies made to it.

If you want to add a reply yourself, perhaps to follow up on what someone else has said in response to your original post, click on the ADDREPLY button; the page that comes up will look exactly the same as the one you filled in when posting your original message, and you complete it in the same way too. As in everyday life, it's always considered polite to post a reply thanking someone who's taken the time to respond to your message or answer your question constructively.




When you're finished, click on the Log Out link to leave the forums. You should do this to prevent other users of your computer from accessing your account.




We hope that this walk-through has been helpful in explaining the basics and getting you started in using the forums. If you have any suggestions for improvements or if anything is unclear then please e-mail the Webmaster.

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[Fredd]

Article Discussion

If you have any comments on the content of this Article, suggested improvements or additions, then please post in this topic. Proposed changes will be reviewed by the original author and/or Moderators and the Article above updated as appropriate.

[MABS]

I want to start a new topic but could not find the relevant buttons shown on your instructions. The topic I wish to add is about a PCN received after a new restriction sign was put up without advance notice of change of restrictions. Could you help?

[StuartBu]

I want to start a new topic but could not find the relevant buttons shown on your instructions. The topic I wish to add is about a PCN received after a new restriction sign was put up without advance notice of change of restrictions. Could you help?

Just go to the Main Index
http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?act=idx
select the section that is relevant to your post and the NEW TOPIC button is on the Right Hand Side near the top

[Taffstuart]

Please show how to link a new topic to an existing one. With a longstanding topic it seems you have to start a new topic to ensure it is noticed. Just doing an 'Add Reply' to an existing topic is sometimes missed. Where is the id for the topic which you need to link? How do you determine it?

many thanks

Adrian O'Connor (Taffstuart)

[andy_foster]

Please show how to link a new topic to an existing one. With a longstanding topic it seems you have to start a new topic to ensure it is noticed. Just doing an 'Add Reply' to an existing topic is sometimes missed. Where is the id for the topic which you need to link? How do you determine it?

many thanks

Adrian O'Connor (Taffstuart)

Forum golden rule - one case, one thread (as you were told last time you asked this question).

This post has been edited by andy_foster: Wed, 18 Nov 2015 - 19:04