Using the Bulletin Board

Finding a Specific Discussion Area (a "Forum")

The bulletin board environment is actually made up of different discussion areas, or "forums." Think of these as "sub-bulletin boards"!

• From the course home page, click once on the bulletins icon to access the course bulletin board.
• In the left-hand frame of the bulletin board screen, click on the Forum button to see a listing of the available forums for the course.
• Click once on the name of the desired forum to access that forum. (See where it says "Forum: Main" at the top of the image below? That indicates that this individual is currently in the "Main" forum.)

  

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Reading Existing Messages

Once you have entered the bulletin board environment, you will see a listing of all unread messages on the right-hand side of the window. Messages are organized by the subject line of the individual postings. If someone responds to an original posting, the link for that response will be indented directly below the link to the original posting. This creates what is called a discussion "thread."

• To view an individual message, simply click on the hyperlinked name of the person that posted it.
• To view messages that you have already read, click on the Show All button in the left-hand menu.
• To mark items as "read" without reading them, click on the Catch Up All button in the left-hand menu..

TIP: Since you will only see a listing of unread messages by default, it can be hard to follow a "conversation" (a thread). By clicking on the Show All button, you can see a complete "threaded" listing of all the messages that have been posted to a given forum. The ones you have not read yet will be marked with a "New" icon.

• To view an entire discussion thread (an original posting plus the responses to it) without having to click on each individual posting, just click on the hyperlinked subject line that appears as the top item in the thread.

  

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Posting a New Message

Before you post a message of your own to the bulletin board, be sure you familiarize your self with the rules of "Netiquette" that govern on-line discussions.

• From the bulletin board screen, click on the Compose button (in the left-hand menu) to start a new bulletin board posting.
• In the "Subject" field, type in a meaningful subject line for your message--one will give other students a clear idea of what your message contains. For example, a subject line that reads "Hi" doesn't tell one much--something like "My personal introduction" would be better.
• Next, type your brief message in the large, blank box provided.
• Click on the Post button (in the left-hand menu) to post your message to the forum.
• To see your posting appear in the listing of messages, you'll need to click on the Update Listing button (in the left-hand menu) after you post.

  

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Replying to an Existing Message

Before you reply to a message, be sure you familiarize your self with the rules of "Netiquette" that govern on-line discussions.

When replying to an existing message, you have the option of including a copy of the text from the original note in your reply.

• To reply without including the original text -
  • While viewing the posting you want to reply to, click once on the Reply button to initiate your response. (The Reply button is located at the top of the posting.) The subject line for your new posting will be filled in automatically.
  • Next, type your brief message in the large, blank box provided.
  • Click on the Post button (in the left-hand menu) to post your message to the forum.
  • To see your posting appear in the listing of messages, you'll need to click on the Update Listing button (in the left-hand menu) after you post.
• To reply with the original text ("quoting") -
  • While viewing the posting you want to reply to, click once on the Quote button (in the left-hand menu) to initiate your response. The subject line for your new posting will be filled in automatically.
  • Next, type your brief message in the large, blank box provided.
  • Click on the Post button (in the left-hand menu) to post your message to the forum.
  • To see your posting appear in the listing of messages, you'll need to click on the Update Listing button after you post.

  

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Searching for a Specific Posting

It doesn't take long for a bulletin board to accumulate a lot of postings! Fortunately, there is a search tool built-in to the bulletin board that enables one to search for specific postings.

• From the bulletin board screen, click on the Search button in the left-hand menu.
• Click on the various pulldown menus that will appear to tell the system what you want to search on. For example, you can choose to search a specific forum (or you can search the entire bulletin board), you can search all postings or select just "read" or "unread," and/or you can entire specific search criteria by using the "Filter" (e.g. to search on a given name or text string).
• Once you've made your selections, click on the Search button that appears directly below the pulldown menus.
• The system will return a listing of messages that match your search criteria.

  

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