Discussion Groups
People entering the Discussion Group area can:
Reading Messages:
- read messages, and (if they belong to an NGO),
- begin a new topic of conversation,
- respond to messages under existing topics.
To read a message, "click" on the underlined topic to view it. This will take you to a new screen for the topic you selected. Then you can read the message of interest. To read other messages, "click" on each underlined message in the "follow up" box.
Begin a New Topic:
To begin a new topic, fill in all of the information at the bottom of the "Discussion Area" screen, under "Post Your Message", using the "tab" key to move from entry to entry. Then type in your message.
Responding to Messages:
To respond to a message which you have read (following the instructions in "Reading Messages", above) --- Fill in all the information at the bottom of the screen under "Post a Follow Up", using the "tab" key to move from entry to entry. Then add your comment.
The structure of the bulletin board page is described below, in greater detail.
Bulletin Board Structure
The bulletin board page is divided into two sections. The top section (under the title and [Post Message] [FAQ] links) contains a list of previously posted messages. This list is connected so that if a user clicks on one of the existing (underlined) messages, they will be taken to a page which contains:
Also on that page is a form which the user can fill out to respond to the message they are currently viewing. The response will be posted in a hierarchy on the first page.
- the text of that message, as well as
- links to all responses to that message.
[post (a message)]
|
|-------[response (to message)]|
|--------[response (to above response)][post (a new message)]
The second part of the bulletin board page is the area currently titled "Post A Message!" This is a form which allows someone to post a message which is not a response to an already existing message, but begins a new topic to start a new topic.