HOW TO USE THIS FORUM
The forum index has a hierarchical structure.

Broad forum categories appear between " ~ " and " ~ ".

Specific Forums belonging 'under' or within a category appear as links in a bulleted list below the main category headings. For example:

~ GARDENING ~

  • Rooftop Gardening

  • Herb Gardening

  • Organic Gardening

  • Water Gardens

  • Community Gardens

  • Seed Exchange

  • Favorite Garden Vegetables

Each link in the Bulleted list leads to a different message board dedicated to that specific topic. Whenever a new topic for discussion is created, a new message board dedicated to that topic is created simultaneously and a corresponding link is added to the index under the appropriate heading. (The above example does not contain active links however).

How to create a ~ heading ~:
If you would like to create a new discussion forum but cannot find a ~ HEADING ~ that is appropriate for the forum you would like to create you may create a new Top level Heading by clicking the link: Add A New Category and entering your new Heading into the form (You do not have to add " ~ " symbols, these will be added automatically. Upon submitting the form the new heading will be added to the list of ~ HEADINGS ~ in the index IMMEDIATELY. You may then use the main form at the bottom of the forum Index page to create your new forum topic under the newly created Heading by selecting the appropriate heading which will now appear in the dropdown menue. It may be necessary to reload the page before the new heading will appear in the menue.

How to create a
  • New Discussion Forum
:
When you create a new forum Topic for discussion using the form provided on the main forum index page, a new discussion forum dedicated to that topic is simultaneously created and a link to the new forum is added to the list as a bulleted link under the appropriate heading. All that is required is to fill out and submit the form. The new discussion forum will be created immediately.

Selecting a heading under which to place your forum:
In the topic creation forum on the main forum index page, select a ~ HEADING ~ under which a link to your forum will appear by using the drop-down menue on the upper right hand side of the form: HERE. A link to your new forum will appear under the selected heading once the form has been submitted. You must also include a forum title which will become the name of the link to the new forum as well as the heading within the forum itself. You may also add an introductory statement which will appear at the top of your new forum for the purpose of explaining what the forum is about and why it was created or any other information you wish to include as an introduction or greeting to new visitors.

Forum Passwords:
A 'password' field is included in each forum. By default this field is pre-populated with the password: Calypso-53. Leave this alone. This password allows anyone to post to the forum. If for some reason it becomes necessary to password protect a forum due to some inapropriate use the password may be changed (and hidden). In that case the forum cannot be posted to without entering the new password. A new password may be emailed to trusted forum participants who have supplied their email addresses, Others will not be able to post to the password protected forum but will still be able to read the forum. Password protection may be temporarily enabled in any forum at any time at the discretion of the forum administrator or at the request of 'trusted' forum participants. Practically speaking, a 'trusted' participant is one who has supplied a true email address within the forum itself or to the forum administator or any friend of a 'trusted' participant with whom a password may be shared. This is not a fool proof system but does present some deterent to inappropriate use of the forums.

HTML:
By default, HTML may be used in moderation and for a 'good' reason. This may include using simple html tags such as <B> for BOLD TEXT </B> or <img src="image.jpg"> to insert an image etc. Through a judicious use of some simple html it is hoped that the forum will be that much more useful and provide a richer experience. If this becomes a problem however, HTML may be limited or entirely disabled at any time at the descretion of the forum administrator or at the request of users. Please be certain to close all html tags:

Forum Navigation and archiving:
When a new forum is created a navigation bar is also created. The navigation bar is the area at the top and bottom of each forum that looks something like this:


Archives:     >  >  >  >  >  >  >  >      Active Page


The blue Angle brackets are links to older pages within the forum. The angle bracket furthest to the left links to the oldest pages within the forum. Angle brackets further to the right are links to newer and newer pages until reaching the "Active Page" where the form is available for posting or replying to posts in the current active discussion.

When a forum becomes excessively long the forum is archived and a new page is created with the most recent post. The previously "Active Page" that has grown too long is 'Archived' and a link in the form of an angle bracket is added to the navigation bar linking to the archived page so that it is still possible to go back and read or review older posts in the thread. A newly creative forum will not have any angle bracket links in the navigation bar since the forum has not yet grown too long and no pages have been archived. The 'empty' navigation bar nevertheless exists so that it can be populated with links to older pages as the forum grows.

Sometimes someone may prefer that a post NOT be archived so that it does not remain in the forum indefinitely. For example... an off-topic post not relavent to the thread but which nevertheless needs to be communicated to another forum member. Like: "Hey, I'm going on vacation tomorrow and will be back in two weeks." In such an instance, it may be desireable to check the "Chat Mode" box before posting the message. This will disable archiving for that individual post. When the page grows longer and is finally archived, and posts for which archiving has been disabled will be deleted automatically as the page is archived. Other posts in the same thread or other threads will not be effected, only 'your' post will be marked for future deletion. "Chat mode" is turned OFF by default and will need to be reactivated for each new post. File Uploads:
A means for uploading files (in particular, image files such as jpg,s) is provided for convenience. Please do not attempt to upload large images and be sure to optomize (crop, resize, reduce color depth, etc.) your images for fast loading. Once uploaded a link to the image will be displayed. Be sure to copy the link before leaving the upload dialogue page. The link may then be pasted into a forum post using the html 'img' tag. Please do not attempt to upload or display images to the forum Index page but only within individual forums.