How does this board stuff work? - Board structure, etc.

Board structure

The boards are divided into different main-topics. These main-topics are again divided into sub-topics. Within these sub-topics there are discussions about different topics. Except for the first posting, every posting is the answer to an another posting. That is why these sequences of postings are displayed hierarchically structured. A sequence of postings such as this is called 'thread'.

In general the board is therefore structured as follows:

• main topic
  
  • its sub-topics
    
    • its threads

An example:

• The main topic: "Arts and Entertainment"
  
  • One of its sub-topics: "Film, TV and cinema"
    
    • One of its threads: "Lord of the Rings"
      
    • Another one of its threads: "Kill Bill"

A board structure like this is quite easy to understand, nevertheless it still causes irritation from time to time and as a picture is worth a thousand words, here is a pictorial explanation (in German).

In addition to this default setting of a hierarchically structured display of a thread (threaded) you can also have it displayed "flat". In this view all postings' complete content is shown according to their entry time one below the other. Disadvantage: This sequence according to their entry time is not always logical regarding which posting in the answer to another posting, i.e. directly refers to it. This often causes postings being answered at the wrong position.
For this reason we recommend to use the "threaded" view.

Posting in boards

You can write a posting by either answering an already existing posting in a thread or by opening a new thread.

You can answer an already existing posting as follows:

Click on the "Reply" button in the posting you would like to write an answer to. A new page where you can write your answer will open. Enter a subject and compose your contribution in the big entrybox. The posting you write an answer to is shown marked with greater than characters above the entrybox. In case you would like to quote from it in your message, mark this passage, copy it by mouseclick right and enter it in the entrybox by using CTRL and V. The quoted passage will be displayed in italics in your posting then.
Use the preview function to check your posting before finally submitting it. Click on the "Preview" button to do so. A new page will open which will show your message above the entrybox. In case you would like to change your message, just do so in the entrybox.
To finally submit your posting, click on the "Submit" button.

You can open a new thread as follows:

In the sub-topic where you would like to open the new thread click on "->New Thread" within the actionbox on the right. A new page will open where you can compose your message to start the new thread. Concerning all other aspects it works the same way as answering to already existing postings.

Board features

New postings
For registered users the system knows whether he/she has already read a posting or or not. If it said for example, next to the thread called "Lord of the Rings", in the column "messages" "12 / 3 new" it meant currently there are 12 postings in the thread 3 of which you have not read yet. If you click on the link "3 new" then, you will be shown the message which is both unread and closest to the first message in this thread in the respect of time.
Unregististered users unfortunately cannot be offered this functionality because the system of course cannot save data for a user which only exists temporarily. If you do want to profit from this functionality you can become a registered user
here.

Use the link "Mark All Read" in the actionbox on the right side next to a list of threads of a sub-topic to reset the counter for new messages to "0". All messages of all threads on the sub-topic are marked as "read" then.

Use the link "Mark All Read" in the actionbox on the right side next to a sequence of postings of a thread to reset the counter for new messages to "0". All messages of this thread are marked as "read" then.

Use the "Previous" and "Next" buttons in the actionbox on the right side next to the list of threads in a sub-topic or the sequence of postings in a thread to skim through.

Click on the "Next" button in the actionbox to skim through the list of threads of a sub-topic. Click on the "Previous" button in the actionbox to return to the previous page.

To read all postings in a thread one after the other you do not need to click on them one by one in a cumbersome manner. Just use the "Next" button in the actionbox to go to the next posting. The "Previous" button will return to the previous posting.

Using the link "->Next unread message" in the actionbox on the right side next to the sequence of postings of a thread you can go to every posting you have not read before one after the other.

Using the link "->Skip thread" in the actionbox on the right side of the sequence of postings of a thread you can mark all postings of your current thread as "read" and jump to the thread which has been openend right after the one you have currently read.
For technical reasons this function cannot handle the threads in the order in which they are shown in the list of threads. It picks the thread which was openened right after the one currently shown as for the ranking within the list it is not the time when the thread was openend is relevant but the time of its latest posting.

Board favourites and board settings
In our chats when there are a lot of boards you can have board favourite, means you can "subscribe to boards" which your prefer to other boards and read more often. The boards you are subscribed to are presented above the others when you enter "Topics". This comes in handy because you need not look for them in the list of topics again every time.
To add a topic to your board favourites go to the list of topics and click on the link "[+]" on the right side next to the name of the topic you want to select.

Use the so-called "sidebar" with postings.
This is an area on the left within a message showing sort of a short summary from the profile of the user who wrote the message. Depending on the data the user entered in the profile you can see his/her personal photo, the nickname, where applicable a certain "right" within the community (e.g. "Serveroperator"), or possibly the city/region/country the user comes from. There are several settings available for the sidebar. You can find them in the subnavigation on the start page in "Preferences", then "General". Select the wanted entry from the "Show sidebar in the boards" pulldown menu: "only in some boards", "nowhere" or "in all boards".

Polls
Some topics allow opionion polls to be held in the shape of a thread. The results of these polls can be shown in the thread as a diagramme. You can on the one hand of course cast your vote, on the other hand if allowed by the board adminstration also start a new opinion poll.
To do so just click on "->New Poll" in the actionbox on the right next to the list of threads.

Searching the boards
There are two different ways to search the boards for certain terms:
To search all boards at once for something specific, go to "Topics"->"Search".
To search a certain topic for something specific, click on "->Search" in the actionbox on the right next to the list of threads.

Board archive
After a certain time older threads are moved to the board archive.
To search the archive of a certain sub-topic for something specific, click on "->Archive" in the actionbox on the right next to the list of threads.

Formatting postings
You can improve the effectiveness of your postings by well directedly using several means of formatting.
A list of means available can be found [help:1307|here]].

Postings with links
In your postings you can both link to external pages and link to internal pages such as other postings for exammple.

To link external pages you just have to write the complete URL (http://...) in the text. The system will change the URL to a link automatically. More reliable and correct it is nevertheless to enclose the URL in double square brackets left and right: [[http://...]]
If you do not want the URL in the text to be shown as URL but as a text link, you need to write it as follows: [[http://...|URLdescription]], i.e. with a vertical bar (also called "pipe") without blanks between the URL and the name of the link you have chosen.

To link to other postings you can just take the URL of the posting which you get with a mouseclick right on the posting. The system will automatically transform it to a link and also remove your Session ID.
In case the URL of the posting you want to link to is not supposed to be shown as URL in the text but as a text link, enter it as follows: [[http://...|URLdescription]]

A list of even more options to use to create links can be found here.

Board moderation

The boards are also no place where you can do whatever you like. The Terms and Conditions are applicable here as well. To see to these rules being followed there are "ops" for this area too, also called board moderators. In a thread their nickname is marked bold. They can...

• close threads, in case they think all necessary things have been said in a thread and more postings would be considered superfluous or a nuisance.
  
• delete threads, in case they are not supposed to be where they are, are considered superfluous or a nuisance where they are or do not comply with the Terms and Conditions.
  
• lock postings, i.e. remove from the sight of users in case they do not comply with the Terms and Conditions.

Click on "->Moderators" in the actionbox on the right side next to the list of threads to find out who is a board moderator for a certain sub-topic.

Users who frequently stand out in a negative way or even do not follow the rules in the Terms and Conditions can be banned from a board by a serveradministrator, i.e. this user cannot write new postings in a certain sub-topic.
Users who continue their misconduct after this "local" board ban in other boards or try to circumvent the board ban with the aid of a second nickname have to face consequences like maybe a conclusive ban of the nickname.

Board language
A list of abbreviations widely used in boards can be found here.

If someone is referred to as a "board troll" or "troll", this term stands for a very unpopular kind of users in boards.
Board trolls' intention is to start or encourage discussions for the sake of it without actually being interested in the discussions' result. By this kind of conduct other users of boards are deliberately bothered by this behaviour. They are just waiting for someone to disagree to start to slag this user down. Another strategy popular with board trolls is to sabotage a thread by creating unpleasant vibes through posting accordingly.