Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

The following document contains answers to questions that are asked frequently by Discus users.

FAQ Index

What is Discus?
How is Discus organized?
What can I do with Discus?
Who may access Discus?
How do I post anonymously?
How do I format my post?
Why does clicking on some topics or subjects take me away from the board?
Why do I see strange characters in the posts?
How do I contact Discus moderators?
How do I change my user profile (password, name, etc.)?
What is the most effective way to search for new messages?
How does the keyword search engine work?

What is Discus?

Discus is a moderated discussion board. Its purpose is to provide an electronic discussion forum that is accessible to anyone on the World Wide Web (WWW). Users can initiate and contribute to conversations. Conversations are monitored and organized by moderators. Discus is ideal for extending classroom discussions to the WWW, conducting electronic conferences, and hosting public discussions.

How is Discus organized?

Discus is organized into topics; each topic may have subtopics, and so on. The basic topic structure is set up by the board administrator and the topic moderators. Within each subtopic are conversations about an aspect of the topic and/or additional subtopics. Users can post messages to these conversations and/or create new conversations within the structure.

What can I do with Discus?

Anyone with WWW access can read any message in any area of Discus.
Users can add a message to an existing conversation. If there is discussion about a subject and you wish to contribute, you can use the "Add a Message" form at the bottom of the conversation you are reading. Your message will then be added to the bottom of that conversation.
Users can start a new conversation. If a conversation has not been started concerning a subject that you desire to discuss, you can click on the "Create a New Conversation" button at the bottom of any page that allows users to create new conversations. The subject of your conversation (which you specify) will then be added to that page. You also type in the first message that will appear in that conversation.

Who may access Discus?

Anyone with access to the World Wide Web may access Discus and read any of the posts on Discus. Users may post messages and create new subtopics (a user account may be required to do this). User accounts are created by discussion moderators.

How do I post anonymously?

If you do want to post anonymously, you can check the Post message as "Anonymous" option at the bottom of the posting form, in which case you will be referred to as "Anonymous" on the posting screen. However, a log is kept of all posts, and the board administrator or moderators can trace objectionable messages.

How do I format my post?

You can format your post using a set of formatting tags. You do not have to know HTML to use these formatting tags. A guide to using these formatting tags to format messages is available on the formatting page, available from the main menu.

Why does clicking on some topics or subjects take me away from topic pages?

At the discretion of the moderator, links to various World Wide Web (WWW) documents can be included on topic pages. When you click on a such link, you are brought away from Discus. However, in most cases, the Discus main menu is still displayed in the frame to the left of the screen. To get back to Discus, either use your browser's back button or click on the "Discus Topics" link from the Discus main menu.

Why do I see strange characters in some posts?

Depending on your browser and operating system, some special characters and formatting will not be displayed correctly. This is especially noticable with browsers below Netscape Navigator 3.0 and below Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0. Some fonts are specific to the Windows operating system and will not be displayed correctly on other platforms.

How do I contact Discus moderators?

To contact moderators, click on the "Contact" link from the main menu. You will be presented with the name and e-mail address of the board administrator.

How do I change my user profile (password, name, etc.)?

At the discretion of the moderators, Discus includes the ability for users to set up a "user profile." Users may specify their e-mail address, full name, and whether or not they want to receive e-mail notification of posts. Users may also change their passwords. To access the user profile editor, click on "User Profile" from the main menu.

What is the most effective way to search for new messages?

The most effective way to use the new message reader is to perform your search, checking for new messages since you last checked (by providing your username and password). When the results are displayed, choose to open the link in a new browser window. When you are finished reading the messages (and posting any replies), close the new window and then continue down the list of new messages.

How does the keyword search engine work?

The keyword search engine searches the text of messages in those topics that you select and returns the results based on the number of times that any of the keyword(s) appear on the page, i.e., an "or" search. You can perform a "custom search" to require or exclude words as follows:

To require a word, precede the word with a +.
To exclude a word, precede the word with a -.
To search for a phrase, surround the phrase with "quotation marks".

Copyright © 1998, Kevin W. Paulisse and William F. Polik, all rights reserved