Forums

An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are at least temporarily archived. Also, depending on the access level of a user or the forum set-up, a posted message might need to be approved by a moderator before it becomes visible.

Forums have a specific set of jargon associated with them; e.g. a single conversation is called a "thread".

A discussion forum is hierarchical or tree-like in structure: a forum can contain a number of sub forums, each of which may have several topics. Within a forum's topic, each new discussion started is called a thread, and can be replied to by as many people as so wish.

Depending on the forum's settings, users can be anonymous or have to register with the forum and then subsequently log in in order to post messages. On most forums, users do not have to log in to read existing messages.

An Internet forum is a discussion area on a website. Website members can post discussions and read and respond to posts by other forum members. An Internet forum can be focused on nearly any subject and a sense of an online community, or virtual community, tends to develop among forum members.

An Internet forum is also called a message board, discussion group, bulletin board or web forum. However, it differs from a blog, the name for a web log, as a blog is usually written by one user and usually only allows for the responses of others to the blog material. An Internet forum usually allows all members to make posts and start new topics.

An Internet forum is also different from a chat room. Members in a chat room usually all chat or communicate at the same time, while members in an Internet forum post messages to be read by others whenever they happen to log on. Internet forums also tend to be more topic-focused than chat rooms.

Before a prospective member joins an Internet forum and makes posts to others, he or she is usually required to register. The prospective member must usually agree to follow certain online rules, sometimes called netiquette, such as to respect other members and refrain from using profanity. When a member is approved by the administrator or moderator of the Internet forum, the member usually chooses his or her own user name and password. Sometimes, a password is supplied. An avatar, or photograph or picture, supplied by the member can appear under the member's user name in each post.

The separate conversations in an Internet forum are called threads. Threads are made up of member-written posts. Internet forum members can usually edit their own posts, start new topics, post in their choice of threads and edit their profile. A profile usually lists optional information about each forum member such as the city they are located in and their interests.

An Internet forum administrator or monitor may also participate in the forum. A forum administrator can usually modify threads as well as move or delete threads if necessary. Administrators can also usually change software items in an Internet forum. Moderators often help the administrator and moderate Internet forum members to make sure the forum rules are being followed.

Internet forum software packages are written in many different program languages. Perl, PHP, ASP and Java are common programming languages used in Internet forums. Either text files or a data base can be used for the configuration and storage of posts in the forum.

Basic Structure of a Forum

A forum consists of 4 components: the forum itself, its categories, the topics and the messages. Each component, or level of hierarchy, is illustrated in the diagram below.

Each forum can have an unlimited number of categories and sub-categories.  Categories are like placeholders in which topics of discussion and messages are contained.  Henceforth, a category manages the forum’s topics into folders or groupings.  This is a logical method of sorting topics.  On the homepage of the forum, a listing of all the categories to which the user has access, excluding those categories that the user wishes to block from viewing (refer to “How do I update my profile?”), will be displayed.  In addition, the user will see the number of topics posted within each corresponding category, and the date/time/author of the last posting made in the corresponding category.  To find out quickly if new messages have been posted since the last viewing, simply hover over the clipboard icon corresponding to the category in question.

Users of a Forum

FuseTalk refers to pre-defined types of users.  They are Forum Owner, Moderator, and User.

Forum Owners are individuals who have been assigned to manage a forum.  Forum owners have the rights to change any forum level, create discussion categories for their forum, create moderators, and manage their own sets of users.

Moderators are individuals who have been assigned to moderate a category within a forum.  A moderator can be assigned to one or multiple categories and their permissions range from deleting messages/topics to banning individuals from accessing the forum.

Users are individuals or members who have been given access to a forum or who have publicly registered to access the forum.  These members do not have any special privileges unless otherwise given by the Forum Owner.  Users can become Moderators or Forum Owners if designated by the Forum Owner.

Joining and Registering to a Forum

To join a forum, registering to a forum must be done.  To do this, click on the “Join [name of forum] Forums” link, and the Registration Agreement will be displayed for the visitor to read and accept before continuing with the registration process.  Upon acceptance of the terms, the visitor will be required to complete a form, which requests for information such as full name, username, email address, password, location and other miscellaneous information about the user.  When all required fields (marked with an asterisk) have been provided, the visitor can proceed by clicking the “Join [name of forum] Forums” link at the bottom of the forum.  To learn more about a member’s profile, please refer to “How do I update my profile?”

Logging in to a Forum

There are several sections on the main page of a forum: the Forum header, My Menu, Category Listing, and a Statistics section.

In the forum header, the following will be displayed: the name of the forum, and the number of new messages since the user’s last visit, any news posted by the Administrator, and the main navigational bar, which offers links to other features within the forum, such as: profile, help, my forums, calendar, refresh, and logout, as well as quick links to the latest topics and statistics.

The “profile” link will direct users to their personal profile, where they can update their personal information and password, update their location and other miscellaneous information, and personal settings.  (Refer to “User’s Profile” for more information.)The “help” link will initiate the online Help documentation.  “My forums” lists information about a user’s posts, his/her favorites, identified keywords, a list of specified “ignored users” and general statistics regarding his activity within the forum.  The user’s calendar will display the events as set by the Forum Administrator. (Note: a user may add entries to his own calendar if granted permissions that authorize him to do so by the Administrator.)

In the user’s personal navigation menu or sidebar, which is located in the left pane, the member’s username will be displayed, as well as a list of his categories (if he is not on his “Home” page of the forums), and a search bar.  The user can hide the sidebar if he/she wishes to.

In the Category Listing pane, members can view a listing of their categories and their Private Topics (if Private Topics has been enabled by the Administrator).  An RSS link is also available for members who prefer to read the latest messages/topics through their RSS reader.  General statistics relating to the categories are also provided for viewing, such as the number of topics posted within each category and when and who made the last post within the corresponding category.

In the Statistics pane, the number of users who are registered to the forum will be displayed, as well as the number of users who are currently logged into the forum.  A link to find the users is available.  Specific to the member, the statistics pane will identify the number of messages that he/she has posted to the forum, and if the member is a global user, the overall number of messages that he/she has contributed in all global forums.