TrekWeb's forums are unique on the Internet, combining many of the greatest features
of many different forum software packages into a distinct and convenient experience.
This is an overview of the STAR TREK BBS's features.
Dashboard
The new STAR TREK BBS Dashboard (below) allows for quick and easy
navigation between the different forums. The Dashboard is located at the top of
all BBS pages, including thread lists and inside actual threads themselves.
The advantage to this drop-down-based navigation box is that you can move between
forums easily and with different display options. While using the TrekWeb flyout
menu (Community --> Discussion Forums) to reach each forum applies your default
display settings to the thread list, the Dashboard allows you to quickly change
the way the list is displayed without altering your saved default settings. This
allows you to change the order of the list or move to a different forum list with
different display settings than the one currently being viewed. The available
options are described below:
- Forum
Choose from TrekWeb's five forums.
Logged in users will have a My Tracker option, which will display
a thread list of all the threads their account is tracking. This view can be used
for management of thread tracking and easy location of tracked threads across
different forums.
- Range
Choose from 1, 3, 7, 15, and 30 day thread date ranges. This refers to the date
that a thread is posted on the BBS. Older threads must be located using TrekWeb's
Search.
- Order by
Thread date: displays threads according to their post date.
Last post: displays threads according to the date of the most recent reply.
Reply count: displays threads according to the number of replies.
View count: displays threads according to the number of views.
Thread topic: displays threads alphabetically .
- Sort
Displays threads in either Ascending or Desending order according to the Order by component.
Each of these Dashboard settings can be set to a default in your account
Settings.
When you view a forum from a generic link, the Dashboard will be set to whatever your
default settings are. If you alter the settings, the Dashboard will carry over the settings
you selected to subsequent pages and only return to your default settings if you invoke
the BBS page using a bookmark or generic link. This includes flyout menu links and the hotlinked color "strips"
for each forum, which return you to that forum's thread list using default settings.
Buttons
The STAR TREK BBS has several buttons that are used for board functions. There are
three types of buttons: main, thread views, and posts.
Main Buttons are pictured here and include the New,
Directory, Settings, and Send buttons.
- New takes you to the post form to post a new thread.
- Directory takes you to the Member Directory, where you can search and locate fellow BBS members.
- Settings takes you to your BBS account settings, which includes default settings for many of the BBS's features.
- Send appears only inside threads and provides a form where you can send an email to a friend with a link to the thread and a personal message.
Inside threads, you will also notice three Thread View buttons:
- Flat refreshes the current thread in flat mode, meaning
that all replies are grouped in a single list, either ascending or descending.
- Nested refreshes the current thread in nested mode, meaning replies are displayed hierarchically under their respective
parent posts to make following conversations easy.
- Threaded refreshes the current thread in threaded mode, meaning
all replies are represented as clickable links in a hierarchically-organized list below the top message.
At the bottom of every individual post, you will find these Post buttons:
- Reply takes you to the post form to reply to the post.
- Quote takes you to the post form to reply to the post but
also includes the body of the post you are replying to surrounded by quote tags ([q] and [eq])
to make quoting all or portions of the original message easy.
- Edit appears only on your own posts (meaning you must be logged in) and
takes you to the edit form to edit posts that have already been made.
- Next will appear in the button bar for new replies since your last visit to a thread. Clicking on it
allows you to cycle to the next new reply in the thread, until there are no more new replies.
The button bar at the bottom of a thread's very first, original message may also include
some of these buttons:
- Track will appear if you are not currently tracking the thread
and will add it to your tracking list if clicked.
- unTrack will appear if you are currently tracking the thread
and will remove it from your tracking list if clicked.
- Thread top appears if you are viewing a reply in threaded mode
and takes you back to the top of the thread, i.e. the original message.
The BBS buttons can be displayed as text only, icons only, or icons with text. You
can set your preference in your
Settings.
The default setting is icons with text, and this is also the setting for users who are
not logged in.
Browsing List
The forums keep track of registered users who are currently accessing the thread list or individual threads.
If you choose to display the browsing list by default, then a list of registered users who have accessed the BBS
in the last five minutes will be displayed. Clicking on a user takes you to their user info page. The list appears
above the thread count in the upper right-hand corner of the forum list pages. The list applies to users
browsing throughout all the forums and is not forum-specific. The browsing list is turned on by default.
If you prefer to browse in darkness, without other members being able to see whether you have visited the board in the
last five minutes, you can set your browsing visibility to "no." When invisible users are browsing the forums, the browsing
list will report the number of invisible users at the end of the list. Browsing visibility is turned on by default.
Posting Messages
The post form requires that you enter a Topic and a Message to post a message. If
you are posting a new message, you will also see a Post To drop-down menu, which
allows you to post a new thread to any forum without having reached the post form
from that forum.
Only registered users can post messages on the STAR TREK BBS. This is to prevent
abuse of the system. In order to post, you must be logged in. If you are, the Update
Status column to the right of the post form will indicate that you are logged in
and your nickname will appear next to Post As. If you are not logged in, the login form
will be displayed and you will have the option of logging in coincident with posting your message.
When you click post, the system will first determine whether your submitted login information
is correct and, if so, proceed to post your message.
After posting a message successfully, you will be automatically taken to the message
that you posted. In the post form, the status of your post will also appear to the
right of the post form in the Update Status column, which will alert you if you
have posted successfully and provide a link to be used in the event that you are not automatically
redirected to the newly-posted message.
You can only post one message every 60 seconds to prevent abuse of the system and
if you attempt to post sooner than 60 seconds later, you will receive a Failed
message indicating this fact.
You can use several HTML tags in your messages, which are indicated to the right
of the message body box on the post form. You can also post web URLs in the form of
http://blah.com and the URL will be automatically linked by the system in your final post.
Signatures
You have the option of filling out a signature in your Settings. This is a blurb
of text that will appear at the bottom of any message you post. You can enter
URLs in the form of http://blah.com/ (with the trailing backslash) and they will
be auto-converted into clickable links by the system.
You can also specify an
external URL to an image file that you wish to appear with your signature. Simply
paste the complete URL beginning with http:// of the image file's location, and
the image will appear below the text of your signature on all your own posts.
Snap Polls
TrekWeb's forums allow you to post your own snap polls as part of a thread. In order
to create a poll, click the "Add snap poll" button available at the bottom of the post form
when posting a new thread. You must enter a poll question and at least two poll choices. You
may enter up to ten possible poll choices.
Please click the Preview button to preview your poll and ensure that it is exactly
as you want it to appear in the final thread. No changes to polls are accepted after a poll
has been created.
Only logged in members can vote in a snap poll. After you vote, you will be shown the results
and the fact that you have voted in that poll will be noted by the system. This will
prevent additional votes from the same member from being logged. Once you have voted in
a snap poll, the BBS will always display the results of the poll when viewing the thread.
Threads containing snap polls will be indicated in the forum thread list with a small,
boldface text "Snap Poll! (#)" preceding the topic of the thread. The number in
parenthesis indicates how many members have voted in the poll.
Editing Messages
You can edit your own posts. When you edit a post, all the rules of the post form
apply. You may notice your signature inside the actual body of your message when
editing a post. This is because the signature, if you have one, is appended
to messages you post.
Every time you edit a post, the previous message is saved in the Edit History record
for that post. An edited post will have a red "Edit History (#)" link in its header
that takes you to the history of previous messages for that post.
The number in parentheses indicates how many edits have occurred. This is to prevent
users from deleting messages. Once a message is posted, it will always be available and
other users will be able to see if edits have occurred and if so, what those edits were by visiting
the edit history page.
Thread Tracking
Depending on your default thread tracking setting, threads you decide to track will
be added to your tracking list. Every time you visit a thread, the system will indicate
the time of your visit. When displaying the thread list, an indicator will appear next to
the reply count for that thread if there are new replies since your last view of that thread.
The same indicator will appear next to the specific replies that are new since
your last visit inside the thread itself. However, once you view the thread, the time stamp
is updated and when you return, the indicators will vanish. Thus, you may want to briefly
scan through a thread to find all new replies before replying to one and then re-viewing
the thread and eliminating the new indicators.
The forums also track how many times a thread has been viewed and display this
number in the Views column on thread list pages. This includes views
from both members and non-members. Views are counted any time a thread is viewed,
except for when the post form automatically redirects you to the thread after having posted
a new reply. The view count will normally far exceed the number of replies.
The STAR TREK BBS also makes for easy location of new replies inside a thread since your last visit.
Most users view messages in Nested mode and if you are tracking a thread, clicking on the yellow "new" indicator
from the forum thread list (or the red "new" text if you have turned graphics off) will automatically
take you to the first new reply since your last visit. If there is another new reply since your last visit, a "Next" button
(see above) will appear in the message's button bar, which will take you directly to the next new reply inside the thread.
The next button will not appear if there are no more new replies.
Large Thread Handling
The BBS has a unique feature to make the viewing of large threads (those with more than 50 replies)
easier. Most users view the forums in nested mode, which means all replies are displayed below the original
message in hierarchical fashion according to the date of the reply and which message each reply belongs to.
When threads reach more than 50 replies, it can become cumbersome to scan the thread in nested mode for
"new" icons to indicate the new replies since your last visit to the thread.
This problem is alleviated with the Flat and Threaded view options. In Flat mode, all replies are displayed
in a straight list, with the newest replies at the bottom (or top, if viewing in descending order). In
Threaded mode, all replies are represented with clickable links, making it easy to see a "new" icon quickly and
go to the latest reply. While you can easily switch between the three views using the buttons to the top right of the thread, Large Thread Handling provides a shortcut.
If you would like the BBS to always display large threads in either Flat or Threaded mode, while maintaining your
default display setting for threads under 50 replies, you can indicate which mode you'd prefer in the account settings
screen. If you choose
Flat or Threaded, the BBS will always display large threads in that mode. By default, this feature is set to "no different,"
meaning that until you change it to Flat or Threaded, large threads will not be treated any differently from any other thread.
In order to give you an opportunity to explore a large thread for the first time in your default display mode (usually Nested), Large Thread Handling only takes effect after you have begun tracking the thread. Once you are tracking the thread (either by default if you have opted to always track threads you view, or by selecting the "track" button), the next time you view the thread, the BBS will display it according to your Large Thread Handling preference.
Email Notifications
When you post a message, you have the option of being notified via email by the BBS
when someone has replied to your post. This is a convenience meant to keep you apprised
of your post's status and drive you back to the BBS if you forgot about making a post.
You have the option of telling the BBS to always notify you of a reply to any post
you make. If you have done so, then the email notification checkbox at the bottom of the
post form will always appear checked when you post a message. At that time you have the option
of unchecking the box if you do not wish to be notified for that message. Similarly, if your default
setting is not to receive notification, you will have the option of checking the box at the time
of posting.
You can only receive notification of replies to messages you post. When you receive a notification,
you will not receive another email notification until you have clicked on the link in the email
and returned to the forum to review the new reply. So for instance, if a message you post receives
ten replies, you will only receive notification of the first one until you click the emailed link
and alert the system that you have viewed the latest replies.
When you receive
an email notification, please ensure that you enter the entire URL into the address
bar of your browser. Some email clients automatically link URLS in email messages,
however, the BBS URLS can be long and contain many special characters that may either
run onto multiple lines or not be properly recognized by your email client. For this reason,
you should always ensure that the entire URL is either linked or copied into the address bar to
properly view the BBS page containing the thread.
Email notification is a courtesy to make using the forums and participating in discussions
easier and to save your time. However, it is not a substitute for visiting the BBS. You will
not receive notification of replies to replies to your messages, for instance; and you will not
receive notifications of other replies inside the thread that are not direct replies to your own post(s).
Member Directory and Contact Requests
TrekWeb's STAR TREK BBS is committed to protecting your privacy and your email address
from spammers. Rather than display users' email addresses with their posts where spammers
can identify and collect them, the system provides an internal method for members
to contact each other without making their email addresses available to the public.
Through Member Contact Requests (which can be reached by clicking the "contact" link in parentheses
next to any member's name in the header of a post), you can send an email to another member,
requesting that they contact you at a given email address. If that user has opted to receive
these contact requests, the BBS will then send an email to the member with your request.
This is an opt-in service. The default setting for the reception of contact requests is off.
Therefore, if you wish to be available for other members to contact you, you must set this
option to "yes" in your
Settings. If you attempt
to send a contact request to a member that has not opted to receive them, the system will indicate as much to you.
In addition, you may use the
Member Directory
to search for a member, identify them using their unique UID and their most recent post (to ensure
that you are requesting contact with the correct BBS member), and then submit a contact request to them.
Reporting posts to a moderator
If you feel that a particular post violates the BBS
usage policies, click the "Report this post to a moderator"
link to the right of the post topic in the header of every post. This will send an email to a moderator requesting
that they review the specific post for potential editorial or disciplinary action. For more details on disciplinary action please
read the usage policies.
Member Blocking
Although the STAR TREK BBS employs anonymous moderators to monitor for behavior that exceeds the bounds of acceptability,
one of the best ways to do away with intrusive or offensive posts is through self-moderation. The STAR TREK BBS
provides the ability for registered users to block threads and replies from other members. This prevents threads from blocked
users from appearing in the thread list, and replies (and their replies, from anyone) from appearing inside threads.
The thread list will indicate how many threads exist but are hidden due to blocking at the top and bottom of the
thread list, right after the count of threads and the page index navigation.
The number of replies that are hidden inside a thread due to blocking will be indicated at the bottom of the thread.
To edit your blocking list, simply visit your Account Settings. Click the hotlink to "Blocking List" and it will take
you to the bottom of the Settings page, where a list of the users you have blocked will appear. You can remove users from the block
list by selecting them and clicking the "Remove selected" button.
To initiate a block on someone, simply click the "block" link in parentheses next to their name in the header of any
one of their BBS posts. You can also search for members in the Director and block from that screen.
Register to Obtain Your Communicator!
Activate Your Account!
Engage!
) in the top left of all BBS pages. Please review the BBS Usage Policies before posting and most certainly, Enjoy!
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