Welcome To "How To Use A Forum"

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Throughout this lesson we will be using Big Marketing Forum as an example.

It is recommended that you open a new window or tab with http://BigMarketingForum.com/Forum so you can follow along with the guide.

Page 4

You have successfully set up your profile, and now other members of the forum will be able to learn more about you every time you post. You are doing a great job, and soon you will be a forum pro. As mentioned on the previous page, I wanted to show you a few more things available on your Profile page. Below is a picture with various arrows. Below the picture, I will describe what each link is for.

First we will start on the page that is shown. You can reach this page by clicking on Notifications and Email which the RED Arrow is pointing to in the picture above. This page is how you set up how you will be notified if someone replies  to a post you make on the forum. As you can see there are several things listed with a check box beside each one. The first box should be checked, as this will allow you to receive announcements from the owner of the forum. The second box which reads: "Receive reply notification only for the first unread post" should also be checked if you only want to receive notification of the first reply you get. Many people may reply to your post, and if you leave this box unchecked you will receive an email for each reply.  If you make a post and someone replies to it, you will receive an email notifying you of this. When you receive this notification, you can click on the link you receive in your email and go directly to the topic that the reply was received in. It is important to reply to posts you make as you may have received a question on your website or about something else you posted, and you will want to answer it as soon as possible to build a level of trust amongst other forum members. The third box is optional, but again I suggest checking it, it reads: "Turn notification on when you post or reply to a topic. What this will do if you check it, is allow you to receive emails about activity and any post you make or reply to. Again it is very important to answer and reply to posts made in a topic you are involved in. If you would like to have the message that was typed sent to your email you can put a checkmark in the fourth box. If you do check this box, please do not reply to the message sent. Make sure you return to the forum to reply to the messgae. The bottom to parts of the page will list any and all topics and/or categories you are receiving notifications on. I will be explaining these words later if you don't know what they mean.

Here is the same picture as above again, so you do not have to scroll up to look as I explain what the other links on this page are for.

If you want to change the look or layout of the forum, click on the link that the BLACK Arrow is pointing to. It reads: "Look and Layout Preferences". You will be able to change the time for the forum, and how you want everything to look for a more personal look. There are many different options available to you, and I suggest you test different looks until you find one you like.

The YELLOW Arrow is pointing to a link that reads: "Blog Control Panel" by clicking on this link, you will be taken to your Blog Control Panel if you have a blog at the forum. If you do not have a blog set up, clicking on this link will give you instructions on how to start a blog. I will be discussing blogs later in this tutorial also.

Personal Message Options, which the GREEN Arrow is pointing to, will allow you to add people that you do not want to send you a Personal Message to a list by their username. Also here you have options to save a copy of all Personal Messages you send to your outbox. If you are on the forum when  a new personal message is sent to you, there is an option on this page to have a popup notify you of this. One last thing you can do on the Personal Message Options page is to turn on or turn off receiving an email each time you get a personal message on the forum. I suggest you have this turned on so you know when you receive a personal message.

That concludes the Profile part of the tutorial. Take a break now if you have been reading this and applying what you learn since page 1. When you are ready to continue and learn about making your first post, click the Next Page link below.