| Understanding Topic Pages |
When you view the messages in the topic pages for the first time, it might feel overwhelming. There is a lot of information on each page, as well as several different member options; and that can be disorienting when you are first starting out.
The information below explains the items you see on topic pages.
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If you log in, the last date and time that you visited the forum appears. The current time also appears. The server for the forum resides in the Eastern time zone (GMT - 5 hours; GMT - 4 hours during Daylight Savings Time). Therefore, the current time is based on that time zone.
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A navigation linkbar (known as a "breadcrumb" or "path") appears on each topic page. Click on any phrase between the double arrows (>>) to visit the corresponding page.
 Tip: To go back to the forum's index page at any time, click the Forum index link on the far left side of the linkbar.
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The topic title appears at the top of all topic pages in large text, as shown above. This is the same title that you see in the topic list of the corresponding forum.
Tip: Note how the topic title is identical to the Subject line of the first message in the topic (circled above). When you post a new topic, be sure to enter a Subject line that clearly communicates the nature of the topic. This is important because the Subject line becomes the topic title from that point forward.
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New Topic icon - you click this to start a brand new topic in the same forum that has a different subject matter than the one currently displayed.
 Note: Always check the subject matter to make sure you are starting your topic in the most appropriate forum.
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New Reply icon - you click this to add a message to the topic that is currently displayed.
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Page and message count indicators let you know which page you are visiting within a topic. The number of posts listed is equal to the first message that was posted for the topic plus all the reply messages that have been posted thus far.
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If the messages in a topic span more than 1 page, a Goto page indicator appears on the topic pages. You can click on the page number or on the Next or Previous link to visit the corresponding page within the topic.
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Watch this topic for replies button - you click this to subscribe to message notifications for the current topic. When you subscribe, an e-mail notification is sent to you when a member posts a message in the topic. For more information, see Subscribing to Topic Message Notifications.
Note: While watching a topic, you receive only one e-mail message notification between visits to that topic, regardless of how many new messages are posted.
When you subscribe to a topic, the button changes to  (Stop watching this topic). You can click it at any time to stop receiving e-mail message notifications for the topic. For more information, see Unsubscribing from Topic Message Notifications.
Tip: You can also subscribe and unsubscribe at any time by selecting or deselecting a check box in the message creation form.
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Mark the topic unread link - you click this to mark the topic as unread. When you mark a topic as unread, the New Posts icon (shown below) precedes the topic title in the corresponding forum page, and the topic title appears in your View posts since last visit list. The icon and list both serve as visual cues, reminding you to revisit the topic.
Note: You can also mark a particular post and the posts that follow it in a topic as unread by clicking the  button found in the bottom right corner of the post.
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View previous topic and View next topic buttons - you click these to navigate directly to the previous or next topic in the same forum.
Tip: To view a list of all the topics in the forum, click the forum name in the navigation linkbar to return to the forum page.
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Each topic page has an Author column. The username of each member that posted a message is displayed directly across from his/her message, there.
Underneath each username is a phrase that indicates the author's membership status. This status is assigned by the system, based on how many messages the author has posted throughout the forum or whether or not he/she is a moderator or administrator. Members cannot edit their phrases.
The date on which the author first registered for the forum is included ("Joined"), along with the total number of posts that he/she has contributed to the forum as a whole. If the author has entered a location in his/her member profile, you can see that information, as well.
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At the top of each message, you might see a subject line in bold type. Many reply messages do not specify a subject line, but members always have an opportunity to include one when they create a message. How?
The date and time that the author posted the message also appears, found in the bottom right of the post. This is preceded by a tiny page icon that you can click to display the URL for the corresponding message in your browser's address text box. That is a handy feature when you want to include a link to a specific forum message in the text of one of your messages. How?
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If you want to reply to a message and quote that the author has written, click the quote icon within his/her message block. The message creation form appears with the author's message already enclosed in quotation codes.
Tip: If you want to quote only a part of an author's message in a reply message, you can delete some of the text inside the quotation codes. Or, you can click the post reply icon, instead of the quote icon, and enter the text that you want to quote between quotation codes. For more information, see Quoting Other Posts or Offline Content.
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You can edit your own messages by clicking the edit icon within your message block. The message creation form appears with your message inside it. Simply make the changes you want and re-submit it. For more information, see Creating & Posting Messages.
Note: You cannot edit another author's message. Unless you are a moderator or administrator that has been assigned special permission to edit other members' messages, you will only see this icon inside your own message posts. As soon as someone posts a message that directly follows yours, the edit icon disappears and you can no longer edit your message. For more information, see Editing Your Posts.
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If you are the last author to post a message in a topic, you can delete the message by clicking the delete message button within your message block. As soon as you or another member contributes an additional message to the topic, this button disappears, and you can no longer delete the message.
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mark as unread button - you click this to mark the corresponding message and all the ones that follow it as unread. This feature works just like the Mark the topic unread link, except that it only marks the current and subsequent messages as unread, rather than all the messages in the topic. For more information, see the explanation above for Mark the topic unread.
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profile button - you click this to view the corresponding author's member profile. For more information, see Viewing a Member's Profile.
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PM (Private Message) button - you click this to send the corresponding author a private message. The form for sending a private message appears, and the corresponding author's username is displayed in the Username text box, automatically. For more information, see Sending Private Messages.
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If an author has enabled the e-mail icon in his/her profile, the e-mail button appears in the author's message block. You click this to send the author an e-mail message. The form for sending an e-mail message appears, and the corresponding author's username is displayed in the Recipient line, automatically. For more information, see Sending E-mail Messages.
Note: When you send e-mail messages to members, they can see your e-mail address. However, you will not know their e-mail addresses until they reply to your message directly from their own e-mail software. If they choose to reply to your message by using the forum's Private Message feature, you will not know their e-mail address.
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If an author has included a personal web site in his/her member profile, you can visit the site by clicking the Site button within his/her message block.
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If an author has included an account such as Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger, ICQ, or AIM in his/her profile, you can contact the author by clicking the corresponding button within his/her message block.
Note: The forum staff does not provide any support for these programs. However, if you encounter any difficulty using this feature, you might try posting a message in the Help forum. Perhaps another forum member will respond with some advice. For more information, see Posting a Question in the Help Forum.
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You can navigate directly to a particular forum by selecting the forum name in the Select a forum drop-down list.
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On most forum pages, a group of sentences appears, indicating what you can or cannot do in the corresponding forum. Whether or not you can post new topics or replies, edit or delete your posts, or vote in polls is determined by the forum administrators, based on the nature of the particular forum and other factors.
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Note: You cannot do any of the tasks in this list until you log in to the forum. How?
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