Forum Post List - An Overview

When you enter a board you are shown the post list.

At the top of the screen, on the left hand side, you will see the name of the board, how the board is sorted, and a link to take you to the Forum Information screen. On the right hand side you will see several buttons which (left to right) are for:

• Post New   — Posting a new message.

• Previous   — Moving to the previous page of messages.

• Index   — Moving to the Main Forum Index.

• Next   — Moving to the next page of messages.

• Expand   — Viewing the messages in an expanded format (disabled if you are already viewing the index like this). In the expanded format you are able to see parent posts (the original post) as well as all of the replies. If you choose expanded mode, the page will take longer to load, as it will be loading a lot more information.

• Collapse   — Viewing the messages in a collapsed format (disabled if you are already viewing the index like this). In the collapsed format you will only see parent posts and none of the replies. Collapsed mode is the default.

Below this, on the left, you'll see a drop-down box labeled: "Now showing threads:" — this tells you what time frame you're dealing with. That is, if it says, "active in the last week," then you're seeing a list of threads that have been (as you would guess) active in the last week. If it says, "from all dates," then you're seeing ALL of the posts in that forum. To view more (or less) posts, just use that drop-down box to choose a different time frame, and click the "Change" button. (You may choose your own default setting for this in your display preferences.)

The main body of the screen displays a list of messages within the board. From left to right the following information is displayed:

• The message icon (such as a chat bubble ( ), a smiley face, etc.). If an icon is yellow then you have read that message. If an icon is orange then it is a new message and/or contains new replies. (If you are not registered/logged in, all icons will be yellow.)

• The subject of the message. If it has (OT) to the left of it, this means that the post is Off Topic (not directly related to Buffy or Angel). You can choose not to see any OT threads by changing your profile settings.

• The name of the member who made the post.

• The number of times the thread has been viewed.

• The number of replies the message has. If you're logged in, and the thread contains replies you haven't read, you will see the number of replies that are new to you noted in small red lettering (3).

• The date/time that the message was posted.

The Subject, Poster Views, Replies, and Last Post titles are clickable so that you can change the order in which the posts are sorted and displayed. If you click on Subject once, it will display posts by Subject in reverse alphabetical order. If you click on it again it will display posts by Subject in alphabetical order. The others work similarly.

If more than one page of posts is available then additional, numbered links will be available at the bottom of the page.

Below this, you'll see the Thread Age drop-down box again. To view more (or less) posts, just use that drop-down box to choose a different time frame, and click the "Change" button. (You may choose your own default setting for this in your display preferences.)

Finally, at the bottom of the page a Jump To box is available to quickly take you to other boards.