How to Use NHF's Discussion Group

Overview

Discussion groups are a central feature of every NHF Online Communiy. They offer you an opportunity to ask questions, solicit opinions, and have wide-ranging discussions on a variety of issues with people in the bleeding disorders community who share some of your issues and concerns. Each discussion group functions similarly to bulletin boards you may have participated in elsewhere. You can view what others have posted on a particular topic, join the discussion by adding your own question or comment, or start an entirely new topic. Each discussion group is geared to a specific group or area of interest relevant to a particular NHF Online Community. Although any group member can start a new topic, new groups can only be started with the permission of the webmaster. For more information on starting a new group, click here..

Post
A message placed on the NHF Discussion Group.

Thread
Another name for “topic.” Generally, a thread consists of a series of posts, beginning with an initial post, which follows a topic in chronological order. A thread-based series allows group members to better see the progression of a topic being discussed.

Forum
A topic of discussion under which threads are placed by site visitors and administrators. Forums help to organize the information on the Discussion Group so it is easier to read and follow.

Member
A registered user of the NHF Discussion Group.

Profile
Consists of information voluntarily given by a member upon their initial registration (or whenever they choose to edit their profile). The information is viewable to any visitor that clicks on the member's name on the Members page, unless the member chooses not to
make their profile information public.

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Posting and Responding to Messages

Starting a New Thread
To start a new thread, click "New Thread," either at the top of the discussion group page or within any message posted to the group.

Responding to a Post
To add your comments to a discussion, click the title of the discussion you're interested, then click "Post Reply."

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Registration

On the Discussion Group main page, click on the "Register" button to open the New Member Registration page, and enter the following details:

User Name: May contain a combination of characters and numbers. Must be unique. (No two members may have the same User Name.)

Password: Enter a password. You will need to enter the password every time you log on to the Discussion Group, unless you select "Log me in permanently."

Real Name: This is different from the user name and will not be displayed on all the web pages except when viewing your profile. You may also hide this by blocking your profile. (Explained below.)

Age and Gender: Not mandatory.

E-Mail: It is very important that you enter a valid e-mail address. All e-mail notifications are sent to this address. You may hide your e-mail address and other information by using the block profile option.

URL: Your home page or web address.

Biography: An optional description about yourself, your interests and hobbies, etc.

Signature: Your signature is added below each message you post to the board.

Block profile: You may hide/block all of your information including your e-mail by clicking on the “Yes” radio button. Your e-mail address will not be displayed with the messages you post to the board. If you want all your information to be publicly viewable, select “No."

After entering all of the information above, hit the "Submit" button. Selecting the "Reset" button clears the entire form, allowing you to start over.

Upon registering successfully, you will receive an e-mail at the address you provided. You will also be logged into the
system automatically and can perform functions that have been approved for registered members. This may be different for the boards where the Board Master needs to manually approve an account before activating it. After registering, you will see a
confirmation page that confirms that you have successfully registered and must wait for the Board Master's approval before using the board.

(Please Note: If you are a registered member and are logged in to the system, you will not be able to register. Instead you will be shown a link to the Edit Profile page.)

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Setting Your Profile

On the Discussion Group main page, click on the "Profile" button on top to open the Edit Profile page. If you are not logged in, you will see a login page that will allow you to enter your proper login credentials.

Once you are logged in, make any modifications you deem necessary. All the fields are the same as shown above, except the user name. You can not edit your user name. After making all the changes, click the "Submit" button. If you would like to start over, click
the "Reset" button.

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Viewing Member List

On the Discussion Group main page, click on the "Members" button to open the Members page. Enter the full or partial username of the member you are interested in and select the "Search" button. To list all members, select the "Search" button or “Show All Members”
link.

This will result in a list of all user names that matched your criteria along with the date they registered and the number of messages that they have posted. Click on the column headers to sort the members according to those criteria. Click on a user name to display that member’s profile. The View Member profile page displays select information for members who have allowed their information to be seen, including his/her name, total posts to the current site, gender, and biography. If the member has posted at least one message, you will see a link next to the last post field. If you select that link, you will be taken to that message on the main page. Click the Close button to close the Members window.

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