a. Click on the forum which most interests you. Once there, click on the subject of the post that you want to read, or one of the three other tabs to refine your request; or

b. Click on the “Selected” “Popular” or “Recent” tab and you will be brought to a list of topics based on your choice.

a. How to post your first message You will Not be able to post on a Read Only Information Forum.

b. Click on the forum name.

c. Click on the “New Topic”  button on the right side of the page.

d. Enter the subject of your post and optionally a description line.

e. Type your post in the text window. BREAK UP YOUR POST INTO SMALL TO MEDIUM SIZE PARAGRAPHS. Some of our members are not able to read long paragraphs.

f. If you are attaching a file, attach it using the text window below the post text window. Make sure that your file has one of the allowed suffixes which include bmp gif, jpg, jpeg, png, txt, zip, and pdf. Please use this feature sparingly only to attach medical files (i.e., to attach an article). Moderators may delete attachments if they are not viewed often. Max. size is 20K. If the url is quite long, use a tiny url in order to limit the width of the page.

g. The Board software allows for colored texts and different fonts. This feature is supported by Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 5.5 or later. You will not be able to change fonts using Netscape. Please do not change font size characteristics except to emphasize a brief passage. To change font color or size:

1. Place the cursor at the top left of the text window.

2. Then select the desired font size and color and begin typing. If you do anything else before you start typing, you will lose the next font settings.

3. Alternatively, you can type the message in normal font size and color and then highlight the part of the text and select the desired font size and color.

h. Please keep in mind that some of our members have vision problems which make certain text attributes difficult to impossible to read. To ensure that all of our members will be able to read your posts, please consider the following :

1. Lighter colors, such as yellow, are difficult or even impossible for some members to read. Use darker colors (black, gray, navy, blue, dark red, red, and green).

2. Instead of using all capital letters because of difficulty using the shift key, please consider typing in all lower case letters as some of our members have difficulty reading all capital letters. Also, Internet etiquette suggests that typing in CAPITOLS means that you are SHOUTING.

3. Please break your posts up into relatively small paragraphs for easier readability.

On rare occasions we have reports from members that their posts were lost in cyberspace.  We do not know the cause but, based on their reports, believed it to be user error (clicked on a wrong button, for example).  Having said that, regardless of the cause, losing a long post that you have labored to create is not a pleasant experience. 

We therefore recommend that when composing long posts you do so in something like Word or Notepad.  When you are done composing, then copy your text into a post on this board. 

If you push a wrong button, or the cybergremlins eat your post, all you will need to do is paste it again into a new post.

To Reduce the White Space.

Please try not to add extra white space because it takes up unnecessary room on the website.Single space between paragraphs seems to work best.

Check the ending to be sure your name is on the last line. you may do this by pressing delete key once you have finished typing.. and the white space will be taken up..

a. Click on the “Reply” button at the top right of the message box.

b. Type your message

c. Click on the “Send” button

see above re To Reduce the White Space.

a. Click on the recipient’s screen name.

b. Select “Send A Private Message”. (Alternatively, go to the Private Message section and click "Write New". Then type in the screen name of the person to whom you would like to write.)

c. To send or forward messages to more than one person, insert a comma between screen names. You do not need to include a space between the comma and the next name but it will work if you do.

Since this feature is not at all forgiving (meaning that if you misspell a screen name, you will lose the text of the message when you click "Send"), it is a good idea to copy your message to your clipboard before clicking "Send" in case you have made an error and need to start again.

d. Fill in the subject line

e. Type your message

f. Click "Send" at the bottom of the page.

g. The recipient will receive e-mail notification that a message is waiting for them.

a. You will receive e-mail notification with a link to your Private Message box; clicking on the link in the message will bring you to your Private Message Box; and

b. In the top right corner, there is a message number indicator next to your login name; clicking on this link will bring you to your Private Message Box.

c. To open a Private Message, wait until the page has completely finished loading and then click on the subject line. The text message will appear below the subject line.

d. To close a Private Message, click on the subject line.

a. Click on the screen name of the person to whom you want to send an email message.

b. Select the “Send e-mail” option.

c. Your e-mail client software will be opened to a new message with the email address of the recipient in the “To” field.

d. Some members have chosen not to make their e -mail addresses available to other members. To communicate with them privately, send a Private Message.

a. Enter the key words for your search in the search text window to the right of the “Search” button. To get a list of posts by a specific user, check the "Search by username" box.

b. Either hit the enter key on your keyboard or click the “Search” button.

c. You will be given a list of posts which contain those words.

d. Click on the subject to be taken to that post.

e. To return to the search results list, use the “back” button on your browser.

a. Click on the “My Account” button at the top of the page

b. Click on the “Avatar” tab.

c. Slect the avatar you want to use.

a. Click on the "My account" button at the top of the page.

b. Click on the "Profile" tab

c. Fill out your information, as much as you are comfortable sharing.

d. Click "Save"

e. Click the "Home" button at the top of the page to return to the board.

a. Click on your screen name and select “View Profile”

b. Click on the information in the “Location” field. If you click on the city, you will get a list of people who live in that city. If you click on the state, you will get a list of people who live in that state. If you click on country, you will get a list of people who live in that country.