Student/User

Logging In
When you first enter the address of your class WebBoard, the opening screen allows you to login to the board.

Name
If you have used or are using a WebBoard for another class, your Name and Password should be the same as for that other class. If this is the first board you have used, your Name will be your first initial followed by (no spaces) your last name (up to seven letters). Jane Smith would have the Name "jsmith" and Joe Longlastname would be "jlonglas".

Password
If you are not sure of your password, you can have your password emailed to you. If you click on Forgot your password? below the log in box, you will be prompted for your User Name (see below).

Once you type in your User Name and click on Enter, WebBoard will email you your password (to change the email address that is set for you, you want to change your user profile). If after you click on Enter it takes you back to the login screen, you haven't entered in the right User Name. Ask the professor or manager of the board in question to find out your correct User Name.

Hierarchy
The hierarchical structure of a WebBoard is as follows (see below and left). As a manager, you can post forums, topics and replies. Users (students) of your board can post topics and replies under the forums you create. You can see the hierarchy in the way forums, topics and replies are displayed in the left frame of the WebBoard window (see below and right). A besides a forum means there are topics posted to it that aren't being displayed (a beside a topic or reply means that there are replies to that message that aren't being displayed). Simply click on the to see the messages. A (as seen below and left) means that all the topics or replies for that particular message or forum are already displayed.

Reading/Posting Topics and Replies

To post a topic to a particular forum, click on that forum from the forum list on the left side of the WebBoard window (see left). If there have been other topics posted to that forum they will appear below (and slightly indented from) that forum heading; you can read any of the postings by clicking on them — they will then appear in the right side of the window. To post a message, click on Post right above where the message is (as in the diagram below). If there are no topics posted, you will be prompted to post a message to that forum.

When you post a message, the right part of the WebBoard window will look like this:

The text you type into the message Topic field is what will appear in the left part of the WebBoard window under the particular forum. The main message field is where the body of your message should go.

We recommend typing the text of your message in a word processing application, like Microsoft Word or Corel WordPerfect.Save that file then copy (Ctrl-C) and paste (Ctrl-V) copy the text you've written into the main message box (see below).

Once you're done typing in your posting in another application, select Select All from the Edit menu (this should highlight all of your text) within Word, WordPerfect ...etc. and then Copy from the Edit menu. Bring up the WebBoard you wish to post to in a browser window (Netscape or Internet Explorer), start a posting, click on the main message field so that the cursor appears within that field and select Paste from the Edit menu.

When you're done with your message, click on the Post button that is right next to the Topic field. WebBoard will then spell check the body of the post — if you want to make changes before it gets put on the board, click on the Back button in the browser window and edit your message; otherwise, click on the Post button again to add your message to the board.

Editing/Deleting
In order to edit or delete a topic or reply you have posted, click on Edit or Delete in the menu bar right above the particular message (see below).

This will bring you back to the screen that you see when you first post a message, but it will contain the Topic and message text of the particular message you selected to edit or delete. (See the tutorial section on posting for further information)

Changing Your User Profile
In order to change your password, username or other parts of your WebBoard profile, click on the MORE... button in the black menu bar across the top of the WebBoard window (see below).

This will bring up a list of More Options in the right hand part of the window. The topmost one will be Edit Your Profile (see below). Clicking on Edit Your Profile will bring up a screen containing all your user information. Make any changes and then be sure to click on the Save button at the bottom.

 

Including an Image or Link
In order to include an image or a link to a web page in a post, you need to know the URL (web address) for either the image or the page.

To include an image, click the right mouse button (if you're using a Windows 95/98/NT machine) or hold down the mouse button (MacOS) and a small menu will appear (see right). Select Copy Image Location.

Then, once you are posting a message, click on Paste from the Edit menu. The URL will appear in the main message field and you can put normal text before or after the image address. Once the message is posted (after the spell check), the image will appear where the address was pasted.


To include a link, you again need to copy the URL, and this can be done by copying the address from the location field at the top of the page (see below).

Select the text within the location field and then Copy from the Edit menu. Once you Paste it into a message, that text will become a clickable piece of text that will open up a new window with that link.