I've tried my best to anticipate your needs, but if you have questions you don't see answered here, please feel free to EMAIL ME.

Audrey Nickel

Forum Manager

WHAT IS A DISCUSSION FORUM, AND WHY WOULD I WANT TO VISIT ONE?A discussion forum (also called a "discussion board" or a "message board"), is a place in cyberspace where people who share similar interests can meet and "talk." It differs from a "chat room" in that conversations on a forum do not take place in "real time." When you visit a chat room, you can only converse with the people who happen to be in the same chat room at the same time, and your conversation disappears shortly after you leave the "room." By contrast, a discussion forum is more like a bulletin board. You can post messages at any time and return at your leisure to see if anyone has responded. Most message "threads" stay active for a week or more. You can also read messages left by other people, and respond if you so choose.

Most discussion boards revolve around certain themes and are designed to attract people with similar interests. You can find discussion forums on the 'net for just about any subject you can think of (and probably a few that wouldn't occur to you!). Most have rules regarding what may and may not be posted, and many are "moderated" by a person or persons with the authority to remove inappropriate messages and, if necessary, ban visitors who routinely post inappropriate material. EpiscoTalk revolves around religious/spiritual discussion, particularly (but not exclusively) issues of interest to people who are members of the Episcopal Church or other churches of the Worldwide Anglican Communion. Our rules are pretty basic, and I highly recommend that you READ THEM before you post your first message on our forum.

People visit discussion forums for a variety of reasons. Perhaps they are curious about the topic of discussion and want to see what others have to say about it. They may have specific questions they want to ask. Or perhaps the topic is one they find of personal interest, and they're looking for a place where they can exchange news, swap anecdotes and discuss/debate issues with others who share their interest. Some people "lurk" for a while (i.e., read messages without posting any themselves) before becoming involved in discussions. In fact, people who are really busy may lurk nearly all of the time. Others may visit once or twice and, curiousity satisfied, go their own way. Most, however, become regular members of our "cyber community," reading and posting frequently. You're invited to participate on whatever level feels comfortable to you.

EPISCOTALK DISCUSSION FORUM

You will see a menu of options. Choose "open in another window" or "open in another browser." Now you can toggle between the forum page and this page by simply "minimizing" one page (by clicking on the "minus sign" in the upper right corner of your screen) and "maximizing" the other (by clicking on the the overlapping squares in the upper right corner of your screen).

When you go to the forum, you will see a list of messages, with the most recent one at the very top. "Primary posts" (i.e., the first post on any given topic) are set in boldface type, flush left, and set off by a spinning ball to the left of the author's name. Replies to that message are indented underneath it, with the most recent reply listed first in the string. Different "threads" (i.e., lines of discussion) are separated by a blank line. New messages (i.e., messages posted within the past 24 hours) are set off by colorful "New" tags to the left of the author's name.

YOU CAN READ ANY MESSAGE OR FOLLOWUP BY CLICKING ON IT. There is no such thing as a "private" message on a discussion board. You may read any message that sounds interesting to you simply by clicking on it. Once you've read a message, the subject line will appear red (or a similar color) on your browser...messages you haven't read yet are blue. You can browse through the thread by clicking on the "Previous" or "Next" link at the top of the message, or you can scroll to the bottom of the message (or click on "view entire thread" at the top of the message) and "pick and choose" from among all the messages in that thread.

To get back to the main board from inside a message, just hit the "back" button 
on your browser, or click on "Message List" to reload the board (worth doing if you're not pressed for time...someone else may have posted something while you were browsing). If you're deep into a thread, I suggest using the "Message List" link to get back to the main board, to avoid having to hit "Back" repeatedly.

TO RESPOND TO A MESSAGE: Again, there's no such thing as a private conversation on a discussion board. Feel free to jump in at any point in any thread. To respond to a message, click on it. Scroll down a bit, and you will see a form to fill out. Required fields are "Subject of This Message" (it defaults to the subject of the message you are responding to, but you can delete that line and give it a different title if you prefer), "Your Name" (a pseudonym is OK, if you prefer to remain anonymous), "Send This Message To" (defaults to the author of the post you are responding to), and "Your Reply" (that's the box where you enter your response). You may enter your email address in the box marked "Your E-Mail Address" if you wish, but it is not required. You can choose whether you want the previous message to be quoted in yours by clicking on "yes" or "no" under "Quote Message in Reply?", and you can choose to have your reply sent directly to the original poster's email by clicking "yes" under "Send a Copy of Your Reply to Recipient's E-mail?" The default on both these options is "No." Once you've filled out the form, click on "Post Reply." Once your reply is posted, you will be returned to the main forum, where you should be able to see your reply directly under the message you were responding to. If you don't see it, hit "reload" on your browser and it will appear.

On occasion, you may find you've said everything you need to say in the subject line of your message and have no need to put anything in the "message box." If that's the case, you can get around the requirement by simply putting a space or a few random characters in the message box (otherwise, when you try to post, you will get a message warning you that not all required fields have been completed). If you do so, please indicate this by adding "nt" (no text) or "nmsg" (no message) to the subject line. Generally, if the message is longer than a sentence, it's best to put the bulk of it in the message box.

On occasion, you may find you've said everything you need to say in the subject line of your message and have no need to put anything in the "message box." If that's the case, you can get around the requirement by simply putting a space or a few random characters in the message box (otherwise, when you try to post, you will get a message warning you that not all required fields have been completed). If you do so, please indicate this by adding "nt" (no text) or "nmsg" (no message) to the subject line. Generally, if the message is longer than a sentence, it's best to put the bulk of it in the message box.

IF YOU MAKE A MISTAKE: Don't panic! You can fix it! Yes, even if you've already posted your message. Click on your message and look at the bottom of the message box...you'll see the words "Edit This Message." Click on that, and you can make any change you want, short of deleting the message entirely. The system keeps track of who posted what, so no one else can come in and tamper with your message. There's also a time limit...you can only make changes for a few minutes after you hit "post message." After that, if a change needs to be made, you will need to EMAIL ME. Bear in mind that I'm not on-line ALL the time, so it may be a while before I'm able to make your change. I can also delete messages if you decide that the whole thing was a bad idea, but, once again, it may be a while before I'm able to get to it. Your best course is to think carefully before you post and proofread your message within the first minute or so of posting it so you can make changes if required.

If you want to send an e-mail to someone on the board, simply click on their e-mail address in one of their posts. The fact that the address is there is an indication that the individual will welcome mail from others on the board. If they haven't provided an e-mail address, the appropriate way to request e-mail communication is to post your address and ask if they would be willing to e-mail you. Please note: If you are receiving inappropriate e-mail from someone on the board, let me know immediately via EMAIL -- do not post accusations on the board! We like to think that everyone who visits sites such as this is a fine, upstanding human being, but sadly, that's not always the case, so always exercise caution when corresponding with strangers. 

in the "Optional Link URL" box, and 

in the "Optional Link Name" box.

You can also post a link in a followup message by using html tags. Simply type (or paste) this line in the body of your message, wherever you would like the link to appear:

<A HREF="http://www.mysite.com">My Site</A>

Replace "http://www.mysite.com" with the URL of the site you are linking to (remember to keep the quotation marks around it) and replace My Site with the name of the site you are linking to. For example, if I want to use html to post a link to this page, I would type:

When the message is posted, only the words "Forum Help" will appear as a hyperlink...the rest of the code will be embedded.

<IMG src="//www.wherever.com/image.gif (or jpg)">

Where "wherever.com" is the Internet location of the image and image.gif (or jpg) is the name and type of the image. For example, if I want to post the Episcopal Seal I use on this site in a message on the discussion forum, I would type:

Once again, remember the quotation marks...it won't work without them! 

If you do this right, the image will appear in your post. This works with photographs, drawings and/or graphical images. If you do post a picture, it's polite to indicate this in the subject line of your post...some folks with slower computers may prefer not to open posts containing pictures or graphics (and those who turn their graphics viewer off may wish to turn it on before opening your post).

It pays to remember that there are all kinds of people on the Internet, and ANYBODY with an Internet-capable computer can view your messages. You can't necessarily tell if a person is trustworthy from what he or she says in a post. In addition, people often "lurk" at a discussion site without posting. With this in mind, remember the basic safety rule: Never post anything on a discussion board that you wouldn't be willing to post on a billboard! Some things you should be especially wary about giving out include:

It's also generally a good idea to avoid much in the way of physical descriptions, and to exercise caution in giving out any information that might enable a stalker to locate you (for example, it's probably not wise to mention that you are infirm and live alone in Anytown, U.S.A. and that you walk to mass every morning at 8:00 a.m. at St. Somewhere's on the corner of Fourth and Main).

I don't want to make you paranoid or scare you away...generally, discussion forums are quite safe. Your "gateway" (the numbers that describe the server you're posting from) is encrypted, and only the forum manager has the password to read it (it's there so that spammers, trolls, and other such vermin can be traced and, if necessary, banned). The only other information in your message is what you yourself put there.

It's generally safe enough to give people your e-mail address (though if you give it out often you may find yourself the recipient of lots of "junk mail" from advertisers). Once again, however, exercise caution in giving personal information to another person via email...remember, the only information you have about the other person is what he or she has told you, and nasty sorts have no compunction about presenting a false image of themselves. It's a little like living in a very big city...don't be paranoid, but do exercise reasonable caution.

Like any society, the Internet has certain basic rules of conduct (commonly referred to as "netiquette"). Some you should be aware of include:

INTRODUCE YOURSELF: The first time you post on any message board (even if it's a followup to someone else's message) it's considered polite to introduce yourself. You don't have to give your real name, or any other personal information, but something along the lines of "Hi! I'm ______ " is welcome.

TYPING IN ALL CAPS: Typing entire messages or paragraphs in capital letters is the equivalent of shouting on the Internet, and is considered extremely rude. It's OK to use all caps occasionally (i.e., for a single word or line) when needed for emphasis, but typing an entire message in all caps will earn you rebukes from other posters and possibly a warning from the Forum Manager.

"NO TEXT" MESSAGES: Sometimes you may say everything you need in the subject line of your post, and thus decide not to enter anything in the "message box." This is perfectly OK, but please indicate that you have done so by putting "nt" (no text) or "nmsg" (no message) in your subject line. It's annoying to click on a post and find nothing there!

PHOTOGRAPHS AND IMAGES: If you put a photograph or graphical image in your message, it's polite to indicate that you have done so in the subject line (you can do so simply by saying "photo" or "picture" somewhere in the subject line). People with slow computers may not want to open a message containing an image, as they can be very slow to load. Conversely, people who normally surf with graphics turned off may want to turn them on before opening your post.

KNOW THE RULES: Most discussion forums have specific rules of conduct. Some may be clearly spelled out, as they are at EpiscoTalk (see FORUM RULES). Others may be less explicit. It's best to be circumspect at first, or even "lurk" a while to get a feel for the tone of a site. If you're ever usure about the rules, ask on the board itself, or contact the Forum Manager for more information. 

DON'T BE A "SPAMMER": Sending out mass emails to people who haven't requested them, or flooding any discussion board with a large amount of irrelevant information in a deliberate attempt to use up the board's bandwidth is called "spamming." Not only do I not want my board spammed, I don't want to hear from others that regular EpiscoTalkers are spamming around other sites. If you are being spammed via email, or if you suspect the board is being spammed, please notify the Forum Manager immediately.

DON'T BE A "TROLL": A troll is a person who comes to a discussion board for the express purpose of stirring up trouble. Usually the troll will post a controversial topic or ask controversial questions, then stay around to "fan the flames" for a while when disagreement starts among the other posters. Often the troll "lurks" at a site for some time before posting, in order to learn what he or she can do to get things going. Eventually, the troll disappears, leaving havoc in his or her wake, and goes on to stir things up on another board. This isn't to say that you can't post on controversial topics, but if it is suspected that you are doing so specifically to stir up trouble...particularly if you are clearly setting people against one another, any sensible Forum Manager will kick you off his or her site. 

DON'T BE A "FLAMER":A flamer is someone who is verbally abusive or deliberately offensive to another person (or persons) on a discussion board. The flamer may call other people names, cast aspersions on their characters, rip apart their beliefs in a particularly nasty way, or simply do his or her best to be offensive and obnoxious. When a lot of people lose control and start flaming one another, it's called "a flame war." Some discussion sites allow flaming (and some are even set up expressly for that purpose...think "Morton Downey Jr. or Jerry Springer meets the Internet"), but many, including EpiscoTalk, specifically prohibit it. Once again, it's always a good idea to read the Forum Rules, if available, and/or spend some time reading posts at any given site to get a "feel" for the tone of a board before participating in discussions.

BE SENSITIVE TO OTHERS (AND REMEMBER THE LURKERS): It's important to be aware that all kinds of people read and post on message boards. Many "lurk" (i.e., read without posting), and it's impossible to know who may be doing so. Be sensitive to other people's feelings. How would you feel if you posted "my senior warden is an idiot" and later found out that your senior warden had read your message? How would you feel if the situations were reversed? It's generally best not to say anything you're not prepared to deal with in "the real world." 

HAVE FUN!

AUDREY NICKEL
FORUM MANAGER

EpiscoTalk is a public forum and, as such, all messages are the responsibility of the individual authors. Opinions expressed do not necessarily represent the opinions of the forum manager, of Paradise Web Services, of GeoCities, of the Episcopal Church of the U.S.A., of the Anglican Communion, of Christians in general or of God Almighty (Father, Son OR Holy Spirit!). Any original material posted belongs to the author, and permission should be sought from the author before publishing it elsewhere. Posters should exercise caution when using previously published material...forum manager is not responsible for copyright violations made by individual posters. Please be sure you have permission to use material not in the public domain.