Overview of Message Boards


Dear Genealogy Forum member:

We suggest you print out these descriptions of preferences, so that you can circle the ones you desire, and can easily set your message board options to be viewed in the manner you desire. To print, click on the word "Print" on your tool bar, located at the top of your screen. From the drop-down list, click on "Print."


SET YOUR PERSONAL PREFERENCES FIRST!
When you first enter the message boards or read any message in them, you will see a button at the bottom of the message board window that says "Preferences." This might be a very tiny button, so be sure to look closely for it. There are three tabs at the top of the "Preferences" screen, which are described below.

VIEWING
It is here that you decide how you want your messages presented to you.

Sort Order

  • Oldest First
  • Newest First
  • Alphabetically (most researchers select this option)

    Threading
    All of our topics are threaded, which we feel makes it easier to follow a particular subject, but you can override this setting and set your personal preferences to view messages in an unthreaded or as defined by owner format, if you wish.

    Offline Reading
    Maximum number of articles to download can be set to a higher number. If you are using "Automatic AOL" to download and read messages offline, this can be set to any number. If you set it to a lower number, you will not be overwhelmed with too many messages. If you set it to a higher number, you will be able to read more postings.

    Days Back
    If you want to see ALL of the postings, set this number to 9999. We recommend using this option so that you don't miss any postings, especially on your first visit to the boards.

    POSTING
    If you click on the "Posting" tab, you can set a signature. If you write anything in this box, then click on the "Save" button, the text you wrote will automatically be added to EVERY message you post. Be careful about what you write here since it will appear on every single posting you make. Many people will put a list of the surnames they are looking for here. Others may wish to write a clever quote.

    FILTERING
    Use filtering preferences to reduce the amount of unwanted messages in the message boards you read.

    Select Filter Type
    Select a filter type that you would like to use, then supply the words or phrases that you would like that filter to block out. For example, select the filter type Subject Contains, then enter "horses" into the New Filter box. Click Add Filter to add this filter to your list of current filters. This will block any messages with the word "horses" somewhere in the subject line from appearing in the list of messages. If you use the filter type Subject Is and add the entry "horses," only messages that have the subject "horses" will be filtered out. Messages that have the subject "quarter horses" or "horses and antics" will not be filtered out.

    If you find a particular member's messages to be bothersome, select the filter type Author Is and enter that member's screen name into the New Filter box. This will block any message from that screen name from appearing when you are reading messages. You may also block all messages that come from a particular domain by using the filter type Domain Is.

    To remove a filter, click on a filter in the list on the right and click Remove Filter. Click Clear Filter List to remove all filters associated with the filter type selected on the left.

    NOTE: Make sure to click on the "Save" button at the bottom of the screen when you are done with all your changes in the "Viewing," "Posting," and "Filtering" tabs.

    For further help with "Preferences," click on the "Help" button after you click on the "Preferences" button.

    HOW TO READ & COMPOSE OFFLINE

    It is possible to use "Automatic AOL" to download a message board to read offline. You can even respond to messages offline and have them uploaded back to the board. With messages downloaded for offline reading, the "Filing Cabinet" abilities can be used to do word searches of the downloaded messages.

    Here is a step-by-step guide:

    1. Go to Keyword: ROOTS.

    2. Click on the button "Messages." You will then enter the Message Boards.

    3. Click on the picture icon beside the topic category you want. For example, you can click on the picture of the notebook computer by "Computer and General."

    4. Double click on a topic. For example, we will use "Computer Tools & Techniques."

    5. Scroll through the list and pick a topic that you would like to add to your "My Boards" folder.

    6. For example, we will pick "New? Introduce Yourself!" topic. Highlight the topic by clicking on it once.

    7. Click on the button that says "Subscribe" at the bottom of the screen. The topic will now be marked for inclusion in your "My Boards" folder.

    8. Scroll through the list and pick any other topics that you would like to add to your "My Boards" folder. To unsubscribe, just highlight the topic and click on "Subscribe" again. You will see a message that says that you are now unsubscribed. You can continue choosing topics and putting them in your "My Boards" folder from any of the message boards throughout the Genealogy Forum.

    9. Close all of your windows to the message boards.

    10. Go to Keyword: MY BOARDS. Highlight the subscribed message board topics that you would like to read offline and click on the button "Read Offline." A small clock icon will now show up to the left of that topic. Continue doing this for all message board topics that you would like to read offline.

      NOTE: Once a topic has been marked for offline reading, it will permanently stay that way. Any time you use "Automatic AOL," only the new postings in the topics you selected will be downloaded. If you want to review what you have marked for offline reading, go to Keyword: MY BOARDS. If you want to remove the clock, highlight the topic and click on the "Read Offline" button again and it will be unmarked and not downloaded in the future.

    11. When you are ready, you can run or schedule "Automatic AOL" by clicking on the word "Mail" on your AOL tool bar, then clicking on "Automatic AOL" from the drop-down list. (For more information on how to use and set up "Automatic AOL," go to Keyword: AUTOMATIC AOL.) Those message board topics that you have marked and downloaded will now be in your "Filing Cabinet." For information on how to view your downloaded message board topics in your "Filing Cabinet," please go to Keyword: PFC.

      NOTE: If you have marked all of your messages as "Read," nothing may download until a new message appears, so don't panic if nothing gets downloaded on your first attempt. :) You may need to wait a day before messages download.

    HELP IS ALWAYS AVAILABLE.

    There are "Help" buttons all throughout the message boards, so make sure to read them, they might just answer a question or two. Also, be sure to click on the button "About Message Boards" located at the bottom of the message board screen, next to the "Preferences" button.


    IF THE LETTERING IS TOO SMALL

    Be sure to set your preferences to view text as large as possible. Here is how to change the AOL Preferences.
    1. Click on the word "Settings" on your AOL tool bar, at the top of your screen.

    2. From the drop-down list, click on the word "Preferences."

    3. Click on "Font, Text & Graphics."

    4. Click on the "Large" circle under "Text Preferences."
    This may not work for the message titles, but it will make reading other online text as easy as possible.


    "SINCE LAST VISIT" MODE HAS 1st TIME CATCH!

    GFATerry@aol.com reports about one confusion with the message boards -- readers are reporting: "I did a "Since Last Visit" type search and it brought up all the messages. This doesn't work!"

    Answer: All the messages will be new to you the first time you go to that area. If you will click on the Mark Read button, those topics will be marked as old and the next time you come online and use Find Since, it will work fine.


    CUSTOM WORD SEARCH

    With the ability to search every word of every message, message titles are not as critical (although we still encourage you to use the SURNAME as the message title).

    To do a word search, go to any topic or message and click on the button at the bottom right hand corner that says "Find By."

    You can then click on "Custom Search" and do a search for any name, place or other word. You may want to add the word "genealogy" to your search so that only the Genealogy Forum boards are searched instead of every board on AOL.

    For example, if you are looking for other people doing genealogy on the SMITH family, you would type these search words in the box: Genealogy Smith.


    UP ARROW FOLDER

    Have you noticed the little folder icon at the top left of a message window that has an up arrow? It is a way of backtracking through the message boards to see all the postings in a topic or to see all the topics in a folder. The best way to use it is to try clicking on it and see where it leads. We hope you enjoy this feature in the boards.


    HAVE FUN DISCOVERING THE JOYS OF OUR MESSAGE BOARDS

    We have touched on most of the major features to enhance your message board experience, but please take a few minutes and experiment with the other features and functions!


    Click on the green underlined text to go directly to the
    Message Boards On AOL Only


    You can reach the Message Boards on our Internet site by clicking here http://www.genealogyforum.rootsweb.com/#message and selecting the board of your choice.


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