A “message” is a form of communication sent by one user to another user or multiple users. It can be the originating message that starts a new topic or it can be a response to an existing message within a topic. A message is also called a “post”.
To view messages in a forum, navigate to a category and click on a topic that is of interest. All messages that have been posted in that topic will be displayed. They are either viewed in a linear fashion (posts are listed in chronological order) or threaded (each post is made in reply to a parent post). Users may have a choice on how to display their messages by clicking on the different format links at the top right of the Topic Header.
If the total number of messages in the topic exceeds the number of messages that you have allowed to be displayed per page, then you can navigate to read the other messages by using the page numbers that will appear at the top left and bottom left of the screen. Users can also use the “Next Page” button, or jump to the last unread message by clicking on the “Last Unread” button.
Replying to a message can be accomplished in a variety of ways. To post a quick reply to a message, a user can use the Quick Reply text field, which appears at the bottom of the thread, or through the Topic Tools menu. This feature is used to send a response to the last posted message within a topic.
However, a user can reply to any message that is viewable in the topic or thread. The user can use the “Reply” button, which appears at the right of the message. Or, the user can click on the “Quote” link and the body of the reply message will quote the message to which you are replying. A “Replying to a Message” window will appear. Simply enter the text of the message and click the Reply to Topic button. If the user hasn’t subscribed to the topic, he/she can click on the checkbox to do so. To learn more about subscriptions, refer to “Subscribing to a Topic”.
If the user wishes to prevent parsing of emoticons, he/she will need to check the box “Do not parse emoticons. If enabled by the Administrator, a user can also rate the topic by clicking on an icon that appropriately expresses his/her sentiment.
Users have the option to edit their own messages. Within the message screen, in the message navigational bar, click on the link to edit the message. The message as it appears will be displayed for the user to modify or add to the message. Click on the Edit Message button to save and post the message.