We strongly recommend that you print this tutorial out before proceeding. For a printable version of this tutorial, click here.
Table of Contents:
1. Overview
2. Getting Started
3. Posting a Message
4. Posting a New Topic
The AVAA forum allows registered members to ask questions, have discussions, and look at a library of information, all through a mediated, forum-based environment. Over time, the questions and answers that you provide will constitute a database of information which will help people in the same position as you are, in the future. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please contact us at london@vaanes.org.
If you would like to print this tutorial (recommended), click here to open a new window for printing. After you've printed out the tutorial from the popup menu, you may close that window. If you cannot print out the tutorial, click here to open the forum in a new window so that you can follow the instructions at the same time.
1. Click here to open the test Tutorial forum.
2. If you have not already accessed a secure page on the site, then the first thing that will happen when you enter the forum is that you'll be presented with a pop-up window asking for your ID. You'll need to enter in the password and username which we provided to you:
At this time there are 10 forums on the AVAA Web site, and two administration forums. In this tutorial we'll have you post a message and create your own topic. (NOTE: For normal use of the forum, you can ignore the "Log In :: Register" links that sit on the top of every page).
The page that should now be on your screen lists all of the topics that have ever been posted to the Tutorial forum. You'll be creating your own topic in a minute, but for now we want to reply to the topic "Which Medical Web Sites Are Good?".
1. Click on the underlined text that says "Which Medical Web Sites Are Good?"
This will bring you into that topic's main page where you can see the full question, as well as any responses:
The original question is at the top; below that are the answers. All names appear in red and are to the left of the response.
2. Click on the 
button. You'll be presented with the following window:
3. Enter your name into the appropriate field (this should be your real name, not "avaaweb").
4. Type a message into the "Enter your Post" box (it doesn't need to be on topic as this is the Tutorial forum :) ). You can add a Web link by hitting the "http://" button (above the writing area); the HTML code to display your link will be inserted at the end of where you were writing.
Everything else on this page can remain as is. (If you would like to be emailed when there is a response to your posting, you'll just need to register your email address with the site. You can do this by clicking on the "Register" link that sits on the top left of every page of the site, or by clicking here).
5. When done, click on the Add Reply button (bottom), or if you want to see how it will look before posting it, click on the "Preview Post" button.
Your screen will go white for a second or two as your comment is being posted. Then your reply will appear underneath the other answers on the Tutorial forum screen.
1. Now click on the
button. You'll be presented with a window identical to the "Add Reply" window, with the addition of a field for the title of your topic, and it's description (optional). Type in your message as before, and then submit it.
You're done.
