Getting Started

Welcome to GodChannel Forum. This document gives you the basic knowledge that you need to use this conferencing system effectively. If you experience any difficulties with the board, contact ForumHelper@GodChannel.com.

• Reading Discussions
• Contributing to Discussions
• Searching the Board
• Getting an Account
• Where to get further information
• Rules and "Netiquette"

Reading Discussions

Anyone with WWW access can read discussions on this board. To read discussions, navigate to the discussion of interest by single clicking on the links from the list of topics and subtopics. You can navigate backwards using the links in the navigation bar at the top of each page.

Contributing to Discussions

To post a message to an existing discussion, fill in the "Add a Message" box at the bottom of the page. At the discretion of the moderators, the discussion may allow public posting or may require a user account (username and password). Follow the instructions on the form to supply the necessary credentials for posting.

Where available, you may click on a "Create New Conversation" button to start a new discussion. This will add a subtopic with the subject you specify and start a conversation with the initial message that you specify. After filling in the subject line, post a message as described above.

Searching the Board

This discussion board can be searched by time of post (New Messages search) or by matching text (Keyword Search). Each of these searching mechanisms provide convenient methods to locate discussions of interest.

To search for new messages, click the New Messages link from the Main Menu. If you have an account with a valid username and password, fill in your username and password in the appropriate boxes to search for messages since your last check. If you do not have an account, you can still search for new messages posted since a given date. The Last Day and Last Week options on the Main Menu are equivalent to searching for messages posted within the last day and messages posted within the last seven days, respectively.

To search the board by keywords, click the Keyword Search link from the Main Menu. You can then specify the words that will be used in the search. Additional instructions for using the Keyword Search option are displayed on the search screen itself.

When you have performed the search, click on any of the links to the pages to view the page, or click on a link in the result to go to the post where that text occurs.

Getting an Account

Having a user account on this discussion board gives the following benefits:

• Ability to specify your full name and e-mail address to be included on your post
• Ability to enable e-mail notification of all posts to topics you select
• Ability to change your own password
• Ability to create and moderate your own topic or title. (Write to Forum Helper for details.)

To get a user account, email your preferred user name (and a second choice if it's a common name) to ForumHelper@GodChannel.com. A temporary password will be assigned by return email. When you first log into the Forum, click the Edit Profile link from the Main Menu and change your password.

Where to get further information

For additional information on using this system, read the Troubleshooting document, available from the Main Menu. If you have additional questions or concerns, post them to an appropriate area on the discussion forum, or contact one of the moderators or the board administrator from the Contact page.

Rules and "Netiquette"

When writing your messages, please use the same courtesy that you would show when speaking face-to-face with someone. We're hoping to create a separate emotional processing space soon, but in the meantime please, no flames, insults, or personal attacks here. It's fine to disagree strongly, but always with respect for the other person. Also, note that messages express the thoughts, feelings and opinions of the writers, not the Forum or its moderators.