A quick guide to using Qunu

Firstly, please read Qunu's advice to Computeractive readers. Qunu is not an email-based support site - it uses Instant Messaging to put people who need help with their PC problems in contact with experts.

There's a  little bit of confusion that we should clear up; if you're seeking help, you only need to have a compatible browser; Firefox version 1 or later, Internet Explorer version 6 or over and Opera version 9 or later are all able to use Qunu.

Note that the link above to Internet Explorer is to a Beta version of Internet Explorer; if you'd rather use reliable software, and don't have Internet Explorer 6, try Firefox or Opera instead.

You don't need anything else, unless you are planning on providing help to others.

To get started, go to the Qunu.com alpha site. Alpha means that Qunu is still a little experimental, and rough around the edges, although it's working pretty smoothly for us.

You should see a green bar, with a white search box in it. Type the nature of your problem into the box, and hit the Search button. At this point, a yellow bar will slide down from the top of the window with a message asking for you to wait. This might take a few moments.

If your query matches the abilities of an expert, their name and a summary of their skills will pop up in the results page. Click on the person whose skills best match what you need, and you will be connected to them. Again, this is an Alpha service, so be prepared for things not to work teh first time around!

If the connection is successful, then a small chat window will pop up within the browser window itself. If you use an instant messaging service such as AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger or MSN, then this format should be familiar to you.

The main box of window that opens will show your conversation with the expert, the right hand box will show who is participating in the conversation, aside from you, and the lower box is where you can enter your questions and information on the problem you are having.

Bear in mind that the experts are all volunteers - they're helping out other people out of the goodness of their hearts, so be patient if they don't understand your problem or can't help.

If you want to save the conversation for later, click on the button in the small popup marked Save, and a new window of your browser will open. Go to File, then Save Page As, and save the conversation.