How to use the Computeractive forums

Anyone can read messages posted on the forums, but to post questions or reply to others you will need to sign up for an account. If you signed up for the old forum system then your username and password will still work, so skip to Step 5. If you are new to the forums, open a web browser, type www.computeractive.co.uk/forums into the Address or Location bar and press Enter. When the forum home page loads, click the Register link found in the blue bar near the top of the page. On the next page tick the box to say you agree to abide by the forum rules, then click Register.

A registration form will appear. In the first box enter the name you wish to use on the forums. Do not use your email address here. If the name has already been taken a warning will appear. Enter the password you would like to use into the next two boxes. Enter your email address in the next two boxes, and in the Image Verification box enter the letters you see in the image to the right. Note that the registration process is case sensitive, so remember if you use any capital letters. Then click the Complete Registration button.

If the form is correctly filled in you will receive a thank-you message. If the form reappears, check your email address, password and the Image Verification box and try again. Once registered, check your email account. You will receive an email titled ‘Action Required to Activate Membership for Forums’. Open it and click the link it contains. You will see a web page thanking you. Click the link at the end of the message (‘go back to the Forums’) and skip to Step 6 of this Workshop.

If you cannot find the automatic email message sent by the forums then check your email program’s Junk or Spam folder in case it has been incorrectly moved there. You will not be able to post messages on the forum until you click the link in this email. If you still cannot find the message, we recommend signing up for a free email account at www.googlemail.com , re-register using the new email address and start again from Step 2 of this Workshop. We also recommend reading the Workshop on page 36 of this issue, as it contains further advice on finding emails incorrectly labelled as spam.

If you created an account on the old Readers to the Rescue forums then you can sign in with that, keeping all your old messages. Open a web browser, type in the address www.computeractive.co.uk/forums and press Enter. Do not use any bookmarks you may have from the old forum as these will not work. Enter your username and password in the boxes at the top-right of the screen and click the ‘Log in’ button. Note that the forum is case sensitive, so if you have any capital letters in your details then make sure you enter them.

You should now be signed in to the forums, so let’s take a look at what's going on. Look down the page and you will see we’ve broken it up into different categories: at the top, the Readers to the Rescue forums are for technical help, with categories for problems with Windows Vista, Linux, the internet and so on. Click Windows Vista to open the Vista forum, and you’ll see a list of discussions. Click one to have a read.

Read down the message. If there is more than one page of replies you will find links to the next pages directly underneath the last one on that page. Now, scroll to the top of the page and look directly under the red Computeractive navigation bar. You should see ‘Forums > Readers to the Rescue > Windows Vista’. This section allows you to move back. Click Windows Vista and you will go back to that forum. Look in the same place and you will see ‘Forums > Readers to the Rescue’. Click Forums to go back to the list of categories.

Let’s write something. Scroll down the page until you see The Forums Forum and click that. Near the top of the page you should see a post titled ‘Test Thread’ – click the title to open it. Find the last message and click the blue ‘Post Reply’ button underneath it. When the Reply to Thread page appears, enter your message and click Submit Reply. If you are using the forum for the first time your message will not appear until the Computeractive team has checked it – this is to block spammers.

You may need to wait a few hours for your message to be approved. Once you have posted a few messages, however, they will appear immediately. In the meantime, click the User CP link in the blue bar at the top of the screen. This is your control panel, and allows you to change the way the forum works for you. Click Edit Options, then click the Default Thread Subscription Mode dropdown menu on the right.

Subscribing to threads allows you to keep track of conversations you’re having on the forums. Choose ‘No email notification’ and you will be able to find every thread you write in by clicking List Subscriptions on the left. Choose the other options to get an email when people reply to your messages. Change any other options if you wish, then click the Save Changes button at the bottom of the page to save your choices.

We have already replied to a message, but how do you create a new one? Before asking a new question, check to see if it has been answered: click Search, enter a few descriptive words and click Go. Check any results to see if they answer your question. If not, go back to the main page by clicking Forums, then open the category most suited to your question. We want to ask about Word, so we’ve opened the Office Software forum. Click the blue New Thread button at the top.

The Post New Thread page will appear. Enter a title for your message – this is what most people will see, so try to describe the problem you are having in a few words. In the larger text box enter your message. Remember to provide any relevant details, such as the operating system you are using and any error messages that appear. The more detail you give, the better chance you have of receiving a useful answer. Click Submit New Thread to post your message. Again, if your account is new it may need to be checked by the Computeractive team before it appears.

You can upload a photo to appear next to your name on the forum when you post messages – this is your avatar. To do this, click User CP then Edit Avatar from the left-hand menu. Click Browse, choose a small image file on your computer and choose Open, then click Save Changes. The picture will appear on the page under ‘Your Current Avatar’. If you want to change your picture, you can upload a replacement at any time.

When you’ve finished using the forums for the day, click the Log Out link in the top right of the page, in the blue bar. You’ll see this message confirming that you have successfully logged out. To use the forums again in future, go to www.computeractive.co.uk/forums and enter the username and password you created earlier. You can then click User CP and then List Subscriptions to see the threads you have contributed to and whether there are any new messages. A final note on etiquette: the advice given on our forum is given freely by people who give up their spare time to help. So if a fellow reader helps you out, don’t forget to say thanks.