What is the BULLETIN BOARD?
Read an explanation, or GO STRAIGHT THERE: The Bulletin Board!Think of the BULLETIN BOARD as an electronic version of the old community notice board. Anyone can put up a notice. Anyone can read it. Rather than have all the notices in the one place, imagine having a number of sections for different types of notices. That's what we've done with this electronic version. These different sections are known as FORUMS. They're called FORUMS, because not only can you post a notice, other people can reply to it with their "ten cents worth", and you can reply again, and so on. It becomes a place for a discussion, a forum.
To get to the BB, click the link THE BULLETIN BOARD on the sidebar menu or at the top of this page.
To READ anything on our BB, you don't need to do anything. But ...
To POST a message or REPLY to a message, you will need to be a REGISTERED MEMBER of the forum/BB. Basically, to actively participate, or get notification of any of the above stuff (except OFFICIAL messages), you will need to register.
Why do I have to Register?
Not everybody wants to receive messages about everything. We have to comply with the legalities of it all. Which means, if you want to be on a mailing list, then you need to choose to be on that list. By Registering, you are making that choice, and thereby giving us, and others, permission to send information to you. (With the OFFICIAL email list, your permission is taken to be given already, which is a reasonable assumption given that you're a member.)How to REGISTER?
You only need to REGISTER ONCE. It doesn't matter what particular FORUM you may be interested in. The Registration process relates to the BB itself.To Register, you will need to think of a Username, a password, and have an email address.
- Username - this is the name that people will see alongside your posts. You can use your own name, a nickname, or anything else. It doesn't matter, as long as it's not the same as a name that's already there. (If it is, the system will tell you as you go.)
- Password - a password. You make it up. Remember it.
- Email address - your email address. It does not have to be the same one you have supplied to the Great Walk email list. As long as it's a valid, working email address. This is the email address that the BB (and other users) will send messages to.
To Register:
- if you haven't already, go to the BB (click the link THE BULLETIN BOARD on the sidebar menu or at the top of this page.)
- click on "Register" near the top right of the window
- you will see the standard terms appear (read them if you like. They are not GW specific, just the standard blurb from the BB.)
- Click on "I am over 13 ... blah blah" - the first one (we're assuming you're over 13, or you have your parent's permission! Again, this is part of the standard blurb from the BB. We may change it later to something more relevant to us.)
- You will see a form to fill in the important bit is the Registration Information at the top: Username, Email address and Password (twice, to make sure it's correct) You will also see an image with a string of letters and numbers This is a confirmation code. It stops software "robots" from randomly creating registrations and using BBs to spam all the members. True!
- Enter the Confirmation Code as it appears. If letters are in capitals, use capitals. Take care with letter O's and numeral 0's.
- Fill out the next section - Profile Information, if you want to. You can always come back later and do this. Remember, this bit is PUBLICLY viewable. Whatever you put in here can be seen by all.
- Check the next section - Preferences You may wish to change "Always notify me of replies" to YES. You may also wish to change your timezone. (Default should be GMT +8, for WA) Otherwise, you can leave this as it is.
- Once you're happy with all that, click the SUBMIT button.
- You will see an Information window telling you that an email has been sent to you This is another security/validation step to make sure you are who you say you are.
- Check your email for a message from "postmaster@greatwalk.org.au" It should arrive pretty much straight away
- Open that email, and you will see the activation instructions, and a link that looks something like: "http://greatwalk.org.au/phpBB2/profile.php?mode=activate more code and characters"
- click that link from YOUR email (not the sample one above) it will activate your registration on the BB
- You're DONE!
So, to POST or REPLY, you will need to LOGIN ... don't worry - that bit's easy.
To Login:
- click on "Login" near the top right of the window
- give your username and password, and
- you may find it useful to check the box "Log me on automatically each visit:" this will save you putting your username and password in every time. ONLY DO THIS IF YOU ARE USING YOUR OWN COMPUTER DON'T do it if you're using a public computer
Now, when it comes to getting notices (other than OFFICIAL messages), you can do one of two things:
- check the BB and your forums (fora?) of interest whenever you feel like it by going to the BB on the web, or
- have the forum tell you via email when new messages have been posted up.
To do this:
- Login to the BB
- Click on the Forum that interests you
- Click "Watch this forum for new topics" near the bottom left of that forum's page (You will see it changes to "Stop watching this forum". Self-explanatory)
Thanks for your patience. Please take your time to read through this, and Register with the BB. Remember, you will still receive official Great Walk messages via email without you having to do anything. But if you'd like to now send, and continue receiving Social messages, like party invitations, you will need to Register with the BB, and watch that FORUM.
PRIVACY
No personal details are kept online, except those you supply in your Profile (see above). The Administrator of the BB (some members of GW) can check the database to read email addresses and usernames. They cannot read your password. But they can reset your password if you lose it.MISUSE & ABUSE
Administrators do have the power to stop, delete messages, or ban users who misuse and abuse the system.HELP
We are more than happy to provide assistance and technical support. If you have any questions ...- read the FAQ (on the BB)
- email me at postmaster@greatwalk.org.au
- call me if you're really stuck: home 9335 3829, or 0416 088 024 during office hours