Software Information

Software Information

How to Use Discussion Groups

Accessing the Discussion Group
You will find a link to your Discussion Group on your course web page. Click on the link.
At the login prompt, type in your email username and password and click on OK. This will take you to the main page of the Discussion Group.

Discussion Groups

Reading the Posts
When you first open the Discussion Group, all the postings to the Discussion Group will be listed, one line for each posting.
To read an entire posting, click on its title.
To see a list with the full postings, please click on the "All" button. To return to the list of one-line entries, click on the "0" icon at the top of the list.

Posting a Message:
Click on the "Add Message" button.
This will take you to the "Edit Message" screen.
1. In the Title field, type in a title for your message.
2. Below "Choose a format for your message:", select "Smart Text:" ( it should already be selected)
3. Below "Enter your message here:", there is a large message field. Type in your message. Or, copy and paste your text from another file into this field.
4. Choose your "Kind of Message" (Optional) The default, if you don't pick, is "None".
5. If you want each reply to YOUR message sent to you as email, in addition to it being posted on the Discussion Group, check the "Notify me when people respond to this message:" option.
6. Click on the "Preview your Message" button. This will allow you to see your message as it will appear to the Discussion Group.

Previewing your Message:
On the next page, you will see what your title, kind of message and actual message will look like when you post it.
If you want to edit your message further, please click on the Back button of your browser. This will return you to the "Edit Message" screen.
If you don't want to post the message at all, just close the browser window.
If you are ready to post the message, click on the "PostyourMessage" button.

After you post your message, you will hopefully see a "success" message. There is a link on that page to return to the discussion board. When you return, you should see your message. If you don't see it, just reload or refresh your browser.

If you have any questions with your discussion group, please email Nancy Grant in IT. Thanks.