Using WebBoard Functions

WebBoard is enrolled with honors at educational institutions from Singapore to Sweden and continues to be a favorite with faculty, students and administrators alike. Educators are finding many diverse uses for WebBoard on campus such as virtual office hours, student-to-student discussions, curriculum development and distance learning. Try out WebBoard and find out why Dr. Karen Fox at Santa Clara University says, "the potential for continuous dialogue with students in WebBoard is wonderful. In principle, I can check in and view each student's progress at any time."  

If you are a new user, click the new user button to go to the new user profile setup.  

Login Name (required) 

This name is your unique key for entering WebBoard. You were either assigned this name or created it when you registered on WebBoard the first time you logged in as a new user. In general, this name is not displayed to other users unless the WebBoard administrator has opted to display login names instead of real names for message postings and chat. Please use your first initial and lastname as your login name (for example, gbush). Also use lowercase letter here.  

First Name (required) 

This name is normally your real first name. Of course, you can choose to use a pseudonym or even have more than one account under the same or different names on the same board (you'll have to log in as a new user to create the second account).  

Last Name (required) 

This name is normally your real last name. As with your first name, you can use a pseudonym or have a second account under a different name.  

Password (required) 

This entry is masked (shown as *s) for security. You can change your password to protect your postings and user information. If you do, you must enter it twice on the form to ensure you typed it correctly. The password is never shown to other users. Please use your social security number for your password.  
Profile Checklist  
  1. Use your first initial and last name as your login name. For example, gbush. Be sure to use lowercase letters. 
  2. Use your real first name and last name. 
  3. Use your social security number for your password. 
  4. You can use any email account for your email address. Be sure you enter it correctly. Any errors here will cause you problems in logging in and receiving mail from your conferences. 
 

Email Address (required) 

This address is used for WebBoard's email notification and mailing list features. It is also included with each message you post to make it easy for other board members to respond to you directly and in the Search User list. If the email field is too small to hold your email address, contact your WebBoard administrator. Your email address must be correct and it can be any email account. Please use the account you use most frequently for as your primary email account.  

Hide Email 

Check No if you want to hide your email address from other users. The board manager and site administrator will still be able to see your email address. Mailing lists and email notification will still work.  

You can edit your user profile at any time, by following these steps:  

  1. Click More on the WebBoard menu bar. The More Options menu appears. 
  2. Click Edit Your Profile from the More Options menu. The User Profile page appears. 
  3. Make any changes necessary (see the list below). Do not leave any required field blank. 
  4. Click Save to update your profile. WebBoard responds with an Edits Saved message. 
  5. Continue with your WebBoard session. 
 

Receiving WebBoard Messages by Email 

You can receive WebBoard messages by email in one of three formats: non-digest, digest, or digest/zipped. You should select digest.  

Digest 

This format saves all the messages from a conference for a day and sends them in a single email message. The digest email starts with an index list of all messages in the email so you can get a quick overview of what happened. This format is best if you want to primarily read the discussion and only respond occasionally.  

To verify or change your mailing list format, you edit your user profile. To do so, follow these steps:  

  1. Click More on the WebBoard menu bar. The More Options menu appears. 
  2. Click Edit Your Profile from the menu. The User Profile page appears. 
  3. Scroll to the end of this page, select the preferred mailing list format by clicking the radio button next to it. 
  4. Click Save to update your profile. WebBoard responds with an Edits Saved message. 
 

Subscribing to Conference Mailing Lists 

Note that some conferences may not have mailing lists; setting up mailing lists is the choice of the WebBoard administrator, board manager, or conference moderator. If a conference does not have a mailing list, and you would like to receive email for that conference, contact the WebBoard administrator.  

To subscribe to one or more conference mailing lists, follow these steps:  

  1. Click More on the WebBoard menu bar. The More Options menu appears. 
  2. Click Mailing Lists from the menu. The Mailing Lists page appears. 
  3. Check the box following the conference name to subscribe to its mailing list. Repeat for each conference you want to subscribe to. The name of the mailing list is in parentheses following the Conference name. 
  4. To unsubscribe from a mailing list, uncheck the box. 
  5. Click Save to complete the subscription process. WebBoard responds with a changes have been saved message. 
 
 

You will now start receiving email from the conferences you selected.  

Different Types of Messages 

WebBoard conferences can have two different types of messages:  
  1. Topic messages start a new thread of a discussion within the overall subject of the conference. You can start a new topic at any time, and you should start a new topic if your message is not a direct response to a previously posted message. 
  2. Reply messages respond to an existing topic or reply and keep the current discussion thread going. Replies are always indented under the message being replied to in the Conferences list. 

Making a Reply 

You can reply to any message within a topic. For example, if a topic has 10 messages, you can reply to the first message or to the tenth message. Whenever you reply to a message, your new message is indented under that message in the Conferences list to show other readers the thread of the conversation. Replies are displayed chronologically within each topic.  

You can alert specific users to your message by addressing it to their attention. You can also reply to a posting privately, by sending an email message to the original message poster.  

 

To reply publicly to the message you are currently reading, use one of the following options:  Reply or Reply/Quote 

How to Reply to a Post made by your Instructor: 

  1. First, click onto the Post made by your Instructor to read the prompt for your assignment. 
  2. Then, select Reply from the menu bar immediately above the message from your Instructor inside your Instructor's message frame.
  3. Whatever your Instructor had entered in the Topic line should automatically appear in the Topic line for your Reply. (If you select the Post button at this point in this process, you can place your message onto WebBoard, but you will have to fill in the Topic yourself, and you will be beginning a new conversation. Your message will NOT appear within the stringed conversation of your other class members.)
  4. It is always a good idea to compose your responses to your WebBoard assignments in your word processing program. That way, you can revise and edit your work before it is made public. When you are finished with your message, hit the Post button.
  5. You will see a preview of your message. Any mis-spelled words will be displayed in red. You can hit your Back button if there are changes other than spelling you would like to make. When you hit the Post button from this Preview screen, your message will appear listed with the other replies beneath your Instructor's assignment.

Entering a Chat Room 

To enter a chat room (rooms are also called channels in IRC chat), follow these steps:  
  1. Click Chat on the WebBoard menu bar. You see the Available Chat Rooms page, which lists all available chat rooms. The page also gives the IRC room (or channel names) and the number of active users. The information in this list updates every 60 seconds. 
  2. To enter a room, click its name. If ConferenceRoom is being used, WebBoard loads a new web page that includes the Java chat client. This may take a few seconds, so be patient. 
 

Floating the Chat Client 

You can have the Java chat client run in a separate window, which leaves your browser free for other use. You can now participate in chat while using your browser for other tasks such as posting to WebBoard or joining another chat room.  

To chat in a separate window, follow these steps:  

  1. To float the window, simply click the Float link on the page that contains the chat client. 
  2. To return the chat window to its original position in your browser, click its close button. Running separately, the chat window stays open until you close your browser. 
 

Logging Off WebBoard 

When you are finished with your WebBoard session, you can simply point your browser at another site on the Web, or you can officially log off WebBoard. The Logoff button in the menu bar takes you to another page designated by the WebBoard administrator. Often this page provides more useful information about the site or other related sites. Note that if you click the Back button in your browser, you will be returned to WebBoard without having to log in again. If security is an issue, you should close your browser or clear your browser's cache. You should also not have WebBoard remember your password.