Reply #9: How to use this Forum

[Skinner]

Welcome to the Democratic Underground Research Forum. This is what we call an "Open Edit" forum, and it works in a completely different way than any other forum on our website. It works a little bit like a wiki, but it's been integrated with our forum software. If you are familiar with Democratic Underground, then you shouldn't have too much difficulty figuring out how this forum works.

What is an "Open Edit" forum?

In this forum, registered members of Democratic Underground can all edit the topic. That's why we call it an "Open Edit" forum -- because any member can edit any topic.

Appropriate topics for this forum

This forum is for collaborative research by members of Democratic Underground, on current topics relating to politics and public policy. This forum is not intended to be an exhaustive encyclopedia of everything. Please only use this forum for topics that have a practical interest to our members today. For example: Information about politicians or other individuals that are currently active in politics; Information about current events, or about events in recent history; or any other information that has immediate value to the members of this community.


POSTING AND EDITING IN THIS FORUM

Starting a new topic

To start a thread in this forum, simply click the icon at the top of the forum that says "Post". You will be prompted to type a subject for the thread. When you click "Submit" a new topic will start will be created with that thread title, under the username "Open Edit." Next you will be taken to an edit screen where you can edit the topic.

After you finish editing the topic, click "Post Message" just like you would with a normal discussion thread. The software will then update the topic with the text you provide. Your edits will update the first post in the thread, and they will also be saved as a reply to the original post.

Editing an existing topic

To edit an existing topic, first click the link to enter that topic. You will see the title and the current version of the topic. Click the small black "Edit" link in the bottom right corner of the message to go to the edit screen.

The edit screen will show the current text for the topic. You can then edit the text yourself. When you are finished editing, click the "Post message" button to update the topic.

The original post in the thread will be updated to show your changes, and your updates will also be saved as a response to the thread.

IMPORTANT -- The software does not check to see if a topic has been edited by more than one person at the same time. After you have finished editing, please double-check to make sure that you have not over-written someone else's work.

Browsing edits for a particular topic

To browse edits for a particular topic, first click the link to enter that topic. You will see the title and the current version of the topic. If you wish to browse edits individually click the "List Edits" link near the top of the page. You will then see a listing of all the edits to that topic, chronologically, so you can click on each one. After listing edits, you can view all of the edits on the same screen by clicking the "View All Edits" link.

Fixing mistakes or malicious edits

If someone overwrites or screws up the text of a particular topic, it is not difficult to revert to a previous version. Simply browse all the edits for that topic and find the most recent version before the problematic edit. Click the small link in the bottom left corner of the post that says "View Code." This will display the code for that edit on your computer screen so you can copy it. Simply follow the instructions to edit the topic again and paste the code from the previous edit into the topic.

Dealing with disruptors

If someone deliberately erases or otherwise disrupts the Research Forum, simply click alert on one of their posts to let the moderators know. We can easily block members from this forum if they are not using it in a productive manner.


BROWSING THIS FORUM AND FINDING INFORMATION

We hope that members will use care when writing their topic titles, so information can be found relatively easily later. If you are looking for information, there are a few ways you can find it.

Search

Click the "Search" icon at the top of the forum to search the Research Forum. Try searching by thread title in order to improve your chances of finding what you're looking for.

Browse by most recent edits

In default forum view, the topics in this forum will be listed chronologically, with the most recently edited topics listed at the top of the forum. If for some reason they are out of order, you can click here to sort by last updated date.

Browse by topic title

To sort the topics in this forum alphabetically by title, simply click the link at the top of the forum view that says "Discussion Topic". Or you can click here to sort by title. When topics are sorted alphabetically, you can easily browse topics like you would a dictionary or encyclopedia.