Hello, and welcome to the forum if you are new comers!
In this thread we will try to break down the forum's structure and how to easily browse through it.
The forum consists of 4 objects.
1. Categories
2. Boards
3. Threads (or Topics)
4. Posts
Each one contains the one under it while Posts contain text, in other words :
Categories --contain--> Boards --contain--> Threads --contain--> Posts
Here's how it all works:
Whenever there are unread posts in threads of a specific board, since your last visit they will be indicated by a green blinking button right next to the board's name (
).
Boards in which you have read everything will appear with a blue non blinking icon (
).
Then you have 2 options :
a. Open the board and see which threads were updated. (by clicking the Board's name).
b. Browse directly to the last post by clicking it in the "Last Post" column of the board (only the latest updated thread will open).
Let's say you've selected option a. (you have clicked the board's name).
You will enter the board and view a list of the threads it contains.
If there are unread posts in any threads of this board there will be a (
) indication at the left those threads .
Note: by opening a Board the green blinking indication will be removed from the boards list in the main index of the forum, even if you do not open any threads.At this point you have another 2 options :
c. Open the thread by clicking its name to browse to the first post in it.
d. Click the link in the "Last Post" column of the board to browse directly to the latest post in the thread.
More Notes..:1. By opening a thread, browsing to either the first or the last post the (
) indication will be removed from this specific thread.
2. If you follow option d. described above, in the latest updated thread of the board (the top one), then the resulting page will be the same to option b. above. To put it simpler : Options b. and d. lead to the exact same page.
3. TRICKY ONE BUT USEFUL : If you follow option b. above and there are more than one threads that contain an unread post then you will browse to the last post of latest updated thread in the board.
The () indication will be removed from this thread but the green blinking indication will NOT be removed from the specific board so you will know that there are more updated threads in it.
4. To mark all posts as read, simply click the (
) button in the top/bottom right corner of the page.