I'm a Newbie - what are forums and private messages?

[mikegibbs]

Don't Panic
Forums can be a little daunting at first, but once you've used them for a little while they will become second nature.

What is a forum?
A forum is a collection of questions that people ask and the answers that others give. It's a bit like a normal conversation between a group of friends, but can cover a long period of time.

What you see on Viva-Malaga are a large number of forums grouped into related categories (such as 'help & advice', 'local issues' etc..). Each forum within a category is more specific still (such as 'finding work', 'school & hospitals' etc..). Within each forum, a question, known as a 'topic' is set by our users and people answer or discuss it.

So how does this help me?
- Whenever you can't find information you are looking for, post a question in the relevant forum.
- If you have a particular interest or hobby, why not post a topic and see if others are interested?
- You're one of those special people that likes to help others (yes you are). Take a look at the current unanswered posts or any of the forums you know something about, you could make someone elses day with a little advice and experience.
At the end of the day, we hope that this will be the largest community for the Malaga that we all love. Get involved, help others and make friends. Once you start, it's addictive!!

Sounds great, what next?
It's easy...
- If you're not already a member, join now - it's free.
- As a member, edit your options under the forum 'profile' - at the top of the screen. Here you can choose your 'avatar' (an image to identify you) and a whole host of other options.
- Next, have a look through the forums and if you want to post a question, click on the 'New Topic' icon.
- If you see an existing topic that you want to comment on, click on the 'post reply' icon.

You can choose to be notified with an e-mail every time you get an answer to a question / topic that you have posted (in the forum profile).

Please remember to be polite and never post offensive comments / language. This is a family web site and offenders will be blocked from use.

What is a private message?
Even if you've used forums before, you may not have come accross private messages.

As an alternative to e-mails (which we don't publish on the forums to help stop spam) private messages are a great way of communicating with other people on the site. When you are logged in, you will see that you have messages waiting in your 'User Panel' (on the left). This is a free service to our members.

To send a message, just click on the 'PM' icon at the bottom of the users message.

You can also include the 'emoticons' to spice up your messages (to help express if you're happy , sad , joking , confused or just too cool to use them ).

We've allocated you space for 300 messages (100 in your inbox, sent box and save box) so you should be fine. If this proves not to be enough we'll probably increase this over time.

You can choose to be notified with an e-mail every time you get a private message (under your forum profile).


So why should I use a private message?
You may read something on a forum and want to get in touch directly with the person that has posted on it. Instead of answering publically on the forum, you can just send a private message.


That's the end of this message but I still need help!
Please read through the forum FAQ (frequently asked questions) by clicking on the link at the top of this page.

If you still need help, either send me a private message (if you are a member) or send an e-mail to Viva-Malaga (by clicking on 'Contact Viva-Malaga' on the divider at the top of the page).