I. About FuseTalk

FuseTalk is a powerful, fully scalable and customizable forums package that allows people to build interactive communities. FuseTalk will scale with the smallest of forums, right up to the most demanding forums running in web clusters. FuseTalk is built on the need for a forum that is feature-rich, scalable, fast and is as customizable as possible. To lean more about FuseTalk, visit FuseTalk Inc. Key Features: User Customization Extensive Database Support Private Messaging Full Subscription Based System Workflow Messaging Full IP/User/E-mail Banning Facilities Extensive Moderation Capabilities Censorship

On the FuseTalk menu, you will see a menu tab labeled 'customize'. This option allows you to tailor the forums to meet your own personal needs. Once you click on the customize tab, you will see a form with a series of options. Below is an explanation of the function of each option. After setting your options and clicking the 'Customize!' button at the bottom of the page, your settings will be saved. Option Description Color Themes your color theme for the forum. Each swatch is a representation of the theme color. Background Color Customization your background color for the forum. There are two methods of selecting: a) select a preset color with the paint bucket icon; or b) if you are familiar with the RGB color schema, select the Red, Green, and Blue values. Background Shade indicate if the background you selected is dark or light. This feature ensures that the displayed text and logos are suited for either shade.

This section allows you to customize your profile. Below is an explanation of the function of each option. After setting your options and clicking the 'Update Profile' button at the bottom of the page, your profile settings will be saved. Field Description First Name your first name Last Name your last name Nickname your user handle (e.g. Wizard) Password allows you to change your password Verify Password a second password field used to verify your password City the city in which you reside Province/State the state or province in which you reside; if your state is not listed, choose "Other". Country the country in which you reside Time Zone for the convenience of those not in the same time zone as the forums, you can select your time zone. All thread and message times will then be displayed in your time zone. Time Zone Adjust because some countries update their time systems randomly, rules for daylight savings time, etc. are not always the same. Manually adjust your offset to GMT (Greenwich Mean Time). Web Site your web site address ICQ # if you have an ICQ number, enter it here. If you entered an ICQ number, an ICQ icon will appear in each message that you post so that users can message you. AIM if you have an AOL Instant Messenger handle, enter it here. E-Mail Address your e-mail address Profile Visibility if enabled, an icon in each message will appear to allow the user to view your profile information. E-Mail Visibility if enabled, allows users to see your e-mail address in your profile, and in other areas of the forum. Allow Private Messages allows people to send you private messages using the private messaging module Current Browser displays the users browser and version they are using. Signature your signature block that will appear below each of your posted messages. e.g. John Doe CEO John Doe Corporation Author Icons packaged in FuseTalk are forum icons from which you can choose to add to your personal identity. When you post a message, your personal icon will appear above your name.

The key actions of any forum are, of course, posting, replying, and viewing messages. The process of doing each of these tasks is as follows. I. Posting a new topic To post a new topic, enter into a category in which you want to post to and click the 'new topic' tab on the menu. The Post a Message form will appear, where you can enter the topic title and description. Press on the 'Post Message' button when completed. See below for the list of fields in this form and their descriptions. Above the message box, you will see a toolbar with symbols like "B" and "I". This toolbar allows quick access to bolding text, changing font to italics, underlining text, and putting links around words/sentences. For a full description of these symbols, click on the 'symbols' link at the bottom of the form. Field/Function Description Message Title the title of the message Message Text the body of your message. At the bottom of the form is a link that explains how to use HTML in your message posts. Subscribe to this thread allows you to subscribe to the thread; if anyone replies to your new message, you will be notified via e-mail. Create a poll for this thread to create a poll for this thread, simply check this option and you will be taken to the Create Poll screen. Thread/Message rating select an icon that best describes the mood of your thread/message. Note: this option will only appear if thread/message ratings are enabled for that thread. Attach Code click on this button to attach formatted text to your message. Note: this option will only appear if code attachments are enabled for that thread. Attach File(s) allows you to attach multiple files to your message. Note: this option will only appear if attachments are enabled for that thread. Clear File(s) clears all the attachments in which you have attached to your message. Note: this option will only appear if attachments are enabled for that thread. Preview Button allows you to preview your messages prior to posting. II. Replying To reply to a message/topic, click the 'Reply' or 'Quote' button located in each message within a thread. The difference between the two options is that by pressing the 'Quote' button, the original message is automatically added to the beginning of your reply message. See below for the list of fields in the Reply form that will appear, and their descriptions. Above the message box, you will see a toolbar with symbols like "B" and "I". This toolbar allows quick access to bolding text, changing font to italics, underlining text, and putting links around words/sentences. For a full description of these symbols, click on the symbols link at the bottom of the form. Field Description Message Text the body of your message. At the bottom of the form is a link that explains how to use HTML in your messages. Subscribe to this thread allows you to subscribe to the thread; if anyone replies to your new message, you will be notified via e-mail. Thread/Message rating select an icon that best describes the mood of your thread/message. Note: this option will only appear if thread/message ratings are enabled for that thread. Attach Code click on this button to attach formatted text to your message. Note: this option will only appear if code attachments are enabled for that thread. Attach File(s) allows you to attach multiple files to your message. Note: this option will only appear if attachments are enabled for that thread. Clear File(s) clears all the attachments in which you have attached to your message. Note: this option will only appear if attachments are enabled for that thread. Preview Button allows you to preview your messages prior to posting. III. Editing You can edit a message that you have posted. To do this, navigate within the forums to locate your posted message. At the bottom right of the message, there is an 'Edit' link. Click on this link and the Edit Message form will appear. See below for a list of the fields in this form and their descriptions. Above the message box, you will see a toolbar with symbols like "B" and "I". This toolbar allows quick access to bolding text, changing font to italics, underlining text, and putting links around words/sentences. For a full description of these symbols, click on the symbols link at the bottom of the form. Field Description Message Title (this will only appear if your message created the thread) the title of the message Message Text the body of your message. At the bottom of the form is a link that explains how to use HTML in your message posts. Thread/Message rating select an icon that best describes the mood of your thread/message. Note: this option will only appear if thread/message ratings are enabled for that thread. Attach Code click on this button to attach formatted text to your message. Note: this option will only appear if code attachments are enabled for that thread. Attach File(s) allows you to attach multiple files to your message. Note: this option will only appear if attachments are enabled for that thread. Clear File(s) clears all the attachments in which you have attached to your message. Note: this option will only appear if attachments are enabled for that thread. Preview Button allows you to preview your messages prior to posting. IV. Viewing To view messages in the forum, navigate into a category and click on a thread/topic that interests you. A list of messages will appear. If the number of messages in that thread/topic exceeds the number of messages that you've allowed to be displayed per page, you will see page numbers at the top and bottom of the screen. This will assist you in navigating through the page(s) of messages. Every message consists of the following features: the message body, the posted date, the author of the message, and a toolbar at the top right and bottom right of the screen. Top Right Message Toolbar The toolbar located at the top right allows you to perform various tasks. Following is a description of each task. Icon Description Subscribe icon - allows you to subscribe to the thread; if any new messages are posted, you will be notified via e-mail. E-mail Thread icon - allows you to send a person the link to this thread by e-mail. User Logged In - indicates that the user is logged in to the forums. User not Logged In - indicates that the user is not logged in to the forums. View Profile icon - allows you to view the profile of the person who posted the message. (This will only be displayed if the user has allowed people to view their profile.) Private Messaging icon - allows you to send the user (who posted the original message) a private message that can only be read by him/her. (This will only appear if the Administrator has enabled Private Messaging.) Print Thread icon - allows you to view a text version of the thread and print it. Bottom Right Message Toolbar The toolbar located at the bottom right allows you to reply to a message, quote a message, and navigate through each message by the top, next, previous and bottom links, and edit a message (if you wrote it). V. Member Ranking Ranking Each author is assigned a ranking based on the number of posted messages they have made. The ranking appears underneath the user's name. Below are the current ranks. Title Posts Required Junior Member 0 Member 20 Senior Member 200

In FuseTalk, you can search the forum for threads and messages that are of particular interest to you. See below for the descriptions of the fields and their functions. Field Description Search Phrase Enter your search phrase here. Author In addition to using the Search Phrase, you can also filter your search by author name. Or, you can search for posts by ONLY the author name. Which Messages? Search within current messages, or the archived messages. Date Range There are two options for selecting your date criteria: a) Use the drop down menu and select how many days prior to the current date; or b) Enter a start and end date (mm/dd/yyyy) of the message/thread. Date Range is a required selection for performing searches. Forum Categories Select the categories from the list in which you want to perform the search. Forum User Search Search for a user in the forum. Search results will display the user and methods of communication.

The Today page is a summary of what is currently happening in the forums as it relates to the user. If you subscribe to threads, have private messages, these will be displayed here. Hot Threads is defined by how many messages are in a thread. Also listed are the twenty most recent messages that you've posted to the forum, as well as the ten users who have posted the most messages.

Users can create a poll as they create a new thread. To create a poll, create a new topic in a thread. Check the box titled, 'Create a poll for this thread'. After you have posted your thread, the poll form will appear. Enter the question on what you want users to vote, and a description of the poll. Then, the poll Answer form will appear. Enter your possible answers. When you have finished constructing your poll, click the 'Finish Poll' button.

Private Messaging allows users to send each other private messages that can only be read by the recipient. To send a private message, click on the Send Private Message icon on the message toolbar. Type your message and press 'Send Message'. I. Sending To send a private message, type in the recipients name beside 'Send a Private Message to' and press 'Send Message'. You'll then be brought to the Private Message User screen which you'll type in your message and press 'Send Private Message'. II. Receiving To recognize when you have new private messages, the padlock icon will flash red and orange . The text beside the icon will also alert you to how many new private messages you have received. III. Viewing To view private messages, click on the Private Message icon and your new private messages will be displayed, along with the date and the name of the sender. Click on the 'Read' icon corresponding to the message you want to read. If you wish to reply to the message, click on the 'Reply' button; otherwise, click Done. IV. View History When messages have been read, they are transferred into the Private Message History. These messages can be viewed by clicking on the 'View History' button, located in the Private Message area. Search for the sender's name using the alphabet listing. V. Ignore If you are receiving unsolicited messages, you can use the Ignore feature. Enter the nickname and add the name to the Ignore list from within the Private Messaging area. VI. Deleting To delete Private Messages, view Message History and search for a sender. When you have the history listing of that sender, you can delete each individual message, or click 'Delete All' (in the top right of the page), which will delete the history associated with that sender. Another option is to clear Private Messages by date. In the View History page, enter a date, and the system will remove all messages preceding that date. VII. Search To search your private messages, simply type in a keyword and press 'Search'.

On the main page of the forum, located above the category list to the right, is a link, "WHO'S ON", which directs you to a list of users who are currently logged in. This information is accurate to approximately 15 minutes. You can view User profiles, send e-mail, or send a private message to any one of these users.

Clicking on the 'chat' tab will open the real-time chat interface. To chat with people, simply type in your text and press 'enter'. Your message will appear in the message frame of the chat window. Some basic IRC type chat commands are available: The /me command can predicate a message. If you wanted to say, "[your name] says the sky is blue", you can type "/me says the sky is blue"; the "/join" command allows you to join other chat rooms. By default, when you join the chat area, you are in the lobby. If you wish to join another room, type "/join [room name]", where the room name is the name of the room you wish to join.