Accessibility

Macromedia Online Forums

Getting Started in Macromedia Online Forums

We've provided the following tutorial to get you sharing ideas and techniques with other developers of all levels, as well as Macromedia staff and Team Macromedia volunteers. An extensive User Help area is available in the web interface for each Forum. For the quickest start, follow the steps listed below. You may also use the Macromedia Online Forums with a newsreader.

Table of Contents

 

Setting Up Your Account

Logging into the Forums

  1. Visit the Macromedia Online Forums home page and look for the group, product or type of Forum you're interested in. Forum names link to their respective main pages.
  2. Click login and enter your Macromedia ID and password. Note: Your Macromedia ID is the e-mail address you used for your Macromedia ID membership account.
  3. If you do not yet have a Macromedia ID, click the menu tab labeled create account to create a Macromedia ID account before logging on. Follow the steps to create a Macromedia ID account. After you complete the form and click submit, you will automatically be logged in to the forum you were visiting before you began the create account process.

  4. Click Login.

    Note:If you forget your user name or password, click Login, then the "Forget Your Login Information?" link. Enter your profile email address in the field provided and we'll instantly send your login information to you.

Updating Your Profile

  1. Click the profile menu tab.
  2. You may modify your profile information. Find a detailed description of the profile fields in the User Help area.
  3. To modify your e-mail address or password, click the text link titled "membership center."

Customizing Your View

  1. Click the Customize tab. For a full description of customizable features, consult the Forums User Help area. Though we've included the most popular customizable features in this tutorial (including those previously available to our Allaire Forums users) even more useful custom features are described in the User Help menu.

    Personal Customization Settings:

    • View only the most recent threads in a Category.

      Choose how current a view of daily threads you want shown when you enter a Category.

    • Choose the number of Topics you want listed when you enter a Category.

      Set the default number of topics you want displayed per category.

    • Preset the number of messages you see when you enter a thread.

      Set the default number of messages displayed in a Topic or thread.

    • Send thread subscriptions to a private message box instead of your email.

      Select this feature to deliver your thread subscriptions to a private message box instead of your email address. (Note: this requires enabling Private Messages in your profile.)

    • Filter out categories you don't want.

      Use this feature to block Forum Categories that don't interest you. Once selected, these Categories will not be shown on the front page.

  2. Click Customize.

 

A Brief Tour through Macromedia Online Forums

The Macromedia Online Forums structure reflects its three main activity hubs: Categories, Topics and Messages.

Categories

Categories are folders of collected Topics relating to a specific aspect of that Forum. Typical Category subjects are "Getting Started," "General Discussion," and so on. In frames mode, Categories are found in the left frame of each Forum main page. In non-frames mode, Categories are listed as links in the left hand column. The table below shows the Folder icons associated with Categories.

Folder Description
Plain folder icon Plain folder icon - no status associated with this icon.
New Messages folder icon New Messages folder icon-new Topics were posted in this Category since your last visit.

Topics

Topics are threads grouped into corresponding Categories. For example, the Topic "How to get a window name" may be located in the "Getting Started" Category folder. The table below shows icons associated with Topics:

Folder Description
Plain folder icon Plain folder icon - no status associated with this icon.
New Messages folder icon New Messages icon-new messages were posted in this folder since your last visit.
Question Answered icon Question Answered icon-indicates the Topic question was answered.
New Messages Question Answered icon New Messages Question Answered icon-new messages were posted in this Question Answered folder since your last visit.
Alert icon Alert icon-this Topic may contain important information for you.
New Messages Alert icon New Messages Alert icon-new messages were posted in this Alert folder since your last visit.
Locked folder icon Locked folder icon-this Topic is locked; no further messages can be posted in this folder.

Special Feature: Filtering

Filtering allows you to view Topics by status within a Category. You can choose from the following filters: Answered, Awaiting Answer, No Reply, All and Refresh Page. If you're in frames mode, choose a filter from the Filter On list on the left side of the page to sort Topics within all Categories. If you're in non-frames mode, you'll first need to select a Category from the main page, then choose a filter.

Messages

There may be many messages within one Topic. Messages are discussed in detail below.

My Forums Menu Tab

The My Forums page provides daily summaries of personalized Forums events and breaking information while keeping track of your personal forums information. You'll find the following updates on your My Forums page:

  • Announcements
  • Your subscription data
  • Hot Links for each subscription
  • Private Messages (if you've enabled this feature in your profile)
  • Hot threads (threads with over 40 message postings)
  • Your posting statistics
  • Your last 20 posts
  • The top 10 posting Members

 

Posting, Replying, Editing, and Viewing Topics and Messages

As in other web discussion forums, most user activity at Macromedia Online Forums involves posting, replying, editing or viewing messages. Follow the steps for each of these tasks as listed below:

Posting a New Topic

  1. Enter the Category (such as General Discussion) you wish to post a new Topic in, and click the New Topic menu tab.
  2. The Post a Message form will appear. See below for form field descriptions.
  3. Enter the Topic title in the Message Title field to create a new Topic.

  4. When you post your Topic, your member status appears below your user name. The number of postings you contribute to the Forums determines your Member Status. Junior Members have posted 0-9 messages; Members have posted 10-100 times; Senior Members contributed 101 or more postings.

    Note: Members posting via newsreader software will not have this information displayed in their postings.

Replying to a Message

  1. Locate the message you wish to reply to.
  2. Click Reply in the Message toolbar below the text box.
  3. The Reply form will appear.
  4. See below for form field descriptions.

  5. When you reply to a message, your member status will appear below your user name. The number of postings you contribute to the Forums determines your Member Status. Junior Members have posted 0-9 messages; Members have posted 10-100 times; Senior Members contributed 101 or more postings.

    Note: Members posting via newsreader software will not have this information displayed in their postings.

Editing a Message

  1. You may only edit the messages you post. Certain persons authorized by Macromedia may also edit your messages, but not other general users.
  2. Locate the message you wish to edit.
  3. Click Edit in the Message menu bar below the text area.
  4. The Edit Message form will appear. You may make changes to any field (see below for form field descriptions).
  5. To save your edited message, click Edit Message.

When posting, replying and editing messages, type your message in the Message Text field. Use the Formatting toolbar to apply formats and font styles. For a full description of toolbar symbols, click the Symbols link at the bottom of any form. Refer to the chart below for post, reply and edit form field descriptions.

Post, Reply or Edit Form Fields

Folder Description
Message Title Enter the title of your new Topic or message here.
Message text Type or paste in the body of your message here. Use HTML in your message posts by clicking the link below the Message Text field.
Subscribe to this Thread option Click the option below the Message Text field to subscribe to a thread. When a user replies to your message, you'll be notified by email. To unsubscribe, click the Subscribe to This Thread icon in any message form and add or delete Topic subscriptions as you wish.
Referring URLs You can post URLs that apply to your new message.
Preview button Lets you preview and edit messages prior to posting.
Insert Code button Opens a window where you can paste raw code into a text area. Spaces and tabs are replaced with HTML coding to maintain original formatting.

Viewing Forum Messages

To view messages in a Forum, click open a Category folder and select a Topic that interests you. You may want to use some of the following features to enhance your viewing experience:

  • Marking the Answer Message

    If you posted the original message, you can mark the reply you consider the answer to your Topic question. If your Topic has an Answer Message marked, but it's incorrect, you may reply (see above for instructions) to the Answer Message. Then uncheck the "This question has been answered" option to indicate to Forum users the Topic has not been answered.

  • View Profile icon
    This user-enabled icon allows you to view that user's profile information.
  • Email Thread icon
    Use the Email Thread icon to send a thread and URL to an email address. You may also view the specific message or thread URL to copy and paste it within other messages, Topic threads or email correspondence.

  • Message toolbars:

    Bottom right Message toolbar allows you to edit, quote or reply to a message (if you posted it) and navigate through each message by top, next, previous and bottom links.

  • Top right Message toolbar located along the top right of the Message text box gives you access to enhanced functions. The following chart describes each icon:

Icon Description
Subscribe to this Thread icon Subscribe to This Thread icon - Subscribe to the posted thread. You'll be notified by email if any new messages are posted. To unsubscribe, click this icon and add or delete Topic subscriptions as you wish.
Email Thread icon Email Thread icon - Email the link to this thread.
View Profile icon View Profile icon - View the profile of the user who posted the message. (This icon will only appear when user-enabled.)
Private Messaging icon Private Messaging icon - Send the user (who posted the original message) a private message.(This icon will only appear when Administrator-enabled.)
Poll icon Poll icon - Vote on a poll for the thread (if polling is available).
Text Thread icon Text Thread icon -Displays a text version of the thread's contents.

 

Searching the Forums

You can search the Macromedia Online Forums two ways:

Using a Regular Search

Search multiple Categories and Topics simultaneously.

  1. Click the Search menu tab.
  2. The Search form field will appear. Type in your search phrase or keyword(s). You may also choose the location in the message(s) where the keyword(s) appear and the author of the message(s) you're seeking.
  3. The Filter On feature allows you to search Topics and messages by status when using any of the following filters: Answered, Awaiting Answer, No Reply, All and Refresh Page. For instance, to search for all answered "cfmail" Topic/thread questions, choose the Answered filter, type in your keyword(s) in the Search field, and click Go.
  4. Set the date range. You can search for postings incrementally in the last 90 days or within a specific date range.
  5. Select any or all Categories you want to search within.
  6. Click Search.
  7. Your Search results will appear.

Using a Quick Search

The quick search method allows you to search quickly within one Category, and applies to both frames and non-frames modes.

  1. Click on a Category you are interested in searching.
  2. Type in the keyword(s) in the Search field located in Title bar above Topic links.
  3. Click Search.
  4. Your Search results will appear.

Using additional Search settings can improve the quality of your results. You'll find a full description of more Search options in the Forums User Help menu.