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Frequently Asked Questions
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Getting Started
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Creating your profile
After signing in, you are directed to a page where you must complete your forums
profile. To create your profile, provide the information on this page and then click
Save. Note that you must, at a minimum, provide a Display name.
For more information about forum Profiles, see User Profile & Settings.
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Creating a post
See How do I post a new message to a forum?
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Getting notified of a reply to your post
See How do I sign up for Notifications?
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How do I indicate a post answered my question?
To mark your post as answered, click the Mark as Answer button to the right
of the post.
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How do I rate a post?
To rate a post as either helpful or not helpful, click Yes or No next
to the "Was this post helpful?" text at the top of the post.
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Registration & Sign In
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Why do I need to register?
You can read Forums without registering; but to take advantage of advanced features
the forums offers, such as posting questions and asking to be notified when replies
are received, you will need to register an account. It only takes a few seconds
to register, and it is recommended you do so.
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How do I register?
To register, simply click Sign In on any Forums page. Once at the Sign In
page, click Register to go to the registration page. Complete the registration
form and then click Save.
Note that you are required to provide a Display Name, at a minimum. All
other information is optional.
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I have a username and password. How do I sign in?
Simply click Sign In on any Forums page.
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Why do I get logged off automatically?
When signing in to RideSearch forums, if you do not check the Sign me in automatically
option you will be automatically signed out after an administrator-defined length
of inactivity. If you would like the forums to always log you in automatically,
please select the Sign me in automatically check box.
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User Profile & Settings
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What is a Profile?
A profile includes personal information you wish to share such as your
web address or weblog address. We advise you to be careful about the
information you choose to share as same of it could potentially be
harvested by spammers. To view your profile, go to the
Edit Profile page. To view the profile of another user, click the user's
Display name from anywhere it is displayed.
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What's a display name?
Your display name is the name that you use when posting to a discussion
group and indicates the author of a post. The name that you enter in
your profile information is the name that appears in the By
field of any new message that you post. The name you use can be your
real name if you wish, but note that potentially millions of people
will see it.
If you are receiving an error entering your display name, this may be caused by
the following:
- the display name contains certain words considered profane
- someone else has already registered this name
- the display name field is empty
- the display name is not between 2 and 32 characters.
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How do I add a signature to my posts?
A signature is a message that is appended to the end of any posts you
make in the forums. You can edit your signature from the
Edit Profile page. This signature will then appear at the bottom of any
messages you post.
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Notifications
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What are Notifications?
The notifications feature (also called Alerts) will
send you a message (via e-mail, Instant Message or a mobile device)
when someone has either replied to the post or added a post to the
thread you subscribed to.
Note: In order to receive notifications, you first need to opt in for the
service. See How do I sign up for notifications?
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How do I sign up for Notifications?
If you haven't signed up to receive notifications, you can do so when
creating a new post or while reading an existing thread. When creating
a post, select the box next to the Alert Me icon at the bottom of the page. When reading an existing
thread, click the Alert Me
button at the top of the thread's page. If you haven't signed up, you
will be directed to the RideSearch Forums Alerts Web site where you can
set up how and where you want to receive your alerts. After setting up
your Alerts account, you will be automatically returned to your Forums
site. If you already have a RideSearch Alerts account, you will not be
redirected.
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How do I receive a notification about a thread?
If you want to receive an alert about a new thread you are creating,
just make sure that the check box is selected next to the Alert Me icon at the bottom of
the page. To receive a notification about an existing thread, click the Alert Me
button at the top of the thread's page.
Note:
If you have not signed up for Notifications, you will be redirected to
the RideSearch Alerts Web site where you can set up how and where you
want to receive your alerts. After setting up your Alerts account, you
will be automatically returned to the Forums site. If at some point you
want to stop receiving alerts about this thread, just return to the
thread and click Unsubscribe button.
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How do I unsubscribe from notifications?
You can change your notification subscriptions through the
"Edit Profile" page. Once at the My Subscriptions page, click
the Unsubscribe from Alerts button. This will cancel all your notification
subscriptions.
Note: You can make changes to your forum subscriptions, thread subscriptions,
and profile information by clicking My Forums at the top of any forums page.
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My forum notification is missing. What happened?
In some instances, a site administrator may decide to remove a forum
from public view. In such an event, the notification subscription for
the forum would be removed from your list.
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About e-mail addresses and privacy
It is highly likely that you will receive unwanted messages (spam) in
your regular e-mail account if you use your actual, unmodified e-mail
address as your display e-mail address in a Forum. Note that your
display e-mail address is different from your notification e-mail
address. Your notification e-mail address must be a real e-mail address
in order for you to be notified; it is stored privately by RideSearch.
It is not visible to the Community. However, your display e-mail
address is public and visible to everyone in the Community. People who
send unwanted bulk e-mail (spammers) regularly gather e-mail addresses
from Forums groups. To help prevent spam in your regular e-mail
account, the default display e-mail address when you post a message in
a discussion group is yourdisplayname@discussions.RideSearch.com.
Because this is a false e-mail address, any mail sent to this address
will be returned as undeliverable.
However, if you want forum posters to know your actual e-mail address,
try providing a different version of your e-mail address that others
will understand but that spam tools can't automatically pick up. For
example, if an actual e-mail address were someone@example.com, we would
recommend modifying it to one of the following:
- someone@example.com.(donotspam)
- someone@REMOVE_CAPS_AND_INVALIDexample.com
- someone@example.com.NO_SPAM
By codifying your e-mail address in this way, legitimate correspondents
will use your actual address, while automated spam tools will send mail
to the invalid address.
An alternate strategy is to use a secondary e-mail account, such as a
Hotmail account, that is separate from your primary account for posting
to discussion groups.
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Navigation
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What is a Forum?
A Forum is a place on the Internet where people interact by posting and
reading messages about topics that are of interest to them and the rest
of a community. Forums contain groupings of related topic threads.
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What is a Forum Group?
A Forum Group is a top-level grouping of related forums. A forum group
contains one or more forums.
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What is a Thread?
A thread is a grouping of related posts. A thread contains one or more
posts. The first post becomes the thread and replies to the original
post are added to the thread.
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What do the Thread icons mean?
Icon Legend |
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Unanswered question thread |
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Comment thread
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Popular unanswered question thread |
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Popular comment thread |
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Locked unanswered question thread |
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Pinned comment thread |
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Pinned unanswered question |
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Pinned, popular comment thread |
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Pinned, popular unanswered question |
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Locked comment thread |
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Answered question thread |
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Announcement post
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Popular answered question thread |
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Question post |
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Locked answered question thread |
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Answered question post |
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Pinned answered question |
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Answer post |
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Pinned, popular answered question |
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Comment post |
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Thread contains code sample |
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Customer bug |
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Resolved customer bug |
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Customer bug with a workaround |
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Resolved customer bug with a workaround |
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Product suggestion |
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Resolved product suggestion |
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Notes
- Threads with the "Popular" icon have been viewed at least 200 times within a 3-day
period.
- Threads with the "Locked" icon have been blocked by the forum moderator from any
additional replies.
- Threads with the "Pinned" icon have been tagged by the forum moderator so that they
appear at the top of the list of threads in a forum.
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posts are tagged as either a "Question", a "Comment", or an
"Announcement". Only forum moderators can create "Announcement" posts.
The type of icon used for a thread is determined by the original post
(Question, Comment, or Announcement).
- You can hover the mouse pointer over any of the icons in the forum to see a short
explanation of each.
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Why don't I see any threads/posts when I view a forum?
A forum may not display any threads if there are no threads in the
forum or if a filter has been applied that screens out the
threads/posts.
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What is a sticky thread?
A sticky thread--also called a "pinned" thread--is a special post that
is sorted to the top of a forum for a specified amount of time. A
moderator can turn any thread into a sticky thread.
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What is a locked thread?
A locked thread is a special post that does not allow replies. Only a
moderator can lock posts. The reasons for locking a thread vary by
forum. To find out why a particular post is locked, please contact the
Moderator of that forum.
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What is the 'XML' icon at the bottom of a forum?
The XML icon is linked to the RSS (Rich Site Summary) feed for the
forum. RSS is used to allow other applications to subscribe to forums
posts.
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Why can't I access a forum I know exists?
If you are attempting to access a forum that you have visited before,
but now receive an 'unknown forum' error, there are two likely causes.
The first cause is that the forum you are attempting to access is
private and you are not signed in. The second cause is that the forum
has been removed.
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Posting
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How do I post a new message to a forum?
To post a new message to a forum, click the New Thread
button. Clicking this button will take you to a form for posting a
message or ask you to sign in first.
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Why am I unable to post a new message to a forum?
If you have problems posting, it could be because you have active
scripting disabled. To resolve this issue, you can either enable active
scripting or add this site to the "Trusted Sites" list. To add
RideSearch Forums as a trusted site:
- In Internet Explorer, on the Tools menu, click Internet Options.
- Click the Security tab, and then click the Trusted sites zone.
- Click Sites.
- In the Add this Web site to the zone text box, type the Internet address
for this site (http://RideSearch.com) and then click Add.
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How do I reply to an existing post?
To reply to a post, click the Reply button displayed with the post. If you
do not see the Reply or Quote
image buttons when viewing a post you, either do not have permissions
to reply (you may need to sign in first) or the post may not allow
replies.
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How do I edit my posts?
To edit one of your posts, click the Edit button next to the post you want
to edit.
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What is an edited post?
Forums allow Authors and/or Administrator/Moderators to edit posts. Due
to technical limitations, the NNTP replication of an edited post will
be viewed as a reply in the Thread.
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How do I delete my posts?
To delete one of your posts, go to the thread's page and click the Delete
button next to right of the post. Note that if the post has one or more
replies, or if the post was made over 24 hours ago, you will no longer
be able to delete the post. If you still need to delete your entry,
submit a post to the forum for the moderator to delete.
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Why can't I delete my post?
You won't be able to delete your posts under the following conditions:
- You have not signed in to the forums site.
- Somebody has already replied to your post.
- It has been over 24 hours since you submitted the post.
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My post has words replaced with ***?
The administrator has specified a word filter for posts. When word
filters are enabled, those words are replaced with asterisks (*).
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Why should I indicate a post answered my question?
When someone adds a post to a question you asked, you can rate this
post as "the answer" to your question. By rating a post as "the
answer", you help others find the answer more quickly, you give the
person who posted the answer credit for their contribution, and you
help increase the quality of answers in the discussion group.
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Getting answers to your questions
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Finding the right forum
Some forum sites contain so many forums, it's not always obvious which
ones best cover your interests. If you're not sure which forum to
choose, the Suggested Forums feature can help. Just type a keyword(s)
in the Search box and click Go.
In addition a list of posts that contain the keyword(s), you'll also
get a list of suggested forums on the right side of the screen. These
forums may be the best place to find posts on your subject of interest.
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Searching for discussions first
If you have a question, it is likely that someone asked it already, and
odds are it may have been responded to by someone else. You can search
discussion groups for a post using specific keywords. We advise you to
use no less than 2 and no more than 4 keywords in a search. In addition
to the posts found in your search, be sure to check the "Top 5" list on
the right side of the screen for popular answer posts that contain your
keyword(s).
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Browsing Forums
The list of forums is on the left side of your Web browser, grouped by
product or technology. Clicking the forum name will open the discussion
space and display the conversation threads posted to the forum.
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Using Filters
To show specific threads rather than all threads in a discussion group
or in your search results, you can use the Forum Option filters at the bottom of the
forum page.
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Finding Answered Questions
To display only answered questions in a forum, go to the Forum Options (bottom
of the page), and in View By Attribute, select Answered Questions.
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Finding questions to answer
To search for all unanswered questions in a forum, go to the Forum Options
(bottom of the page), and in View By Attributed, select All Questions.
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How can I search for posts in a different language?
If a site contains forums in other languages, a drop-down box will
appear next to the Search text box. Click the down-arrow to view
available languages. To search for forums in a particular language,
select the language from the language list. Then type search words in
the Search text box, and then click Search.
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Why did a languages list appear next to the Search tool? Why did
this list disappear?
Since forums can be shared across sites, it's possible for the forum
administrator to add a forum that is in a foreign language. When a
foreign language forum is added to a site, the language list will
appear next to the Search tool. You can
use the language list to search for forums in a particular language.
Likewise, if the site administrator removes all foreign language forums
from the site, the language list will no longer appear.
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Recognition System
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What are these little stars under my user name?
The RideSearch Forums now includes a basic recognition system to gauge your
participation in the community. you.
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How are my points calculated?
Different actions on the site will provide you with different points.
See the chart below for things you can do to earn points.
Action |
Points |
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You reply to a question or bug thread started by another user |
2
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Your reply is marked as the answer |
10
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Your reply is voted as being helpful
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5
x (# of votes)
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Your reply to a bug thread is marked as a workaround |
10
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You submit a bug that is resolved as fixed by RideSearch
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20
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A bug you submitted is validated by another user |
4
x (# of validations)
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Can I lose points?
Yes. If a post you made is deleted you will lose any points that you
gained for that post. If a post you made is unmarked as being either an
answer or workaround, you will lose the points you originally gained.
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How many points do I need to get a particular star rating?
This chart shows the breakdown of each star level.
Stars |
Points |
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0 |
0 |
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1 |
1 ~ 750
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2 |
751 ~ 2000
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3 |
2001 ~ 7500
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4 |
7501 ~ 15000
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5 |
15001+
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Won’t some people try to manipulate the system?
Yes and where we determine that this is happening we reserve the right
to either deduct points or ban the account.
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How long will it take for my points to be awarded?
It may take up to 24 hours for points to be reflected by the system.
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Are points worth anything?
Recognition points have no value; they are simply a reflection of your
participation in the forums.
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What should I do if I don’t get the points I should receive?
There may be cases where you feel that the system has not properly
awarded you points for a particular action. While we’ve taken
precautions to cover all scenarios, errors may still occur. If you feel
that your points are showing a significant error, please report it to
the
help email address.
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Glossary of Terms
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Community
The Community is you, other users, and the interactions among all the
users; some of those interactions will happen through this online forum
and other RideSearch Community properties. This allows you to get your
questions answered, share ideas, and learn more about the products and
technologies that interest you.
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Forum Moderator
An individual selected by the site administrator to ensure the high
quality of the Forums discussions. By default a moderator can perform
any number of tasks within a particular forum or set of forums. This
includes approving posts, moving posts, deleting posts, editing posts,
or banning users. If you have a problem with a particular forum, the
best place to start is with a moderator.
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NNTP
"Network News Transfer Protocol," the name of a protocol that controls
the request and exchange of Usenet messages; some Forums will be
configured to replicate to Newsgroups which in turn can be accessed via
NNTP by using an NNTP newsreader such as Outlook Express.
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Post
An individual message in a discussion thread group.
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Spam
The "junk mail" posts that are sometimes posted to Forums (or
replicated from posts created in Newsgroups). Also, "junk mail" or
other unwanted, unsolicited messages that you may receive in your
regular e-mail account if you use your actual, unmodified e-mail
address in a discussion group.
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Thread
A collection of posts that reference each other. The posts in a thread
are displayed in chronological order, with the original post at the top
and each reply indented and beneath the post to which it is replying.
Each reply may be replied to as well. The different types of threads
are identified by the icon next to the thread title in the thread
summary.
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