Welcome to this discussion board! This document gives you the basic knowledge that you need to use this board effectively. If you experience any difficulties with the board, contact one of the moderators listed under the Contact link from the Main Menu.

• Rules and "Netiquette"
• Reading Discussions
• Contributing to Discussions
• Searching the Board
• Getting an Account
• Where to get further information

Rules and "Netiquette"

When writing your messages, please use the same courtesy that you would show when speaking face-to-face with someone. Flames, insults, and personal attacks will not be tolerated! It's fine to disagree strongly with opinions, ideas, and facts, but always with respect for the other person. Great minds do not always think alike, and that's where the fun is! Also, note that messages express the thoughts of the writers, not the board or its moderators.

For the complete charter, please read:

GNTType Charter

Some simple rules for this group:

1. You MUST use a valid username/password to post and we prefer that you use your REAL NAME either in the username or in your profile. As always, we encourage folks not to hide behind "nicknames"
   
   
2. This discussion group will be an extension of the normal mailing list, so the same rules apply. It will be fairly tightly moderated, since it is intended to be a moderated discussion group with a technical focus.
   
   
3. Before posting a question/response, please take a moment to do a quick search of the Web Site, the FAQ, list traffic archives, and/or the board archives. This will prevent redundant postings and will help you hone your question/comment to a finer point before being made public and the quality of information will be much higher than a general question.
   
   
4. Use meaningful topic titles. Again, this helps draw people to the topic and participate. An example of a poor topic choice is "HELP!" A better example would be "Need diagnostic procedure for XYZ..."
   
   
5. Please use the Turbo TRader for posting For Sale/Wanted items. A convenient link has been provide in the left hand navigation area.

Several other very good BBS forums exist on the net with lots of free form discussion, so we are going to continue to focus and guide discussion towards technical topics. Thanks! Have Fun!

Reading Discussions

Anyone with WWW access can read discussions on this board. To read discussions, navigate to the discussion of interest by single clicking on the links from the list of topics and subtopics. You can navigate backwards using the navigation bars at the top of each page.

Contributing to Discussions

To post a message to an existing discussion, fill in the "Add a Message" box at the bottom of the page. You may use formatting codes or basic HTML tags to improve the appearance of your post. At the discretion of the moderators, the discussion may allow public posting or may require a user account (username and password). Follow the instructions on the form to supply the necessary credentials for posting.

Where available, you may click on a "Create New Conversation" button to start a new discussion. This will add a subtopic with the subject you specify and start a conversation with the initial message that you specify. After filling in the subject line, post a message as described above.

Searching the Board

This discussion board can be searched by time of post (New Messages search) or by matching text (Keyword Search). Each of these searching mechanisms provide convenient methods to locate discussions of interest.

To search for new messages, click the New Messages link from the Main Menu. If you have an account with a valid username and password, fill in your username and password in the appropriate boxes to search for messages since your last check. If you do not have an account, you can still search for new messages posted since a given date. The Last Day and Last Week options on the Main Menu are equivalent to searching for messages posted within the last day and messages posted within the last seven days, respectively.

To search the board by keywords, click the Keyword Search link from the Main Menu. You can then specify the words that will be used in the search. Additional instructions for using the Keyword Search option are displayed on the search screen itself.

When you have performed the search, click on any of the links to the pages to view the page, or click on a link in the result to go to the post where that text occurs.

Getting an Account

Having a user account on this discussion board gives the following benefits:

• Ability to specify your full name and e-mail address to be included on your post
• Ability to enable e-mail notification of all posts to topics you select
• Ability to change your own password
• In some versions, the ability to specify miscellaneous preferences for operation of the board, and to give more information about yourself that others can view

To get a user account, first click the JOIN button on the top of the page or the JOIN GN/TType link from the Main Menu of this board. Read the charter information and you will be taken through a registration process. You password will be E-mailed to you, so it's very important to make sure you use a current and valid email address. Once you get your password, you encouraged to use the Edit Profile link from the Main Menu of the board to customize your password, profile settings, etc. NOTE: All traffic is mirrored to the email List, so if you are a subscriber to the List, you shouldn't check the email notification options on the board. This will result in apparent duplicate messages (one to to you via the List and another directly to you)

If you have problems signing up or editing your Profile, e-mail one of the moderators listed on the Contact page and request assistance. Be sure to include your e-mail address, full name, and username if you e-mail a moderator.

Where to get further information

For additional information on using this system, read the Formatting document and the Troubleshooting document, available from the Main Menu. If you have additional questions or concerns, post them to an appropriate area on the discussion forum, or contact one of the moderators or the board administrator from the Contact page.