To read and reply to posts in a specific forum, follow these steps:

1. From within a forum, click a specific topic to view the most recent posts. Figure 14.2 shows what a typical page of posts looks like; posts are ordered linearly, in chronological order.

2. To view older posts on this topic, click the See All Responses link. Alternately, you can jump to a specific post or range of posts by entering the post number(s) and clicking the Jump! button.

Click to enlarge figure

Figure 14.2  Read a page of forum posts; scroll to the bottom of the page to reply.

3. To add a post to the topic, go to the end of the topic and enter your reply in the text block. Keep your name in the Subject box, then click either the Post & Reload button (to post and return to the same forum) or Post & Go button (to post and go back to the main forum page). Remember, you can't retrieve a message after it's been posted, so make sure you really want to post before you click!

Read What's New  To read all the new posts in a forum, click the View New Responses button; this enables you to read all the new posts, one topic at a time. This is a good way to catch up on everything that has happened in the forum since the last time you visited.

Spell Check Your Posts  To check the spelling of your message before you post it, click the Spell Check button.

Note that you can only post on existing topics; you can't start a new topic. Only forum hosts can add new topics to the forum.

Avoid Flame Wars  A flame is an inflammatory posting in a forum. Sometimes other users get upset or angry or annoyed by someone else's posts, and respond with an inappropriately angry message, or a flame. When that other user responds in kind, a "flame war" develops. Try to put yourself above this kind of base behavior-don't respond to flames, just let them die away.