Welcome to the Esperanza Estates Forum. If you've been looking at the Board Index or the Main Menu and you're wondering what to do next, you've come to the right place!

This Forum allows Guests (what you are if you have not logged in) to read all message postings. To reply to a posting or create a new posting, registering as a forum user is required. There are four areas to this forum:

1. The Main Menu
2. The Board Index
3. The Message Index
4. The Topics

The Main Menu

If you are here as a 'Guest' (aren't logged in), the Main Menu above the 'News' pane has six buttons:

• Home - takes you to the board index.
• Help - brings you to this help guide.
• Search - allows you to search (when enabled by the Forum.)
• Calendar - takes you to the forum Calendar.
• Login - allows you to log in if you have already registered.
• Register - allows you to register so that you can log in and create or reply to posted messages.

Once you've registered and logged in, the Main Menu will look a bit different:

• Home is still present.
• Help is still present.
• Search is still present.
• Profile - allows you to make changes to your forum 'profile'.
• Calendar is still present.
• Logout - allows you to log out and leave the forum.

The Board Index

The Board Index (or Forum 'Home Page') is loaded with information and links. Included on the Home Page are:

Forum Name

Category Name
	Board Name Board Description	Number of Topics and posts on the board	Date, Time, Subject and Author of the last post

• The Forum Name link takes you back to the top of the board index.
• The Category Name shows which forum category you are viewing -- possibly the only one.
• The Board Name links to the message index for that board.
• The Board Description describes the content of the board, and may identify the board's moderator.
• A New Posts or No New Posts icon in the left column indicate any new posts to the board since you were last logged-in.
• The Mark as Read button allows you to mark all posts in the entire forum as 'read'.

The Message Index

The Message Index options include:

Forum Name   Category Name   Board Name

Pages: [1]

		Subject	Started by	Replies	Views	Last post
		Topic Subject	Topic Starter	0	0	Date, Time and Author of last post

Pages: [1]

Topic you have posted in   Normal Topic   Hot Topic (has more than 15 replies)   Very Hot Topic (has more than 25 replies)

Locked Topic (cannot accept any more replies)   Sticky Topic (will not disappear from listing)   Poll

Jump to: Please select a destination: ----------------------------- Category Name ----------------------------- => Board Name => Another Board

• An indented navigation tree appears at the top of the forum display area.
• The page numbers link to further pages of the board, and are accompanied by Go Up and Go Down buttons linking to the top and bottom of the current page.
• The Mark as Read button allows registered members to mark all posts in this board as 'read'.
• The Notify button allow registered members to request email notification of replies to Topics in this board.
• The New Topic button allows a new Topic to be started, as described in the posting help section.
• The Subject, Started by, Replies, Views and Last post links enable you to sort the columns by these parameters (with Last post also toggling between descending and ascending order as indicated by the little arrow).
• The topic icons in the leftmost column are as follows.
• The post icons in the next column can be used to identify the content of the topic.
• The topic subject links to the start of the topic, with extra links for subsequent pages and new buttons to take registered members straight to their first unread post of the topic.
• Where the topic has been started or last replied to by a registered member, their names link to their respective profiles.
• The Jump to drop-down menu provides a quick way to navigate the forum Topics.

The Topics

The Topics area is where you find the actual forum messages:

Forum Name   Category Name   Board Name   Topic Subject

Pages: [1]

Author

Topic: Topic Subject  (Read x times)

Author Member Group Post Group Post Count Topic Subject « Date and Time of Post » Here is the text of the message.  Report to Moderator     Logged

Pages: [1]

Jump to: Please select a destination: ----------------------------- Category Name ----------------------------- => Board Name => Another Board  

• An indented navigation tree appears at the top of the forum display area.
• The navigation tree shows what part of the forum (by Forum/Category/Board/Topic) you are viewing
• The page numbers link to further pages of the topic, and are accompanied by Go Up and Go Down buttons linking to the top and bottom of the current page.
• The Reply button enables you to post a reply to the topic.
• The Notify button allows registered members to subscribe to email notification of replies to the topic.
• The Mark Unread button allows registered members to mark the topic as 'unread', which means that it will still be listed as new and can be effectively 'saved for later'. Note that this button changes to Add Poll in the bottom button set for users with permission to add polls to existing Topics.
• The Send Topic button allows registered members to send a link to the topic by email.
• The Print button creates a printer-friendly view of the topic.
• The author name links to the author's profile
• The author details in the lefthand column may be accompanied by further personal information.
• The topic subject links back to the start of the topic.
• The Quote button enables you to quote the post in a subsequent posted reply.
• The Modify and Delete options allow registered users to edit their own posts.
• Report to moderator allows you to report any abusive or wrongly-placed posts to the moderator for the topic.
• Logged indicates that the author identity has been saved.
• The Jump to drop-down menu provides a quick way to navigate the forum Topics.