Conferencing Help

What Are Conferences in FirstClass?

Conferences are special interest message areas that you can browse and send items to.  Conferences are used to allow a group of people with a common interest to exchange ideas, questions, information and files.  You can “send” an item to a conference using the mail system, and you can browse a conference using your mouse by pointing and double-click on items.

The FirstClass control palette makes navigating conferences easy.

If you use a conference frequently you can make an “alias” to it on your desktop.  This makes a copy of the conference handy so you can tell immediately upon logging in if there are new items within that you haven't read.

Browsing a Conference

You may freely browse public conferences by double clicking on one that interests you.  When you open a conference by double clicking, all the current items are summarized in a list.  The summary shows the author of the item, the subject and the date it was submitted.  To view the item simply double click it.

A conference may have sub-conferences, i.e. special areas of specific interest within the general topic of the conference.  These are displayed in the upper half of the conference window as icons, and can be opened in the same way as the main conference by double clicking.

The conference summary also shows a red flag beside each item that you have not yet read.  You can read the items in any order, and FirstClass will remember which items you have opened and remove the flag on those items.

Participating In A Conference

FirstClass users may take advantage of the same features as in the FirstClass mail system when sending items to conferences.  To add an item to a conference,  simply send a message addressed to that conference.  FirstClass makes this easy by providing automatic addressing:

If you wish to submit an item to a conference and are currently in that conference, simply choose “New” from the Message menu.  A new message is created and automatically addressed to the Conference you are in.  If you are not in the conference you wish to submit to, then open your MailBox and choose “New”.  Enter the name of the conference in the “To:” field and press TAB or RETURN.
 
Fill in the subject and the content of your message, attach any files you wish and  choose “Send” from the Message menu when finished.  Your message will arrive in the conference and a copy will also be retained in your MailBox.
 
Replying To A Conference Item
 
You may wish to respond to an item in a conference.  To do this, select the item that interests you by clicking on it once with your mouse.  Choose “Reply” from the Message menu and FirstClass will create a reply message addressed to the conference with the subject already filled in.  You need only add the content of the message and send it by choosing “Send” from the Message menu.

Making An Alias To A Conference

If you participate in a particular conference frequently, you may wish to create an “alias” to that conference.  There are a number of advantages to aliases; the conference appears on your desktop for convenient access and you are notified of any new items in the conference by a red flag beside the conference icon.

To create an alias to a conference, select the conference by clicking on it once, pull down the Conference menu and choose Make Alias.  The conference will now appear on your desktop.  If you decide you are no longer interested in the conference, you can delete the alias from your desktop by highlighting it and pulling down the File menu and choosing Delete.

About Private Conferences

Private conferences are not accessible by all users.  If you are granted access to a private conference, an alias of it will appear on your desktop.  If you do not have access, there is no way for you to browse or contribute items to it.  The administrator can set up private conferences and grant access to particular individuals or groups of users.

Conferences may also be set up as private such that you might be able to see the conference's icon, but be unable to open it.

If you do have access to a private conference, you can do anything that you can do in a public conference, including browsing, contributing, deleting and downloading.

Supervised Conferences & Permissions

Some conferences may be set up with restrictions as to what can be posted and who can post items.  A conference may have no restrictions, it may require that items with attachments require approval or it may be that all items require approval.

If you post an item to a conference and it requires approval, the item will be displayed in italics until the conference administrator approves it.  No-one may open the item until it has been approved.  Once approved you may open it and/or save any attached files.

To check the permissions of a conference, select the conference from the conference list, pull down the Conference menu and choose Permissions.  If your system administrator allows it, a window will appear showing the permissions for the conference you have selected.

If you have been granter “Approver” permission, you may approve items by selecting them and choosing “Approve” from the Conference menu.

Conference Info

About Conference is similar to the résumé feature for users.  It provides information about the purpose of a conference.  You can view the conference info file by selecting the conference, pulling down the Conference menu and choosing About Conference.  You can also double click on a conference name in a directory list or in the address part of a message to view the information file.

About The News Conference

Users may have a News conference on their desktops.  It is a good place for the administrator to post messages that are of interest to all and it is a conference you should browse frequently.  If a red flag is shown beside the News icon, there are items within the conference you have not yet seen. 

Reading the News

To browse the News conference, double click the icon (as with any conference).  A list of the current news items will be displayed.  If you have not read an item yet then a small red flag will appear beside that item.  After you read the item, the flag will disappear.

Message Threading

When you reply to a message, FirstClass threads  the reply to the original message.  As discussion progresses on a topic, a message thread is automatically constructed by FirstClass, consisting of all the messages on that topic.  A conference may contain any number of different threads... all under the general topic of the conference itself.

When you open a conference, FirstClass displays all of the messages in that conference.  If you want to follow a particular discussion thread you can use the Open Thread feature of FirstClass.  If you have a message open, you can open the next message in the thread by pulling down File and choosing Open Thread.  To go to the previous message in the thread, hold down the option key while choosing Open Thread.  These two functions are also available from the FirstClass Palette (available from the View menu) as buttons.  When you reach the end of the thread you will hear a beep.

Threading can also be used in your mailbox to find an original message when you receive a reply.  If you receive a message which is a reply to something you have sent, use the Previous in Thread (Option-Open Thread) feature to find your original message.