DON'T USE ALL CAPS I've already said you shouldn't use all caps in chat areas. You shouldn't use all caps in message boards, either. In general, you shouldn't use all caps anywhere on America Online or on any other online service. Typing in all caps means you're shouting. Messages typed in all caps are also hard to read.
Break your message into paragraphs Use the return key to break your message into paragraphs. Use it a second time to leave a blank line between paragraphs. A message that consists of one long paragraph is hard to read, and many people will skip it without reading it. It isn't necessary to indent paragraphs. Blank lines between paragraphs are sufficient. Paragraphs in the FAQ aren't indented, and they look fine.
On the other hand, don't press the return key at the end of every line. If you do, your message will look funny when the window is resized.
Check your spelling I hate to sound like a school marm, but I find it painful to read messages with horrible spelling. Give your message a once over to weed out typos. Remember the writer's maxim: there's no such thing as good writing, only good rewriting.
Quote previous messages When replying to a message, quote material from the original message. That way it's clear what you're responding to. Just select the original text, copy it, and paste it into your message. Use quote marks around the original message to make it clear that it belongs to another person. In the Members Helping Members Forum, the regulars use European quote marks like this:
<<This is the message I'm responding to>>
These large quote marks are easy to read. Unlike Internet style quotes (">"), they work even if the message window is resized.
12.02 Remember where you post your messages.
It's easy to post a question and then forget where you put it. If you forget, you're out of luck. There's no way to search America Online for messages posted on message boards. If the question is important, make a note to yourself. In the note, describe how you got to that message folder.
12.03 Don't ask for email replies.
People sometimes leave messages on a board and ask for a reply via email. That's generally a bad idea. There may be other people reading the message board who have the same question you do. If the reply is sent via email, they won't get to see the answer. Also, how can you be sure the email answer you receive is correct? You can't. If a wrong answer is posted on a message board, someone may spot the mistake and post a correction.
It's an especially bad idea to ask for an email reply if the message board is in a free area. Email can't be sent in a free area. That means the person answering your question will have to exit the free area, send email, and then return to the free area. Very few people will go to that trouble. If you're asking someone to take the time to answer your question, the least you can do is to go back to the message board to find their answer.
12.04 Don't post the same message more than once.
Each message board has a handful of people who read every message on the board. You only need to post the message once for those people to see it. Some forum staff will delete all but one copy of a cross-posted message.
If you want to make sure the right people see your message, take the time to find the appropriate folder for your message. You might end your message by saying "If there's a better place to ask this question, let me know." Sometimes no one on that board will be able to answer your question, but someone may be able to steer you in the right direction.
12.05 New messages don't appear right away.
When you post a new message, the message doesn't immediately appear in the folder. This confuses new users, who often post the message again and again, waiting to see their message.
When you post a new message successfully, the system will display a message saying "Your message has been added to the folder." To see your new message, close the folder, then click the Find New icon. If that doesn't work, click the "Find Since" icon, and search for all messages posted in the last 1 day.
12.06 Member profiles
 
If you'd like to learn more about a person you meet on a message board, choose Get Member's Profile from the Members menu (or type Command-G). You'll see any information in the person's profile. If they haven't filled out their profile, you'll be told that there is no profile available for a member with that name.
If you'd like to share information about yourself, choose Edit Your Online Profile from the Members menu. Enter as much or as little information as you'd like. When you're done, get your own profile (Command-G) to see how what your profile will look like when someone else sees it. You can edit your profile at no cost if you're in a free area, such as Members' Online Support.
The fact that a person has a profile doesn't necessarily
mean they're still a member. Profiles can remain for
up to six months after the member has canceled their account.
12.07 Saving the contents of a message board
There's no way to download the contents of a message board without reading it, a la CompuServe's Navigator. There is a fairly quick way to save the contents of a board, though. Choose Logs from the File menu and open a System Log. Open all of the messages on a board, then close the log. Sign off AOL and read the message board offline.
If you read message boards using logs, be sure to read about the EasyView AOL Browser. It's described in chapter 15.
12.08 The Find New and Find Since buttons
Some message folder contain hundreds of messages. Wading through all of those messages can be a chore. If you click the Find Since button, you'll be able to search for messages posted in the last x number of days. If you've already visited a folder before, the Find New button will show you the messages posted since your last visit to the folder.
 
12.09 Enlarging the window
You don't have to read messages in teeny tiny little windows. If you click the zoom box in the upper-right hand corner of the window, the window will expand to fill the entire screen.
12.10 Using the arrow keys
While reading a message, you can go the previous or next message by pressing your keyboard's left or right arrow keys, respectively.
12.11 Flame wars
Differences of opinion sometimes erupt into hostile exchanges called flame wars. If you find yourself in a flame war, send the other person email and work out your differences in private.
Flame wars usually end when everyone gets sick of watching two people arguing and tells them to can it.
