Finebush Forum Help

Welcome to the Finebush Forum Visitor Help Guide

Finebush Forum is now running with new forum software - YaBB (Yet another Bulletin Board). We chose it because it:

• Emails you when somebody posts a response to your question, so you don't need to come looking to see if there have been any responses.
• Keeps your email address concealed from the public. This protects your privacy and stops spammers from sending you unsolicited email.

This forum is moderated. We:

• Re-organize posts from time to time so they fit into the right threads, and
• invite experts in their field to contribute to the discussion where possible.

Use this manual to learn how to use this forum. We have created these help files to assist you wherever and whenever you may need help.

If this is your first time using a bulletin board, read on below for a short introduction on what it is all about. If you know about bulletin boards, check out the Users and Moderation sections to your left to see how to work this one. Enjoy! ;-)

What is a Bulletin Board?

Just like a board in your local community centre, a bulletin board allows people to put up notices and requests for information. But, unlike a paper-based bulletin board, an electronic Bulletin Board will allow people from all over the world to respond to your questions or contribute to the discussion. What is nice about a Bulletin Board is that you don't need to connect to the internet at the same time as anybody else - you read and contribute when it suits you.

What can I do with the FineBush Forum?

You can browse topics and posts to find information about growing proteas, sowing seed or using the starter kits we sell. If the information you seek is not here, why not post a question inviting somebody to contribute their experience? You can also request the Bulletin Board to send you an email whenever anybody contributes to a thread you are interested in (use the "notify" button).

Who can benefit from using this Forum?

People interested in growing proteas, fynbos or other plants that want to share experiences or learn from others.

What are Topics, Threads and Posts?

Topic

An area of the forum dedicated to a particular subject - e.g. Proteas, Waterwise Gardening...

Users can start their own topics to initiate a discussion on an area they are interested in.

Thread

A sequence of posts on the same topic, including the original post or question and all responses to it.

Post

Any contribution to the Forum or Bulletin Board

Notification

This Forum can send you an email when somebody posts to a thread you are interested in. To activate notification on a thread, you need to be logged on to the forum, and you need to click on the "notify" symbol.

Why do I need to register?

Registration enables all the features of the Forum:
• You can activate notification on threads where you want an email if there is a new post.
• The forum administrator can email you occasionally when there are important announcements.
• Other members of the forum can lookup up information about you, such as your website or picture (if you choose to provide it).

Are my details secure?

Yes:
• You can choose to keep your email address hidden (so that spam harvesters don't find it and send you junk-mail).
• You can use a nickname or alias on the forum to conceal your identity if you wish
• FineBushPeople does not divulge any information about its visitors to anybody - not even for money.
• We are also too busy to send you regular emails about our products - even our quarterly newsletter goes out about once every two years!