This page answers some of the most common questions on our website. Click on the links in the list immediately below to be directed to the specific section.

If you have previously used our forums use you original User name and Password to enter.

New users should click on the New User button
Entered all of the required information
The final question on registration is use frames Yes or No
I recommend that you use click "Yes" until you a familiar with our WebBoard
You can shut this off in the future by editing your profile
To finish click the "Create" button
Then the WebBoard opens

At the present time we are experiencing difficulties with emails from the forums due to server/software issues. You will experience difficulties with the mailing list and any other email related issues. Please be patient while we upgrade our server.

OPTION BUTTONS

Across the top of the WebBoard are option buttons:

• Post - allows you to post new messages to the board
• Refresh - will update the conferences if changes occur while you are on the site
• Search - allows you to do word searches, date searches, search users and look at today's messages
• Chat - Allows you to enter different "chat" rooms and communicate with others on line
• Page - Allows you to page anyone on line who has selected this option in his/her user profile
• More - Brings up a multitude of options from editing your profile, viewing current users etc.
• Help - Takes you to WebBoard help and you can select topics
• Logoff - Brings you back to ESAO's website

You can post a reply to any message within a topic. For example, if a topic has 10 messages, you can reply to the first message or to the tenth message. Whenever you reply to a message, your new message is indented under that message in the Conferences list to show other readers the thread of the conversation. Replies are displayed chronologically within each topic.

You can alert specific users to your message by addressing it to their attention. You can also reply to a posting privately, by sending an email message to the original message poster.

Replying Publicly

To reply publicly to the message you are currently reading, use one of the following options:

• Select Reply from the menu at the top of the message you want to respond to
• Select Reply/Quote from the menu to include text from the original message

WebBoard displays a message-creation form for you to complete. The form is the same as the one for posting a new topic except the topic from the current message is displayed. You can use this topic or change it. Otherwise the form works the same as described in "Posting a Topic Message" above. Please refer to that section for details.

Posting a Topic Message

When you post to a conference, you are starting a new topic. If you have something to contribute to the general theme of a conference, but it doesn't relate to an existing topic, you can start a new topic.

To post a new topic, follow these steps:

1. Select a conference by clicking the conference name or expansion box (+ to the left of the conference name).
2. Choose from one of these two ways to display the Post form:
• From the WebBoard menubar, click Post.
• From an open message, click Post on the message menu.
3. Enter the new topic name in the Topic field. Keep the topic name short.
4. Choose any of the following options by checking the appropriate boxes in the menu at the top of the message posting form.
1. Convert line breaks to HTML breaks to automatically turn line breaks into carriage returns or blank lines. If you deselect this option, all lines in your message are run together.
2. Preformatted text (No HTML) to turn off HTML features. This setting is helpful when you are inserting text from another source.
3. Anonymous to post anonymously. Your name is not attached to the posting.
4. Preview message to review your message before you post it. For details, see "Previewing your message" below.
5. Preview/Spell check to review and spell check your message: this is a default setting. For details, see “Spell checking your message” below.

Attach File to attach a file to your message. For details, see "Attaching files to your message" below.

1. In some cases, you see an "Attn:" field that you can use to alert specific users to your post. Click to select a name; hold down CTRL while clicking to select more than one. For details on how this feature works, see “Alerting a user with Attention Messaging” below.
2. Type in your message. Note that:
1. You can include HTML tags for formatting. (Because browsers interpret HTML tags, you must use the normal escape characters for angle brackets if you want HTML tags to appear as text—or substitute square brackets for angle brackets as a shortcut.)
2. On most boards, you can include links to other web pages and images. Note that any links you include must have the full URL, such as http://www.myserver.com/linked.html. Some boards may not allow active links in messages. If you have a question about this feature, contact the WebBoard administrator.
3. When you complete your message, click Post. Depending on which options you have selected, WebBoard either posts your message immediately or allows you to preview it (with or without spell checking). Previewing and spell checking are discussed in the following sections.

If you like, WebBoard will notify you by email when new messages are posted in specific conferences. The message is sent once a day when new messages are present. The time the email is sent is determined by the WebBoard administrator. You set up email notification on a per-conference basis (by default it is off).

To receive email notification, follow these steps:

1. Click More on the WebBoard menubar. The More Options menu opens.
2. Click Email Notify. The Email Notification Status form opens. The list displays all the conferences on the current board.
3. To receive email notification when new messages are posted to one of these conferences, check the box next to the name of that conference.
4. Click Save when you complete your selection(s).
5. To return to the More Options menu, click More Options

Attaching files to your WebBoard messages is a handy way to give users ready access to information that doesn't fit well in a text message. Your browser must support file attachments (Netscape Navigator 2.0 or higher; Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 with plug-in, or Internet Explorer 4.0 or higher) for uploading files. Almost any browser can download file attachments. Additionally, those who want to open the files must have the same or similar applications to open them.

To attach a file to your message, follow these steps:

1. Check Attach file on the Post message form.
2. Type in your message and click Post. If you selected Preview/Spell check or Preview, complete the preview and click Post. The Attach a File form opens.
3. Click the appropriate Category radio button for the file you want to attach. The category you select causes WebBoard to display the corresponding icon next to the file-attachment link in your posting, which gives other users a quick idea of the file type. The categories are as follows:

Application if this is an application.
Audio if this is a sound file.
Document if this is a text file.
Image if this is a graphics file.
Multimedia if this is a multimedia file.
Unknown if you do not know what type of file you are uploading.

4. Enter the name and path to the file in the File to upload field

– OR –

Click Browse to select the attachment you want to upload from your computer. A File Upload dialog opens. Navigate through your folders to select the attachment. Click Open to continue or click Cancel to return to the file attachment form. If there is no Browse button, your browser doesn’t support file attachments.

5. Enter the description of the file attachment in the File description field.
6. If you want to attach more files, click Yes for Upload another.
7. Click Upload Now to attach the file to your message. Depending on the size of the file and speed of your connection, this process may take a few minutes. Your message is immediately posted to the conference. The attachment appears as a hyperlink at the end of the message. An icon indicating the file type and the size of the file in kilobytes follows the filename.
8. If you clicked “Upload another,” the Attach a File form appears again. Repeat Steps 3-7 for each file attachment you want to upload.

WebBoard has tried to make it easy to identify new messages from the old. When new messages are posted, they appear under Attention Messages on the top left-hand side of the page. If this is your first time on WebBoard, it is recommended that you clear all new messages and then, as new messages are posted, the system will isolate only those you haven't read, for easy viewing.

To clear new messages, press the white button titled "More..." at the top of the WebBoard screen. More Options will open up and if you scroll down the column, you will find the words "Mark all read". If you click on this hyperlink, you will clear the memory. Next time you log into the WebBoard, you have the choice of opening up all of the messages or only the messages that you haven't read.

Non Members are those individuals and firms who wish to be kept informed of products and services, newsletters, and events even though they have chosen to insure themselves outside of the WSIB umbrella.