Online User Manual

Online Discussion User Manual

Your name
ENG/221
Date
Instructor
Online Discussion User Manual
Table of Contents
Page
COVER PAGE 1
TITLE 2
Table of Content 3
Purpose 4
Introduction 4
Requirements 5
Software/Application 5
Discussion Forum 5
Forums 5
Links 6
Accessing the Forum 7
Posting to discussion 9
Replying to a post 9
View names of Class Members 10

Preferences 11
How to access Preferences 11
Enable/disable auto Spell Check 12
Create a Signature 13
Change Display Name 13
Color Code Messages 13
Additional Components 14
Sorting Messages 14
Flagging Messages 14
Rich Text Editor 15
Reference 16
Purpose
The purpose of this manual is to help students of the University of Phoenix navigate the online
discussion forum. (OLS Version 1.58.2) Through the explanation of features, graphic examples,
and step-by-step instructions, this manual will enable students to be successful with the
discussion forum component of their online classroom environment.
Introduction
The University of Phoenix Online Discussion forum
The discussion forum is an important tool at the University of Phoenix. It allows students to
discuss course topics, submit assignment, ask questions, collaborate with team members, and
learn from each other experience. Components that make up the Discussion forum include the
Main Forum, Chat Room, Learning Team Forum, and the Individual Forum. One of the main
feature or the Discussion forum is the threads were you can create new post, reply to messages,
and flag messages to view them later. The Discussion forum also allows you customize the look
and feel of your messages. You will spend most your time in the Discussion forum, so this
manual is an essential tool for new students.
Requirements
The following list includes the basic requirements for you to use the online discussion forum.

Software/Application
* Operating System:
* Windows XP or later
* Mac OS 10.4 or later
* Microsoft Office 2007 or later
* Office 2008 (Mac)
* One of the following internet browsers
* Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.0 or later
* Mozilla Firefox 3.5 or later
* Google Chrome 7.0 or later
* Apple Safari 5.0 or later
* Adobe Reader 9.0
* Adobe Flash plug-in 10.0 or later
* Anti-virus program
* E-mail account
Discussion Forum
The discussion forum has the following forums and links.
Forums
* Main
* Chat Room
* Leaning Teams (Team A, B, C, D, E, and F)
* Individual Forum
Links

* Course Materials
* Class Members
* Preferences
* My Drafts and Sent Items
Forums and other links
Threads in each forum
Figure 1 Forums and Thread
In each forum they are thread where students and instructors can do the following:
* Post new message to discussion
* Reply to message
* View/print message
* Flag a message for follow-up
* Mark message as unread
The following instructions show you how to:
* Access the discussion forum from your eCampus home page.
* Post a new message
* Reply to a message
* View a list of class members
* Edit preferences.
Accessing the Forum
To access the Forum follow the instruction in this section.
1. Click Discussion from your eCampus home.
Figure 2 eCampus home page

Click Discussion to access forum

Posting to discussion
To post a new message in a forum follow the steps in this section.
1. Click Discussion to access your class.
2. Select the forum to post the message.
3. Click Post New Thread.
4. Enter the subject in the Subject field
5. Enter a message in the Text field.
6. Click Post Message.
Figure 3 Posting message
Replying to a post
To reply to a message in a forum follow the steps in this section.
1. Click Discussion to access your class.
2. Select the message to reply.
3. Click Reply.
4. Enter the subject in the Subject field.
5. Enter a message in the Text field.
6. Click Post Message.
Figure 4 Replying to a message
View names of Class Members
To view the names of class members follow the steps in this section.
1. Click Discussion to access your class.

2. Click Class Member.

Preferences
Preference allows you to update the following settings:
* Compose message
* My display name
* Font size
* Font type
* My signature
* Organize and color code message by author
* Enable/disable auto Spell Check
How to access Preferences
1. Click Discussion to access your class.
2. Under Forum, click Preferences.
Figure 5 Preference section
Enable/disable auto Spell Check
To disable auto spell check in Preferences, perform the following steps:
1. Click Discussion to access your class.
2. Click Preferences.
3. Under Compose Messages, select No for the option Enable Auto Spell Check.
4. Click Save Preferences.
Create a Signature
To create a signature, perform the following steps:
1. Click Discussion.

2. Click Preferences.
3. Enter your signature in the Signature field.
4. Select one of the following options from the Apply to drop-down menu:
a. All Messages
b. New Posts Only
c. Replies Only
d. None
Change Display Name
To change the display name on messages, perform the following steps:
1. Click Discussion.
2. Click Preferences.
3. Enter the new name in the Display Name field.
4. Click Save Preferences.
Color Code Messages
To color code messages by sender, perform the following steps:
1. Click Discussion.
2. Click Preferences under Forums on the left.
3. Click the Organize Messages tab.
4. Select a name in the drop-down menu.
5. Click the Palette icon.
6. Select the color you want to use.
7. Click Apply Color.
Additional Components

The following section shows tips that will help you with the features of the Discussion Forum.
Sorting Messages
You can find messages faster by using the sorting feature. There are four ways to view messages
in the forum.
Thread - display messages by topic
Message by Date - display messages chronologically
Unread Messages - display all unread messages
Fagged Messages - display messages that are flagged
Flagging Messages
You can flag message to view them at a later date. To flag messages do the following.
1. Select the message you want to flag.
2. Click Flag Messages
3. Select the color of the flag.
Figure 6 Flagging messages
Rich Text Editor
You can use the Rich Text Editor to compose messages in rich text format. Figure 7 shows the
features of the Rich Text Editor.
Figure 7 Rich Text Editor
Reference
University of Phoenix. (2011) [Image of Rich Text Editor's features] Figure 7. Retrieved from
https://uopbranding.phoenix.edu/docs/newui-v3_3/default/index.htm