How to start a new thread on a discussion forum or reply to an existing thread

[Mike.Phillips@Autogeek]

How to start a new thread & How to reply to an existing thread


Everyone is "new" to a discussion forum at least once in their forum life. If you're new to discussion forums, here's a picture tutorial that will show you how to start a new thread.

If you have a question about detailing your car, then it's usually best to start your own dedicated thread than it is to do what we call, tagging on to someone else's thread.


Here's why you want to start your own thread...
By starting your own thread, your topic will get better and more attention which means you'll get the help you're looking for faster and more effectively. Starting your own thread helps you to help yourself.



Note that before you can start a thread or reply to an existing thread, you need to be a registered member of the Autogeek Discussion Forum.

Click here to register

Click here to go to a picture tutorial on how to register - it's not hard but sometimes pictures can help

After you have successfully registered with the forum and your account has been processed, you should see your forum nickname on the forum homepage on the right hand side in what's called the User CP block.

What you should see if you're logged in...


(The homepage of the forum is made up of "blocks" of information as a method of compartmentalizing specific types of information.)


If you don't see "Welcome back Your Forum Nickname" in the block that means you're not logged in and instead you will see a place to enter your forum nickname and your password.

What you will see if you're not logged in...



You must be logged into the forum in order to start a new thread or reply to an existing thread.


Click here to go to the forum homepage to see if you're logged in.


In the below post, I'll show you how to Start A New Thread

[Mike.Phillips@Autogeek]

If you want to start a new thread, the first thing to do is to locate a Forum Group related to your topic.

At the top of each page is a Horizontal Navigation Bar, it looks like this...


How to get to the list of Forum Groups
Click on the word "Forum" and it will take you to the list of "Topical Forum Groups"




How To Locate a Topical Forum Group
Here's a section of the "Topical Forum Groups", if you can't find a group that matches your topic, then post it in Detailing 101






How To Start a Brand New Thread
To start a new thread, locate the button that reads, "New Topic" and click on it. This will bring up a place for you to type your message. After you type your message and you're happy with it, at the bottom of the message box is a button that reads,

Submit Reply

Click on that button and your very own Thread will be posted to the forum!






How To Reply to an Existing Thread
To reply to an existing thread, locate the "New Reply" button, which can be found at the top or bottom right hand side and click on it.

This will bring up a a message box where you can type your reply. When you're finished, there's a Submit Reply button below the message box, click on it and your reply will be posted to the thread.






That's all there is to it!
Once you post your own thread and reply to a couple existing threads, you'll be on your way to a Forum Posting Pro!

[Showroom Shine]

Thanks Mike! I have been tagging since I got here. When I get ready to start a new thread,I"ll reread the tutoral!

[Mike.Phillips@Autogeek]

I had a guy e-mail me yesterday asking me how to start a thread...

On MeguiarsOnline.com, if you scroll down the homepage I actually have a mini picture tutorial on the homepage to help forum newbies learn how to,

• Register
• Start a thread
• Reply to a thread

Seem to work well over the 5+ years I ran MOL as we always has a strong growth rate with no promotion from any other source, plus the tutorial was easy to find for Lurkers and people new to the "Discussion Forum World".


Starting a thread is easy once you know how... it's the first time that can be a tad confusing... so hopefully this tutorial will help Lurkers new to forums but interested in joining in the fun get registered and posting with the rest of us...