<chapter id="using.main">
 <title>Using Phorum</title>
 
 <section>
  <title>Create a Profile</title>
   <para>
   To post, reply and subscribe to topics, and to personalise user 
   settings through the Control Panel, you have to create a user 
   profile. The possible exception to this rule is if the forum 
   administrator allows anonymous posting in certain forums, in which 
   case you do not need to register to post topics or reply to them. 
   However, in most cases at least the majority of forums require 
   creating a user profile to perform these actions. 
   </para>
   <para>
   To create a profile, follow these steps:
   </para>
   <para>
   1. Click on the 'Create A New Profile' button at the top right of the 
   forum page.
   </para>
   <para>
   2. Fill out the form on the following page. Double check the email 
   address you enter - it is important this is correct for validating 
   your account and other functions. Also, make sure your password is 
   strong by using an alphanumeric combination of characters at least 8 
   characters long.
   </para>
   <para>
   3. Once you have clicked the submit button, you will be informed as 
   to whether you need to take any further action to active your 
   account. On some forums you may need to click on a verification link 
   which will be sent to the email address you provided, a moderator may 
   need to approve your account, or both.
   </para> 
 </section>

 <section>
  <title>Browsing and reading forums</title>
 </section>

 <section>
  <title>Creating topics, replying and editing posts</title>
   <para>
   A topics is the starting point of any conversation on a forum. An 
   initial poster creates a subject and a post, and then other users 
   can reply to it. In this way users can converse about specific 
   'topics' of conversation. 
   </para>
   <para>
   To create a topic, follow these steps:
   </para>
   <para>
   <emphasis role="bold">1.</emphasis> Browse to the forum you want to 
   post a topic in, then click on the 'New Topic' link above the topic 
   list.
   </para>
   <para>
   <emphasis role="bold">2.</emphasis> The posting interface will now be 
   displayed. First, enter the subject of your topic, and then the message
   section. You can add smilies, formatting, links, pictures and more to 
   your post by using the editor tools located above the message box, which
   is present on most Phorum installations. Hover over the buttons for a
   description of what they do, and for help with BBCode (Bulletin Board
   Code) and smilies, click on the ? button on the right. 
   <sbr />
   <sbr />
   You can also choose to add your signature to the post, and to 
   follow the topic. Additionally, you may post attachments by 
   clicking on 'Attach a file...'. When you are finished, you can click 
   on 'Preview' to look at your post before submitting it, or post it by 
   clicking 'Post message'. 
   </para>
   <para>
   To reply to topics, browse to the topic you want to reply to then 
   click on the Reply link below a post, or fill out the posting form at 
   the bottom of the topic. Then follow the same procedure described 
   above.  
   </para>
   <para>
   You can also edit your posts after submitting them by clicking on the 
   'Edit' link beneath your post. The administrator can set a specific 
   time limit within which you can edit your post.
   <important>
   Some of the actions you can perform are limited by administrative 
   settings. For example, an administrator can prevent users from 
   starting new topics, replying to them, editing posts, adding 
   attachments and following topics within specific forums. 
   </important>
   <remark>TODO: Link certain features (e.g. topic follow) with 
   appropriate sections when written</remark>
   </para>
  </section>
  
  <section>
   <title>Searching forums</title>
  </section>
  
  <section>
   <title>Private Messages</title>
  </section>
    
</chapter>
