# [How to] Post messages



## Makai Guy

You may READ messages without being logged into the board, but in order to POST messages, you must:

*Be a registered user of the board.  *Click *here* to begin the registration process. There is no charge for bbs registration, and registration is open to TUG members and guests alike.
NOTE: BBS registration does not come automatically with your TUG Membership.  You must register yourself so that you may choose your own unique bbs username / bbs password combination.  For your convenience, we suggest you use the same username and password on the BBS as you use for your member logins.​
*Be logged into the board.  *Until you log in, the board doesn't know who you are and whether you are a registered user.
When successfully logged in, your username will be shown in the blue link bar near the upper right corner of the screen.  If not logged in, you'll see _*Log in*_ and _*Register*_ links in the upper right corner.

If an apparently successful login is followed by an indication that you are NOT logged in, please see *this post* for assistance.​
*Definitions:*
*Message* or* Post*- an individual posted message.  Each message will be included in a thread.​​*Thread* - an initial message plus any replies that have been posted under a single topic.​​*Reply* - a message entered in response to an existing message.  Reply messages are placed in the same thread as the original message.  Do not enter a reply that is unrelated to the topic being discussed in that thread; start a new thread instead.​​*To start a new thread:*
Note: You cannot do this while viewing another thread.  You must exit the thread you are reading first.​
Click the orange *Post thread..*. button near the top of the page.
*If you are viewing the message list of a forum* at that time, your thread will be created in that forum
.. or ..
*If you viewing the list of forums on the home page* at that time, you will be presented with a popup in which to choose an appropriate forum for your thread.
Enter your message then press the *Post*_* Thread*_ button below the message entry window.
Do NOT submit the same message, or one essentially similar, to other TUG forums.  Duplicate posts WILL be removed.
*To enter a reply* to a thread you are reading, you have several options:

*Quick Reply* - To add a quick reply, scroll to the bottom of the thread display and enter your reply there.


*Reply with Quote of original message* - Click on the *Reply* button in the lower right corner of the message.

_To quote only part of the message, highlight the portion of the message you wish to quote before pressing the *Reply* button_.

This will take you to the quick reply box near the bottom of the page with the message to which you are replying pre-entered as a quoted message enclosed by *[quote]* and *[/quote]* tags. You may add your reply text OUTSIDE the *[quote]* and *[/quote]* tags.
Any text you enter INSIDE the quote tags will appear to be part of the message you are quoting when the message is posted, and thus not obvious or evident to the reader.

To make your message easier to read, please delete any unnecessary portions of the message you are quoting, leaving only enough to show what your reply relates to. Be sure not to delete the *[quote]* and *[/quote]* tags.

When finished, press the *Post Reply* button.


*Reply with Quote of Multiple Messages* - Click on the *+Quote* button in each of the messages you wish to quote in your reply.  The button in each of your selected messages will change to _*-Quote*_.  You can de-select messages by clicking the _*-Quote*_ button in the message.

When you are done selecting messages to quote, scroll down to the bottom of the page to the reply entry box. Click the _*Insert quotes ...*_ button below the left corner of the box.  This will pop up a window with your selected quotes.  You may remove a quote by clicking the _*Remove*_ link, and you can change their order by dragging the 3-bar icon to the left of them up or down.

When satisfied with the quotes and their order, click the _*Quote Messages*_ button, or you can click the *X* in the upper right corner to cancel adding the quotes.

*Other BBS Help Topics*​


----------

