HelpThing›Topic

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This page is where the messages on a particular topic can be found.

[edit] Left-hand navigation

Links here will return you to the main talk page, allow you to start a new topic, or search the whole of talk. For searching within a topic thread, the best option is to use your browser's "Find" function.

[edit] Page Header

Each topic must belong to a group; clicking the group's name will take you to the group's page.

You can mark threads as "favorite" or "ignore" from within the thread, as well. Clicking on the gray star will turn it yellow and will add this thread to the "Your Favorites" view on the main talk page. Clicking on the gray "x" will turn it red and will remove this thread from your Talk listings.

There is a counter of how many new messages have been posted since the last time you opened this topic; clicking on "jump to first unread" will move the view down the page to the first new message.

[edit] Messages

Each message consists the header bar, body of the message, and posting and abuse links.

[edit] Message header

Read messages are in pink, unread messages are in blue; both have a read/unread indicator to the left of the date. Clicking on the name of the poster will take you to their profile page. The header bar also shows the date and time a message was posted (in U.S. Eastern Time, which is GMT-5 November through mid-March, and GMT-4 mid-March through the end of October) as well as a link to return you to the top of the page. The message number is a permanent link to that particular message, useful for linking in long threads.

[edit] Message body

The text of the message.

[edit] Editing and deleting messages

You can edit or delete your own messages. In messages you have posted, you will see a small pencil and a small "X" . Clicking on the pencil will allow you to edit your post, and will result in an italicized line being added to the bottom of the message body that states "This post was edited by the author" and the date. You can edit your post as many times as you like.

Clicking on the X will delete the text of the post. The header bar will remain (so as not to throw off subsequent numbering), but the message text will appear as "The message was deleted by the author."

[edit] Post a new message

Opens up a new text box below the link you clicked. However, these forums are not threaded - that is, you can't reply specifically to one message in the list; all new messages go to the bottom. If you want to reply to what someone said in one particular post, it's typical to reference the message by number and often by the poster's name.

Messages allow some limited html - b, i, u, a, s, blockquote, and img tags. Talk will also automatically convert URLs starting with http:// into active links - just put a space before and after the address.

[edit] Flag Abuse

If you feel someone else's message is in violation of the terms of service, click the "flag abuse" link. The ONLY things that qualify as abuse are personal attacks, commercial solicitation, or spam - disagreeing with the opinions expressed in a post is NOT a valid reason for flagging. When two people have flagged a message, a small red flag will appear. Once four people have flagged a message, it will be hidden (although with a link to show it again).

[edit] Touchstones

Touchstones are works and authors "touched on" by your message. To add a touchstone, put brackets around the works and authors in your message—single brackets for works, double brackets for authors.

Example: "I'm currently reading [Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone] by [[J. K. Rowling]]."

As the system recognizes a touchstone, they will appear in a list to the right of the message. You can click on the links to check that the touchstone points to the right work or author page (links will open in a new window). If it is not the right book/author, click the "others" link and select the correct book/person from the list that appears. The touchstones reset when you edit a message, so you may have to change them each time. If the system can't recognize a touchstone, it will appear in the list in red.

All of the books and authors that have been touched on in a topic appear in a list to the right of the messages. Books that you have in your library will have a small green check mark next to them. Clicking on a book will bring up the option of highlighting everywhere it's touchstoned within the thread, or of going to its work page. You can see all of the times a book is touchstoned in any topic by looking at the work conversations page.