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1.
What is the Notre Dame College Blog? 2.
Who can use the Notre Dame College Blog? 3.
Who controls the content of the Notre Dame College Blog? 4.
What is a member? How do I become a member? 5.
What is a topic? 6.
What is a poll? 7.
What is a picture? 8.
What is an event? 9.
What is a bookmark? 10.
What is marked-read? 11.
What is the RSS feed? What is an RSS aggregator? 12.
What is a message? 13.
Can I attach files to messages? 14.
What dates and times are used by the system? 15.
Who are the moderators? 16.
Why do some users have access to a WYSIWYG editor and others don't? 17.
What is DBML? 18.
What are emoticons? 19.
What is a title? 20.
What is an avatar? 21.
What is a signature? 22.
What is a rating? 23.
What are "members who are online?" 24.
As a member, can I log in automatically each time I visit? 25.
As a member, can I hide my email address? 26.
What is a private message? 27.
When someone replies to a message that I've posted, can I be notified by email?
1. What is the Notre Dame College Blog? The Notre Dame College Blog is a resource through which users can learn about Notre Dame College by reading the weblogs (online journals) of students.
2. Who can use the Notre Dame College Blog? Anyone can read the Notre Dame College Blog, but to add a comment or ask a question, an individual must register to be a member and have their content approved by the Notre Dame College Bloggers. Members can also use this blog as a place to discuss issues, tally opinions, share pictures, and announce events that relate to Notre Dame College.
3. Who controls the content of the Notre Dame College Blog? The Notre Dame College Bloggers control the content of this blog. The Bloggers are students who write about their experiences at Notre Dame College. Notre Dame College Blog content is not part of official Notre Dame College communications. Notre Dame College does not control the content of the Blog, but inappropriate content that is reported to the Blog Administrator will be removed.
4. What is a member? How do I become a member? A member is a user who is registered and identifiable. To become a member, click on "Login or Register" and then "New Members," and provide a name (maximum 25 characters) by which you would like to be known in the Notre Dame College Blog, a password, and valid email address for your account. You must register and be logged in as a member before you can post comments/questions for the Notre Dame College Blogger to approve. If you would like to set up a profile, set bookmarks, post file attachments, rate posts, or the like, you must first become a member.
5. What is a topic? A topic is a single discussion subject within a blog. Topics may be based on a comment, an idea, a poll, a picture, or an event. As per convention, the default order of a list of topics is by descending order from the most recent message. Nevertheless, it is possible to sort and filter the list, and where applicable, traverse the pages of the list to discover less active topics. Topics can be suspended or made read-only by those with administrative or moderator rights.
6. What is a poll? A poll is a topic in which a question is put publicly, inviting opinions from other members in the form of votes and comments. Each member can only vote once in a poll, and a poll will never close unless the topic is deleted, suspended, or marked read-only. The results of a poll are counted and displayed in real time. By design, each member's vote in a poll is never revealed to administrators, moderators, or the public.
7. What is a picture? A picture is a topic in which an image serves as the basis for discussion. The handling of pictures is similar to that of a web-based photo gallery system. Unlike a message attachment, which may be an image or a document file, pictures are displayed online rather than as a link, and each topic can only have one picture.
8. What is an event? An event is a topic in which a forthcoming date and time of note is announced. Events may be special occasions, upcoming meetings, announcements, or the like. Events appear in the system's calendar and in the blog in which they were posted.
9. What is a bookmark? A bookmark is a means in the system to access a topic quickly. Each member is entitled to collect up to 50 bookmarks. Bookmarks can be added and removed as needed.
10. What is marked-read? When a user who is logged in reads a topic, the system will mark it. Thus, the next time the user visits the same blog, he or she can see at a glance that the said topic has been read. Besides marking individual topics, the system also offers a means to mark an entire blog as read. Obviously, as new posts appear, the markings will be removed, so it is possible to see what is new.
11. What is the RSS feed? What is an RSS aggregator? The system offers dynamically generated, RSS 2.0 compliant feeds of each blog so that new posts can be read in RSS (Really Simple Syndication) aggregators via XML. An aggregator or news aggregator is a type of software that retrieves syndicated Web content that is supplied in the form of a RSS web feed that is published by weblogs (blogs), podcasts, vlogs (video blogs), and mainstream mass media websites.
12. What is a message? A message is a single comment, question, or response within a topic. Members can choose to read messages within a topic in a linear or threaded view, in descending or ascending order, and in their original fonts or a single font. Messages from members will display the member's name, title, country, image or avatar (if supplied), start date, total posts, and average rating. The system provides a search engine that can be used to search for messages containing particular keywords or phrases or both, for messages within a particular blog or topic, or for messages by a particular member. The system also provides a news page, which lists recent messages.
13. Can I attach files to messages? The Notre Dame College Blog is configured to accept file attachments that members can attach to message files, such as images and documents. The administrator has restricted the types of files that are acceptable and the maximum size of a file. Notre Dame College Bloggers control the approval of file attachments.
14. What dates and times are used by the system? Users who are not logged in will view dates and times in Greenwich Mean Time or GMT (ie, Universal Time or UTC). Users who are logged in can set the time zone of the system to match their own. Users can also set the format of dates and times to read the way they would like them to -- for example, "1 Dec 2004" vs "1/12/2004," etc. The accuracy of dates and times depends on the accuracy of the clock of the web server.
15. Who are the moderators? Moderators are members, often without administrative rights, who can edit and delete posts so that content complies with the terms of use of the website. Posts that have been edited or deleted will be marked accordingly, and will display the name of the member who has performed the edit or delete. A member is assigned the right to operate as a moderator by members with administrative rights. A moderator of the Notre Dame College Blog must check and accept posts submitted by ordinary members before the posts can be published. The system also offers a reporting tool that allows users to bring inappropriate or offensive posts to the attention of moderators.
16. Why do some users have access to a WYSIWYG editor and others don't? Users with Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 or newer will have access to the What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get editor, complete with text formatting, emoticons, and a spell checker. Others will be presented with a non-WYSIWYG editor with similar capabilities via DBML and message preview.
17. What is DBML? DBML stands for DiscussionBoard Markup Language. It is a proprietary markup language, akin to HTML, for describing textual formatting (bold, italic, underline, strike, subscript, superscript, bullets, indentation, font type, font colour, font size), hyperlinks, and emoticons in the DiscussionBoard system.
18. What are emoticons? Emoticons are various smileys and tiny graphics that can enliven the look of a message. To add or insert an emoticon into a message, simply click on the emoticon's image.
19. What is a title? Every member can adopt a title that describes him or her at a glance (maximum 100 characters). Common practice is to use a concise description.
20. What is an avatar? A member can upload a 70 by 70 pixel image GIF or PNG file to serve as an avatar (image) of him or her. By default, the avatar of a member is placed beside every message that he or she posts, as a visual ID. Members who do not want to load and look at avatars on the messages that they read can switch avatars off on the personal settings page.
21. What is a signature? A signature of a member is a kind of mark, possibly comprising text (plain and formatted), emoticons, and hyperlinks, that is placed underneath every message that the member posts. It is common practice in online communities to use a favorite quote, witticism, or observation as a signature. A signature field is limited to 500 characters (including meta strings such as DBML tags -- fonts, colours, emoticons, etc.). Members who do not want to load and read signatures on the messages that they read, can switch signatures off on the personal settings page.
22. What is a rating? A rating is a score on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is the lowest and 10 is the highest, of the quality of a post. If the administrator has switched the ratings system on, every time a member posts something, other members are encouraged to rate the post, and each rating revises the member's average. Needless to say, a member cannot rate himself or herself, and anonymous users cannot rate members. The system of ratings is designed to encourage interesting, entertaining posts from members.
23. What are "members who are online?" Members who are logged in and browsing the Notre Dame College Blogs will appear in the "members who are online" box. This feature encourages activity. Those who prefer their privacy can choose to log in without revealing their online presence.
24. As a member, can I log in automatically each time I visit? Yes, users can log in automatically if, the first time they log in, they accept cookies and check the "Login automatically the next time" box.
25. As a member, can I hide my email address? It is possible to hide your email address from public view by selecting the "hide" option in the personal settings page.
26. What is a private message? A private message is an email sent via the system from one member to another without the sender or recipient knowing each other's email address, and without any other member knowing about the message. Members can choose to switch private messages on or off. If a member has chosen to allow private messages (via the personal settings page), there will be a "Send private message" link on his or her profile page.
27. When someone replies to a message that I've posted, can I be notified by email? It is possible to instruct the system (on the personal settings page) that you would like to receive an email notification whenever someone replies to any of your messages.
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