Note: Only the Sysop, topic administrator, or the person who originally posted a message can remove a message from a topic.
Selecting Messages
When you first open a topic, TeleFinder automatically displays a message in the viewer window. TeleFinder selects this message based on the date you last read messages. You can select a specific message by its number or post date. You can also select messages from a list of message subject headers.
Click in the "Right Arrow" button to view new messages by post date.
Click in the "Left Arrow" button to view previous messages in descending order by date. The current message number is shown between the arrows.
Selecting By Number
Use "Select By Number" to select a message by its message number. This method is useful when you want to skip to the end, or start over at the beginning, of a topic.• Click in the "By Number" button. TeleFinder will open the "Get Message" dialog.
• Enter the number of the message you want to see in the dialog's text box.
• Click in the "OK" button. TeleFinder will display the message associated with that number in the viewer window. If the message number that you enter is higher than the number of messages in the topic, TeleFinder will display the topic's last message.
Selecting By Date
Use "Select By Date" to select a message by its post date. This method is useful when you want to find a message that was posted around a given date.• Click in the "By Date" button. TeleFinder will open the "Date/Time Set" dialog.
• Enter a date and time in the dialog.
• Click in the "OK" button. TeleFinder will then display the message that has a post date closest to the date you specify. TeleFinder will display the topic's last message if the date you provide is greater than the post date of any message in the topic. TeleFinder will display the topic's first message if the date you provide is earlier than the post date of any message in the topic.
Selecting Messages from a List
Use "Select From List" to view a list of message headers. A message header includes the To, From, Subject, and Post Date information from a message. This method is useful when you want to scan a topic for messages about specific subjects.• Click in the "From List" button. TeleFinder will open the "Get Message" dialog.
• In the dialog's text box, enter the number of the first message you want to appear in the list.
• Then click in the "OK" button. TeleFinder will open the "Scan List" window and display messages from the specified start point till the end of the topic.
• Select a message header from the list. Then click in the "Open" button. TeleFinder will then bring the message viewer window to the front, and display that message.
Replying to Messages
Replies to messages can be public or private. TeleFinder sends private replies as e-mail to the user's mailbox. TeleFinder adds public replies as a new message in the topic. You compose both types of replies using the reply window. Follow the steps below to reply to a message.• Click in the "Reply" button to open a reply window. TeleFinder addresses the reply using information from the message viewer window.
TeleFinder's Topics also support file attachments. Just click in the "Attach" button to add files to the attachments list.
• If necessary, change the "Subject" and "To" fields. To &endash;- Use this to address your reply to a different person. Subject &endash;- Enter new text to describe the subject of your message here.
• Click in the "Post" button add the message to the topic.
• Click in the "Mail" button to send the message to the addressee's mailbox.
Creating a New Topic
Users with the appropriate access privileges can create new topics in Conference folders. A user needs to have either the global "Can Make Changes" Sysop privilege, or the "Can create topics" path privilege to be able to create new topics. To create a new message topic, follow the steps below.• Bring a conference window to the front of the screen.
• Then select the "New Topic in 'window'" item ("Sysop's Corner" in this example) from the Mail menu. This will open a message reply window as shown below.
• Address the message to a specific user, or generically to "ALL."
• Enter a subject name in the subject text box. The name you enter becomes the name of the topic icon in the conference you are creating the topic in.
• After composing your message click in the "Post" button. TeleFinder then sends the message and creates the topic icon in the conference window.
Subscribing to Topics
Use TeleFinder's Subscribe to Topic feature to keep a copy of the messages in a topic on your own hard disk. You can then read and reply to messages even when you're off-line. Follow these steps to start a subscription:• Connect to a TeleFinder BBS.
• Open the conference folder containing the topic you want to subscribe to.
• Select the topic icon.
• Then select "Subscribe to Topic" from the "Mail" menu. TeleFinder will then download the messages and make an entry for the topic in TeleFinder's Topic Inbox. You'll see each message appear on your screen as TeleFinder saves them.
Opening the Topic Inbox
From the "Mail" menu select the "Open Topic Inbox" command. TeleFinder will display a list of topics you subscribe to.The list shows the name of the topic, the source BBS, the date TeleFinder last updated the topic, and the update frequency option.
Topic Update Frequency
TeleFinder sets new subscriptions with a daily update frequency. This means that TeleFinder will request new messages from the BBS and send messages you post just once per day. TeleFinder updates topics when you connect to the source BBS just after the BBS icons appear on your screen. Use the Options button to change the update frequency to each call or put the subscription on hold. When the subscription is on hold TeleFinder will only update the topic when you use the Update button. You can use the Update button to update the topic manually. You need to be on-line to update a topic.Removing a Topic Subscription
Use the "Delete" button to remove a topic from the subscription list. To reclaim disk space you need to delete the topic icon and it's message folder. The topic icon and message folder are in the Incoming Topics Folder. The Incoming Topics Folder is in the same folder as TeleFinder.Restoring a Topic Subscription
You'll need to restore a subscription if any one of the three events occur:• If you rename your settings file. TeleFinder uses this name to indicate which service you've connected to.
• If the BBS sysop moves or renames the original topic. If the sysop renames the topic, you should also rename the topic icon in the Incoming Topics Folder.
• If the BBS sysop reformats the BBS hard disk. You can restore subscriptions by re-subscribing to them. Just repeat the original subscription steps. TeleFinder will not download messages that are already in your Incoming Topics Folder, it will just download new messages.
