Here are a few guidelines for using this forum. This may be useful since it works a little different from the old BLUF Forum (which was closed on 30 Sept 2007 - see General Discussion Forum). The old forum was an open discussion board where anybody could post messages without having to log in. While it was extremely easy to use, it also attracted a lot of SPAM messages and some unwanted posts from so-called trolls.

This forum lets you read forum messages without having to log in, but alternatively you cannot post messages without logging in. Logging in is easy though. Unfortunately this forum is not integrated into the BLUF site, so when you are logged in at BLUF, you are not automatically logged in here and vice versa. What hasn't changed is that this forum is open for all, BLUF members and non-members.

A major change is that there are now different areas for different topics. There is a discussion area, a market-place and a meeting-place. Please make an effort to post your new topic in the area where it belongs. Topics posted in the wrong area will be moved by forum admin.

This forum allows you to send private messages to other forum users. You can indicate in your profile whether you want to be notified by email when someone has sent you a private message. You can have up to 25 messages in your inbox, 25 in your sent box and 50 saved messages. At the bottom of the forum home page (http://bluf.freeforums.org/index.php) you can see who's online at the moment. By clicking on "memberlist" at the top of the page you can see all the members of this forum.

Some terminology used on this forum
Profile
When you register as a Forum user, a profile is created for you. I suggest that BLUF members use their BLUF name/nickname. In your forum profile you may want to add your BLUF number under the field "Occupation". You can also add a link to your BLUF profile, eg:
http://www.bluf.com/private/memberIndex/memberInfo.php?1
Avatar
You may add an avatar to your profile. An avatar is a small photo of yourself (or a drawing or a symbol), that appears on your profile and next to your messages on this forum. An avatar can be no bigger than 100 x 100 pixels. The file size may not exceed 10kB.
Topic
A subject posted by a user on a forum, followed by a thread of comments from others. Any forum member (BLUF member or not) can be a topic starter on this forum. Please do not start a new topic if that topic exists already!
Thread
A group of messages belonging to one topic. A thread may be closed by the Forum Admin if the topic is no longer relevant, if the thread has diverted too far from the original topic, if forum rules are broken or nothing new has been added for a while.
Message or Post
A message posted on a forum can either be a topic starter or a comment on another message. In this forum messages can be edited and deleted by the original poster.
Private Message
A message sent to one particular member of this forum. Go to "memberlist" and click on "private message".
Forum Admin
Those members who keep an eye on the forum to check whether users abide by the rules. At the moment L-cop (BLUF webmaster), Long Beach Sarge and leatherscot are registered as forum administrators. We are looking for another member from Asia/Australia, so we can cover all timezones. Get in touch if you're interested.

More Forum terminology, check Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Internet_forum_terminology