Participating in Web-Based Message Boards

Web-based message boards are similar to Usenet newsgroups in that they let you post and read messages related to a specific topic. They differ from newsgroups in that they're not part of an Internet-wide network; message boards are tied to specific websites.

There are thousands of websites that offer topic-specific message boards. Most message boards work in a similar fashion, so we'll look at the largest message hostYahoo! Message Boardsto learn how message boards work.

Using Yahoo! Message Boards

To access Yahoo! Message Boards, click the Message Boards link on the Yahoo! home page, or go directly to messages.yahoo.com. When the Yahoo! Message Boards page appears, you can choose to browse for boards by category, or search for a specific board.

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Message boards also differ from newsgroups in that you can read them with any web browserno special software program is necessary.

After you've selected a specific message board, you'll see the message board's main page, like the one shown in Figure 26.2. The theme of the board (in the form of a "starter" message) is sometimes displayed at the top of the page; all the message threads are listed (by topic) below the Topic heading. Click a topic to read the first message in a thread.

Figure 26.2. Reading the messages at Yahoo! Message Boards.

Each message in the thread appears in its own page. Click the Next link to read the next message in the thread; click the Previous link to back up and read the previous message. To reply publicly to a message, click the Reply link; to send a private email to the author of the message, click the author's name.

To post a new message in a new thread, click the Create a Topic link on the main message board page. When the next page appears, enter a subject for your message in the Type Message Subject box, and then enter the text of your message in the Type Message box. When you're ready to send your message, click the Post Message button; remember, any message you post will be visible to anyone visiting this message board!

Where to Find Message Boards

There are several different portals, like Yahoo! Message Boards, that offer a collection of message boards. The most popular of these are Excite Message Boards (boards.excite.com) and ezboard (www.ezboard.com).

You can also find message boards on many topic-specific websites. For example, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com), a big genealogy site, offers genealogy-focused message boards; the ABC News site (abcnews.go.com) offers messages boards to discuss news stories and current events.

Similar to message boards are group communities. These sites typically offer message boards as part of a larger set of community functions, such as chat, instant messaging, photo albums, file hosting, and the like. The three most popular group communities are MSN Groups (groups.msn.com) and Yahoo! Groups (groups.yahoo.com).