DRAFT VERSION
This document describes the use of the Math Message Board (MMB) software (a.k.a. EulerMB). It is intended for the end-user, i.e. the day-to-day user of the software.
Overview. A message board holds a set of discussion threads. Each discussion thread represents a single discussion (e.g. a math question and all the responses to that question). A discussion thread contains one or more messages. Each message is a remark by a single person at a single point in time. In addition, each discussion threads belongs to a single subject area. Subject areas (e.g. “elementary math” and “calculus”) are used to group related discussion threads. Users perform actions on the message board, such as posting, replying, or editing.
Threads. Each discussion thread has a title suscinctly describing the thread. This title is assigned by the person creating the thread. Each discussion thread may have a state property. State may be used for various purposes, such as to annotate whether the original question in the thread has or has not been fully answered. This state may be changed by anyone at anytime.
Methods. Threads are found by either searching or browsing. Searching is running a query to find threads that match a certain criteria (e.g. contain certain keywords such as “circle” and “area”). Searching has a specific goal in mind. Browsing, on the other hand, is less directed. You might browse, for example, to see all the recenly active threads.
Searching. To search, type in some keywords next to the Search button and press Search. The search page also describes advanced search methods.
Browsing. To browse, use the Explore link. This will show a list of recent activity, sorted by recency. So, messages posted recently (e.g. last few days) will show at the top of this list. Exploring is a useful way to see what's new.
Views. There are various ways to organize the Explore view. These are threads, threads - detailed, actions, and actions - detailed. The threads views display a list of the most recently modified threads, and for each thread a list of the most recent activities (e.g. messages) are listed. The actions views are the compliment. The actions views display a list of the most recent activities (e.g. messages), and for each activity the corresponding discussion thread is identified. For each of these two types of views, there is a normal view and a detailed view. The detailed views are just more verbose. In the Explore view, you can also filter message by selecting subject area from the Subject Area selection box. If All is selected, no filtering is done, else only threads and actions in the selected subject area are displayed. Often, there are two many results to fit on a page. Therefore, one can use the Page control to move backward («) or forward (») through the results. You can also type a page number in the Page box and press Enter. The Rows/page allows you to adjust the number of entries displayed per page.
Table columns. The results in the Explore view have a number of columns, depending on the selections. Time is a time stamp. It is in the format YYYY-MM-DD-HH-MM, where YYYY is an optional year (e.g. 2000), MM is the month number (1-12), DD is the day of month (1-31), HH is hour in military time (0-23), and MM is the minute of the hour (0-59). Beside each time stamp is a number in square brackets (e.g. [0.02]). This indicates the number of days (expressed as a decimal) that have elapsed since the time stamp was recorded. (This value starts at 0 and increases as time goes by.) The elapsed time is useful in quickly determining how old an action is. When in one of the “threads” views of Explore, this timestamp represents the last time the thread has been modified (replied to or edited, not including changes to the thread state). Within each thread entry, there is a list of recent actions on the thread. Each action has a number in square brackets beside it. This number indicates the elapsed time in days that the action was image. When in the “actions” views of Explore, the timestamp similarly the time in which the action was made.
Thread IDs Each thread has a unique ID number from which it can be referenced. Threads can be located by ID number using the search tool. One caveat is that the search tool only reindexes every two days or so, so very new threads cannot currently be located this way. The other thing to know about threads is that you can generate references them from within another thread as such: \thread{26047}. When Searching use “Thread=26047”.
Reading a discussion thread is fairly simple. One useful feature is the view source button, which causes the source code for all the messages in the current thread to display (e.g. shows [sqrt] instead of the rendered square root symbol). This is useful for seeing how other people inputted mathematical notation.
Click “Post a new question.” Next, fill in the appropriate fields for your question. For example, select a subject area that best categorizes the discussion you're creating (e.g. “Algebra/Geom/Trig”). Type in a title for your discussion thread (e.g. “quadratic formula confusion”). Enter a name that identifies yourself (e.g. “squareRoot,” “Alice,” “AliceE,” or “Alice Ecila”) depending on the level of anonymity desired. Enter your message in the large box. When done, click Preview to see how your message will look. Then click Post this message. The message board also provides a variety of ways to input math notation. Refer to \thread{24473} for further information. If you check the spell check in preview check-box before clicking preview, any potentially misspelled words in your message will be underlined in red. Upon clicking on one of these red underlined words, a list of suggested replacements will be shown.
Subscribing via e-mail. To have all responses to a thread be sent to your e-mail address, enter your e-mail address in the e-mail box when posting or replying to a thread. (Note: there currently is no way to subscribe to a thread without replying to it.) Your e-mail address used only for the purpose of sending you responses and is not visible to other message board users.
Thread state. When posting or replying to a thread, you may request that the thread state be changed by entering a new state in the thread state box.
Inserting images
First, use any external drawing tool that can create GIF, PING, or JPEG images. Such tools include the Paint utility on Windows (Start | Programs | Accessories | Paint). On Linux and UNIX variants, GIMP and a variety of other tools work well. Note: the Paint utility on older versions of Windows cannot create GIF, PING, and JPEG image–download and use one of the many freeware or commercial programs instead. Try to keep the image small in byte size in order to conserve disk space on the MMB server. MMB limits images to 50 kilobytes (KB) each. The number of bytes used is most important. For example, a simple image could be large in area (i.e. number of pixels) but consume a small number of bytes; conversely, a complex image could be small in area but consume a large number of bytes. The file format also affect byte size as well as image quality. When in doubt, PING images are typically recommended. After creating your image file, click the Browse… button on MMB and select your image file. After doing so, click on the upload image button. On success, the message you are currently composing will preview with newly uploaded image displayed. You will notice that some new text that looks like “\object{…}” will have been added to the source code of your message. This is a tag that indicates where in your message the image will be placed. You may wish to move it to another location in the message text. You might even wish to create multiple copies of this text (such as if you are uploading a mathematical symbol and wish to use it in multiple locations in your message). If you do not want the image, simply delete the object tag and click preview before sending.
Modifying a thread
Editing. You are allowed to edit a message you posted after having posted it provided you use the same Internet connection and the ellapsed time is less than 24 hours. To do so, mark the check box next to your message and select “Edit Message.” Your message will display within the composition controls. Make any necessary changes. Then click “preview before sending.” When satisfied, click “post this message.”
Thread state. Anyone can change the state of a thread. Click “change thread state.” When prompted, enter your name. Then enter the new thread state. The thread state will be changed, and your action may be visible in the Explore by actions list. (Note: in practice, thread state is rarely used.)
The buttons named Refresh and Clone are provided to help you manage windows.
Refresh. The refresh button in your browser reloads the current page. This is useful, for example, if you are in the Explore view and want to see if any new threads have been posted since you last loaded the page.
Clone. The Clone button opens a duplicate of the current window in a new window. Like the Split button, it allows you to see two things at one time. You may find the Clone button more flexible than the Split button. The Clone function is similar to the “File | New | Window” (or CTRL+N) function in Internet Explorer. CTRL+N also works in Mozilla/Netscape, but it instead loads a new blank window, not a clone of the current window.