How do I add an article to a forum?
John Reekie, 4 Sep 1999
Last updated: 3 Mar 2002

Some definitions: A workgroup has a public forum and a private forum. Access to the two forums can be controlled, see How do I control access? A forum contains topics. A topic contains articles and tasks. An article can have uploads. One way to think of the structure is that each workgroup is a directory, and each forum topic is a subdirectory, and each article is another subdirectory that can contain multiple uploads.

If you have permission to add an article in a forum, you will see a link labeled "Add article" in the left-hand of any page in that forum. Click on that link.

If you were at the top level of the forum, you will see a page with the heading "Choose the topic to add this article to." Beneath the heading is a list of titles of topics in the forum. Choose one of these topics by licking on the appropriate link, and you will be taken to a page that you can use to create the new article (see below).

If none of the topics listed are suitable, there is a form further down the page labelled "Or create a new topic." To create a new topic and then continue to a page that you can use to add an article, fill in the topic's title and (if you wish) a short abstract, and press the Add topic button.

If you were already viewing a topic or article when you clicked the "Add article" link, you will already be at the page for adding an article.

In either case, you are now at a page labelled "Add a new article." There are a number of fields that you can fill in to add your article. Note that you will be able to change any of these fields after adding the article, so there is no need to get them exactly right if you are unsure.

• Full title. The title of this article, which will show up in the Forum contents listing and when people visit your posted files.
• Short title. The short title is what shows up in the left-hand margin of all forum pages. Type in a word or two here, or leave it blank and the first two words of the title will be used.
• Attached files. Any article in the forum can have additional files attached to it: PDF files, GIFs, Powerpoint slides, and so on. If you wish to allow files to be uploaded and attached to this article, choose the Allowed option (the default). Otherwise, choose the Not allowed option.
  Note: you will be able to attach files after creating the article. To attach a file, view the forum article and use the tools that appear at the bottom of the page.
  For more information, see How do I attach or upload a file to an article?
• Article text. If you want to upload an existing file that contains HTML or plain text that explains something about the files you are uploading, click on the Browse button and locate the file.
  Note that this upload is only for the text of the article that is displayed when the article is visited, it is not where one would upload larger attachments. This upload should only be plain text or HTML.
  If the article is created with attachments enabled, then larger attachments are added after the article is created. These attachments can be of any type.
• (or enter text here) If you want to enter text that explains something about the files you are uploading, type HTML or plain text in here. (This text is used only if the Article text field is blank.)
• Text format. In general, the HTML option works better. Use the plain text option only when pasting existing plaintext. (Note: this option applies only to the text entered in the above field. When uploading a file, the text form is automatically set from the file type.)

Important: don't forget to click on the "Add article" button or nothing will happen on the server.