Ok, I guess we should start basic. First off, lets define Forum.
"A place on the internet (usually) within a site in which people can discuss topics with other people."
Thats it really, nothing to complicated. So lets talk about the structure of a forum.
There are usually a few main areas called Boards. Boards are themed around a general topic, to help organize the Forum. In Boards, there are things called Threads and Polls.
Anyone can start a Thread, and you can name it whatever you want. The thread is supposed to be relevant to the theme of the Board. Threads can be changed in many ways.
-If a thread is popular enough, it can become "hot" which moves it up on the boards page.
-A Thread can also be "stickied" by an admin or moderator. By sticking the Thread, the admins insures that it will always be at the top of the Board page.
-Another manipulation of a Thread is the "locking" feature. By locking a Thread, it makes it so that only the creator of the Thread and forum moderators and administrators can post in it.
With a poll, their is a similar concept. It must be relevant to the Board, and can be manipulated the same ways that Threads can. But they serve a different purpose. Polls are used to judge opinions through voting. There are many ways to change polls, most of them small things like the number of options, or the amount of times someone can vote.
unnecessary, idiotic and pointless poles are unwanted.
Now one of the most important things you do on Forums is post. Posting is where you reply to a thread, or comments made on a thread. Posting is the most diverse aspect of Forums. You can not only change the content, but also change the color, size, and effect of the words in the post. Most Forums have BBC code, which allows you to add emoticons, usually called "smileys" to your post, as well as images, videos, and GIF's (moving pictures)
Well thats pretty much all there is to know about BASIC forums using. I hope anyone reading this finds it useful.
multiple topics on the same subject are unwanted and may possibly get you banned depending on the severity.
