ThinkTank Discussion Forums

User Guidelines

To start, go to the Discussion Forums User Login page at http://pbl-thinktank.stanford.edu:8090/ThinkTank/Login.jsp

You will be prompted for your username and password. Contact a member of the teaching team if you do not know these.

Press the Logon button to enter the system. If the username and password are correct, you will be taken to the Select Group page. Otherwise, you will be returned to the User Login page.

At the Select Group page, all discussion groups of which you are a member will be displayed. Click on the link to the discussion group whose forums you wish to enter. This will take you to the Group Login page.

At the Group Login page you will be prompted for the group password. Check with the teaching team if you do not know your group password.

You will also need to select your preferred viewing option from the following two choices: One Frames Page, or Individual Pages. This determines how the forums will be displayed on your browser.

The forums are structured as follows:

o        Discussion groups (a single discussion entity, e.g. Pacific Team)

o        Forums (the theme of a discussion, e.g. Structural Solution)

o        Topics (individual topics within each forum, e.g. Gravity System)

o        Subtopics (e.g. Floor Slabs)

• In the One Frames Page option, all levels in the hierarchy are displayed in a single page, in separate frames. However, some older browsers do not support frames.
• In the Individual Pages option, individual windows are used rather than frames.

In the Group Login page, enter the group password, select your preferred viewing option and press the Logon button. If the group password is correct, you will be taken to the Select Forum page. Otherwise, you will be returned to the Group Login page.

In the Select Forum page, all forums in the chosen discussion group are displayed. At this page you may create a new forum. When you create a new forum, you must also specify the first topic, subtopic and message to go in this forum.

In the Select Forum page select the forum you wish to enter. You will be taken to the Contents of Forum [forum name] page. This page displays all the topics and subtopics in your chosen forum. At this page you may create a new topic or subtopic. When you create a new topic, you must also specify the first subtopic and message to go in this topic. Similarly, when you create a new subtopic, you must specify the first message to go in this subtopic.

At the Contents of Forum … page select the subtopic whose messages you wish to view. This will take you to the Messages in [subtopic name] page. This is the main core of the Forums system, where messages are displayed. At this page you may add a message to this subtopic, or you may reply to another message (note that the system will distinguish between messages that are replies, and messages that are submitted without replying to another message).

You may also sort the messages. There are four sorting options:

• Chronological sort (ascending or descending): messages are sorted in the order in which they were submitted.
• Sort by author: messages are grouped by author.
• Sort by reply structure: messages are displayed in outline fashion, with replies indented beneath the message that prompted them. This makes it easier to follow the threads running through a single subtopic discussion.

 Submitting Messages

Messages may be submitted by following the Add a Message link displayed before and after all messages, or the Add a Reply link displayed next to each message. When submitting a message, it is also possible to attach a file to your message. This file will be uploaded to the web server; when this message is displayed, the text entered as the description of the attachment will appear as a live link to the attachment.

If your message is a reply, a response notification email will automatically be sent to the author of the message to which your are responding. Other members of the discussion group will be listed. To send a copy of this notification email to any of them, simply check the box next to their name. This ensures that all team members are kept up-to-date on information submitted to the forums.