How to Use the NWEF Message Board

The NWEF message board is hosted by Catalyst at the University of Washington. When you enter the message board, specific instructions will appear in the right frame. You can also view instructions at any time by clicking "EPost Instructions" on the top menu bar.

More information
While working in EPost, if you need help using specific EPost functions, click the purple help icon to view more information.

How Do I . . . ?
Read a message: Click the message subject to display the message content in the right frame. If there are replies to a message, a plus will appear next to the first message in the thread. Click the plus to show the subjects of all the replies. Click the subject of a reply to display the message in the right frame.

Reply to a message: When a given message is displayed in the right frame, the words "Reply to Message" appear in the upper right corner of the message box. Click "Reply to Message." A new window will open with the subject of the orginal message and a blank area for you to enter your response. Type your reply in the "Message" area and click "Send Message" when you are finished. You can write your message in simple text format or, if you prefer, you can use HTML tags to format your text or create links. You can preview your message prior to posting it to verify the formatting. If you preview your message you will have an opportunity to edit the message before it is sent to the board.

Post a new message: Click "Post New Message" on the top menu bar of the page. In the new window that appears, enter a subject heading and the text of your message and then click "Send Message." You can use plain text or, if you prefer, you can use HTML tags to format your text or create links. You can also preview your message before sending it to the board.

Below are a few common HTML tags:
To italicize a title or word: <i> The Title</i>
To make words bold type: <b>bold words<b>
To indicate a paragraph break: <p>
To indicate a line break: <br>

Attach a file to a message: When posting a new message or replying to a message, you can attach a file. Click "Browse" (on a PC) or "Choose File" (on a Mac), and then find and select the file on your local computer. The path and name of the file will appear in the text box. Select the type of file you are attaching from the "File Type" drop-down menu. If your file type is not listed, you can still attach your file by selecting "Unknown file type.". Your file will be uploaded and attached when you send your message to the board. Please notify us of any file type that is not listed so that we can add it to the options. Send us an email at catalysthelp@u.washington.edu.

Download a file from a message: Click the file name or icon to begin downloading an attached file from a message. The download process varies depending on which browser and operating system you use. You will most likely be prompted to either save or open the file. Select "Save" or "Save to disk" to save your file, and then click "OK". Select the location on your computer where you want to save the attachment. Once saved, you can open the file using the appropriate software program.

Search for a message: Click "Search Messages" on the top menu bar. You can search by subject or author. Be sure to specify "current messages" or "archived messages," depending on which portion of the message board you wish to search. The search looks for all instances of the word or words (separated by spaces) that you enter. Searching for "alex" will return exact matches, as well as "Alex" ,"Alexis", and "Alexander". The search is not case-sensitive.

Receive email notification of messages: EPost will automatically send you email when someone posts a reply to one of your messages. Click "Configure Preferences" on the top menu bar. You will have four choices regarding how often you will be sent email when someone responds to one of your messages. You can choose to receive email from the message board every time someone replies, only once per day, or not at all. Click the "Save" button after you have made your selection.

Sort current or archive messages: Above the listing of current or archived messages is the option to sort by thread, subject, author, or date. Click on the option by which you would like to sort the messages. Use the up and down arrows to reverse the direction of the sort (e.g. Z to A).

What Is This?
View Current / View Archive: The "View Current" button is the default view; it will show a table of contents for the current messages on the left side of the message board.

Clicking "View Archive" will display archived messages on the left side of the message board. To save space in the message board, a certain time period can be designated for messages to appear as current. After that time period expires, messages are moved into the archive area. Messages are archived by thread. When an entire thread of messages is inactive, meaning there are no additional replies to the thread for the designated length of time, the thread is archived. For example, if the archive time is set at three days, message threads that are inactive for three days will be transferred to the archive.

It doesn't work!
If you get an error message when trying to post to the message board, check that you have Javascript enabled and security settings on "medium" in Internet Explorer, or add "catalyst.washington.edu" to your list of trusted sites. If none of these work, try using a different browser, such as Mozilla Firefox.