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Discus Administrator
Do It Right The First Time
 "Discus Administrator by Marshall Masters")
The Fast Track Way to Plan and
Set Up a Discus Pro Message Board
Marshall Masters
You Own World Books 1st Edition
discusadministraor.com
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The simple way to plan and set up your Discus Pro message board. This read-and-work administrator guidebook for Discus Pro 4, shows you how to quickly plan and setup a new message board with a Discus Pro configuration optimized for your specific needs and goals. Great for novice and experienced message board administrators alike.
Printable PDF eDoc
Reviews
Discus Professional is the most powerful message board on the market because of its numerous features and extensive administrative capabilities.
Discus Administrator by Marshall Masters is great for any administrator, because he shows you how to choose and implement the best combination of features for your own message board needs. First-time administrators will especially like Marshall's simple explanations and step-by-step procedures.
Marshall takes you from the crucial planning stages through the implementation of your strategies in a straightforward and understandable manner. He really does show you how to do it right the first time.
Kevin W. Paulisse
DiscusWare Co-Founder
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I have no previous programming experience and the closest thing to knowing a computer language is having used Basic in the early 1980s and knowing a bit of HTML, no help there. So while searching for software to host my discussion board, one of my main considerations was, "What type of help is available in the way of documentation in solid form?"
Masters' book was immensely helpful while setting up my board and I am not sure I could have figured things out had I not had it at my disposal; it was glued to my lap during the entire setup process. Between the Discus Pro support site and Masters' book I was able to have my discussion board up and running in less than a week. The step-by-step procedures included in the book were invaluable and made clear the basic functions of getting the Discus Pro software formatted and my discussion board on-line. I would recommend Masters' book to anyone who has purchased Discus Pro.
Dorothy Walker
Salinas, California
* * * * *
Since I haven't yet started using DiscusWare I'm sure I don't know the full value of the book yet. But I believe it will get me off on the right foot and gave me some new ideas on how to use the program. Nice job.
Terry Edger
Charlevoix, MI
Marshall Masters, Author
Author Home Page
Marshall Masters is a freelance technical writer in the Silicon Valley of Northern California and specializes in networking white papers. With over 25 years of experience in the computer industry, his client list includes such notable firms as AT&T, Oracle, Sun, HP and Lockheed Martin.
After running several large mail lists with over 1,800 subscribers for over three years, Marshall purchased Discus Pro for his own web site and quickly saw the need for a workflow-based guidebook for new Discus Pro administrators.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 – Introduction
- Chapter Overview
Chapter 2 – Organizing Content with Discus Pro
- Natural and Intuitive Content Organization
- Creating Categories
- Assigning Topics
- Creating (Sub-Topic) Threads
- Working with Pages
- Posting and Viewing Messages
Chapter 3 – Configuring Global Options
- Planning for the Tasks in This Chapter
- Determining Allotted Storage Space
- Assigning a Windows Mail Server
- Creating A Message Board Administrator E-Mail Address
- Logging on For the First Time
- Working in Basic Administration Mode
- Checking for Available Storage Space
- Composing Top Page Content
- Spawning the Message Board in a New Window
- Entering Your Own Top Page Content
- Choosing A New Skin
- Installing the Tables III Skin
- Creating Global Options for all Message Board Users
- Configuring Global Posting Settings
- Configuring Global User and Moderator Profile Settings
- Sending and Posting Messages via E-Mail
- Creating Helpful Message Board Icons for Moderators
Chapter 4 – Managing Backup Files
- Performing Your First Discus Pro Global Backup
- Performing Discus Pro Default Backups
- Restoring Backup Files
- What Is Your Message Board Worth?
Chapter 5 – Encouraging User Participation
- Developing User Policies for Your Message Board
- Netiquette Rule Suggestions
- Posting Your Netiquette Rules
- Choosing Your Moderators
Chapter 6 – Club Discus Moderators Tutorial
- Welcome to Club Discus
- Creating Moderator E-Mail Aliases
- Creating User Groups
- Creating a New Moderator Accounts
- Assigning User Group Administration Privileges
- Creating Topics for Your Moderators
- Spawning the Message Board in a New Window
- Creating Your First Message Threads
Chapter 7 – Club Discus Content and Users Tutorial
- Creating Club Discus Categories and Topics
- Setting Restricted Editing Access Rights
- Setting Restricted Viewing and Posting Rights
- Configuring Club Discus Global Settings
- Exploring Club Discus
- Backing up the Club Discus Example
- Restoring Your Original Message Board Configuration
Chapter 8 – Planning Your Own Message Board
- Important Planning Concepts
- Touring the Discus Pro Manager Pages
- Developing Hierarchical Content Structures
- Applying Manager Pages to What We’ve Learned
- Working with Discus Administrator Planning Templates
APPENDIX A – Workflow Planning Templates
- Step 1 – Group Manager and Top Page Template
- Step 2 – Moderator Manager Template
- Step 3 – Topic Manager Template
- Step 4 – Access Manager Template
- Step 5 – Page Layout Template
- Step 6 – Thread Layout Template
- Step 7 – User Manager Template
Chapter 1 – Introduction
Welcome to Discus Pro 4! This content and user administration guide is designed to help you, the Discus message board administrator, to configure your first message board with read-and-work procedures that will step you through each setup task.
Before we get started, let’s cover a few basics. This guide assumes that you:
- Have successfully installed Discus Pro 4 on your web server.
- Are ready to configure content and user options for your first Discus Pro message board.
- Possess a basic understanding of the Internet.
- Want to do it right the first time!
It is not advisable to change the look or functionality of your board after you have installed it and invited members. This is because any changes you make can seriously disorient new users. If you follow the read-and-work procedures in this guidebook, you will do it right the first time and thereby avoid the problems caused by dramatic post-deployment modifications.
Chapter Overview
We have written this guide primarily for novice message board administrators; it is also very helpful for administrators with previous message board experience.
If you are an experienced administrator and want to skip the high-level new administrator concepts and explanations, this guide also features skip-ahead cues.
Chapter 2 – Organizing Content with Discus Pro
In terms of content, a message board is essentially a list-driven hierarchical content structure designed for intuitive drill-down access using categories, topics, threads, pages and messages. This chapter introduces this vital terminology using simple, step-by-step explanations.
- Novice Administrators: If you have never managed a message board before, this chapter will expose you to the core content concepts needed to run a successful message board.
- Non-DiscusWare Administrators: The content organization terminology of Discus Pro and that of other message boards differs in certain respects. A brief review of this chapter will offer you an overview of terminology you’ll need to use with your Discus Pro message board.
Chapter 3 – Configuring Global Options
The global settings you will make to your own message board will have a profound impact on the usability of your message board. In this chapter, you will configure the global options for your message board using simple read-and-work procedures. Do not rush through this chapter!
- Novice Administrators: This chapter addresses vital issues you must know in order to become a proficient Discus Pro administrator. Over time, you will undoubtedly change some of these global settings as your message board evolves.
- Non-DiscusWare Administrators: Read this chapter carefully. Some of the features will be familiar and many others will be new and delightfully impressive.
Chapter 4 – Managing Backup Files
While servers do occasionally go “bump in the night,” the number one cause of catastrophic failures and data loss is human error. For this reason, Discus Pro offers administrators a range of backup options. This chapter will show you the two most popular Discus Pro backup configurations for quickly protecting your applications and data. You will also learn how to restore a backup file to a newly installed or reinstalled message board.
- Novice Administrators: The Discus Pro backup system is extremely friendly. Learn it and use it with confidence.
- Non-DiscusWare Administrators: In the general aviation industry there is a well-known fact about pilots that has a clear parallel with message board administrators. A new pilot with only 40 hours of flight time is safer to fly with than a pilot with 200 hours of flight time and a cocky “I can manage anything” attitude. Skip this chapter at your own peril.
Chapter 5 – Encouraging User Participation
While the term “moderator” usually implies someone who serves a gatekeeper function on message posts, the most important goal for any moderator is to encourage user participation.
In support of your moderators, you must decide basic message board policies and rules or manners, called net-etiquette, or “netiquette.” This chapter addresses these issues.
- Novice Administrators: Netiquette rules make life easier for you and your moderators, and represent an Internet version of tough love. Or as they say Texas, “This is where the cow chews the cud!” The concepts presented in this chapter will show you how to quickly manage flamers.
- Non-DiscusWare Administrators: A quick read through this chapter may leave you feeling as though you’ve been there and done that. On the other hand, you will most likely come across a few new tips and tricks that could turn out to be real grief savers in the future.
Chapter 6 – Club Discus Moderators Tutorial
To help the reader to learn by example, this chapter and the next are based on a fictitious business case called Club Discus, a luxury resort for successful message board administrators. This chapter deals with moderator issues and the creation of new topics designed to help new moderators familiarize themselves with a newly installed Discus Pro message board.
- Novice Administrators: Discus Pro treats moderators and users very differently. In this chapter, you will learn how to set up moderator accounts and to encourage your moderators to participate, before bringing up a live message board with actual moderator accounts and topics.
- Non-DiscusWare Administrators: This tutorial raises several moderator issues within the context of a realistic example. Reading through it (and even working the examples) will help acquaint you with important Discus Pro features.
Chapter 7 – Club Discus Content and Users Tutorial
The previous chapter presented read-and-work procedures for creating user groups, moderators and topics for moderators only. This chapter will complete the Discus Pro tutorial with read-and-work procedures for configuring additional global settings, creating sample topics. It will end with a backup restore to return the message board to its previous configuration.
- Novice Administrators: After completing the read-and-work procedures in this chapter, you will have compressed many months of experience into a few hours. You will also feel a sense of mastery and confidence knowing that you’re ready to plan your own message board.
- Non-DiscusWare Administrators: The second part of the tutorial raises several content issues. Reading through it (and even working the examples) will help acquaint you with important Discus Pro content features.
Chapter 8 – Planning Your Own Message Board
The Discus Pro administration console is comprised of several manager interfaces for topics, moderators, etc. This chapter will present a high-level overview of how each of these manager pages works and then how they work together in concert. When you have finished reading this chapter, you will be ready to use the Workflow Planning Templates in Appendix A to plan and build your own message board.
- Novice Administrators: This chapter explains Discus Pro from a system perspective. After reading the Club Discus Tutorial and this chapter, you will be able to bypass the usual trial-and-error learning curve for new administrators.
- Non-DiscusWare Administrators: You will also enjoy the same benefits as novice administrators.
APPENDIX A – Workflow Planning Templates
The templates in this appendix are designed to help novice administrators create a basic message board plan, using the features most commonly employed by Discus Pro administrators.
All of the template pages shown in this appendix are provided in Microsoft Word 2000 DOC format for use with all popular word procesing programs.
eBook Upgrades
If you purchased a non-printing eBook version of this book after January 1, 2007, you may receive a free upgrade to this printable eDoc version. This free offer expires on May 1, 2008.
To claim your free upgrade, mail proof of purchase (PayPal receipt) to support@yowbooks.com. You will receive your free upgrade within 3 working days.
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