Folders help organize the discussions in your message board. You can have up to 16 folders in your Forum. Starter Forums have limited folder options, while Premium Forum hosts can set access to folders, re-order folders, and more. To add a folder, go to select "Manage Folders" from the "Forum Properties" menu in your Control Center. Just replace the *Add New Folder Here* text with your new folder's name (up to 30 characters), then submit.
Changing Folder Names
You can change the name of any existing folder. However, this should be done
with caution, as any messages in those folders were posted based on the original
folder names. You might end up with chicken recipes in your politics folder.
Deleting Folders*
The most commonly asked question about folders is how to delete them. Folders
cannot be deleted, but you can change the access to them so no one can see
them, including you! To make a folder seem to disappear from your Forum,
go to Controls, Manage Folders, and change the access to "No Members."
Folder Access
If yours is a Premium Forum, you can control access to the individual folders
in your Forum. You can make a folder read only, reply only, or completely
private. Remember to give yourself access to any private folders. Use Set
Privileges, or the Options link on the message board to give access to any
restricted folders. You'll need to log out of Delphi Forums and back in again
to see any changes, and may need to clear your cache. Even if yours is a
Starter Forum, you can moderate your folder. See the section on Moderation
below.
To make a folder private*
Create the folder and give yourself and any other members you wish access. Remember that if you change the access to a folder, all members that had access to the folder before will retain access until they've logged out of Delphi. Make sure you're viewing the board in Advanced View, as well, or you won't see the folder. (DelphiPlus members, scroll down to the bottom of the right frame to change your view.) Basic View - - and Basic Members -- won't show folders with no new or unread messages.
Folder Read Access*
Folder Post Access*
- All Members - the default, make folder available to all members of your Forum.
- Some Members - make a folder available to only certain members of your Forum. (Use 'Set Privileges' to grant or take away access).
- No Members - make a folder totally invisible on your message board
- Full - All Members (but not Guests) can start discussions or reply to discussions in that folder.
- Reply-Only - All Members (but not Guests) can reply to discussions. Only Hosts can start discussions.
- Read-Only - Only Hosts can start or reply to discussions in that folder.
- Post-Only - All Members (but not Guests) can start discussions. Only Hosts can reply.
Moderation
Determines which new posts, if any, should be directed to the moderation queue instead of posting directly to the message board, Forum-wide, or on a per folder basis.
- Default - These folders will behave as you have selected in the radio button control entitled "Moderation" on the Change Folder Access page. This is typicaly the only setting you need.
- None - All posts to this folder are immediately sent to the message board.
- All - All posts to this folder are directed to the moderation queue.
- Filtered Words - Only objectionable messages will be sent to the moderation queue. Word Filtering must be set to Filter Words.
Folder Display Order
You can determine which folder(s) your members will see first when they enter
the Forum. You might want to have Forum announcements always at the top,
followed more general interest folders. All folders with the same Display
Order will be ordered according to which ones contain the newer posts. Go
to Manage Folders in your Control Center and set the first folder you want
seen with a value of "1st". The next folder gets a "2nd", and so on. If you
want some folders to display according to which ones have the newest posts,
mark all those with the same number. If you don't want to have fixed display
order folders, leave them all set to "1st".
Expanding Folders
To open a folder, click on the folder title bar. This will display the 50 most
recent discussions in the folder. To see the next 50 discussions, scroll
all the way to the bottom of the folder listing, and look for the "Next 50" link.
Do your folders appear empty? That means all the messages have been read, there are only older messages in the thread, or that the person viewing the folder is a Basic member. Start new discussions in each folder frequently, or revive older ones, so new members will see that you have active discussions in each subject. To bring a particular discussion or folder to your members' attention, post to the discussion again to make it show new. You may wish to encourage your members to browse through older messages for specific information.
Linking to Folders
To create a hot link to a folder in your Forum, you'll use one of the links
below. These may come in handy if you want to list folder topics on a Start
Page or provide a link to a specific folder.
The first of the URLs below, will show the 50 most current messages, with the indicated folder listed first. The second URL will show the top 50 messages in the indicated folder, but no messages from the other folders. This is especially helpful if someone seeks quick access primarily to a specific folder and its messages. Using these URLs access to folders is limited to those which can normally be seen — if a folder is hidden or private then you can't get in even with the specific URL.
Replace " YourWebtag " with the webtag of your Forum in the URLs below and they will work in any Delphi Forum. Those with access to Forum controls, (W and A flags) can easily find out the order by using Manage Folders.
http://forums.delphiforums.com/ YourWebtag /messages/topfolder=1
http://forums.delphiforums.com/n/mb/list.asp?webtag= YourWebtag &ctx=128
Still can't see your folder?
If you've set up a new folder, and still can't see it, try the following tips:
For more help with managing your folders, please visit the Community Learning Center or the Hosts' Forum.