FAQ contributed by Dave Evans

To use the forums.

Login at:
http://www.bush.org.nz/support/login.html

Enter your email address and your password then click on “Login”.

(If you don’t remember your password click on "Forgot password" and enter your email address (user name) then click on “Submit”. You will be emailed a new password.)

IMPORTANT NOTE: As an essential security feature your login will expire after 30 minutes of inactivity. Activity means clicking on a button. Typing a message into a box is NOT classed as activity, as nothing is sent to the website by typing into a box. If your login expires while you are typing then your message you will lose what you have typed when you click on “Submit”. If you have a lot to type it is much safer to use a word processor or text editor on your own computer and then copy and paste the text into the message box. You can also copy from the message box before you click “Submit” if you are concerned that your login might have expired. It is not possible to regard typing into a box as activity without increasing the “size” of the website pages and making them take much longer to download over slow connections. The 30 minute timeout is necessary to try and prevent someone gaining control of an account after someone legitimately logs in at a library and then leaves the computer without logging out.

Once you are logged in you will see a list of Forums and Lists that you have access to. Click on the name of the forum you want to read (you may need to go to Forums & Lists first). This will display a list of subjects with the one with the most recent posting at the top.

If it is a list you have selected (such as Kereru) there will be a “View” button next to each item that you can use to read the item. If it’s a forum there will be both “Edit” and “View” buttons, but the “View” button does nothing useful for a forum and will be hidden in the near future.

To read or contribute to a subject.

Select a subject from the list by clicking the "Edit" link next to it. The most recent posting is at the top and you can scroll down to see all postings on this subject. To make a posting yourself click on "Reply" which will take you to a simple reply form. Type or copy and paste your message into the box and press the "Post Reply" button to add your message to the subject.

To start a new subject.

Click on the "New Subject" button and enter the subject in the Subject box. Type or copy and paste your message in the Message box and press the "Submit" button when you are finished.

Subscribing and unsubscribing to Forums & Lists

Go to "Forums & Lists" and click on "Settings". You can choose to subscribe to a new forum or list by ticking the little box to the left of the name and pressing the "Update" button. If you are already subscribed to a forum or list, you can change your subscription by selecting from the "Subscription Option" drop down box and pressing the "Update" button.

Those options are:
Daily Digest - sends you a daily email message at 6am if something is added to this forum or list
Email Message - sends you a copy of any message by email as soon as it is added to the forum or list
Unsubscribe - removes you from this forum or list. You will not be able to view the forum or its contents when you log in
Vacation - you are still subscribed, but no email will be sent
Web only - No Email - You have to login to see the forum, it will not send you any kind of email message

To change your password or email address

Click on the “My Profile” tab, then the “Options” tab and then the “Password” tab. To change your password enter your new password in both the lower two boxes and click on the “Update” button. To change your email address enter your new address in the upper two boxes and click on the “Update” button.

To add your profile and photograph

Click on the “My Profile” tab and then the “Personal Details” tab. Enter your details in the boxes provided and click on the “Update” button.

To get help with using Forums & Lists

To suggest improvements to the forums and raise problems of a technical nature please login and use the Pipi User Support Forum. The forum can also be read at
http://www.bush.org.nz/forum/index.html

The Pipi User Support Forum is monitored by the ERIS team members who can answer your questions, fix technical faults and act on improvement suggestions.