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The #1 question | how do I register? The #2 question | what do I do if I lose my UserName or password? Tip | To search this page, select Find from your browser's Edit menu. |
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The Bistro is open to any person browsing the World Wide Web. Remember that when you proofread your messages. You do not have to register in order to read the messages.
In fact, the Bistro draws very few visitors, maybe a dozen a month, who aren't among the Medaille College community.
A forum host or Bistro proprietor. If you want to start a new forum or new category, email one of them.
Any registered member. Click on
the words "start new topic". The proprietors reserve the right to
delete or close any topic thread. The reply screen looks exactly like the one
below for replying to messages except the top line ways "Any registered
user my start a topic" and a line under the signature option lets you
choose to receive an email whenever someone posts a message to the topic you
start.
No lurking allowed | I highly recommend that you lurk awhile on USENET newsgroups and special-interest mailing lists. However, if everyone lurks on Ground Zero Bistro, nothing will ever get going. That means you, dear student.
This is a judgment call and is more a question of logic than etiquette. The general rule of thumb is to look at your message while you're writing or proofreading it. Does Topic: ABC at the top of the page still apply to all of it? If so, post it. If not, start Topic: XYZ.
If only part of your message applies, consider dividing it into two or more parts, leaving one with the old topic and ending it with a note "see Topic: XYZ for more on xyz". When you start the new one, you can name it Topic: XYZ (was ABC).
Each forum's host will also use his or her judgment about starting new topics and encouraging authors to edit their messages to do so.
Anyone who registers. Click on
the words "post reply". The proprietors reserve the right to edit or
delete any message, though we haven't done so yet.
After you click "post reply", you'll see a screen formatted like this depending on the width of your browser window.
If you are a registered user and your browser accepts cookies, your UserName and password are automatically filled in. If not, you must type it. If you forgot your password, click on that phrase after you fill in your UserName. Within moments, an email containing the password will be sent to the address associated with that UserName.
When your message appears, an icon will appear atop it. By default, it will be the plain and neutral document icon, the one on the far left of the top row here. If you would like to quickly set a tone and expectation, choose one of the dozen others. Note also that you can automatically include five of these icons in the text of your message by typing smilies.
Type your message in the reply window. It automatically wraps your text to the following line. You can add Bistro code but not HTML code. You can paste into this window. Also, you can exceed the length of the window.
You don't need to sign your name because your UserName will appear on the left when people read your message. You may, however, want to attach an automatic signature.
After you click Submit Reply, you should immediately see a screen thanking you by your UserName. After a couple of seconds, you should be automatically returned to the page containing the message you just posted at the bottom.
If you use your Back button to return to the list of forums or list of topics, you may have to click Refresh or Reload in order to see your new message reflected in the number in the Messages and Replies columns.
If you don't see the thank you page, then you didn't fill out the reply form properly. I tried to anticipate all the possible problems with a gently worded error message, but you may have done something new. Try your Back button to see if you can return to the reply page with your reply intact.
If you see the thank you page but your reply never appears even after you try Reload or Refresh, then something else is wrong. Shut down your browser, restart it, and return to the Bistro. If you still don't see your message, get off-line, sign on again, and then return to the Bistro. If you still don't see your message, please email the host of your forum or one of the Bistro proprietors.
If you click the submit button but haven't filled out one of the four boxes (name, password, subject, and message), you'll get a screen telling you that.
If you use your browser's back button, you should see the same information you left on the reply form because nothing has happened to it on your computer. It's still in your cache and should stay there until you:
1) close the browser
2) empty your cache
3) return to that page from another page
4) click the Clear Fields button or
5) (same as 3) click the Refresh or Reload button
If you have filled out everything, then when you click the Submit button, the text you typed is sent to the server and you're automatically returned to the list of topics (if you started a new topic) or the list of messages (if you replied to a message).
After that, if you try to return to the reply page, it should be empty (#3 above) because the script thinks you want to post another message. In that case, you should just edit your first message from the display of messages.
Note | If the message ends up being posted, you can always edit it.
In addition, I recommend composing messages offline, spellchecking them, and saving them before copying and pasting at the Bistro.
Yes. When you write the first message, check the email notification box (not shown here) at the bottom of the reply screen under the option to append your signature.
No. Only the person who originates the topic can get automatically notified. I hope that future versions of the Bistro will give you the option to be notified when anyone replies to any of your messages.
For more on etiquette, see the CyberSea pages on newsgroups and mailing lists. Ground Zero Bistro is closer to a newsgroup than a list, but the same etiquette applies all around.
Smilies are combinations of keyboard characters
used to convey an emotion, such as a smile :) or a frown :(. In your Bistro
messages, you can make your
own or use some common ones. Bistro automatically converts certain smilies
to an image. For example, if you type :D in your Bistro message, it will
automatically appear as a 
after you post your message.
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The smilies on every reply screen (see above) let you choose one of fourteen icons to appear atop your message. Rather than appearing within the message, they appear on the list of topics and messages. As do the smilies above, the message icons quickly set a tone and an expectation, so use them wisely.
No. It would be too easy for goofy code to throw off the appearance of all the messages in a thread. However, our special Bistro Code will let you do most of what you want: make links, embed images, and set off quotations. If you want to discuss a hunk of HTML code as part of your message, use the [code] tags.
No. You may copy and paste text into your message, however, and you may use Bistro Code to provide hyperlinks to outside documents and images.
Yes, as long as you are the author listed on the left. Go to the
screen where you can read the message. Click on the edit icon 
above the
message. No one can edit your message except you, the forum's host, and a Bistro
proprietor. A dated note goes automatically at the bottom of each edited message
so that everyone knows. A twice-edited message will have two dated notes and so
on.
The forum's host can edit the messages in that forum. The Bistro proprietors can edit messages in all forums.
If threads get very long and hard to scroll, we'll look for obvious pruning candidates: me-too messages, excessive quoting of previous messages, huge images.
We also may edit messages that violate privacy or copyright laws.
The Bistro proprietors can set certain words in your messages that the software will censor. The software replaces those words with asterisks. We have never censored any words and currently (January 2000), we are not censoring any words. If we do, we'll list them here.
Yes. You'll see the words
"thread closed". We'll close a thread when it's over because:
the question is asked and answered
the
issue is raised and settled
the
problem is posed and solved
If you think it should be unlocked, start a new topic.
report a problem, a glitch,
or an offensive message
ask questions not on this FAQ
suggest ways to improve the Bistro's
navigation? a forum's content? this FAQ?
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