English Composition 1
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Using WebBoard: Understanding Conferences
The titles of WebBoard conferences are displayed on the left side of the WebBoard screen, as illustrated below. The right side of the WebBoard screen is where messages are displayed.
(The number in parentheses to the right of the conference title is the number of topics and messages that have been posted for that conference.)
A plus sign (+) next to a conference title indicates that the conference can be expanded to reveal a topic or topics listed under that conference. Clicking on the plus sign next to the conference title expands that conference to show the titles of topics under the conference.
For example, clicking on the plus sign next to "Unit 1: Writing about an Essay" reveals a list of five topics. The plus sign next to a topic title means that messages have been posted under that topic.
(Only the instructor can post and name new conferences, but students can post and name new topics under existing conferences.)
In this example, clicking the plus sign next to the topic titled "Discussion of Thoreau's Essay" reveals a list of messages that have been posted under that topic.
Notice that each message has the same title. This is because WebBoard automatically names messages posted under a particular topic, and the message title is the same as the topic title.
Next to each message title is the name of the person who posted that message.
The minus signs (-) next to conference and topic titles indicate that the view of the conference or topic has been fully expanded. Simply click on the minus sign to compress the list. For example, clicking on the minus sign next to "Discussion of Thoreau's Essay" will return us to the screen as shown above, with the messages under the title compressed and a plus sign in front of the topic title to indicate that it can be expanded.
Conferences are either public, meaning that they can be viewed by all class members, or private, meaning that they can be viewed only by a student or students designated by the instructor. See Using WebBoard: Public and Private Conferences for more information.
Clicking on the plus signs and minus signs of conferences and topics allows you to expand or compress the list of topics or messages, but it does not allow you to read the messages that have been posted under a particular topic. See Using WebBoard: Reading Messages for information about reading the messages posted under different conferences and topics.