Newsgroup Overview

Newsgroups are electronic meeting places where people with a similar interest have conversations.  These conversations occur over a period of time - often days or weeks.  Each newsgroup usually has a specific topic or focus that is reflected in its name.  Users post questions with the hope that someone in the group has the knowledge and expertise to assist them and will reply.  Messages posted on a subject that is not the focus of the group are know as off-topic posts and are frowned upon by the membership.  Newsgroups can be significant sources of information and access to other peoples knowledge.  This is the reason a newsgroup reader is part of the KnowledgeWorkshop tool set.  

Conversations around a particular topic or question are called threads.  They start with a single post and grow as others contribute messages. The reply to the first message appears below and indented from it in the displayed list.  Other replies to the first message are listed directly below and in line with the first reply.  Users may post a reply to a reply, creating an indented message beneath it, and so on.

Newsgroup messages are stored on a news server maintained by the organization that created the newsgroup.  Many newsgroups are public but some have restricted access and require you to enter a username and password issued by the newsgroup host.  The server may host many different newsgroups.  To see the list of newsgroups you must first connect to the news server and request the list.  You then choose the newsgroups you are interested in and subscribe to them.  Once subscribed, you can open the newsgroup in KnowledgeWorkshop.  The first time you open the newsgroup the most current messages (up to 300) are copied to your computer where you can read and reply to them.

Tip:  Take a look at the video tutorial on using discussions.