The blue banner at the very top of every bulletin board page provides links to the major Dreamflows pages and sub-systems. The gray menubar just below it provides navigation within the bulletin board system. The links in the gray menubar change to normal text when you follow a given link. For instance the Forums-Help entry in the gray menubar is currently plain text (not a link) since you're already on the Forums-Help page. The gray linksbar at the bottom of every page provides additional links to other Dreamflows pages. Dreamflows offers many other web pages not listed in the linksbar though - visit the sitemap for a complete list.
Help is sprinkled throughout the bulletin board system, and is available in three ways.
Clicking on the Forums-Help link in the gray menubar brings you to this Help page.
At that point you can use the Index to select your topic of interest.
In addition, if context-sensitive help (i.e. help specific to whatever page you're currently visiting) is available, then
appears just to the right of the page title, and clicking on it takes you to the context-sensitive help page.
Lastly, hovering the cursor over a symbol or link in the blue banner or a gray linksbar will often provide a short explanatory message (called a "tool tip").
For instance, if you hover your cursor over the Search link in the gray menubar of this page,
you'll be presented with a tool tip that says "Search topics and posts".
If not already logged in when performing a privileged operation like viewing the member list, the system will prompt you to do so.
A number of bulletin board pages use JavaScript. You will be limited in what you can do unless your browser has JavaScript enabled.
Dreamflows has been optimized for Firefox, but Chrome, Opera, Safari and IE work almost as well. If you experience problems with your browser, please let me know.
Where possible, avoid using your browser's Back or Forward buttons to navigate around Dreamflows, and use the provided links instead. Otherwise, you may go Back or Forward to a page whose contents are out of date, or inconsistent.
All flow-related dates and times are for the local timezone in effect where (and when) the data was recorded. Unless otherwise stated, all other dates and times in Dreamflows are Pacific Time. This is PDT (7 hours behind GMT) in summer, and PST (8 hours behind GMT) in winter.
The forums part of the Bulletin Board is organized in a hierarchical way, with three levels: forums at the top, topics in the middle, and posts at the bottom. There are five forums, each with a different subject or function: Hazards, Flows, Access Issues, General and Archive. Each forum has multiple topics in it, all related to the subject of that forum. One topic is about one instance of that subject (e.g. each topic in the Hazards forum should be about one hazard). Each topic has one or more posts in it, all related to that topic.
The first four forums are active (meaning you can post new messages to it, and edit or delete existing ones). The last forum, Archive, is locked (meaning you can't make any changes). As a topic becomes outdated, the Admin moves it from its active forum to Archive, where it is kept for reference. When a topic loses all possible relevance, it is deleted altogether.
If you register with the bulletin board (by signing up), then you may create new topics, and post replies to existing ones. Under certain conditions, you may also edit or delete your own posts.
A typical life cycle for a given topic might then be: you come upon a significant hazard while paddling a river. You make a note of it, and when you get back to a computer, you log into the bulletin board. Assuming there isn't already an existing topic about that hazard, you start a new topic for it. As more information about the hazard becomes available, whoever has the information replies to the topic, adding to the pool of knowledge about it. All this time, you and others can visit the bulletin board and read all about the hazard. At some point, the hazard is removed or otherwise becomes benign, someone reports that fact, and the topic gets moved to Archive. What makes this system work is you, and other paddlers like you, all contributing information to the bulletin board.
Frequently-Asked Questions (FAQ)
A: If you're a government agency, utility or similar organization, I'll be glad to post the information, and thank you for providing it. But if you're a paddler or similar river user - please post it yourself. Dreamflows provides the bulletin board as a place to share river-related information. Please do your part and post your own messages. Thanks!
A: First, if you're not registered, please signup for an account. Then go to the forums page, and click on the appropriate forum for your message. This will take you to a page that lists all current topics for that forum. Check to see if an existing topic already addresses the subject of your message. If one does, please post a reply to that topic. If you don't find a matching topic, start a new one by clicking on the New Topic icon.
A: To help keep spammers at bay, you need to register in order to post messages. There are other advantages to registering, they are listed on the signup page.
A: All is well. You have indeed made 16 posts. However, you can view only 13 since 3 of them have been deleted off the database. Posts are deleted for various reasons, e.g. age and relevance.