Friends Of African Outlet Appropriate Technology ("AT") Resource Directory

Newsgroup Help

To access Newsgroup functions, you need to first Sign In/Join/Register as appropriate:

On the FOAO Newsgroup Home screen, in the left frame of the screen is the Navigation Menu of Newsgroup Functions (Files, Links, Database, etc). If they are hyperlinks (colored and underlined), you're ready to go to the function. If not, if they are just plain text, (no color, no underline), you need to either Sign In or Join as follows:

If you are already a member of the group (i.e. you are an Existing Yahoo! user with a Yahoo! ID and Password and have done "Join This Group!" before), then you need to "Sign In" to the Newsgroup by clicking at the top of the screen on the link where it reads "(Already a member? Sign in to Yahoo!)"
If you are not already a member of the group you will need to become a member by clicking at the top of the screen on the button that reads "Join This Group!". On the Sign In screen that appears...

If you are an Existing Yahoo! user with a Yahoo! ID and Password, you can use that information to become a member and Yahoo will accept that information on the right side of the Sign In screen

If you are not an existing Yahoo user and don't have a Yahoo ID and Password, then you will need to Register/Sign Up with Yahoo (it's free) to get your Yahoo ID and Password, which you can do on the left side of the Sign In screen by clicking on the top of the screen on the link where it reads "New to Yahoo!? Sign up now to enjoy Yahoo! Groups". If you need help with this process, refer to the information in this Help File below, where it reads "To get a Yahoo ID". It would be best to take care of this now if you need to, since you have to be a Yahoo member before you can become a Newsgroup member before you can access a Newsgroup function

To get a Yahoo ID, follow the steps below:

1) Register/signup with Yahoo at the link below,
and where it reads "Alternate Email", leave it blank.
Finish filling out the form then click the "Submit..." button

http://edit.yahoo.com/config/eval_register?.intl=us&new=1&.done=http%3a//my.yahoo.com&.src=my&partner=&promo=&.last=

2) On the next screen that appears that reads, "Please re-enter the entries labeled in red",
by "Alternate Email" check the box where it reads "-or- Activate and use Yahoo! Mail instead"
and uncheck the box where it reads "Send me special offers...'
and finish filling out any required (red) fields on the form, then click the "Submit..." button (it may take a couple trys)

3) When you're finished with the preceding screen, you'll get a screen that reads…

"
"Registration Completed - Welcome to Yahoo
Your Yahoo! ID: (your_new_Yahoo_ID)
Your new Yahoo! Mail address: (your_new_Yahoo_ID)@yahoo.com"
"

…At this point, STOP, don't click anything further - just enter the FOAO Newsgroup url address below into the browser address bar and press enter to get to the Newsgroup.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/friendsofafricanoutlet/

4) On the FOAO Newsgroup screen click the button "Join this Group". This takes you to the "Join this Group" form, which enables you to set basic configuration options, and if all went well, will present several sections, the top 3 of which should read...

"
Join This Group Home Help

Complete the form below to become a member of friendsofafricanoutlet
(Note: You are currently signed-in as (your_new_Yahoo_ID!). If you are not (your_new_Yahoo_ID!), Sign-in as a different user.)

Yahoo! Profile
This profile will be used to identify you when you access the group's Web features.
(your_new_Yahoo_ID!) (Add new profile)

Email Address
The following email address will be used for group messages.
(your_new_Yahoo_ID!)@yahoo.com (Add new email address)
"

…For the rest of the settings, start by trying the "start with this" recommendations below...

"
Message Delivery
Individual emails. Send individual email messages. >>> "start with this"
Daily digest. Send many emails in one message.
Special notices. Only send me important update emails from the group moderator.
No email. Don't send me email, I'll read the messages at the Web site.

Message Format
Convert to HTML. Convert plain-text messages sent to me to HTML.
Do not convert to HTML. Don't change the format of messages sent to me. >>>"start with this"
Note: The HTML format allow you to see colors and graphics in your messages.
"

...the Message Delivery setting will automatically deliver an email posted to the group. If you prefer, the "No email" setting prevents this so you can just visit the Messages section to see postings. The Message Format setting gives plain text & avoids problems with email programs that don't support html.

Lastly, click "Join". If all went well you should get the following confirmation screen...

"
Membership Confirmed Home Help
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Congratulations, you are now a member of the group friendsofafricanoutlet!
Go to friendsofafricanoutlet Home

Your Membership Information
Email Address: (your_new_Yahoo_ID)@yahoo.com
Yahoo! Profile: (your_new_Yahoo_ID)
Message Delivery: No email

You may edit your membership using the Edit My Membership link in the top navigation.
"

...Now, go to the Newsgroup as a fully-fledged member by clicking on the link on the screen that reads, "Go to friendsofafricanoutlet Home".

On the Newsgroup Homepage, on the left side is a frame containing a navigation menu to access the various available functions, which are, are noted on the Newsgroup Home Page:

-Home: Newsgroup Home page for all Newsgrroup services
-Messages: Discussion Group Messages withh Message Threading (all replies to an email topic are collected and grouped under that email topic - useful for group discussion of issues)
-Chat: Interactive Text Conversation
-Files: Useful resource document file stoorage area
-Photos: Picture Storage area
-Links: URL Storage area
-Database: Database for Member Profile (CContact/Skills) info
-Polls: Voting, "Democracy in Action"
> -Members: Membership Roster
-Calendar: Event Scheduling with Email Nootification

Note: Total File and Photo area is 20 MB (shared between the 2, so go easy on the graphics, (and minimize picture size - a good trick is to bring up the picture in Microsoft Paint, (Start\Programs\Accessories\Paint), then make a tiny change, then Save As Jpeg - this often makes a much smaller file than Photoshop, even using it's "Save for Web" feature).

For Help on use of any of the Newsgroup functions above, Yahoo Help is quite good - just click on the menu function link and when the function page comes up, on the function title line, to the right is a "function" Help link you can click for assistance.