HotDoodle Support

A bulletin board is essentially an online discussion group. Members of the bulletin board can “post” messages or comments on existing messages. These messages and related comments develop into “threads” that represent asynchronous discussions between two or more people on a particular topic. Discussions are usually grouped into categories. Members of a bulletin board can “subscribe” to receive notification of new posts on all or specific topics. Boards are a good way to convert passive viewers into active participants of your website.

Since a bulletin board allows dynamic interaction on your website, this feature is only available on the Dynamic Hosting Plan. See: Hosting Plans. If you are not currently on the Dynamic Hosting plan and want to learn how to upgrade your hosting, click here.

HotDoodle requires everyone to be a registered user on a website to be able to post or comment on a bulletin board; therefore, you will need to allow registration on your website and add a Login Block to give visitors a place to register for your website. See: Login Block.

Steps: How to Add Bulletin Boards to Your Website

1. On the HotDoodle Toolbar, click on the "Block" tab.

2. Click on the "Add Block" button.

3. On the webpage, click on the "Add Here" button where you would like to add the Bulletin Boards Block.

4. Click on the "Bulletin Boards" button.

5. Click on the "Insert this block" button.

6. Type a name for the bulletin board.
This name will be the first category name to post topics under.

7. Type in a description for the bulletin board.
Explain the purpose of the board and provide users with an overview of the type of content they’ll find within its discussions. You can also take this opportunity to specify any ground rules or restrictions on the board.

8. Click on the "Save" button.

Configure the Bulletin Board Block

You can control the groups within Bulletin Boards by managing groups on your website. Click here for instructions for managing groups on your website.

Steps: How to Configure the Bulletin Board Block

1. Click to add a check mark in the box next to "Configure Blocks" under the Click to Preview button.

2. Click on the "Config Bulletin Board Block" button at the top the Bulletin Boards block.

3. Configure settings for the bulletin board.

Basic – The basic settings let you rename the lable "Topic" to another name, select if topics are private, andchoose the order topics appear in.

Publication – The publication settings determine what is shown or hidden. You can choose if a topic will be listed under the board name or if the name will be displayed alone as a link, choose how many topics are displayed, and choose if subscribers are published or not.

Content Display – The content display settings specify how the preview of an topic is shown within the list of topics on that board.

Email – The email settings set prefix text appended to every email from the board (example: “HotDoodle User Board”) and setup replies. You can also place the board in newsletter mode See: Bulletin Boards Block as Newsletter

Signature – This text editor allows you to type a boilerplate message or personalized heading to appear on any email sent from the bulletin board.

4. Click the "Save" button.

Newsletter Use of the Bulletin Boards Block

The Bulletin Board Block is a forum for users to interact with each other on your website through posts and comments. The Bulletin Board Block saves the posts and organizes them by board and topic. You can also configure a bulletin board to be seen by only approved users through permissions. A bulletin board is a part of your website that an individual or group may subscribe to. When a user subscribes to a bulletin board, they can elect to receive email communications when that board is updated or receive email directly from other members of that board. The Bulletin Board Block makes it simple for you and members to create, manage, send, and receive messages all from within your HotDoodle website.

With the ability to send email communications, the Bulletin Board Block is HotDoodle's tool for creating and broadcasting a newsletter. You can create personalized headings and full text and image rich email communications to target specific groups on your webiste. See: Creating New Groups.