Forte's Free Agent |
Introduction to the Newsgroups.
Select groups to subscribe to.
Get new headers for subscribed groups.
Browsing articles.
Setting locks on read articles.
Watching threads.
Post a UseNet message.
Downloading binaries.
Download new groups.
The point we want to make here is that it takes a little effort to master newsgrouping, but it is strongly recommended if you want to get the most out of the Internet.
With web browsing you plough your way through static websites looking for your information. But with the newsgroups you have access to the minds and collective experience of the thousands of people that frequent each group. Post your problem and those who have experienced it respond. Need information? You will get answers posted, e-mail suggestions and pointers to websites and other resources.
A typical scenario is where a Novell Netware problem cannot be answered by local Netware System Houses, Certified Netware Engineers or Novell in Dusseldorf. So the problem gets put to the "comp.os.netware.misc" newsgroup and within 48 hours there are ten replies. Two or three the same with six or so alternatives. Your only problem is which of the working solutions is the most suitable. And three weeks later when browsing the same group you see that a grand fight is going on between the respondents as to whose solution is the most elegant. Now THAT'S SUPPORT !
What subjects are covered ?
Most subjects. There are (at the time of writing) over 50000 newsgroups available and Internet Africa subscribes to 14000. Additional groups of interest can be requested by mailing help@iafrica.com. The best way to locate a group of interest is be using the DejaNews Server.
What's a newsgroup ?
A relevant question ! Let's start with the birthing process. By a democratic process known as "polling", browsers in a newsgroup can vote to have a new newsgroup created to take a growing splinter group off to their own subject. Once established the newsgroup name is registered with InterNic and the various Internet Service Providers who collect newsfeeds for their clients need only to be asked by any one customer (you) to include this new group in their news feed. You can then "subscribe" (more on this later) to that group and collect the "headers" on a regular basis. Your ISP's own news server (dbn-news.iafrica.com in the case of Durban based Internet Africa clients) will regularly scan for new postings to that group and hold them locally for several days in case you need to access them.
In concept, people "post" a newsgroup message to a group with a Subject Line (known as a "Header" or "Article") and the Text of the message (known as the "Body"). These headers and bodies are forwarded off by their servers to collection points where news servers from all around the world collect the latest offerings on a continual daily basis. A message posted might be available instantly from your server but most other people would only see it 24 hours or more later. Each server, depending on it's configuration, will hold new postings from three to 14 days before deleting them. When you logon to your news server to collect new messages then normally only headers download to your machine which keeps them for a predefined time which by default is normally thirty days.
How do the newsgroups work ?
Still confused ? OK ! Lets say you have an interest in snow skiing, especially regarding information on facilities and conditions in European resorts. There isn't much info on that subject in the Sunday Tribune - you weekly read ! So you fire up Free Agent (first tip, don't use your browser's newsgroup facilities - that's really making it hard for yourself) and start looking. Using the menus you access "Group" and select "Display all groups". Now you have some 14000 group names displayed. Click on the "Find" icon (it's a lit flashlight) and key in "ski" and click on "Find". If the scroll stops on a relevant group click the "Subscribe" button (it's a newspaper) or else continue finding (the flashlight illuminating ditto marks). Presumably you'll eventually (it's right at the end) find the group you need which is rec.skiing.resorts.europe. With some practice you'll realise that a narrower search for "skiing" is advisable first before broadening out to "ski". Now you click on "Group" up on the menu bar and set "Show Groups" back to "Subscribed Groups Only". In the "Subscribed Groups" windows you can now click on rec.skiing.resorts.europe to make it active and then click the second icon from the left "Get New Headers in Selected Groups" to download headers. Once they are downloaded move across to the Header Window (titled Status Subject) and double-click any header that seems interesting to download and view the body text. The rest should be straight forward if you've got this far. Remember, we didn't say it would be easy!
What software do you need ?
We recommend Forte's Free Agent although News eXpress is also a good choice. Although you can access the newsgroups from your browser (Netscape/Explorer) it is not recommended as the management facilities just aren't there. Without fully featured newsgroup software it becomes difficult to control the data and you'll lose functionality. Free Agent can be downloaded from the Forte site.
What steps are needed to get going here ?
After clicking on "Post" select either "New Usenet Message" or "Follow-Up Usenet Message" to indicate whether this will be a new header on it's own or whether it is to be a reply thread to the currently highlighted message in the currently selected group.
Then select the newsgroup(s) to receive your posting. Posting to more than one group is known as cross-posting and it often brings a better response by catching peripheral browsers. Posting to groups that have no interest in your message is known as "spamming" and can bring great misery. This is the best way to learn first-hand about mail bombing and flaming. When you click on the "Post" function it will automatically fill in the group name that is currently selected. You can add other groups to receive this posting by separating the names with a comma.
Compose a suitable Subject Line next. This is important as the "catchiness" and/or relevance of the Subject Line will be a major factor in attracting readers to download and open your posting. Think carefully about this as it is a most important decision. People read your message if it seems interesting or if they know about the subject; convey that in the header.
Enter in the text of your posting. It helps to try and make your style breezy and relaxed and a little humour never hurts. Remember that you are soliciting people to respond and they need to feel like they want to help. "Netiquette" requires that you do not try to sell anything thru the newsgroups and, if you think the answers would be of little interest to anyone else then invite direct replies by e-mail. Don't insult readers by saying that you have a life and can't visit all these groups (which also implies you've cross posted indiscriminately) to collect responses and can they therefore e-mail you directly. You'll find that most responses will be direct e-mail anyway as the human nature thing is for them to want your gratitude by reply!
Technical Hint: If you have prepared text that needs to be read into your posting message, then use the "copy & paste" method to bring over from other Windows apps.
There is a temptation to "Send Now", but if you do so and get a lousy connection then the posting will be lost and, even if it went thru, you wouldn't have a record. Rather follow the procedure of Save, make a normal connection and download a group's headers to test the connection, then go "Online" and "Post Articles and Emails".
Visit the groups regularly to retrieve answers If you download new headers you'll find the new posting on your server immediately, but it will be several hours before that message has updated to other servers worldwide. You also need to allow for time-zones for the evening readers to come online after their servers are updated. Thursday nite (SA) is a good time to post as your posting will hit all servers before the weekend and be alive over the weekend when browsing is at its highest. Remember that administrators of very active groups clear all messages 4 days and older so don't wait a week before sniffing around for responses. Direct e-mail replies will of course come straight to you. Its netiqette to thank people directly by e-mail for responses which aren't direct insults. If you are flamed then do not respond as it only encourages (inflames?) the flamer. Responding also indicates that you have not accepted your guilt which may then result in your mailbox being bombed. You do not want this to happen - trust us!
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