Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
transport protocol), which transports news articles between news servers
and clients reading and posting articles. The client computer needs an
application called a
newsreader
to read Usenet articles, or needs to use
an email client that supports news reading.
newsreader
Software that organizes incoming
messages from newsgroups and allows users to
read and respond to them.
Newsgroups usually focus on a particular topic of interest, but some
groups allow postings on any topic. Discussions are not held on the
servers indefinitely and typically will disappear after a few months.
Newsgroups have declined in popularity as other forms of online com-
munication have come to prominence, but there are still more than
100,000 active groups.
Forums
Web
forums
are a more sophisticated type of newsgroup. A forum is
hosted on a standard website and can be accessed using any web browser.
Many forums have a question-and-answer format in which members
request advice from other forum members. Comments and replies to a
post create a
forum thread
. Forum threads are saved and archived so
that other users can easily find the answer to the same or similar question
in future. You don't always need to become a forum member in order to
find useful advice on a forum or to search its threads, but you must join
in order to create a new post and ask a question or start a discussion.
forum
A web-based discussion and advice-
sharing site.
forum thread
A post on a forum along with all
the comments to it.
If you're looking for advice on a brand or product, try typing that prod-
uct name plus the word
forum
into a search engine. For example, if you
wanted to buy a new digital SLR camera, you might use a search engine
to find answers to the question
Which DSLR camera under $500 shall I
buy?
Your search results may include a link to a forum thread covering
this topic at
www.photography-forum.org
(see Figure 9.8). You
could then read everyone's comments and advice on the matter, but
you would need to join the forum to contribute to the discussion.
Figure.9 8
The home page of a photography forum.
