| CONTENTS | YOUR FIRST MEETING | POSTING | NAVIGATION OPTIONS | MANAGING YOUR MEETING | PERFORMANCE | MORE HELP |
CONTENTS It's My First Visit: Get Me Oriented in 5 Minutes or Less
How Do I Participate in a Meeting?
- Getting to a Meeting and Signing In
- Your First Meeting View
- Reading Comments
- Expanding and Collapsing Meeting Views
- Comment Viewing Options
- Coming Back to a Meeting
- Knowing When Someone Has Posted in a Meeting
- Getting Help When and Where You Need It
Help Me Manage the Meeting Comments to Suit My Needs
- Reply to a Meeting Comment
- Start a New Topic
- Delete or Edit Your Comment?
- Moderation and the Evolving Structure of MeetingWeb Meetings
Quick Navigation Summary
- Set Views that Work for You
- Change Which Comments Are Visible
- Gather and Display a Selected Set of Comments
- Finding Only What You Need
What If My Internet Connection Is Slow Or Unreliable?
Reminder: MeetingWeb inserts how to instructions when and where you need them. Just click on the special incontext help buttons or help links to get instructions and suggestions at the bottom of the page. Every MeetingWeb page also has a Help Desk button that links to the Help Desk index and this guide.
Getting to a Meeting and Signing inYour First Meeting View - Ordered by Conversation
- Generally you reach a meeting by clicking on a link from a meeting directory or from a meeting index page which describes one or more meetings you can access.
- You begin your first meeting session and every meeting session by signing in with your user name and password. Check with your meeting administrator or moderator for details on how to obtain a user name and password.
- To simplify return visits, save the meeting address (URL) in your browser list of web sites. (The name of the command varies with the browser--for example, "hot links", "bookmarks", "favorite places".)
- Hint: To avoid confusion and expand screen space for your meeting, we suggest you turn off the browser tool bars and directory buttons. In most browsers you do this by unchecking the tool bar items in an options or preferences menu. MeetingWeb contains all the buttons you need to navigate and manage meetings.
BACKThe default Meeting View is ordered according to who says what to whom. We refer to this as "ordered by conversation. The total number of comments available* in a meeting is listed at the top of the Meeting View page. Your first visit to a meeting is designed to orient you quickly to the meeting.All topic comments are "expanded", indicated by a downward facing arrow before the topic title. Indented below a topic are any replies posted to that topic. On your first visit, comments are labeled with an [N] (New) or an [M] modified* (moved or edited by a moderator).
Reading Comments for the First Time
From the Meeting View, just click on a highlighted comment title to display the comment's full text in Comment View. If a meeting has "0 comments", see below for details on how to start a new topic [link button] After you display a "new" comment and return to Meeting View, the comment's status changes to "recent." Recent comments remain active, automatically listed in your Meeting View for 24 hours unless you mark them "persistent" or change your Preference settings.
On your first visit, all available comments are active; available comments are all those that have been posted to the meeting unless they have been deleted or moved to another meeting.
To redisplay the list of all available replies to a topic to a Meeting View or Topic Index, press the Show All button under the topic title.
Options for Expanding and Collapsing Topics in Meeting Views
You collapse a single expanded topic by clicking on its down arrow. Collapsed topics list the author's name, and the total comments including the number of comments that are available and their status.
Toggle a collapsed topic back to an expanded state by clicking on its right-facing arrow.
- Collapse all the meeting's active* comments at once.
Press the Collapse Topics button at the top of the Meeting View. Each topic's down arrow changes to a right arrow to indicate that all the topics are collapsed.
- Expand one topic at a time.
Click on a collapsed topic's right-facing arrow to display that topic's active * replies.
- Expand a single topic on its own page With the topic collapsed, press the Topic Index button under the topic title. On the Topic Index page, all active reply comment titles are displayed.
BACKOptions for Displaying and Reading Comments
- Show one comment at a time
This is the default view, one comment per page ordered by conversation. Move from one active comment to the next by pressing the Next and Previous navigation arrows at the top or bottom of the Comment View page.
- Show one topic's comments at a time
From Meeting or Comment View, press the Preferences button. Be sure Your View is set to Ordered by Conversation. Change the pop-up menu setting to "one topic per page." Scroll down to the button bar and press the Set new preferences button to apply your settings and return to the Meeting View page.
- Show a one topic at a time-all comments in the topicc
With Preferences set to "one topic at at time", go to Meeting View or Topic Index. Locate the topic your wish to read and press its Show [All] button. The Show button changes to a check mark when all available comments are listed under a topic.- Show all a meeting's comment at once
In Meeting View, jump or scroll to the bottom button bar and press the Export button. On the Export Comments page, set the radio button to "All available comments". Keep HTML formatting option to maintain live links. Press the Export button to display all the meeting's comments on a separate page.
- Keep a comment around to review later
Mark individual comments as persistent by pressing the Make Persistent button at the top of the Comment View. Comments you mark persistent will stay around until you toggle off the persistence check mark or until a moderator edits the comment.- Create custom sets of comments to read
Go to Help desk section, Managing Your Meeting's CommentsNote: If a previously viewed topic comment link in Meeting View is not an active link, click on the Show Topic button below the title in Meeting View to display the topic comment only. If the topic title is still not active, it may have been deleted or moved.
BACKThe meeting's direct address, just as any web address (URL,) is listed in the location text window at the top of your browser. The Meeting View URL begins with the domain name of the site (such as www.meetingweb.com) followed by a directory location and then "meetingview?meeting="meeting name"".
You can bookmark this address in your browser, access it indirectly from a directory page, or copy and paste this address to a file to use later. If you have access to Meeting Administrator, you will be given a web address that lists links to all the meetings on a particular site to which you have access.
BACKKnowing When Someone Has Posted
New comments are labeled with a bright yellow [N], but you don't have to go to a meeting to see if anyone has posted a new comment. Let MeetingWeb send you e-mail whenever a new comment is posted in your meeting.
- From any Meeting View or Comment view page, choose the Preferences command.
- Scroll to the E-Mail Notification and, click on the yes button
- Click the Set preferences button to send your command to the server.
- To turn off e-mail notification set by you or a moderator just select No and press the Set preferences button.
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Your level of participation in a meeting is determined by the level of moderation set and the level of access given you by the moderator or administrator. You contribute to a meeting either by posting a reply to an existing topic or by starting a new topic. Moderators have the option of restricting new topic creation to the moderator. In such "directed" meetings or screened meetings you should send e-mail to the moderator to request a new topic be started.User access
You or a group you belong to must be listed in the meeting setup as a "participant" in order to post or suggest a comment. If you're listed only as a "guest" you can read comments, but not post or suggest comments.The level of moderation determines what buttons appear to the users. In a monitored meeting (the default setting) participants can start topics and a moderator can delete, reorder, retitle, or move comments. In a directed meeting only a moderator can start new topics as well as edit. Participants do not see the Start new topic button in directed meetings. In a screened meeting, the moderator controls all postings and start all topics. Instead of a Post reply button, participants see a Suggest button in Comment View. In an unmoderated meeting, only a Meeting Administrator can change moderation levels, access, and comment editing. Any participant in an unmoderated meeting can read, post and start a new topic.
Posting a Reply to a Comment
Note: In-context help is available on the Post Reply form.
Just click the special help button containing a down arrow to reach in-context help on entering, formatting, summarizing, adding keywords, and attaching files to your comment. There are also direct links to the help desk and instructions within the posting form.If you have participant access to a meeting you'll see a Post Reply button below each comment in Comment View and below comment titles in Meeting View, Topic Index and Search Results pages that are ordered by conversation.
- Replying to any available comment
- First display the comment.
- In Comment View press the down button or scroll down to the end of the comment
- Press the Post Reply button below the comment's last line to display the Post Reply Form
- Responding directly to a topic comment
From Meeting View, Topic Index or Search Results ordered by conversation, press the gray POST REPLY button below the topic's summary to display the Post Reply Form.
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- Using the Post Reply form
- What you can post
MeetingWeb can display plain text files, web pages (HTML files), images (jpeg or gif files), active links to files you upload, and to web or ftp sites. You can type or paste to enter text and or upload a file to display in or attach to your comment.
- Entering your comment on the Post Reply page.
You can quote the comment you're replying to [via the reference link], type or paste a file into the comment text entry area, or if your browser allows, upload a file [via the Browse button].
- Displaying or attaching uploaded files to your comment
If you want to upload a file, first you set the radio button to display or attach the file, select the correct file type from the pop-up menu, and press the Browse (upload) button to locate the file. MeetingWeb will correctly display text, HTML, GIF, or JPEG files and automatically download any attached files of other formats.
- Making your comments work well for other meeting participants
You can edit or change the default title of your reply and enter a summary line. If the moderator has set up a keyword list, you can select one or more keywords to simplify searches.Make your comments easy to read on screen by using short paragraphs in your comments. Put extra white space between paragraphs to make visually clear where a paragraph ends and the next one begins. Do this by pressing the Return [or Enter] key twice between paragraphs. Do this for both comments you enter and text files you upload or attach.
If you have a large graphic or text file (over 15 or 20K), consider posting it as an attachment to a brief introduction, rather than forcing all users to download it when they enter the meeting.
- Getting your comment posted in the meeting
- When you have finished your comment and reviewed it, click the Post comment button at the bottom of the Enter Comment area
- Make sure you comment has been posted
If your connection to the server is active, you will receive a "posting successful" message and your comment will be available for all participants to read. You will not see this message if you have lost connection to the server computer running MeetingWeb. You may need to reconnect (re-dial your ISP if you're using a modem) to the server to post your comment.
- If the meeting is screened, the Post comment button changes to a Suggest button and the successful message tells you that a moderator must approve a "suggested" posting for it to appear in the Meeting View.
Note: If your browser polls the server for new web data, the comment will automatically be displayed in your Meeting View. If your browser does not automatically update, you will need to use your browser Reload or Refresh command to update.
BACKStarting a New Topic
You can start a new topic in moderated and unmoderated meetings, if you have participant access. Only moderators can start new topics in directed and screened meetings which do not display the Start new topic button to non-moderators.
Deleting a Comment You Wish You Hadn't Sent
- On the Meeting View page, scroll down, or when the page is fully loaded, click on the down arrow to jump to the bottom of the page.
- Click on the Start a new topic button at the bottom of the Meeting View page to display the Start New Topic page.
- Enter a topic title and optional summary line that will clearly indicates to other users what reply subjects belong under this topic.
- Type, paste, or upload your comment into the text entry area. All the posting features available for posting a reply comment are available on the Start New Topic form.
- Click the Post comment button to send your new topic comment to the server running MeetingWeb.
Note: In-context help is available on this and all the comment entry pages. Just click the special help button containing a down arrow for help with entering, formatting, summarizing, adding keywords and attaching files to your topic comment.
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You can delete any comment you have posted and to which there have been no replies. Contact the meeting moderator to delete or edit your comment if it has replies.The Moderator's control of the meeting
- Go to Meeting View and navigate to your unwanted comment.
- From the row of buttons at the bottom of the comment, press the Delete button. The Delete button will not appear if the comment has a reply,
- At the bottom of the page, click the Do It button to send your delete command to the server. A moderator can delete any meeting comment using the Moderate button.
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In a moderated meeting, the moderator(s) can delete comments, re-order topics, copy or move comments to other meetings, re-position any comment, and edit the title, summary or keywords of any comment. A recently moderated comment with have a [M] preceding its title in any meeting index.
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Select a view and comment number that work for youChange which comments are visible
- Available comment index options
- Meeting View Ordered by conversation
Set on Preferences page.- Meeting View Ordered by Date
Set on Preferences page.- Topic Index
Choose a topic in MeetingView and press its Topic Index button.- Search Results A list of found [F] comments displayed following a Search command.
- Available comment display options
You can determine which available comment sets on the MeetingWeb server will be listed and/or downloaded to your computer display. You use the Preferences, Search, and Export commands to set which comments appear and how those comments are ordered. Each of these options pages has incontext help. Just click the red and white help button with the down arrow at the top of each page.All available topics are listed in Meeting View ordered by conversation. Previously viewed topic comment titles are listed as unlinked text with underlying navigation buttons.
- To view every available comment in a topic or meeting
- In a meeting ordered by conversation
- Press the Expand topics button to display the active comments in all the meeting's topics.
- Next, press the Show [All] button under each expanded meeting topic to list all available meeting comments.
- Click on individual comment titles to view them or use the navigation arrows to move through the comments either one comment at a time or one topic at a time according to your Preference setting.
- In a meeting ordered by date
To view all available comments organized by date use the Export command. Follow the instructions on the Export Comments page.
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Change comment visibility by changing comment status
Comment links remain visible in Meeting View expanded topics or in Date View until you have displayed them. The default preference setting keeps displayed comments visible for 24 hours; these are marked [R] "recent."A comment's status is indicated by a colored or shaded label to the left of its title on expanded Meeting View, Topic Index and Search Results pages. On Comment View pages the comment header contains the status field.
Use persistence [P] status to continue to keep an individual comment visible after you have read it . Display the comment and click on the Make persistent button in the comment's header. The comment will retain its persistence status until you toggle it off by clicking the persistent check mark in the comment header or until a moderator "modifies" the comment.
Change the visibility of a set of comments by changing your Preference settings. The default setting is to show comments that are new [N] persistent [P], and those you have viewed in the last 24 hours. [R] To restrict visible comments to new ones and those your have marked persistent only, reset the radio button for Show comments.
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Gather and display a selected set of comments or all a meeting's comments. Use the Export command: Full details are listed in incontext help section of the Export page.
Find what you need
Set search criteria to locate and display particular comments:
- From the Meeting View click the Search button to display the Search page
- On the Search page, enter a word or phrase to restrict your search to particular comment fields and dates. Full details are listed in incontext help section of the Search page.
- If you are searching for text within the current meeting page, just try your browser's search [page] command to locate and highlight found text.
- Search, marking, refining search criteria, browser page searches [direct link from search page]
BACKKeep up with what's new
New comments are labeled with a bright yellow [N], but you don't have to go to a meeting to see if anyone has posted a new comment. Let MeetingWeb send you e-mail whenever a new comment is posted in your meeting.
- From any Meeting View or Comment view page, choose the Preferences command.
- Scroll to the E-Mail Notification and, click on the yes button
- Click the Set preferences button to send your command to the server.
- To turn off e-mail notification set by you or a moderator just select No and press the Set preferences button.
Displaying only what's new [Search]
- Display a all comments within a date range
- From Meeting View click the Search button
- On the Search page, set a date range to begin with the last date you visited the meeting.
BACKReadability
Make use of multiple windows and resizing of windows to view related information at the same time in adjacent windows. Select a meeting and comment view that works for you. Use the Search or Export button to pull out just the comment set you need. Use Export to download that special set for offline viewing or printing.When entering your replies, make use of the option to edit the reply title and enter a brief summary line to make clear from the index entry what your content is about.
If you have a large graphic or text file, consider posting it as an attachment to a brief introduction, rather than forcing all users to download it when they enter the meeting.
Use short paragraphs in your comments. Press the Return [or Enter] key twice between paragraphs to create easily visible paragraph breaks.
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Speeding up MeetingWeb and your computer's performance
- Keep Comment Views set to "one comment per page."
- Export the comments you wish to read and read them off line.
- Change your Preferences "Show comments" settings to "New and Persistent" only."
- Close other applications when you are using MeetingWeb to speed your local processing time. Also, note that some browsers process local data faster than others.
- With the latest, biggest and often slowest versions of integrated applications containing browsers, the best way to improve performance is to increase the memory in your computer.
- If you have large graphic or text files to upload into a meeting, choose to attach them to a comment rather than display them directly within a comment. Attached files will display in a separate window only when a user clicks on the attachment link.
What we don't recommend is turning off the image display option if your graphical browser allows it. Because the MeetingWeb program image files are very small you may not experience a significant increase in speed using this strategy unless participants are posting files containing links to large images.
With images turned off, your meeting display can get ugly and harder to follow-- instead of the MeetingWeb logo and buttons, you'll see a broken image icons, and rectangles containing the button text. You can, however click on highlighted button text (not the image icon) just as you would a graphic button. With older browsers, however, you may not be able to access the post command without downloading its graphic.
Many network delays occurs at the junctions of Internet backbones, when your message is passed from one backbone provider to another, for example Sprint to MCI to Cable and Wireless. If you experience problems, try to avoid peak periods on the Internet backbone (most weekdays between 2 and 5 PM EST). If network performance and reliability is a high priority for you, we recommend you choose an Internet access provider connected to least two different backbone providers.
Note: Services offering "gateways" to the Internet (such as AOL) are generally much slower accessing the Web than direct Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Also some custom browsers used by online services are slower than standard versions.
MeetingWeb has been designed for universal access and efficiency. If you are having problems with your browser program and/or you are using an underpowered machine, you may find using an older, smaller browser or a telnet program is more efficient. Check with your meeting administrator for assistance.
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If you can't find what you need in this Help Desk or in MeetingWeb's incontext help, try our Customer Service Meetings. If you are a MeetingWeb service customer, go the Customer Service Meeting set up for your group.If you are a software customer, go to our live user guide meeting. If you don't see the answer to your question, select a topic and suggest a comment. We will answer your question or respond to your comment in the meeting, via e-mail or both.
Contact us and we promise to respond.
Send your questions, comments, frustrations, and suggestions to help@meetingweb.com and we will respond in e-mail or you can call us at (617) 497-7220.
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