(Updated 04/20/2010)
This tutorial has been designed for the new user — in particular, one who is visiting cancergrace.org for the first time, who needs dependable information on lung cancer, and who does not need the additional burden of searching for and through a lengthy help file to determine how to post a question weighing on the mind today. It provides just enough guidance to get you started, post your question online, and begin to scratch the surface of the GRACE Forums. Later, when you have the time, please explore the other part of cancergrace.org, the GRACE Posts and Comments along with the rich audiovisual content being added every week.
But before you post, you should know that there are two types of questions that cannot be answered:
1. Please do not provide a verbatim pathology or scan report and ask to have it interpreted. Responding to these types of requests is very time consuming and reduces the time that can be devoted to questions of broader interest. In addition, some of the information is meaningful only in the context of knowing and being able to examine the patient involved, and of course that’s not possible here. If there are one or two comments in the report that are of particular concern, the doctors can try to address those.
2. Please do not ask a “what should I do” question. Responding to such questions crosses the line into providing medical advice, which the doctors cannot legally do for people who are not their patients. Instead, try to generalize your question so it applies to a group of people rather than one specific patient. You can find many examples of this approach throughout the forums.
Thank you, and welcome to GRACE!
How to . . . Ask a Question (Method 1) • Ask a Question (Method 2) • Browse the Forum Categories/Boards • View Recent Posts
1. In the right column of the GRACE home page, click the “Ask a question about” drop-down arrow.
2. Select a category for your question.
3. You will be taken to the General board within the category you selected. Type a descriptive topic for your question, then the question (use of the formatting codes is optional). Until you’re more familiar with the forums, we suggest that you use the category’s General board for your question. A moderator will move it if appropriate.
4. To receive email notification of responses, select “Additional Options” and “Notify me of replies,” then click “Post.” (If you used formatting codes and want to check appearance, select “Preview” before “Post.”)
5. After you click “Post,” your topic will appear at the top of the list for that board. Click the topic.
6. Your question will now appear. Unless you have changed your profile preferences, responses will be sequenced above your question with the most recent at the top.
1. In the right column of the GRACE home page, click “Forums.”
2. Scroll down the list of forum boards and select the one which seems most suitable. (If a category you’re interested in is collapsed into one line, click on the category name to display the boards in that category.)
3. Click the “New Topic” tab.
4. From this point it’s the same as Method 1. Type a descriptive topic for your question, then the question (use of the formatting codes is optional).
5. To receive email notification of responses, select “Additional Options” and “Notify me of replies,” then click “Post.” (If you used formatting codes and want to check appearance, select “Preview” before “Post.”)
6. After you click “Post,” your topic will appear at the top of the list for that board. Click the topic.
7. Your question will now appear. Unless you have changed your profile preferences, responses will be sequenced above your question with the most recent at the top.
Browse the Forum Categories/Boards
1. In the right column of the GRACE home page, click “Forums.”
2. The list of forum categories will appear. If a category you’re interested in is collapsed into one line, click on the category name.
3. The boards within that category will appear. Click on one.
4. The topics within that board will appear. Click on one.
5. The posts within that topic will appear. By default, the original post will be at the bottom and responses will be sequenced above it.
6. The most recent response will be at the top. To post a comment or a follow-up question, click “Reply.” To receive email notification of any additional responses, click “Notify.”
1. There are multiple ways to do this, but here are two, both starting from any Forums page. One way is to select “Show unread posts since last visit.”
2. This will generate a list of forum topics which contain questions/comments posted since you last visited the site. Click on one.
3. The posts within that topic will appear, with the most recent at the top. When you’ve finished reading, replying, etc., once again select “Show unread posts since last visit.”
4. Note that the topic you just visited is now missing from the list. Visit the other topics or select “Mark ALL messages as read.”
5. Another way is to select “Latest Forum Comments” in the top banner of any Forums page.
6. “Latest Forum Comments” displays a full-text list, starting with the most recent, from which you can do several things: go directly to the category, to the board, to the topic, or to the post (the top four arrows); or bring up a screen for replying, replying with the post quoted, or requesting notification of responses (the bottom three arrows). There are 10 pages of posts in this list, they are constantly refreshed, and they do not disappear once you have viewed them!
