How to use DNewsWeb

Please note that DNewsWeb is highly configurable, the graphics and buttons are not going to be the same from server to server, buttons of similar name should do the same thing.

Login to DNewsWeb

DNewsWeb may ask you for a user name and password, this would probably be the user name and password you use for checking for email, if it isn't your ISP should make you aware if what to use.

The login feature is designed to either, give access only to certain people, or to retain your personal preferences. DNewsWeb can be used without being logged on.

When you are logged on, you will see a list of visited (subscribed) newsgroups and you will get three extra options, one is the unsubscribe option, you select a newsgroup from the drop down list that you are currently subscribed to, and click on unsubscribe. The other config option allows you to preset you name, reply address, sort preference, and your signature file, which get automatically inserted when you click on "Post" or "Post response". The third option "Catch-up" refreshes the page you are viewing, it has the same effect as clicking on the "reload" browser button.

DNewsWeb Main Page

This page usually has a few local interest groups on it, a login button, a search feature, a direct jump to your favorite news group, an option to browse all newsgroups, and an option to browse your favorite newsgroups.

The search feature is used to quickly scan through all newsgroups and find groups with a keyword in their title. For example if you were interested in reading articles about cars you would type in "car" and click on "search".

If there is a particular news group that you want to read, you can type the name of it into the "read a specific news group" field and then click on "Read".

The Browse All newsgroups is good for just looking around to see what there is available. When you click in this link, you will get a page with a list of all the groups' first prefix. If the name ends with "... n groups", then clicking on that link will expand that prefix to all the groups that are contained within it (by one level) so you wont exactly get a list of n newsgroups.

When You are in a Newsgroup

If you are logged on, visiting a new news group will automatically add it to your "subscribed-to" list. This list is on the main DNewsWeb page

When you are in a newsgroup, you will have a list of articles that can be read. Usually listed with the Subject line being the link to click on to read that article. There may be other information like who the message is from, the time and date, etc...
You should have several options available like Post a message, Search, Groups, Latest Items, Page Down.

Clicking on Posting a message lets you post a new message to the current news group.

Clicking on Search brings up a page where you can search for a particular keyword in the headers of articles in the current newsgroup.

Clicking on Groups takes you back to the main DNewsWeb page.

Clicking on Latest Items reorders the articles so that the most recent to arrive in the newsgroup, is at the top. The dates are not going to be in exact order, as the date time is different in different parts of the world simultaneously.

Clicking on Page Down takes you to the next page of articles. This is due to DNewsWeb displaying only a certain maximum number of articles at any one time. This is to prevent DNewsWeb from displaying too many articles.

When Reading an Article

When reading an article, you should have several options available, like "Post a response", "Next article", "Previous article", "Related Items", "Latest Items".

Related Items brings up a list of articles that are in the same thread as the one you are reading. A thread is a series of articles that have been repetitively replied to. So when you post a new message, that will be the only one in the thread. If someone replies to that message of yours there will then be two messages in the thread. Some popular threads can get very complicated.

Latest Items reorders the articles so that the most recent to arrive in the newsgroup, is at the top. The dates are not going to be in exact order, as the date time is different in different parts of the world simultaneously.

Posting a response is like replying to an email, the message is quoted ( "> " is added to the beginning of each line), You will have to fill in your details (name, email, if you want to you can change the subject line, or add an attachment) and you type in your message and then click on the Post or send button. If the news group is moderated, it will take a while for your message to appear (as someone has to read it and let the news system know that the message is ok), if it isn't a moderated newsgroup you should be able to find your message within a minute or so.