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Frequently Asked Questions

Getting Started on The Motley Fool discussion boards

  1. Where are the discussion boards?
  2. I've heard that there are over a thousand discussion boards. Where can I start?
  3. Is there a help area?
  4. There seems to be a weird link on the Fool site. I clicked to post a message (or a Poll) and was taken to a page which invited me to change my username. What is going on?
  5. I have posted a message. How do I find out if anyone has replied?
  6. Is there an introduction to the Fool web site?

Q1. Where are the discussion boards?

Click the tab called "Discussion Boards" on any page on the Fool site. This will take you to the front page of the boards. Down the left hand side of that page are links to folders. Each folder has a group of discussion boards which we think go together.

Q2. I've heard that there are over a thousand discussion boards. Where can I start?

Probably the best place to start is our Ask A Foolish Question discussion board. It covers any and every subject. If the people who hang out there don't know the answer, they will certainly know the best place for you to re-ask the question?

Q3. Is there a help area?

Yes there is. For the site as a whole there is a link to it under the word Help & FAQs at the foot of every page. That page in turn gives links to the general help for the site and to the discussion board help area.

Q4. There seems to be a weird link on the Fool site. I clicked to post a message (or a Poll) and was taken to a page which invited me to change my username. What is going on?

This is not as strange as it seems. The current registration system just asks you to enter your email address. That is sufficient to uniquely identify you so as to show you your portfolio and not someone else's. However if you want to post a message (or a poll) on our discussion boards it wouldn't do for us to use your email address there, as that would reveal your email address to all and sundry on the internet, including people who might add you to their mailing lists.

Before you can post on the discussion boards you must choose a nickname by which you can be known there. So the first time you click on the Post Message link we will whisk you away to the Change Username page and ask you to select a nickname. Afterwards you can continue to login using your full email address, or you can just type the nickname which is most likely shorter. When you post a message on the discussion boards we will use your nickname as the Author no matter which way you login.

Q5. I have posted a message. How do I find out if anyone has replied?

There is a page where you can review answers to your recent messages. If you glance around that page you will see that coming from the top "Discussion Boards" "Favourites & Replies" and "Replies to Your Posts" are all highlighted so those are the things which you would have needed to have clicked on in that order to get to the page.

Of course if no one had replied to your message the page above would effectively be blank. So to be sure of checking your messages an alternative is to visit your personal profile page. (to get to you personal profile enter your name in the field labelled "Author" on any page in the discussion boards area and click "Find".) When you get to the profile page, click the link for "Last 10 messages", that will take you to a page which lists your recent messages.

Q6. Is there an introduction to the Fool web site?

There is the getting started section on our Help page.

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