Danish Australian Cultural Society

This article is designed to enable users to get the most out of the site. It is intended to be as user-friendly as possible and assumes no computer knowledge.

There is a reasonably large amount of information and you will need to click on the "read more" link at the bottom to get everything.

The administration of this site is being carried out by Lance Fishman, DACS committee member. The site's creator, Tim Kavanagh may occasionally have some input but this will be limited due to his professional commitments.

Other committee members have been authorised to add content.

DACS members have password controlled authority to add content to forums, comment on content and answer polls.

The website actually looks different to members who are logged in, with content visible which is not available to the general public. For instance, the latest DACS newsletter is available to members to download and print but is invisible to others. This explains why there appears to be some duplication between the 'Current Newsletter + Archive' and 'Previous Newsletter' menus under 'News & Events' in the Site Navigation area. The first is not available to non-members. Members can just use the 'Current' one and disregard the other less functional one.

Users should be aware that items in red are 'hyperlinks' That is, they take you to other parts of the site.

• The left hand side of the page is your Site Navigation area which acts as a menu or table of contents.
• The right hand side takes you to Polls and Forums where we hope that you will contribute your ideas.
• Clicking a heading will take you to the full article.
• Clicking 'Add new comment' will enable you to add your own comments. (Actively encouraged).
• Clicking 'Read more' will enable you to read the full text.
• Clicking 'Attachment' will take you to a link to additional material (mainly pictures). Once there you will be able to click on the link to the particular attachment (usually something like "ABC.jpg").

You can return to the start of the website at any time by clicking on the flags logo at the top left hand side of a page.

We have added functionality which will allow all authorised users to contact others within the website.

1. Go to 'My Inbox' in the site navigation panel and if there is a number within brackets to the right of that, there are messages for you.
2. Click 'My Inbox' to read the messages.

To send a message to another DACS member:

3. Click 'My Inbox' (alternatively click 'My Account' then click 'Write a private message').
4. Click 'Write a new message'.

Note the drop-down list below the word 'To'.

5. Click 'Contacts' for all members.
6. In the 'To' box, type the first letter of the contact's name.

(Members' user-names will usually be their given name plus the first letter of their surname eg. Fred Smith would be Fred S, so you would type in f).
A list of all members with that letter at the start of their user-names will appear.

7. Select the person who you wish to contact.
8. Type something appropriate in the 'Subject' box.
9. Type your message in the 'Message' box.
10. Click 'Preview' if desired.
11. Click 'Send private message'.

It must be emphasised that this messaging system occurs solely within the website and is not an email message. Consequently it is very secure and private. No other members on the site can view it. If you wish to broadcast your thoughts (and we certainly hope that you do) to all members, this can be achieved using the 'comments' function associated with articles, polls and forums.

Initially, you should just play with the site. Hover your cursor over various red hyperlinks and note the information which will will be displayed below. You will find a lot from the old site here but also a lot of new content.

Additional content will be actively encouraged but will need to be submitted by email or mail to avoid the possibility of unwanted material being added to the site. All websites have an ongoing battle with outsiders who attempt to add spam and malicious content, so this precaution is necessary.

With your help, we hope to create a dynamic web presence, constantly changing and updating. Informative, fun and interesting. Sometimes a little controversial, but never booring.

Constructive suggestions are encouraged from all DACS members.

If you wish to contact us about website issues. Perhaps you would like to change your user-name or have queries which you do not wish to broadcast. You may either use the 'My Account'/'My Inbox' method of sending us a message via the website (send to Lance or Julie) or you can use the 'Submit Content' link in 'Site Navigation' to send us an email.

Cheers
Lance