Saugus Forums Help

The following list of questions and answers covers how to subscribe to the Saugus forums via the most popular methods, but it’s hardly complete. If you’d like a walkthrough for some other software application or online aggregator, let us know and maybe we’ll add it to this list. More general computer help is also available for those who need it.

How do I use Firefox to access the forums?

Besides just browsing the forums directly, you can browse to the particular forum that interests you and click on the little orange and white broadcast icon that appears on the right hand side of the location text box at the top of the window. You’ll be prompted for a bookmarks location to put the forum. Once you’ve chosen such a place viewing it will show you “live bookmarks” that will show you the most recent articles’ headlines and get updated automatically.

You can upgrade to Firefox via the sidebar; it’s a free upgrade.

How do I use Safari to access the forums?

Besides just browsing the forums directly, you can browse to the particular forum that interests you and click on the little blue and white RSS icon that appears on the right hand side of the location text box at the top of the window. You’ll immediately get a page with headlines and portions of each recent article in the forum. If you bookmark such a location, a number will appear next to the bookmark’s name telling you how many new messages are in the forum that you have not yet read, and it’ll get updated automatically. Safari will even let you combine multiple forums into a single bookmark; doing so is a little bit beyond this introductory guide, though.

How do I use Opera to access the forums?

Besides just browsing the forums directly, you can browse to the particular forum that interests you and click on the little blue and white RSS icon that appears on the right hand side of the location text box at the top of the window. This will bring up an e-mail like interface to the forum that will automatically be updated as new entries get posted. Each forum you’ve added will be available in your Feeds menu.

How do I use Microsoft Internet Explorer to access the forums?

Unfortunately Microsoft Internet Explorer does not currently have any special RSS support, so all you can do is just browse the forums directly. You may want to upgrade to Firefox (see the sidebar). It’s a free upgrade.

How do I use Thunderbird to access the forums?

First, click on Create a new account and select the Newsgroup account option. Enter your name and e-mail address and use news.saugus.net as your Newsgroup Server. Give it any name you’d like, and you’re basically done. You’ll then have a folder added with the name you selected; opening it will reveal all the Saugus forums. You can subscribe to any forums that you like, and within subscribed forums you can read messages and reply to them as if they were regular e-mail messages. You can even use the View settings for this account option to set the name of your organization, so (for example) if you are on the Saugus Board of Selectmen you can set your organization appropriately and everyone reading the message will know you’re a Selectman.

You can get Thunderbird via the sidebar. It’s a free download.

How do I use Mahogany to access the forums?

Use the Folder / Create... menu option and click the Next button. Choose NNTP Newsgroup for the Entry type, enter news.saugus.net for the Server host, leave the Newsgroup blank, and enter something you’ll remember (like Saugus Forums) for Folder name. Click on the newly created folder, and select the Folder / Browse... menu item. Click the Yes button on the pop-up and the entire hierarchy will appear as nested folders. You can now read and reply to any messages within as if they were regular e-mail messages. You can also use the Edit / Properties / Identity option to set the name of your organization, so (for example) if you are a Saugus Town Meeting member you can set your organization appropriately and everyone reading your message will know you’re on Town Meeting.

How do I use Outlook Express to access the forums?

Use the Tools / Accounts... / Add menu option and select News... for the account type. Enter your name and e-mail address and use news.saugus.net as your News (NNTP) server. You’re now basically done. You’ll have an account added with the name news.saugus.net. You’ll be prompted about whether or not you want to download news groups; do the download and you’ll be given a list of all the Saugus forums. You can subscribe to any forums that you like, and within subscribed forums you can read messages and reply to them as if they were regular e-mail messages. You can even use the Properties menu option of the account to set the name of your organization, so (for example) if you are on the Saugus School Committee you can set your organization appropriately and everyone reading the message will know you’re a School Committee member.

How do I use the Google Desktop to access the forums?

Enable Advanced Features. Browse to the forum that interests you. The Google Desktop will automatically include recent messages from that forum in its Web Clips window that will always be visible if you have the sidebar open. By browsing to multiple forums, you can easily make that one little window track multiple forums.

How do I use RSSOwl to access the forums?

Use the Tools / Discover Newsfeeds on a Website... menu option and enter http://news.saugus.net/ in the given textbox. Ensure that the forums of interest are checked, and click the Import... button.

How do I use my “My Yahoo!” account to access the forums?

Click Add Content and enter Saugus in the Find Content text box. You’ll see a list of Saugus related feeds including the forums. Add any that you like and recent headlines from each will automatically appear in your customized “My Yahoo!” home page.

How do I use my Google Homepage account to access the forums?

Click Add Content, enter the name of the forum as it is listed on the forum web site into the search box, and click the add icon that appears next to the forum's name. For example, to subscribe to the for sale forum you’d enter saugus.forsale in the search box and click the add icon next to the Saugus Forums - saugus.forsale result.

How do I use my Rojo account to access the forums?

Click Add. You’ll be prompted to add a feed address. This is a little bit tricky, but basically all you want to do is type http://news.saugus.net/Group/group.name where group.name is replaced by the forum name listed on the forum web site. For example, to subscribe to the Saugus talk forum you’d enter http://news.saugus.net/Group/saugus.soc.talk in the textbox.

Can I use sites like Technorati, IceRocket, or Google Blog Search to access the forums?

Sort of; the links provided in the question go to the appropriate place in each respective site. Note though that they don’t provide full coverage of the forums, and they offer various filtering options that can hide relevant messages, so it’s fairly easy to miss a message with them. They’re really more for spot-checking than they are for really tracking the forums. If you’re interested in a particular forum you’re best advised to subscribe to it via one of the methods listed above.