1. Join the site!
To post and participate in this site, you must register to be a member. This is REQUIRED for all students. Click on the "Create New User" link to the right to start this process. Note that entering an e-mail address is not required, but it is recommended that you do in case you ever forget your password. By joining, you will be able to create new topics, post on topic threads, and post comments wherever you see a 'comment' link.

2. Edit your Profile
After you log in, please fill in the information for your profile by clicking on your username and then the "Edit Profile" button. You must fill in at least your first name; the remaining fields are optional.

3. Introduce Yourself
Go to the official "introduce yourself" thread and make your first post!

The Internet Classroom is an academic site. Common-sense internet etiquette -- or 'netiquette' -- is expected of all participants here. Civil discourse in all postings or comments on these pages is also expected. However, here are some specific instructions, in no particular order:

• Use inoffensive account names. Account names cannot contain objectionable strings of text. What is 'objectionable'? The usual: words or phrases that are x-rated, lewd, insulting, hateful, etc. We will definitely expunge inappropriate names from the User List, as well as block the IP addresses from which those user accounts have been set up.

• Practice civility. Objectionable postings will be similarly dealt with (see above).

• Don't spam. Spam postings will be deleted.

• Practice reasonable linkage. Postings with links to objectionable sites will be deleted.

The software that runs this site is called Io Community Manager (IoCM for short) and has a few capabilities that you've probably never seen on other sites before. The first thing is the Activity Tracker. This page shows you all the latest posts, edits, and additions that have happened on the site and is very useful for seeing where all the action is, without having to burrow or browse through the various forums.

When you're traversing the forums, you may notice that certain posters have unique background colors for their posts. This indicates that they have some specific role in the whole Internet Classroom schema. The color coding works as follows:

• Staff

• AM Student

• PM Student

• Alumni

• Wise Sage

(If you are just posting to the TIC site for the first time, your post may not show up as the color it should be. Don't panic, this is normal. Your post will become colored once an admin gets around to changing it.)

Finally, IoCM has its own method for styling your posts and comments. Check out the Forum Code guide for that if you'd like to add italics or bold to your posts occasionally.