Community discussion forums

Our discussion forums are structured to help Community members better find and participate in discussions. Here is an overview of our terminology:

Categories: A category is a grouping of forums. For example, "Not Diagnosed but Concerned" is a category that holds forums such as "Waiting for Test Results" and "High Risk Women."

Forums: Forums are subsets of categories and provide specific topic areas for Community members to submit content. For example, if you are a Community member who is waiting for breast cancer test results but is not diagnosed, you would choose the "Waiting for Test Results" forum to submit your concern.

Topics: Topics are subsets of forums. Once you have found an appropriate forum in which to submit your content, you can add your post to an existing topic or start a new topic that details your specific question or concern.

Posts: Posts are subsets of topics. Once you or another Community member has started a topic, you and other Community members can add posts to the topic.

Members cannot start new forums but may request that the moderators create one. To request a new forum, send the moderators a private message (select “moderators” from the address pull-down box or click the link in the signature line at the bottom of any moderator’s post).

Your request will then be considered, and you will be notified of the decision.

Active Topics are topics that have had posts submitted to them within the last 24 hours. When you click the Active Topics bar in the left-side navigation, you will see a table of all the topics to which Community members have added posts. The table is in reverse chronological order and lists the topic's title with the number of unread posts, forum title, who submitted the latest post and when, and who created the topic and when. Click on the topic title link to go to your first unread post of that topic (you need to navigate manually to the last post).

First, ensure you are logged in to the Community. Once you are logged in, you can start a new topic by navigating to an appropriate forum. For example, if you are concerned and have a question about breast cancer, you would navigate to the “Not Diagnosed but Worried” forum. Once there, click the “Start a new Topic” button to begin writing. When you are ready to post your new topic, click “Submit."

To add a post to an existing topic, navigate to the topic to which you would like to add the post. Then, click one of the "Post a Reply" links. When you have finished writing your post, click "Submit."

The first post of a topic establishes the subject by which all subsequent posts will be known. Make topic subjects as descriptive and as specific as possible. For example, "DCIS Treatment Questions" is much better than something general, such as "Newbie needs help!" Not only is it more likely to elicit a response, but it will make it much easier for members, readers, and site search to find relevant information.

Before starting a topic, it is always worth checking to see if your concern has already been discussed. You can do this via the Discussion Boards Search. On mobile devices, you will find Search by clicking the “Menu” button at the top of the screen.

To edit your content, click the "Edit" link within the post or topic you wish to change.

If you want to ensure your post and topics have white space in them, hit the return (or enter) key on your keyboard twice at the points where you want to insert a blank line.

Remember to click "Save" to complete the edit.

You can delete your own posts by clicking on the “Delete” link below the post text. From there, you will be taken to a confirmation screen that asks you to confirm or cancel your deletion. When you have deleted your post, a placeholder for that post will still exist showing that you have deleted the post.

Remember, you can only delete your own posts.

One way to add an image to a topic or a post is to click the image icon in the post/topic toolbar. A pop-up box will appear where you can either:

• drag and drop an image from an open file folder from your computer

• load from a file folder on your computer by clicking on the “Browse” button and finding the photo on your computer

Before adding your image, you should decrease the picture size to under 800 pixels wide (about 400px is often better), as it will load faster for others and not need resizing.

You may also post an image by using a photo website. Each of these sites explains how to share your images; there should be an option to share your photo, and then an option for an embed code. Copy the embed code and paste the code in your text box. Once you hit submit, the photo should appear.

To resize a photo, click once in the photo then grab the bottom right corner black square and drag that to the size you want. However, you cannot crop an image – that needs to be done before inserting.

To edit the photo, you click inside the photo, on the EDIT button. Here you can give the photo a title, insert a link to a website (that can open a new tab), and choose to have the image on the right, center, or left side.

You may post videos only from a YouTube or a Vimeo account.
To post a YouTube or Vimeo video:

1. When writing a post, click the icon of the rectangle with the "play" triangle located in the icon bar above your text box.

2. A pop-up box will appear where you can insert the URL from the video you'd like to post.

3. Copy the URL from the YouTube or Vimeo video.

4. Paste the URL in the pop-up box and hit the “Insert” button.

5. The video will appear in your post. Once you hit the “Submit” button, the video will appear on the thread or in a new topic.
   

1. Type the text you would like to make into a link. It is not suggested that you use the entire link as the linked text.

2. Highlight the text.

3. Click the link icon and select “Insert Link.”

4. Enter the URL, and you can edit your text, which shows in your post as the underlined, clickable text.

5. Click the "Insert" button and your link will be saved.

To edit your link, repeat steps 2-5.

To remove a link, highlight the linked text, click the link icon, then select “Unlink.”

1. Make sure you are logged into your profile.

2. Navigate to your profile > Setting tab setting tab.

3. Scroll down the page and the "Signature preview" field is in the Personal Information section.

4. Click the “Edit” button at the top of the Personal Information section, and you can add, edit, or hide your signature.

File attachments are not allowed at this time for security purposes.

To find your own posts, go to your Dashboard in the left-side navigation. Once you're there, scroll down until you see your Recent Topics and Recent Posts, where you can click on any recent post or topic you would like to view.

To find your own posts, go to the Dashboard in the left-side navigation. Then scroll down until you see Recent Topics and Recent Posts. From there, you can click on any post you want to go back to.

You can make a topic a favorite by clicking “Add to My Favorite Topics” at the top or bottom of any thread, and you will receive notifications when there are new posts to read.

You may choose to receive email notifications when other users post replies to your favorite topics by navigating to the My Favorite Topics page and clicking the “Add email notification” link for each topic.

You can turn off notifications by clicking “Remove email notification” next to each topic.

Send a private message to the moderators — they will be able to move it for you.

There are two ways Community members can send private messages.

1. From the discussion forums or topics pages:

• Click on the user name of the Community member to whom you would like to send a private message.

• Click on "Send member a Private Message".

• Fill in the subject line and your message.

• Click "Send Message".

2. From Private Messages in the left-side navigation, which is limited to your favorite members and the moderators:

• Click "Compose New Message".

• Next to "To," you will find a menu of your favorite members. This menu also contains discussion board moderators, should you need to send them a message. Select the member to whom you would like to send a private message.

• Fill in the subject line and your message.

• Click "Send Message".
  

When you are logged in and you have received a private message, you will see a blue number next to Private Messages in the left-side navigation.

You may choose to turn on Private Message notifications in two places:

1. Community > Private messages tab

   • Click on the Private Messages, where you will see "Email Notification of New Private Messages" near the top, with a link to turn the setting on or off.
     

2. Profile > Settings tab

   • Click on the Settings bar, and scroll to the bottom of the page to the Email Notifications section.

   • Click the Edit button at the top right of the section title.

   • Check the box next to "New private message” to turn on the notification setting and uncheck the box to turn them off.
     

There are two ways to block or hide content from other Community members. First, ensure you are logged in to the Community.

From the member's profile page, you can click the link labeled "Block User" to stop receiving private messages from that member. Posts from the blocked member will be suppressed, showing "This post is suppressed because you are ignoring [Member Name]" with a link to unblock that member.

You may also block a Community member directly from a private message sent by that member by clicking "Block [Member Name]."

You can unblock a Community member from any suppressed post, the member's profile page, your Blocked User list (accessible from your Dashboard in the left-side navigation), or from within a private message sent by that member.

You may also block whole topics by clicking "Block Topic" at the top or bottom of each topic page. You may unblock topics by going to your Dashboard in the left-side navigation and scrolling down to the "Blocked Forums/Topics" area, where you can elect to "Unblock Forum."

First, ensure you are logged in to the discussion forums. Click on the "Report this Post" link found on the upper right-hand side of the Post to report Community abuse.

Community abuse includes:

1. spam

2. solicitations to buy products

3. threatening, abusive, or hateful comments

If you see a post that you'd like to report, and you don't have a "Report this Post" link, you can send a private message to the moderators.

Community abuse does NOT include:

1. comments which simply have a different viewpoint than yours

2. moderator-approved solicitations for interviews or events

Members who abuse the Community by posting spam or other abusive content will have their accounts temporarily banned. Members who report Community abuse when the content does NOT qualify as abuse will also have their accounts temporarily banned. Repeated offenses of Community abuse or erroneously reporting abuse will result in a permanent ban.

Researchers looking for study participants must obtain the advanced written consent of Breastcancer.org prior to communicating any request for participation in research studies, school projects, polls, or organizational events.

Please provide the following to the Breastcancer.org moderators via private message, or email community@breastcancer.org:

1. A copy of your IRB approval.

2. A paragraph about your research study that you would find suitable for posting.

3. A brief but specific statement as to what you are requesting of Breastcancer.org and our members.

4. Information on how and if you will be referencing Breastcancer.org in your results and final written paper.

5. A contact email address from your institution or organization.

After you provide this information, our moderators will get back to you within a week letting you know if you are permitted to post in the forums.

NOTE: Although we may allow the postings of research studies and clinical trials, Breastcancer.org is NOT responsible for and does not endorse any studies.

The Dashboard is a tab in the left-side navigation which shows your favorite topics, private messages, recent topics, recent posts, members you have selected as friends, any members you have blocked, as well as any forums and topics that you have blocked. You can also make changes to any of these features within the Dashboard.

To add a topic to your favorites, click the “Add to My Favorite Topics” link at the top or bottom of the topic you wish to add.

When you are logged in to the discussion forums and you have received an update to a topic you have favorited, you will see a blue number next to My Favorites in the left-side navigation.

You may choose to receive email notifications when other users post replies to your favorite topics by navigating to the My Favorite Topics page and clicking the “Add email notification” link for each topic.

You can turn off notifications by clicking “Remove email notification” next to each topic.

Go to your profile by clicking on your profile avatar in the top right of the Breastcancer.org website (next to the red Donate button). From your profile, navigate to the Settings tab from the left side menu. Click “Edit” next to the Account Settings section. 

Find the Profile picture in Account Settings and click "Edit profile picture" to choose a new graphic file from your computer or phone. 

Note: See "Is there a limit to avatar image size?" below.

Make sure to click "Save" to save your changes. You can also choose to delete your current avatar from the same location.

Please do not exceed 125x300 pixels and/or 35 kb for your avatar image. We ask that you keep your images relatively small to ensure that the discussion forums load quickly for all Community members.

You can edit your email preferences by navigating to My profile > Settings to edit time zone preferences, email preferences, and image display preferences. Be sure to click "Save" to save your changes.