This guide covers the fundamental features and basic usage of Discourse for new users, explaining key terms, how to navigate, participate in conversations, and configure notifications.
Required user level: Any
Welcome!
As a new user of the Ultralytics Discourse Forums, we hope you will find this site intuitive and clearly structured. Here’s some guidance to help you get started:
Summary
This guide will cover:
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Basic terms used in about the Ultralytics Discourse Forum
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Browsing and navigation tips
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Reading and participating in topics
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Notifications and how to manage them
Basic Terms Used in the Forums
Here are some key terms you should be familiar with while navigating the forums:
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Category: The primary way of organizing topics. Each topic resides in one category, which can have its own permissions and notification settings. Categories are similar to forums on other sites.
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Topic: A series of messages grouped in a meaningful conversation with a title, listed in a category. All topics begin with an Original Post (OP) and include all replies in chronological order. This is similar to what other platforms might call a “thread.”
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Post: An individual message within a topic. Each post can be authored by different users, moved to another topic, or become the start of a new topic.
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Original Post (OP): The first post in any topic. It determines the focus of the topic and is associated with the title and tags.
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Tag: A marker used to describe a topic. Each topic can have multiple tags and users can create new ones.
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User: All site activities, like creating posts and recording actions, are centered around registered users. Registration is required for participation (adding reactions or commenting), however, the Ultralytics forum is publicly viewable without an account.
For more details, see the Discourse Interface Nomenclature Guide.
Browsing the Forum
Topic Lists
By default, the Ultralytics forums homepage shows all Sub Categories and the Latest Topics, but you can filter this list in several ways:
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By category: Click
categoriesto see a list of all categories: -
By tag: Click
tagsto see a list of all tags. -
By activity level: Click
Topto list topics by activity level for a specific time period. -
By new or unseen topics: New topics (from the last 2 days), which are marked with a small blue dot, but if you haven’t been around for too long, this might not show!
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By unread topics: Topics that you’ve opened and read for at least 4 minutes but have new posts (replies) are marked with a number in a blue circle:
Navigation Tools
Use the icon buttons at the upper right for the chat, search, or your user menu:
Reading Topics
Keep Scrolling
Click on a topic title to read replies in chronological order. Use your mouse or the timeline scroll bar on the right to navigate through the conversation. On smaller screens, select the bottom progress bar to expand it.
Jump Back In
Selecting a topic title takes you to your last read post. To enter at the top or bottom, click the reply count or last reply date:
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Topics above the light red line are new or updated since your last visit.
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Fully read topics have light grey titles:
Related Topics
Posts can be moved to more appropriate topics, or two related topics can be merged. A link will appear allowing readers to jump to the new location. Related topics are listed at the end of the OP:
Taking Part in Conversations
Replying
Press any Reply button to open the editor. You can continue reading or navigate to different topics while composing your reply:
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Replies to a specific post are linked to that post:
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If your reply is next in chronological order, it appears next.
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If not, your post has a link to the previous post for context, and the original post shows a count of replies.
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Drafts
Drafts are automatically saved. If minimized or if you navigate away, the editor can be reopened by returning to the topic or clicking the highlighted bar at the bottom of your browser.
Quoting
To insert a quote, select the text you wish to quote, then press the Quote button that pops up. Repeat for multiple quotes from different posts or users:
Mentioning
Please be considerate when mentioning others, especially members of the Ultralytics Team. Notify someone by mentioning their name. Type @ to select a username:
Emoji
To use emojis, press the emoji button in the editor or type : to match by name or traditional smileys. Use the more option for the full list:
Oneboxes (Link Previews)
To create a summary for a link, paste it on a line by itself. Starting a topic with a link can generate a summary in the title field:
You can read more about using the onebox feature in this guide.
Formatting
You can format your reply using simple HTML, BBCode, or Markdown. See the Markdown Resource Post for a cheat sheet and other helpful resources.
Actions and Reactions
At the bottom of each post, you will find action buttons:
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Like: Show appreciation for the post.
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Link: Copy a permalink to the reply or topic.
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The “…” button will show more actions, such as Flag, Edit, and Bookmark:
Notifications
When someone interacts with you directly, a blue number will appear over your profile picture. For personal messages, a green envelope will appear instead. To receive desktop or Android push notifications, allow the site to send you notifications through your browser.
Topic Notifications
Change the notification level for any topic via the notification control at the bottom of the topic:
or on the timeline on the right:
Category Notifications
Set notification levels per category from your user preferences or the category page:
Tag Notifications
Set notification levels per tag via your user preferences:
If you are on a category or tag on which you have set a notification setting, you can change it by clicking the bell icon next to the New Topic button:
Adapted from a post on the Discourse Meta Forum with some images reused.