In Opera it is possible to read so-called discussion or news groups. In order to retrieve message from the appropriate news server and post your messages to this discussion group you must tell Opera where to find these groups, ie. the name of a News Server. You can get this name from your System Administrator or Internet Service Provider.
To setup your news server:
Choose 'News...' from the 'Preferences' menu.
Type in the name of a news server.
Click on the 'OK' button.
Discussion groups are places where like-minded souls meet and discuss issues that range from the abstract to the bizarre. There are currently over 20.000 newsgroups available. Subscription is free in most cases. Please refer to the group:
news.announce.newusers
for details on how to conduct on the news- or discussion forums.
We believe a news server is a sound and solid way of keeping the exchange alive, and have therefore set up a dedicated news server for you. In order to post messages to this server, you will have to change your news server setting to 'opera.nta.no' as we are not using the public USENET which can be accessed through your ISP. The name of our news server is:
news://opera.nta.no
Sub-forums are:
These groups are ideal for support or other complex or complicated issues. Many users are there to help you, and we are also actively monitoring and participating when appropriate.
We would really appreciate you using this service before contacting us with general issues. Opera users are extremely helpful and will be delighted to assist you wherever they can.
Opera has a sophisticated interface for reading subject groups (news), but can -- at present -- read news only online. This means Opera will not keep these messages on your hard disk once they are retrieved. However, your cache will still keep a copy (if set up appropriately). Also, with the new v4.0 we will enhance the newsreader functionality to store newsgroup messages on the disk, too -- as you know it from dedicated newsreaders.
Opera can have several news windows open simultaneously and has separate windows for articles, subject groups and lists for subjects. As a user you have full control over the number of windows, sorting, etc. Each window also has its own button bar for quick access to important functions.
In order to read news, you must have set up a so-called News Server. News and subject groups are held on such a server. Contact your Internet service provider or system administrator for the name of such a machine.
When a News Server has been set you can see a news window by choosing 'New news window' from the window menu. Then you will see the window below. You can click in the image for information on the elements..
How to subscribe: You can easily subscribe to a group. Just click on the blank Icon next to each Newsgroup; it will fill with lines. The Newsgroup is now subscribed. Unsubscribing works the same way: just click on the icon next to the group again and it will show a 'blank page'. This group is no longer subscribed and retrieved by Opera.
If you click on a group or choose one with the keyboard, you will see the group. How the group is displayed (in the same or another window) depends on the Preferences settings.
Button bar overview of subject groups
Two buttons are displayed in this button bar. The leftmost is used for only displaying the groups you subscribe to and all groups available. The right button is used for marking all articles in a subject group as read.
At the side of the buttons is a little text field. This field is used for restricting the number of groups displayed so that it is easier to find the ones you are interested in. For example if you type in 'no' in this field you will only see the groups that begin with 'no'.
TIP: The '*' sign has a special meaning in the search field. This means one or more characters. If you will for example find all groups with the word 'media' in their name you only need to type '*media' in the search field. This makes it possible to find quickly the groups you are interested in.
Subscribed news groups
Here you see the groups you subscribe to. You can click on the leftmost button in the button bar to see a list of all groups and subscriptions. The icon on the left of the group name indicates if the group is subscribed to. To cancel a subscription, click on the icon. If you change your mind you can click on the icon again. Next time you will not see the group.
If you click on a group, it will be read. Depending on the Preferences you will see this in the same window or a separate one for groups or in a new window.
On the right of the group name is a number. This number indicates the number of unread messages in the group. Between the group name and the number is an invisible line. By clicking on this line and holding down the mouse button you can move the line left and right. When the pointer is over the line it changes to a double arrow.
You can as always go between links (groups) with the keyboard.
All subject groups
Here you can see all groups. To simplify search for groups, they are sorted so that groups with the same subjects are laid out in a hierarchy. You click on the hierarchy icon to see a list of the underlying groups.
You subscribe to groups by clicking on the icon in front of the group name.
If you click on a group, it will be read. Depending on the Preferences they will be displayed in the same window, in another window for groups or in a new window.
To the right of the group name is a number. This is the number of unread messages in the group. Between the group name and the number is an invisible line. By clicking on this line and holding down the mouse button you can move the line left and right. When the pointer is over the line it changes to a double arrow.
You can as always go between links (groups) with the keyboard.
Subject groups: group window
In the group window is displayed an overview of the articles in the group. Either unread articles or all articles are displayed. You can choose this from the button bar.
The window has the following fields: sender, subject, total lines, and date. The size of the fields can be chosen by moving a line between the fields (hold down the mouse button while moving the mouse). The lines are invisible except when using drag. When the cursor is over lines they change from invisible to a double arrow.
When you click on an article, it is displayed in an article window. This can be the same window as the group was displayed in earlier, depending on Preferences.
Newsgroups : article window
In the group window you will see the news article. Click on the buttons or fields below for an explanation.
Previous article
Displays the previous article in a newsgroup.
Next article
Displays the next article in a newsgroup.
Reply to an article
Replies to an article. The text of the article can be included by using the
'Include' function in the mail window.
Follow up an article
Follow up an article in a newsgroup. The text of the article can be included
by using the 'Include' function in the mail window.
Forward article
Forward an article to an email address.
Mark all articles as read
This function provides a quick means of marking all articles in a newsgroup
as read. Thus it is easier to hold an oversight over new messages and faster
to load the group next time.
Mark articles as read
Mark active articles, or a number of marked articles as read. The articles
can be marked by holding down CONTROL and clicking on them or by holding
down SHIFT and clicking on an article. All articles are thus marked between
this article and the last one marked.
Mark articles as unread
Mark active articles or a number of marked articles as unread. The articles
can be marked by holding down CONTROL and clicking on them or by holding
down SHIFT and clicking on an article. All articles are thus marked between
this article and the last one marked.
List all articles
Choose either to list all articles in a group, even old ones, or only those
that are unread.
List all groups
Choose to see all groups or only those subscribed to.
Show threads
Choose to display or not the connections between messages; which message
is the answer to which other message. Sort criteria
You can choose to sort messages in a newsgroup by date, sender or subject.
If you wish to have a list of the contributions from one sender, you should
turn off display of threads.
Threads hierarchy
Indicates which messages are replies to which other messages. You click on
a closed folder, and the messages which are replies to messages on the same
line and folder are displayed. You can close the folder again by clicking
on it.
Read/unread indicator
This indicates whether a message is read or not. You can change the status
of a message by clicking on the indicator. You can also mark multiple messages
with the mouse and CONTROL or SHIFT keys. These marked messages can be marked
as read or unread with the appropriate buttons in the button bar.
Sender
Here you can see who sent the messages.
Subject
Here you can see the subject of the message.
Total lines
Here you can see how many lines there are in a message.
Date
Here you can see when a message was sent.
Show group overview
Click on this button to see an overview over newsgroups. Whether they are
displayed in the same or another window is dependent on Preferences.
Show group window
Click on this button to display an overview of all articles in a newsgroup.
Whether they are displayed in the same or another window is dependent on
Preferences.
Article
Here you see the contents of a news article. At the top is the sender, subject
and date.
New Article button
Creates a new article to the current newsgroup. This will start a new thread.