You will now compose a message on the Practice forum. To move to the Practice Forum, type: go practice and press <ENTER>. You will leave the HP Systems Forum and move to the Practice Forum. When you receive a prompt ending with !, you are ready to Compose a test message.
Type compose and then press <ENTER>. (If you haven't joined this forum yet, you'll be asked your name.) CompuServe will respond with the following:
The Practice Forum Compose Enter message. (/EXIT when done) Type in your test message. Since this is just a test message, you may type just about anything. Lines should be shorter than 80 characters, and you must press <ENTER> after each line. When you have completed entering your message, type /exit (/ on numeric keypad, not MENU key) as the only entry on its own line and press <ENTER>. You will then be presented with a prompt ending in !. At this prompt, type post and press <ENTER>. CompuServe will respond with the following;
Post for (Name and/or User ID):
Your response to this prompt will determine who the message will be directed to. Type in all and press <ENTER> and the message posted for all to read. ALL is not the only appropriate response at this point, but is the one we will use during this practice session. It lets you address a question or comment to anyone on the forum.
Many times you will want to direct the message to a particular forum member. To do this you may enter their name, followed by their CompuServe user I.D. and press <ENTER>like this: John Doe , 70000,123.
If you just enter a person's name without their user I.D., the person may not be alerted that you have sent them a message when they enter the forum. CompuServe will then prompt you for the subject, like this;
Subject:
Type in Test and press <ENTER>. The subject of a message can be no more than 24 characters.
Finally, you will be presented with a list of forum sections. Type 11 and press <ENTER>. The test message will be sent to section 11 called `My "TEST" Message'. This section is set up on the Practice Forum specifically for test messages like the one you have just composed.
CompuServe will then show you the message on the following page:
To: ALL
Subj: TEST
Section: 11
Is this correct (Y or N)?
Type Y and press <ENTER>. If something was incorrect, you can change it here by selecting N.
CompuServe will confirm that your message has been sent with a response similar to this:
Message # 126299 posted
You have now completed your practice message.