There are certain icons displayed next to Forums and/or Threads to indicate special meanings:

• A icon next to a forum or thread means that it is locked by the admin. You may view the posts within this forum/thread but no new posts are allowed.
• A icon next to a forum means that it is a Private forum. Only registered users who are logged in can view and post within this forum. The site admin may have also set additional rules to allow only certain registered users are allowed to participate in Private forums.
• A icon next to a thread means that this thread will always stay at the top of the forum. Only the site admin can designate a thread as "Sticky". The purpose of the Sticky icon is to highlight any threads that might be of particular importance.
• A icon next to a thread means that this thread has been moved to another forum. If you view this thread, it will provide a link to the thread's new location. Threads may be moved if the admin decides they have not been posted in the most appropriate area.
• When you are viewing a forum, you will see a icons preceding any threads that contain posts that you have not viewed. If you click on that icon, it will bring you directly to the first new post. If you are registered and logged in, your information will be saved so that you can view the forum from any computer and any new threads will always be highlighted.
  If there are no new posts in a forum, a icon will be displayed.

You can search for messages that are within the forum that meet your criteria. You can enter as few or as many of the listed criteria as you want to narrow your search.

• Search Words allow you to search for specific words. Enter as many as you would like, separated by a space. You can choose whether you want to look for messages matching all the words you entered or messages that match any of the words you have entered. You can also choose whether you want to search the message body in addition to the thread title.
• User Name allows you to search for messages posted by a specific user. You can also use this to search for your own messages.
• Date allows you to limit your search to only messages that have been posted since the date you have entered. This can be helpful if you are looking for the most current information.
• Sort By allows you to choose the method that will be used to sort your search results.