The ILDA Forums

ILDA is pleased to introduce a new way for Members and other laserists to get together: the ILDA Forums. These discussion areas cover various topics related to laser shows and to ILDA. In addition, the Forums will be a primary way that ILDA communicates to members.
 

Private and public sections

There are three sections at the ILDA Forums; one is public for anyone, the other two are private for ILDA Members:

• The "Public Forums" section is open to anyone who registers. The discussions in this area are on general lasershow topics.
• The "ILDA Forums" section is visible to all users, but only ILDA Members can read and write posts (messages). The discussions in this area are mostly about ILDA association business.
• There is an additional hidden section with discussion areas for ILDA Commitees. If you are on a committee you are automatically given access to view, read and write in the committee's forum. (Click here for more information on joining an ILDA committee.)
• Private sections have been set up for ILDA Artistic, Technical and Career awards judges. The judges for each category are able to view, access and discuss the awards nominees in private -- only the judges have access.
   

How to register

In order to leave posts (messages) at the Forum, you have to register. Anyone may register -- you do not have to be an ILDA Member. You only need to register one time; once you have registered you are "in the system".

To begin, click on the Register menu, on the left side of the dark blue bar (see photo).

First, you have to agree to the ILDA Forum Rules. Next, you will be asked for a User Name,  Password, and e-mail address. ILDA WILL NEVER KNOW YOUR PASSWORD, so please remember it.

About User Names: For ILDA Members, we ask that you use your real name. This helps ILDA and other members know who you really are. In other words, make your user name "Bob Smith" instead of "Lasers R Us" or "laserfanboy24".

Finally, you are asked for your ILDA Membership status (whether you are a member or not).

 
Geting access to public and private areas

After you register, you will immediately get access to the Public forums, which cover general laser show topics. You can read and post to these forums.

If you indicated that you are an ILDA Member, you will have to wait for ILDA to give you access to the private Members-only forums. That's because the process is manual. We double-check your membership information, and manually give permission to access the Members-only forums. This process may take from a few hours (normally) to a few days (if we are travelling and do not have Internet access).

Once we have given you Members-only access, you will receive a private message at the Forum, to let you know. So, simply check in from time to time until you see this private message.

Similarly, when you join an ILDA Committee or become an Awards judge, you will be given access to the appropriate forums.

If you forget your password

If you forget your password, click on the 'Forgotten Your Password' link on any page that requires you to fill in your password.

This will bring up a page where you enter your ILDA Forum-registered e-mail address. An e-mail will be instantly sent to that address, with instructions for resetting your password.

 
See the FAQ for much more information

For more information about the ILDA Forums, see the FAQ page at the Forum. You do not have to be registered in order to read the FAQ.

How to see when there are new posts

Since around 1996, ILDA has used e-mail lists for communication with and between members. The new ILDA Forums will replace the mailing lists for most purposes.* There are many advantages to using the forum system. One slight disadvantage is that you will have to remember to check the forums for new posts from ILDA or others.

To check for new posts, log onto the Forum and click the "New Posts" menu, in the middle of the blue menu bar.

There is a handy feature which helps you keep track of replies to your posts. The forum system has a default "subscription" mode. You can receive e-mail messages whenever anyone replies to a discussion thread where you have posted. This is helpful since you don't have to watch the forums to see if anyone has responded to your posts.

To set the Default Thread Subscription Mode, go to the User Control Panel ("User CP", at the left side of the main menu bar). Then click "Edit Options" from the Control Panel on the left side. Go down to the "Messaging & Notification" section, and look for the "Default Thread Subscription Mode" block. For most people, the "Instant email notification" or the "Daily email notification" choices are best.

*The mailing lists will continue to function to send important announcements to all users, who may not be checking the ILDA Forums.