Getting started with Anbytarforum

Welcome to Anbytarforum, the discussion board of the Federation of Swedish Genealogical Societies, and an integrated part of our e-zine RÖTTER. The language is Swedish, but as most Swedes understand and write some English, you can post queries in English.

Here we will try to explain how to use Anbytarforum. If there are problems, you can e-mail our English editor.

• To read the discussions

• The subjects

• The Användarkonto

• To post a query in an existing discussion

• To start a new discussion

• To include images

• To suggest an improvement

• Rules and Netiquette

To read the discussions

All genealogists are welcome to take part in the discussions in this Forum. You do not have to be a member of the Federation to join the discussions.

To find the discussions that are of interest to you, click on the subject headings in the topic list window of Anbytarforum. You can also click on Ämnen (subjects) at the top of the left-hand menu.

When you click on a heading, you will find an explanation of the topics on that page, and then a number of sub-headings. These in turn may have divisions.

An example: The subject Landskap (Provinces) has sub-headings for each province, and they in turn each have five sub-divisions:

• Socknar - Parishes

• Efterlysningar - Missing Persons

• Var ligger platsen - Where is the (town, village, farm) situated

• Allmänt - General Topics

• More to read about this province in Rötter

Subjects

The subjects you see in the right-hand window are the following:

• Ordningsregler - Rules of Order

• Anbytarvärden meddelar - Messages from the board moderator

• Ett bättre Anbytarforum - A better Anbytarforum

• Discussions in English

• Landskap - Provinces

• Länder - Countries

• Släkter - Families

• Yrken - Professions

• Kända personers anor - The Pedigrees of Celebrities

• Språk, ord och namn - Language, Words, and Names

• Källor - Sources

• Datorprogram och teknik - Computers and Technology

• Hur gör jag? (Metodfrågor) - What Can I Do? Methods for Solving Problems

• Gamla bilder - Old Pictures (including 'The Picture Riddle')

• Läshjälp - When you need Help to Read old Texts

• Särskilda forskningsområden (special areas of research)

• Övriga ämnen - Miscellaneous Subjects

• Ordet är fritt! - The Word is Free!

• Länktips - Useful Links

• Prova Anbytarforum - Test the Posting of Messages

The Användarkonto

You must register a user account (Användarkonto) if you want to take part in the discussions on Anbytarforum. You don't need an account if you are satisfied with only reading the discussions. If you want to post your own messages, however, you will need an account.

A user account is free, but instead a donation to Rötters Vänner will be much appreciated. There is more information here.

To get a user account (Användarkonto), go to this page or click on Användarkonto in the left-hand menu. On that page, press the Skapa nytt (Create new) button to proceed.

The page that follows is partly translated to English.

Fill out your desired user name in the first empty space, then your desired password (twice, to ensure it's not mistyped), your full name, and your e-mail address.

You may then fill out more information about yourself. Some of the fields are mandatory but the information will never be available to the general public. Other fields may or may not be visible to anyone - if you want to hide certain fields you can do so from this page at a later time. You may want to take a look at our privacy policy which is here.

• Yrke = Occupation

• Adress = Street Address

• Postnummer = Postal Code / Zip Code

• Postadress = Postal Address not including Zip Code (i.e. town/city and state, where applicable)

• Land = Country

• Telefon = Telephone

• Födelsedag (Date of Birth)

• Egen hemsida = Personal Web Site Address

• Forskar i socknar = Researching these Parishes

• Forskar i släkter = Researching these Families

• Övrig forskning = Other Research

• Medlem i = Member of (Genealogical Societies)

• Datorprogram = Computer Program (that you use)

• Övrigt = Other

• Ja, jag vill ha nyhetsbrev = Yes, I want Newsletters 

The (street) address, the telephone number and the birthday is always hidden for the general public. The other fields are visible to anyone unless you choose to hide them, as indicated above.

The hidden fields are used only by Anbytarforum's administrators in rare cases to determine whether an application for an account is valid or not.

Regarding the Newsletters - use J or Y in that field to if you want them. Leave the field blank, or type N here if you don't want them.

Then click on the button "Fortsätt registrering" and you end up on a new page which tells about the moderator who will approve your account and send you a password by e-mail in a few days. 

This information you entered above is displayed on a page that is linked to you, so when you take part in some discussion, and makes it easy for others to contact you privately if they want to. The link looks like this Anna Pettersson (Anna), and if you click on the name in the parentheses, you will find her personal info. 

One of the benefits of having an Användarkonto is that you can go back and edit your postings within one day of having sent them. Just click on the link Ändra (edit) in the right-hand corner of your posting.

You can also change your password. To do this, you click on the Användarkonto in the lefthand column, and then log in with your Användarnamn and your Lösenord, and change to a new one.

You can choose to have new postings in the discussions that interest you the most sent to you as e-mails. To do this, log in as above, and go down the page, until you find a box to fill in beside this text Svar på mina meddelanden. Mark the box, and you will get answers to your postings as e-mails.

There are many more possibilities to personalize your Användarkonto, but we can not explain all of them here. If there is anything special that interests you, send us an e-mail here.

To post a query in an existing discussion

At the bottom of the discussion there is a square, with the heading Skriv ditt meddelande här: This is where you write your query, and you can write as much as you want.

Then fill in the name of your user account in the space marked Användarnamn. Type your password in the space marked Lösenord.

When you are done, click on Förhandsgranska/Skicka meddelande (proofread message) and your message will appear as it will look when submitted.

If this looks OK, click on Skicka inlägg (submit message). Ångra means Cancel. If you wish to change anything, scroll down to the next window, which contains your text, and edit it. Then click on förhandsgranska again and then on skicka inlägg. Then use your web browser's "Back" button to return to the "Main Topics" page.

Please do not duplicate the same message in other discussions!

To start a new discussion

At the bottom of the subject you wish to take part in, there is a link that says Skapa nytt ämne.

Click on this, fill out your subject, and then enter whatever details you wish in the big window.

Then fill in the name of your user account in the space marked Användarnamn. Type your password in the space marked Lösenord.

When you are done, click on Förhandsgranska meddelande (proofread message) and your message will appear as it will look when submitted.

If this looks OK, click on Skicka inlägg (submit message). Ångra means Cancel. If you wish to change anything, scroll down to the next window, which contains your text, and edit it. Then click on förhandsgranska again and then on skicka inlägg. Then use your web browser's "Back" button to return to the "Main Topics" page.

Please do not duplicate the same message in other discussions!

To include images

The simplest way of inserting an image is to do as follows:

1. Press the Bifoga följande... button. It's below the area where you type the text of your message.

2. A new window will be popped up. It has instructions in English, so simply follow those.

3. When the new window has closed, you will see a code in your message text similar to this one: \popgif{157240,xxxx} This code represents your image. When you press the button Förhandsvisa/posta meddelande, you will see a preview with your image in its context. If you want to move the image in the text, you move the code around in the text.

Note that the image must be in either gif or jpg format, and the maximum size is 100 kByte.

Suggest an improvement

If you think something at Anbytarforum could be improved, or if you find some part of the site particularly incomprehensible because you don't speak Swedish, then please do not hesitate to tell us so by emailing the Anbytarvärd.

Rules and Netiquette

To make the Anbytarforum a nice place for genealogists to share their findings and experiences and where they can search for ancestors, there are a few rules that should be observed.

You should be just as polite in writing as if you were standing face-to-face with the other visitors to the Forum. Bad language, obscenities, or insults are not accepted and will be deleted as soon as possible.

You don't need to agree with everything somebody else thinks, but you should always show consideration for the other person's views. Also remember that these views are the writer's personal opinion, and are not necessarily shared by the editor or the Federation of Swedish Genealogical Societies.

• If you are not sure about the location of your emigrant, use the Discussions in English section.
  

• Do not post the same message in more than one discussion.
  

• Advertising is not allowed.
  

• Always answer postings in Anbytarforum, not as private e-mails. Your answer might be of interest to many other visitors.
  

• Don't write in caps, not LUNDBERG, but Lundberg. Using all-caps is considered the same as shouting, and you don't need to do that to get attention here.

Thanks to Jill Seaholm and Dave Garner of Rock Island, Illinois, for assistance with the English language.

Updated May 19, 2011