June 4, 2007 Update- Miniapples is testing a new forum located at http://miniapples.7.forumer.com/index.php. Read about it here!

If you are a Miniapples member not using the Miniapples Bulletin Board, you are missing out on a tremendous asset for Mac troubleshooting and socializing with other Miniapples Members. After the Special Interest Group (SIG) meetings, the BBS is the second most important benefit of Miniapples membership. The BBS's strength is the collaborative nature of the beast, vs individual emails among a group. It serves as a reliable, no advertising, bannerless, no risk of bots (getting your email address for spammers) means of communicating with other members.

If you have any kind of a Mac related question, but don't want to wait for a monthly meeting, or you don't have the time to go to a meeting, this is the fastest, easiest way to ask a question and get an answer. Its collaborative nature means it gains strength and value as more members participate.

First Class or The New Miniapples Forums (hosted by forumer.com)?
Miniapples is in a transistion phase currently using two Bulletin Boards, the First Class BBS and the new Miniapples Forums. If you're not familiar, the First Class BBS is a mostly private BBS. It can be accessed online, but the best capabilites are offered only after you have downloaded and installed the First Class BBS Client onto your computer. The Miniapples Forums are based on the phpBB software and hosted by Forumer.com. The new Miniapples Forums require no download and installation of software.

Get Registered on The New Miniapples Forum- Reccommended!
So a decision is required. I reccommend the New Miniapples Forums. Simply click on this link. Once on the page labeled Miniapples Forums click on the Registration link at the top of the page. Fill in the required information, our staff will look at it and verify your membership and send you back a confirmation email. We have a post online that better describes the process. Please read the Getting Started on the Miniapples Forum post for more information.

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Get Registered on the First Class BBS
The BBS can be accessed with just a web browser, via the internet. The Bulletin Board is powered by First Class software. Many of our members prefer installing the First Class application on their computers. The First Class application provides more capabilities than with just browser access.

Guests (nonmembers or members who have not signed up) can sign on as Guests to see message lists and how subjects are organized- just enough to get a feel for what is being discussed. But no individual messages can be read until your a member and signed up. If you can hardly wait to sign on, please go to the First Class Sign Up Article Part 1.

Members- If you have a user ID and password, click the BBS icon (left) for Miniapples First Class web access. This option connects you to the Bulletin Board with your web browser. Miniapples Members needing sign up instructions or if you would prefer to access the First Class Bulletin Board with the First Class client software, please read the First Class Sign Up Article.