Reader and Contributor FAQs

• What is MSNews?
• Who is responsible for MSNews?
• What is the Accelerated Cure Project?
• How can I help?
• Where do these stories come from?
• How do I submit a story?
• How do I make a comment?
• Who are the editors?
• Can I be an editor?
• Are comments moderated?
• How do I report a problem or make a suggestion?
• Can I get these stories in email?
• Can I be notified if someone replies to one of my comments?
• How do I change my account information (email, password, etc.)
• Do I have to register? Why would I?
• Why does msnews.acceleratedcure.org become www.acceleratedcure.org:8080?
• Why can't I post comments from AOL?
• What software/hardware are you using?
• How do I get in touch with you?
• What do the topics mean?
• How do I find an old article?
• Credits

What is MSNews? index

MSNews is an free on-line resource for news and research updates and discussion relating to Multiple Sclerosis. It is available as a web site and discussion forum at http://msnews.acceleratedcure.org/ and via email to registered users (registration is also free).

MSNews is like a daily newspaper of "what's up in Multiple Sclerosis" with an interactive letters to the editor attached to each story. The stories are found and submitted by our staff, volunteers, and the readers themselves. They appear on the site after quick review by our editors, checking for link integrity, spelling, topicality, and filtering duplicates.

Readers can comment on each story in a threaded discussion forum if they wish, or submit news stories or reports to share with others. By completing a free registration, daily headlines or full stories can be emailed to you if you wish.

All the stories and comments are archived in a searchable database so that you can find references to stories and comments that were made in the past.

MSNews is a service of the Accelerated Cure Project for Multiple Sclerosis. Accelerated Cure Project is a national nonprofit whose mission is to Cure Multiple Sclerosis.

Who is responsible for MSNews? index

MSNews is a production of the Accelerated Cure Project for Multiple Sclerosis, a nonprofit startup whose charter is to identify the causes of MS and find an expedient cure. The Accelerated Cure Project provides the computing resources that make MSNews possible, as well as editorial direction.

MSNews is moderated by a group of volunteers who post stories with original content or links to articles and stories elsewhere on the Internet. The editors moderate story submissions from readers, filtering out redundant and irrelevant submissions. They also monitor and participate in discussions to help encourage community and prevent fraud, abuse, and harassment that would harm the community and its members.

However, most of the content of MSNews is written by readers. By sharing their experiences, feelings, and unique perspectives, readers themselves make MSNews worth reading. You can read about the people responsible for the creation and maintenance of MSNews in the credits.

What is the Accelerated Cure Project? index

MSNews is a free service of the Accelerated Cure Project for Multiple Sclerosis. Accelerated Cure Project is a national nonprofit whose mission is to cure Multiple Sclerosis. We believe the fastest route to a cure is through determining the cause of MS, and that the cause will come from developing a concrete plan of action to determine the causes of the disease. This plan is called the Cure Map.

We are developing this plan in conjunction with our Scientific Advisory Board, our staff, and other scientists. We feel that an important component to the plan is to make sure that the people directly affected by MS are kept updated and educated on what is happening with MS. Thus we run the MSNews site to help provide a means to keep people in touch with what is happening.

How can I help? index

There are a number of ways you can help:

• Read MSNews regularly and stay in touch with what is happening. Your education with respect to what is happening with MS will help ensure that people do the right things.
• Participate in the discussions of the stories. Sharing your opinions and knowledge will help others learn.
• Submit stories you find on the web and elsewhere. If you read something interesting about MS, pass it on and share it with others.
• Sign-up for the Accelerated Cure Project mailing lists so you can stay updated on what we are doing.
• Contribute money, goods, or time. Accelerated Cure Project is a nonprofit supported entirely by contributions from individuals and corporations.
• If you can commit to a half-hour per week, we can sign you up as an official story submitter or editor. Contact us for more information at msnews@acceleratedcure.org.

Where do these stories come from? index

All of the stories are found somewhere else on the web or written by our staff, volunteers, or the readers themselves. Anyone can submit a story for review. If it is topical and hasn't run before, it should pass our editorial filters. We are always looking for people who are willing to commit to a half-hour per week of time where they promise that they will search for a few stories to post on a regular basis.

How do I submit a story? index

On the main page is a link to "Submit a Story" in the "Welcome to MSNews" box at the upper right. A story is comprised of 2 important parts - a complete, working link (or reference) to the relevant information and a brief "take" on that information from your viewpoint.

NOTE: sometimes the spammers get too active and we turn off anonymous submission and commenting. You may need to be registered to submit a story or post a comment.

• Fill in a concise, descriptive subject
• Select the topic that most closely matches
• Enter the text for the story, usually this includes a complete link (with the http:// in front) somewhere in the story and your take on the news story.
• Press the Preview button and verify that your submission is complete and correct. There will be a Submit button at the bottom of the preview page that you must press to submit the story.

Your story will be reviewed by an editor before being posted to the main page so don't worry too much about what you wrote, but please don't post copyrighted materials - use a link to where you found them instead. If you know what anchor tags are and are comfortable using HTML, please feel free to do so to make it look pretty, but text alone is fine.

The story submission form allows you to edit your story in a rudimentary HTML editing form. If your story will take a long time to write, we suggest you use a text editor on your computer (Notepad or Word will do) and then paste the results into the HTML editor. The HTML editor doesn't save your story until you hit the "Submit" button, and it is all too easy to lose your carefully worded comment in progress by accidentally closing the browser window.

How do I make a comment on a story? index

Each story on MSNews has a discussion attached to it. You can view the comments written by other readers, which represent their unique perspectives on the subject at hand. Some people will describe their experience, while others will ask questions, and still others will answer. Some readers will express hope, frustration, and other personal emotions. Others will make jokes about the subject. It's all part of the on-line community.

To read or post comments on a story you see on the Home page, click the title of the story to see the story's full page. You can also click the "N comment(s)" link below the story or the "add new comment" link if there are no comments yet.

Comments can be about the story itself or in reply to another comment. Comments are arranged in Threads, grouped together in sequence based on replies to other comments. Each story may have multiple threads attached. You can see which comments are replies to other comments because a reply to a comment will be left-indented relative to the comment it is a reply to.

To comment on a story directly, fill out the "Post a comment" form at the bottom of the story's page. To reply to someone else's comment, click on the "reply" link directly under the comment.

NOTE: sometimes the spammers get too active and we turn off anonymous submission and commenting. You may need to be registered to submit a story or post a comment.

Either way, the comment submission form allows you to edit your comment in a rudimentary HTML editing form. If your comment will take a long time to write, we suggest you use a text editor on your computer (Notepad or Word will do) and then paste the results into the HTML editor. The HTML editor doesn't save your comment until you hit the "Submit" button, and it is all too easy to lose your carefully worded comment in progress by accidentally closing the browser window.

Your comment may be plain text, or contain HTML tags that link to other web pages and control the appearance of your comment.

After you have written your comment, click the "Preview" button to see how your comment will appear to other MSNews readers. You may edit the comment to correct spelling errors, clarify your thoughts, or fix the formatting before clicking the "Submit" button. Once you click submit, your comments will be public, so please double check and make sure your words match your thoughts before submitting.

Notes on Comment Submission: index

• Please try to keep posts on topic.
• Reply to other people's comments instead of starting new threads if your comments are about what they said.
• Read other people's messages before posting your own to avoid simply duplicating what has already been said.
• Use a clear subject that describes what your message is about.
• Off-topic, inflammatory, inappropriate, illegal, or offensive comments might be moderated and/or deleted by the editors.

Who are the editors? index

The editors for MSNews are Accelerated Cure Project staff members and volunteers. They are people just like you who have an interest in seeing that the latest updates on MS news and research are available to others. Their job is to review the submissions for relevance to MS, filter duplicate submissions, clean up spelling, and check the links.

Can I be an editor? index

You can! We are always looking for people who have the time to commit on a regular basis. This means being able to regularly (every day or every other day) check in, read the submissions, clean them up, and post them. The training necessary to do this is minimal and can be done over the phone if necessary. The key requirement is consistency of availability.

If you are interested, please contact us at msnews@acceleratedcure.org.

Are comments moderated? index

Currently the comments are not moderated. The software we use does have a sophisticated moderation system and we may choose to make that available as the traffic level increases.

How do I report a problem or make a suggestion? index

If you have problems using the site, find an error, have a suggestion for making it better, we'd love to hear from you. You can reach us at msnews@acceleratedcure.org or use any of the methods listed at the Accelerated Cure Project web site. We can't promise we'll take every suggestion, but we do promise to read it.

Can I get these stories in email? index

Yes, it is possible to have the new stories emailed to you each day. You can also have just the headlines mailed to you. You can even choose to 'subscribe' to a story so you receive email when anyone comments on it. To set up these options you must be registered so that we have your email address. Registration is free.

To receive all stories or comments by email, log in and click "Get headlines/stories by email" in the Welcome to MSNews box on the right.

• To turn on email notification, set Notify status to Enabled. Setting this to Disabled turns off all notification email while letting you keep your other settings lower down on the page.
• To be notified of news Articles and Polls, set Notify new content to Enabled. Then, in the Content area, choose if you want just titles, titles and teasers, or titles and full bodies sent to you.
• To be notified of new Comments, set Notify new comments to Enabled.

Finally, click the "Save Settings" button.

You can also receive notification of new comments on specific stories.

Can I be notified if someone replies to one of my comments? index

Yes. You can choose to 'subscribe' to any individual story so you receive email when anyone comments on it. You can also choose to subscribe automatically to any story you comment on so you are always notified about replies to your comments. To set up these options you must be registered so that we have your email address. Registration is free.

Once you are logged in, every Article will have a subscribe post link. Clicking on that will cause you to receive email whenever anyone comments on it.

To automatically subscribe to every Article on which you comment, click Update email/user info in the Welcome to MSNews box on the right. Scroll down to the Subscription settings area and check the Autosubscribe box, then press Submit.

How do I change my account information (email, password, etc.) index

To change your options you must be registered so that we have your email address. Registration is free. Then, on the main page, click the "Change Password" link or the "Update email/user info" link in the upper right box. Make the changes you wish, and click the "Submit" button.

Do I have to register? Why would I? index

Registration is not only free, it is completely optional. You are welcome to read MSNews, submit stories, and make comments, all anonymously. The benefits of registering are:

NOTE: sometimes the spammers get too active and we turn off anonymous submission and commenting. You may need to be registered to submit a story or post a comment.

• Be able to receive headlines and stories via email
• Have MSNews "recognize" you when you come in to personalize the look and feel
• Be part of a community where others can recognize your stories and comments and get to know your opinions as belonging to you.

To register, you click on the "Create a new account" link in the "Login" box on the right side of the main page. If you don't see a "Login" box, you are already logged in as some user. You can logout using the "Logout" link in the top box on the right. Additionally, you will be prompted to register if you attempt any operation (such as changing your preferences) that is restricted to registered users.

Why does msnews.acceleratedcure.org become www.acceleratedcure.org:8080? index

This is a technical artifact of how we currently host the site. MSNews runs on a separate machine behind a firewall. Since we have only one external IP address on our network, we redirect msnews.acceleratedcure.org to an internal machine on a different port. This will change when we need to move to a different hosting solution due to traffic limitations. Aren't you glad you asked?

Why can't I post comments from AOL? index

AOL seems to do something that the software package we use for MSNews does not like. While we wait for a fix, here's how you can work around the problem: Launch your browser (e.g. Internet Explorer) outside of AOL while you are logged in to AOL. It should work just fine. You can do this by minimizing the AOL window and looking on your Desktop or in the Start menu to launch your browser.

What software/hardware are you using? index

MSNews currently runs on a Dell 433MHz PIII with 128MB of memory running RedHat Linux, Apache Web server, MySQL database, and the Drupal content management system.

How do I get in touch with you? index

You can send email to msnews@acceleratedcure.org or use any of the methods listed at the Accelerated Cure Project web site.

What do the topics mean? index

The topics provided are a loose guideline for categorizing the news. Many stories can fit in multiple categories, choose one you feel best gives the flavor of the story. The categories will be updated and expanded from time to time, but here is the general intent of the topics that are currently available.

• Pharma - news concerning Pharmaceutical companies treating MS
• Alternative Medicine - non-traditional approaches to treatment of MS
• BioTechnology - Biotech companies with MS related technology
• Ask MSNews - pose a question to the MS community to start a discussion
• Books - review or announcement of books relating to MS
• Events - MS related events
• Interviews - interviews with MS related individuals
• Misc - if it doesn't fit elsewhere
• People - news about people with MS
• Politics - political issues surrounding MS and people affected by MS
• Research - MS research updates
• Support - MS support issues

How do I find an old article? index

There is a search box on the main page of MSNews. You can use this to find articles based on words that appear in them. If you enter nothing in the search box and press Search you will be given the Advanced search options.

Credits index

Many thanks to the following people and groups:

• Jaspan Consulting: for setting up our site to use the Drupal content-management system. You can learn more about them at www.jaspan.com.
• Gold Wire Technology: for lending us hardware to run our website on. You can learn more about them at www.goldwiretech.com.
• Chad Tempest: for the graphic design, his time came courtesy of Clockwork Design Group, Inc.
• The Folks at Slash: for making an amazing news portal system freely available. Learn more about it at slashcode.com.
• Brian Del Vecchio: for setting up our previous site using Slash.