Usually, when I enter the forum, I check for new messages by clicking the "New Posts" link in the upper part of the forum page. However, this will display only those posts that you have not already opened. Frequently, I will read through several posts before I decide to reply to one of them, and sometimes I will want to reply to one that I had already opened. Because I have already opened it, it no longer shows up under the "New Posts" link. In order to find recent posts, displayed in order of the newest post to the oldest one, after clicking the "New Posts" link, you will see choices (to the right of the page) for "Mark Forums Read" and "Recent Posts." On this forum, I try to read every post but on forums that are not my own, I often read only some of them, and may have no interest in several others. After I was done with a forum session, I might lick "Mark Forums Read" to tell the forum to act as if I had read every post, so that it will display only those that were made afterwards the next time I come back. The other choice -- "Recent Posts" -- will display posts chronologically, from the most recently posted one to the older ones, whether or not you have read them. You will still be able to tell if you have read them or not because the ones you haven't read will be in a blue bold font, while the ones you have read will be in a black font. Of course, if you've made changes to the coloration of the forum, the actual colors may differ but the ones you've read will be in a different color from those you haven't.