[Alisdair]

The Forum is simply a huge discussion group, for asking questions, passing on information - all about mediterranean-climate plants and gardening. So if you garden in one of the Mediterranean countries, or in those parts of California, Australia, South Africa or Chile that have similarly warm dry summers and cool wetter winters, or if you are interested in the plants from those areas, this Forum is for you!
For how to view photos in people's messages, click here.
To join the discussions, you have to join the Forum. This is easy: on the HOME page, just click on register, near the top left, where it says "Welcome, Guest, please log in or register". There will be a short delay before your registration goes through.
For how to add your own photos, click here.
It is a live forum - other people using it may see and answer your message as soon as you post it. (At the bottom of the home page you can see how many people are looking at the Forum at the same time as you.) But your message, and any replies, will stay there for people to see at any time in the future, too.
If you are a beginner, your questions may start really interesting discussions - so do ask! And remember, however much of a beginner you think you are, your own comments and observations may hold just those insights the rest of us have been waiting for. So never be shy of chipping in!
The Forum is managed by Jon Watts of Hereford We Design for the Mediterranean Garden Society. The Mediterranean Garden Society (MGS) owns and funds the Forum, but it is open to everyone, whether or not they are members of the MGS.
Jon Watts is the Administrator, making any technical adjustments that are needed. I am the Moderator, helped by Fleur Pavlidis in Greece and Oron Peri, a trained botanist and landscape designer in Israel. We are there to make sure that the Forum works smoothly for everyone.

[Alisdair]

The simplest way is to click on "View unread posts since last visit", in the panel near the top left of the home page.
When you leave the forum you may lose the list of those unread posts. So it's worth knowing that down at the bottom of the home page in the Info Centre you can always click on "Show recent posts to the forum". This shows you all the recent posts, starting with the most recent and working back for a couple of weeks.
To see the whole thread of a post you are interested in, click on the message heading in bold type at the end of the message designation - that's the string of words above the line in ble that says who started the topic and who posted the last message.