What's the difference between a Topic and a Place?

There is no difference at all. Normally, when setting up 'general' chat areas, Villagers will set up various Topics and give them titles like The High Street or The Green Dragon Pub. In this way, they sound like places within a real Village, and this adds to the sense of community. However, a Place is, simply, just another name for a Topic.

The Village Navigation Guide, The Village Community Guide

What's the difference between a Topic and a Post?

A Post is simply a message that has been 'posted' to the Village, and a Topic is where this 'posting' takes place. A Post may contain Emoticons, Images, Videos, or Hyperlinks. Topics may contain Posts, other Topics, or a mixture of both.

The Village Navigation Guide, The Village Posting Guide

What's the difference between a Post, a Message and an E-Mail?

There isn't any real difference between a Post and a Message - both terms mean the same thing. A Village E-Mail is something different from either of these things. Basically, a Post/message is something that everyone in The Village can read, but an E-Mail is sent to just one user and only they can read it.

The Village Posting Guide, The Village E-Mail Guide

Once I've finished reading a new post, if I use my browser Back button, the Topic is still marked with the "New Post" icon. Why hasn't it changed to the "Old Post" icon now that I've read it?

If you use your browser Back button your computer doesn't actually fetch a new, updated, page from the Village server. To get the icon to change, click the Refresh (or Reload) button after you've clicked the Back button. Also bear in mind that the "New Post" icon on a Topic will remain until you've read all the new posts within the topic.

The Village Posting Guide

I know that a fellow Villager has sent me an E-Mail, but I don't know where to look in the Village to read it. What should I do to read the message?

The Village E-Mail facility is one-way only. It sends messages to the external E-Mail address of the recipient - that is, the E-Mail address they used when they registered with the site. Likewise, if someone sends you an E-Mail, it will be sent to your registered E-Mail address, and you have to read it using your own E-Mail program - you won't find it anywhere in the Village.

The Village E-Mail Guide

What do I have to do to set up a place for myself in the "Bow Bells Housing Scheme".

You don't need special permission or anything to set up a place in Bow Bells - just go to the Bow Bells Housing Scheme page find the New Topic button, and create a topic all of your own. Give it a suitable title so that people can see it belongs to you - "Fred's House" would be fine, for instance. Have a read through the The Village Posting Guide if you need more information about creating a topic in the Village.

The Village Posting Guide, The Village Community Guide