The triangle indicates that there are messages associated with that topic. Click again to close or collapse the list. Once you have expanded the topic list, double click on a message to open it. Compose responses of substance in a text editor or word processor and paste the content into the window. Once a view is selected, the documents are displayed in the main window.
Authors are the creators of each message.
Titles are the way you summarize your contribution for others to use when selecting messages to read or respond to. The title of your message is what is displayed from the main index. The Date view displays the day of the week and the date when a message is posted.