Here are some very basic terms that will be helpful to keep in mind as you use Infinite Conversations:
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Topic: The collection of messages grouped together in a meaningful conversation, with a title, listed in a category, beginning with an Original Post, and including all replies in chronological order. Elsewhere this might be called a ‘thread’ but Discourse uses ‘topic’ since thread is used for linked elements that can go off in many different directions (and be confused with programming terms).
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Post: Each element of (or reply to) a topic is referred to as a post. Each post has its own author and can be moved to a different topic if necessary, or even become the start of a new topic.
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Original Post (or OP): The first post in any topic. This is key since it determines the focus of the topic and is what the title and tags will link to.
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Categories: The primary means of organizing topics. Each topic is placed in exactly one category (or sub-category). Categories have permissions which can restrict which users can create, reply, and see its topics. You can also configure notification preferences per category or even mute them.
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Tag: A marker placed on a topic to describe it. While a topic can only exist in one channel, it can have multiple tags. New tags can be created by some users.
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User: You will always be required to register in order to create posts and record any actions such as bookmarking, liking, tagging, and flagging. Most site activity, therefore, is based around registered Users.