I saw a thread which was grossing about the fact that DM's were being Mazed at a prodigious rate.
While I have DMed (or more specifically GMed 
), but only the tabletop variety, how exactly does Forum play work?
What was the longest forum game you have been in?
How do you send private message, a map, a picture? (Is it painfully obvious yet that I am also somewhat new to forums as well?)
I am assuming that e-mail is also widely used.
Lastly, does the "group" go online at a specific time, or is it another version of PBEM?
Wretch the Foul
The method that people mostly use on the Planewalker forums is PBP (play-by-post), in which all character actions, PC and NPC, indeed all player-DM interaction, occurs through forum posts. If you look through one of the forum games, you'll see it goes rather like a tabletop game in the actual mechanics. It's a lot slower in its pace, since what would normally go at the speed of conversation takes hours to resolve between posts or more, depending on how often the participants check the thread. Of course, the benefit of the slower pace is that you can take things as they come and don't have to plan things out so meticulously. I also find that electronic gaming helps shy players get into character; while they might be more likely to hide behind more vocal players in person, online they can always post in character.
Even more fun is something my DM did in a PBP Eberron game: he let the group split up whenever we wanted and would run independent threads for each character in such a case. You can run separated characters in real-time.
The good thing is, you don't have to worry about accomodating anyone's schedule, or even knowing any players who live near you. Just put up a post here or on some other gaming forum advertising your desire to DM a campaign, tell prospective players basically what you are thinking of (what you want for PCs, any background information on the campaign, special house rules, stat generation method).
It's been my experience that, if the DM presents himself as organized, creative, and willing to spend a reasonable amount of his time in keeping the game going, he can attract players to that campaign who will be similarly dedicated. And dedication (having the little bit necessary rather than none at all) is important to make sure that the players in the campaign don't simply stop posting. And that's just tragic. If, however, the DM is vague, doesn't take the time to properly read what he is posting, or doesn't show that his campaign will be distinct and fun, he won't recieve much interest and the campaign might not even make it through the organizing stage. But if you get a good one, with an interested group, dynamic characters, and a DM who can keep things lively
One step up from the PBP is a play-by-AIM campaign. The DM and players meet on an instant messenger program and you play for a few hours like you would in a face-to-face campaign. I've been in one like this that has been going strong for some time now and I rather like it.