This is a forum guide on how to use a forum. It will be a short and too the point as can be made. It is not intended to be a place to flame those who are ignorant of forums nor in any way to discourage use of this forum. It is the intent of this guide to help making the forum more productive and efficient. If this guide leaves anything out that would also be helpful to newby's feel free to express it but do it in a constructive manner.
The first thing you should know about a forum is that there are many forums. Forums could be about politics, personal relation ships, and family issues, or technical issues with online gaming, computing, and/or improvement features and support issues. Learning the purpose of a forum will go a long way toward knowing whether or not you are in the proper community or not.
Secondly before anything else a user should read all stickies that are posted by the moderators. This would include forum rules and announcements and even guides. This will give you a good idea of what you can say and what is best left unsaid and a sticky could very well answer a question without you even having to make a new post.
Thirdly the user should use search functions. Now many will say but I used the search function but it didn't have the answer I was looking for. Actually just putting in one word isn't a very effective search. You can use phrases and other words that could well be contained in the titles of the threads you are looking for also you can limit to newly posted thread or look for older posts and there are other search parameters you can use in your search. You can also search for specific authors to help to limit the threads you want even more.
After all other options have been exhausted. You have read the stickies and ran the searches and discovered about what you are looking for. Your going to post your first thread. Stop make sure you post your thread in the proper venue and make sure the area of your posting is not only in the proper thread area but also in an approved section by the moderators.
Lastly put some thought into your posts and how you should write them. Make sure you phrase your post properly. Try to use correct spelling and make your communications as clear as possible. For technical questions be as specific as possible about the problem you are addressing. Also make sure to know what you are talking about in the discussion. If web links are part of your communication make sure to put them at the beginning of the discussion or at the end of the discussion. so as not to confuse what your communicating.
Though this guide will not keep you 100 pct flame free it will insure that someone of commonsense will read your post and take it seriously and maybe help you.
summary
1 know what community your posting in
2. read all community forum stickies
3. do thorough searches so you don't post topics in a new thread that are already covered in an existing one.
4. if and only if you have exhausted all recourse then make a new thread and do attempt to communicate in an intelligent manner. so as to convey the message or desired question and get respectable response.
I hope this didn't try your patience to badly and I hope that each of you will read this and try to improve the forum by communicating clearly and being more efficient with the resources contained here in. Now maybe you can enjoy your forum time.
ps do visit my forum poll so we can have tutorials that are closed to questions so we can read them without the guides and tutorials being thrown off topic.
The first thing you should know about a forum is that there are many forums. Forums could be about politics, personal relation ships, and family issues, or technical issues with online gaming, computing, and/or improvement features and support issues. Learning the purpose of a forum will go a long way toward knowing whether or not you are in the proper community or not.
Secondly before anything else a user should read all stickies that are posted by the moderators. This would include forum rules and announcements and even guides. This will give you a good idea of what you can say and what is best left unsaid and a sticky could very well answer a question without you even having to make a new post.
Thirdly the user should use search functions. Now many will say but I used the search function but it didn't have the answer I was looking for. Actually just putting in one word isn't a very effective search. You can use phrases and other words that could well be contained in the titles of the threads you are looking for also you can limit to newly posted thread or look for older posts and there are other search parameters you can use in your search. You can also search for specific authors to help to limit the threads you want even more.
After all other options have been exhausted. You have read the stickies and ran the searches and discovered about what you are looking for. Your going to post your first thread. Stop make sure you post your thread in the proper venue and make sure the area of your posting is not only in the proper thread area but also in an approved section by the moderators.
Lastly put some thought into your posts and how you should write them. Make sure you phrase your post properly. Try to use correct spelling and make your communications as clear as possible. For technical questions be as specific as possible about the problem you are addressing. Also make sure to know what you are talking about in the discussion. If web links are part of your communication make sure to put them at the beginning of the discussion or at the end of the discussion. so as not to confuse what your communicating.
Though this guide will not keep you 100 pct flame free it will insure that someone of commonsense will read your post and take it seriously and maybe help you.
summary
1 know what community your posting in
2. read all community forum stickies
3. do thorough searches so you don't post topics in a new thread that are already covered in an existing one.
4. if and only if you have exhausted all recourse then make a new thread and do attempt to communicate in an intelligent manner. so as to convey the message or desired question and get respectable response.
I hope this didn't try your patience to badly and I hope that each of you will read this and try to improve the forum by communicating clearly and being more efficient with the resources contained here in. Now maybe you can enjoy your forum time.
ps do visit my forum poll so we can have tutorials that are closed to questions so we can read them without the guides and tutorials being thrown off topic.