Who knows me, knows that one of my "multiple" hobbies is walking through lots of forums. Is a pretty way for talking about themes that we are interested, be entertained discussing themes, etc...
Usually a person choose a forum about themes he is interested (computer, video games, biology... there are forums for all themes that you can imagine) and in that forums people talk, ask questions...
However, forums are always plagued of kids who don't know how they must behavior. If you are reading this, means that your are not a bad manner, so I will give you some councils for being in a forum in conditions and helping to it:
To someone like me, their eyes are hurt because lots of users o "monsters" that round forums make an innumerable number of spelling mistakes (not because they are fools, because they are extremely lazy), or they haven't bothered to search on google their questions before, or simply, they are bored and they insult to beauty.
Forum users are humans, often, without lot of time. We want to help and answer as many questions as it's possible, but for that, we need the help of those who make questions. Try to make interesting questions, try to win a "good answer", with a "good question". This can be achieved in the following way:
- Put an avatar respecting the forum rules and, if there aren't, the forum tables, and if you want, a sign that respects the regulatory size of forum. This will make the other users read your posts better, they will treat you as a serious and responsible person and not a bad guy. Also, you will gain some aesthetic touch on your posts and in the forum.
- Put formal titles on your posts, readable, consistent, without spelling mistakes and explicits. The space for putting a title is limited, so don't waste it putting titles such us:
- "HELP PLEASE! Network don't work!", save the HELP PLEASE (it's no needed that you express you anxiety and try to impress us with your problems). Leverage to put something explicit, clarifier and formal like "Problems with modem/Router/LAN/Wireless" (depending on your problem). Moreover, intuitively, the expert in that kind of problem will enter immediately and will answer you probably if you have exposed correctly your problem.
- Expose your post body clearly, comprehensively and concrete (not ambiguous) and pretty as far as possible. Let's go to the aesthetic part of post:
- Don't make posts all in uppercase! It makes sense of you are shouting. I.E: "MY MOTHERBOARD HAS BEEN SHORT CIRCUITED AND I DON'T KNOW HOW TO REPAIR IT".
- Write in a consistent form and without mistakes, make yourself understandable. I.E: "Plz, jelp, how I can put likid refrigerexon in mi old compute?" This kind of posts I tend to ignore them at all, I mustn't waste my time translating information.
- Write in paragraphs, not in bricks! You make an easier reading and make a favor to our eyes and also you will make easier to answer by parts.
- Write in a structural form if it's necessary or if you make very long posts. Use tabulations (or spaces if you can't tabulate).
- Remark as much as you can keywords in the text. Use bold font, underlined font or italic font. This will make easier to all your readers the receiving of key ideas, will beautify your posts, and also you can get easier a more positive answer, and those who answer you will be grateful to do it.
Let's go to the content of the post:
- Before making questions, search on google, wikipedia... what you are looking for. This will teach you to use all these resources, it is not hard. If you don't do it, you can get an answer like "STFW" (Search the fucking web).
- Chose the subforum with careful. Put your question in the corresponding forum. A question about network in "Network Forum", for example.
- Be clear, brief and concise. Center your post in your problem.
- Forum users apreciate a middle language. Not extremely vulgar (we don't want to treat you as a fool), and not extremely formal (we want to understand you). Use an standard language. However, we apreciate also our technical computer language.
- Describe the environment where the problem appears (hardware, OS, app, etc...)
- Describe the steps you do (or you did) and try to resolve the problem before asking something.
- Courtesy never hurts, even sometimes helps. A "Greetings" or a "Thanks" at the end of your post can be nice for your readers.
- Never ask for answering you via mail.
In general, it must remain demonstrated that at least you strive in writing your post and you have worked in your question and you can't answer it by yourself. Better exposed is your question, earlier and better answered will be it.
Don't expect ALWAYS an answer to all you ask for. Don't be insistent, if nobody answer you is, because no one knows it, or because people ignores you because you have not respected the above mentioned rules.
Let's go to the answers that must make a forum user:
- If you don't know the solution and you don't have a solution proposal for the theme, don't answer it. Only you will be treat as a fool and demonstrate that you're silly.
- Answers like "LOL, hahaha, xDDD, rofl..." alone, can be saved in your fingers ;)
- Direct insults are not allowed in our philosophy. We are humans, and if logic that we get angry in a concrete moment. For these cases, without arriving to lose the manners, sarcasm an irony are your allies.
- Be clear on your answers, don't be ambiguous.
- When you are answered, if they don't fit in your needs, make more clarifications, trying to guide better the users about your problem, explain the process you are doing, and always report changes or evolution in your problem.
If you follow these rules, probably you will get some friends to laugh, be happy and discuss.
I hope this will help somebody to enter in a forum community.
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