Etiquettes For Posting In Software World

[I.am]

For quite some time I was meaning to bring this up for the use of Software World and some etiquettes of posting here.

If you are going to start posting here it would be beneficial to you if you read this. For all you know, your question or similar has already been posted and got the replies. Please make use of the Search (http://www.klboard.ath.cx/index.php?act=Search&f=30) option of the Board. It works quite well now and hopefully you will get your answers. If not feel free to post a new one. However, there is no point posting answers to the questions already answered. So normally one would just refer you to another post for it. Its better if you do a search of your own.
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For people who frequently answer questions (Part 1):
Please don't repeat what has already been answered and you agree to it. This act seems more to increase your post count. No one appreciates spamming and useless answers. Serious people here are concerned more about quality answers than quantity.If you have something else to say or want to add which will make the understanding clearer you are more than welcome to post it.
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For people who frequently answer questions (Part 2):
If you disagree to someone's solution or their understanding it is usually healthy to convey your point in the right manner and usually everyone benefits from that. However, if you are going to post kiddish remarks like "STFU, You dont know anything" or post pictures from different sites to convey the same, then its not funny for anyone. The act seems more kiddish and you will just be ignored by the regulars of Software World. If you do want to argue please post references to convey.
Moreover, I will highly encourage that before disagreeing with someone please Search it on google (http://www.google.com) to make sure what the other person is talking about is true or not. Thus, you should verify your own answer before you argue with someone.
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Software World doesn't only has questions related to "softwares." So please dont bash members for posting here. Anything that is not related to Hardware and is related to computer can be posted here. Thus, posts pertaining to help with "Graphics," "Web Designing" or "Virus removal" etc. can be posted here.
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You will get serious answers if you post in Software World. The new trend is to post everything in Lounge. Yes you will get many answers there but they may not be the best one's. You would be better posting them in the right section otherwise it will get moved anyways.
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When writing your title and description please make full use of it. Write the title
relating to question and in description a little bit about the problem. Please don't write "Help needed" and then nothing in description or title to convey what its about. The possibility is that some people here who are regulars quickly visit topics they know of and which hasn't got many replies to answer it. If topics are vague not many people (who may know the answers) might reply.

Also, please write in a fashion such that your question and your responses is clear enough for someone to understand. You won't be able to get answers if no one understands what you are saying. They will end up ignoring the topic or they might ask you again what you mean. Better to write clearly.
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Please don't post new duplicate topics if you didn't get answers in the last one. Nothing magical will happen this time.
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People who are posting answers, if you see a question that has already been answered, I would suggest you to refer the person to the post instead of answering the same question again that might bring up the same doubts again. This will also encourage people searching for their problem rather than posting the same question.
This post is in no way to overwhelm new posters, just to convey few points.

If you are a regular of Software World and want to add few things, please feel free to add.

Hope this will make things clear, organized, less repetetive and more friendly here. :)

Best Wishes,
I.am

ps: Thanks to people who helped in adding and modifying the said suggestions.

[MetroStars]

all of the above is me

[I.am]

Originally posted by MetroStars@10 November 2003 - 17:20
all of the above is me
lol, few things i have done in past too :D that was before I made sure what made more sense.

[fkdup74]

maybe add:
not to double post (start new thread) just cause question/issue wasnt resolved

you're tryin to get this pinned huh? :P (j/k)

[I.am]

Originally posted by FKDUP74@10 November 2003 - 17:27
maybe add:
not to double post (start new thread) just cause question/issue wasnt resolved

Absolutely. I see this new trend as well. I have added. Thanks. :)

[Virtualbody1234]

How about that when posting a question the person who posts it checks back for answers. What I mean is that I see people post a question and people answer and then we don't get any response.

I don't even understand sometimes I get involved with helping someone and the conversation goes back and forth for quite a while and then "poof" they're gone. Not even anything like "I'll be back later". What's that all about?

Also once a problem has been solved that person should post that it's solved.

[mts04988]

if this gets pinned i'm chuckling.

[LTJBukem]

Originally posted by Virtualbody1234@10 November 2003 - 22:57
How about that when posting a question the person who posts it checks back for answers. What I mean is that I see people post a question and people answer and then we don't get any response.

I don't even understand sometimes I get involved with helping someone and the conversation goes back and forth for quite a while and the "poof" their gone. Not even anything like "I'll be back later". What's that all about?

Also once a problem has been solved that person should post that it's solved.
Couldn't agree more.;)

:)

EDIT. Oops. :o Did i just break the rules? :P

:)

[DarthInsinuate]

This is great, a must-pin topic - but change the font to purple so people will want to read it (it is pretty long)

Everything applies to Hardwareworld aswell

[Virtualbody1234]

What about using complete words and sentences. The new lingo just doesn't work well here. The technical language of computers is complex enough.

[I.am]

@Virtualbody1234, Yup the language has to be clear enough for someone to understand only then one can help.

@DarthInsinuate, I will try making it more readable.

@LTJBukem, http://www.mcbriens.net/liam/img/smilies/harhar.gif

[uNz[i]]

What's the policy on topic bumping? :huh:

I've had a couple of questions that I've posted in here in a couple of the worlds and got zero replies.

So...

- how often should one bump?

For example, do I bump a topic after it's slipped to page 2 of the world without a reply? ...or should an unanswered question get bumped only after a certain time... like 8 or 12 hours after originally posting so folks in distant timezones could possibly answer?

and...

- how many times is it okay to bump before folks start getting "upset"? :)

[I.am]

I don't know about others but if a post has more than two bumps it gets to annoy me.

I would suggest bumping a topic after 2-3 days if it hasnt got any replies. Many people here (including me) sometime miss a day or two coming to the forum, however we still are regulars :D. But I make it a point to see last 2-3 days questions to see if any of them has been left unanswered and i post only if i know the answer or could get someone in the right direction.

So at least give people full 2-3 days before you bump it.

In short, Just a suggestion about bumping:

* The 1st bump (if the question is unanswered) - After 2-3 days
* The 2nd/last bump - After a week from the last bump.

If others have any thoughts about this please feel free to share.

[Virtualbody1234]

I think one bump is sufficient. If it goes unanswered after the bump then perhaps the question is poorly asked or nobody knows the answer. I suspect also that some questions don't get answered because of who posted it.

[fkdup74]

when applicable, let us kow what OS you're runnin
i think most do, but some dont, then theres always a "what OS" post
(it also lets the reply poster consider compatability issues, etc.)

@I.am - you didnt have to credit me for the first suggestion, this is your idea, i'm just tryin to contribute :)

[I.am]

@FKDUP74 - I just wanted to appreciate the contribution of each one helping around here. :)

Then I realized eventually I will have to add for each modification, so thought of writing thanks to each one who contributes in general. :)

Every contribution is much appreciated.
-
I.am

Edit: Good point about the OS. It could definetly change the solutions. One should always mention the specs as much they can. There is no harm done writing more. Its always about writing less that creates confusion.

[Schuler]

Originally posted by I.am@10 November 2003 - 23:09
For people who frequently answer questions (Part 1):
Please don't repeat what has already been answered and you agree to it. This act seems more to increase your post count. No one appreciates spamming and useless answers. Serious people here are concerned more about quality answers than quantity.If you have something else to say or want to add which will make the understanding clearer you are more than welcome to post it.
I think it's good to have someone back up a post someone else said. It helps the person who made the post know that THIS (whatever "this" may be) is the right solution. Sometimes it may be a little half-assed if it was agreed upon already 3-4 times, but giving a second opinion isn't always bad.

[fkdup74]

a second opinion isnt bad, i think this is suggested to stop the 4th, 5th, etc, opinions (and these are suggestions, not rules, just some ideas from members to make life a little easier and the board less cuttered) :)

[I.am]

What I meant was, if someone does want to support an answer, just by giving "yes you do that" isnt really helpful. If you dont trust the answer of the first person what are the chances you would trust the second one unless they both give some convincing reasoning.
However there are cases, when we all know few members and their knowledge. In that case their answers dont need any support, even then some new members add a "yes" to it.
Moreover, people should search on google first before they disagree to an opinion.
As such these are only suggestions, we are not making any rules here. Most of us follow this anyway (sort of unsaid guidelines), it was all about bringing this to notice of the one's who were not aware of.

[uNz[i]]

I.am, I wish you all the luck in the world with this, I really do. But the trick is to get folks to read the rules, FAQS and pinned topics.

Do that and the clutter on the forum will probably be halved, but it seems a lot of members see a big slab of text and just can't be bothered, no matter how well written it is.

I saw a classic example yesterday.

Someone asked for a link to download eS5. He was told it was garbage, was given links to Random Nut's rundown of the malware issues and also to warnings about eS5 here on this very forum.

It made no difference. He didn't want to read, he didn't want to hear any warnings, he just wanted a link. :rolleyes:

Some folks don't want to read and research, they just want answers spoon fed to them, one on one.

[I.am]

There is no need for this to get pinned because the people we are targetting don't read the pinned topic anyways.
I would suggest people who agree to the etiquettes to post a link in the topics where its happening to let them know about this. And support each other where its happening. If someone is referring them to post it correctly and the other goes about just answering, it doesnt help. We all have to work as a team. :)

@uNz[i]. you are right about people not reading the FAQ, Pinned topics or even using search option. But all we can do is just try. If answers are in FAQ we should suggest people to refer to FAQ rather than posting the answers. This way it will increase more and more people actually reading the FAQ and not just coming in for quick answers and more useless threads.

Let me know what you guys think about this.

-
I.am

[DarkReality]

I.am - I agree with you, firstly, that this shouldn't be pinned. One of my few complaints about the K-Lite board is there are so many pinned topics. For example a guide to using Alcohol 120%. Forgive me, but I don't even know what that is. That plus the default display makes it so that over half the topics are pinned. IMHO that's pin abuse. ;)

Also, thanks for the link to this post. I was reading your reply to a post I made (the one about Internet Explorer, I believe) and saw the link and said "what the hell."

I knew most of it but it was kind of a refreshment.

Over on the Disturbed board "bump" is used WAY too much. I'm glad people here seem to think it's not such a good thing. If they don't "bump" they "(((((hug)))))" which IMO is basically the same thing. :rolleyes:

You may find that part of the problem with FAQs is people don&#39;t want to read them. Especially if they&#39;re long. Especially if there are a few of them. However, they&#39;re willing to post a question, and wait twice the time it would take to read all the FAQs, for a person to answer their question. Why this is, the world will probably never know. <_<

[I.am]

@DarkReality, Yup the link you gave for IE SP1 update was really helpful. :)

You are right about the pinned topics and FAQ. I wish the same thing.
The default display does make it worse and many are not aware of that they can change their display settings so it proves to be useless for them. They just skip to the second page.

oh btw, Alochol is a wonderful CD/DVD burning software. I didnt know that either when the topic was pinned. I guess you learn something new every day, and thats what makes it living worthwhile ;)

Have a good day :)

[Nightwolf]

Very nice post, I.am. One additional point - when using the Search function, make sure to change it to &#39;Any date&#39; instead of the default &#39;30 days ago&#39;.

I also wholeheartedly agree about the importance of detailed Topics and Descriptions. I usually just scan the forums for subjects that interest me, and I almost always skip the ones that say "PLEASE HELP&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;".

[DarkReality]

Very much agreed NW. I&#39;ve done that every time since someone told me about it. Very good tip. I wonder if the admins can change the default. I&#39;ll have to get back to you, as I am admin of an IPB as well. If I see it in my control panel, I&#39;ll PM Paul (he&#39;s your admin right?) and suggest it to him.

[I.am]

Thanks guys&#33; Apparantly it worked.

Haven&#39;t seen any annoying one&#39;s in software world in a while now.

I guess its time to pull down the link from my sig ;)

One can always refer it to this if the need arises.

Have a good day&#33;
I.am