The Forum Survival Guide
Posted: 27 Mar 2007, 15:55
Ron's Guide to Forum Survival
Since I've noticed that we've recently had a few members join the forums, without having much clue what the forums are all about, I've decided to put together a Forum Survival Guide.
1) Read the rules
Your first step towards surviving on the forums is understanding what the community norms are. This is important for users who've posted on forums before, as every community has it's own widely differing standards, and what is perfectly acceptable on one forum may not be acceptable on another. Even I followed this simple guideline when I joined these forums, even though I've been posting on forums for many years and have been in charge of forums since 2003.
The forum staff do not look kindly on those who transgress, and neither do they accept ignorance as an excuse, so make sure that you've read the rules and that you understand them before you make your first post on the forums. If there's a point that you need some clarification on, then don't hesitate to contact a staff member; they will clear up any issues for you.
2) Read the FAQ
The guys who wrote the phpBB forum software have done the task of anticipating the most common questions asked by newcomers to forums. There's a link called "Forum FAQ" at the top of this page. Click on it. Read it. It will answer any questions you have about the forum, and even teach you a little that you may not have known.
As usual, if you have a question that isn't answered by the FAQ, then contact a staff member.
3) Learn to use the Search function
Before starting a new thread, check that there isn't an existing thread about your topic. There is a lot of activity on these forums, which means that there is a good chance that there is a thread relating to your topic already. This is particularly true with the various support forums. You may find that someone has already posted about your problem, and that the problem has been solved. By finding that thread, you can solve the problem yourself, and it would take you quicker than if you had started a new thread and waited for replies.
Sometimes the search will return no useful results, or far too many results. In that case, go ahead and start a new thread, but mention that you did search the forum. This will demonstrate that you're not a lazy sponge. We don't like lazy sponges.
Of course, if the thread you're looking is correctly titled, you'll find it better. Which brings me to my next point...
4) Give your posts a proper title
The subject header is your golden opportunity to attract our attention in around 50 characters or fewer. So don't waste it on babble like "Please help me" (let alone "PLEASE HELP ME!!!!!!!!111ONE111ELEVEN"; messages with subjects like that get ignored by reflex. Don't try to impress us with the depth of your anguish, rather use the space for a super-concise thread description instead.
Try looking at the viewforum page, which has each thread shown by their subject headers. Make the subject line reflect your post well enough so that the next person searching the forums wanting to start a new post similar to yours will be able to follow your thread rather than posting the problem again.
5) Be professional when you post.
I've found in my many years of forum experience that people who are careless and sloppy writers are also careless and sloppy people in general. Answering such people is very frustrating. People tend to form opinions on you based on how you come across.
So, spend the extra effort to polish your language. You don't have to be stiff or formal - in fact, we value informal, slangy and humorous language used with precision. But it has to be precise; there has to be some indication that you're paying attention.
Try to spell, punctuate, and capitalise correctly. If your native language isn't English, you'll get a limited amount of slack for spelling and grammar errors, but that's no excuse for laziness. Don't confuse "its" with "it's", "loose" with "lose", or "discrete" with "discreet". Don't TYPE ALL IN CAPS; this is read as shouting and is considered rude. (All-smalls is only slightly less annoying, as it's difficult to read. rustypup can get away with it, but you can't.)
To put it more generally, if you write like a semi-literate boob you will be treated like a semi-literate boob. So don't use instant-messaging shortcuts. Spelling "you" as "u" makes you look like a semi-literate boob to save two entire keystrokes. Worse: writing like a l33t script kiddie haxx0r is the ultimate kiss of death and guarantees you will receive nothing but stony silence (or, at best, a load of scorn and sarcasm) in return.
I know that the font size, font colour and smilie options are tempting to use, but don't abuse them. One or two smilies is usually OK, but coloured fancy text tends to make people think you are lame. Seriously overusing smilies and colour and fonts will make you come off like a giggly teenage girl, which is not generally a good idea unless you're more interested in sex than meaningful answers to your posts.
6) Try to keep threads on track
Given that lots of people contribute on any given matter around here, threads tend to have lives of their own. These twists and turns often produce unexpected results.
The first post in a thread forms the theme of the thread. When you post a reply, try to keep in mind what that first post was about.
The occasional aside is OK, but if you have a good point unrelated to the main topic of the thread, it may be better to start a new thread, giving references to the old one.
7) Read though previous discussions
It can be very frustrating to come late into a thirty page discussion of a pet peeve, but do nonetheless take the time to read and consider each post. It's just downright rude not to honour the effort that went in them, not to mention that you run the risk of repeating already discussed items - which can lead to the moderators deleting posts to prevent the thread from going in circles.
8) Don't expect ego strokes
There's a lot of active people on these forums, all from different backgrounds. This means that every opinion, including the one you are opposed to, will most likely find someone defending it. Thus, do not expect to find questionless consent with the opinions you express. If you ask "Why do people hate Thermaltake?", this had better not be a rethorical question, because you will find someone offering you a long list, alphabetically ordered. Don't be insulted by differing opinions.
9) Don't feed the trolls
You will get some people that will attack you personally, flame without an apparent reason, try to start a flamewar... just ignore them. These flamers are either lamers who don't have a clue but believe themselves to be experts, or would-be psychologists testing whether you'll be drawn into a flamewar. The rest of us either ignore them, or find ways to deal with them on their own. Their behaviour creates problems for themselves, which don't have to concern you.
Don't be drawn into a flamewar, either. You will occasionally run across rudeness and posturing that is quite gratuitous. It may be acceptable to slam real offenders quite hard, but be very sure of your ground before you try this. The line between correcting an incivility and starting a pointless flamewar is thin enough that we ourselves frequently blunder across it. If you're new, your chances of avoiding such a blunder are low - so, if you're after information rather than entertainment, it's better to keep your fingers off the keyboard than to risk this.
10) Be respectful
Pretty much everything can be brought down to one word: Respect. Keep that in mind, and you'll be on the safe side. Don't, and word-by-word obediance to the forum rules and these guidelines won't keep you from being a pain.
And above all - have fun on these boards!
Since I've noticed that we've recently had a few members join the forums, without having much clue what the forums are all about, I've decided to put together a Forum Survival Guide.
1) Read the rules
Your first step towards surviving on the forums is understanding what the community norms are. This is important for users who've posted on forums before, as every community has it's own widely differing standards, and what is perfectly acceptable on one forum may not be acceptable on another. Even I followed this simple guideline when I joined these forums, even though I've been posting on forums for many years and have been in charge of forums since 2003.
The forum staff do not look kindly on those who transgress, and neither do they accept ignorance as an excuse, so make sure that you've read the rules and that you understand them before you make your first post on the forums. If there's a point that you need some clarification on, then don't hesitate to contact a staff member; they will clear up any issues for you.
2) Read the FAQ
The guys who wrote the phpBB forum software have done the task of anticipating the most common questions asked by newcomers to forums. There's a link called "Forum FAQ" at the top of this page. Click on it. Read it. It will answer any questions you have about the forum, and even teach you a little that you may not have known.
As usual, if you have a question that isn't answered by the FAQ, then contact a staff member.
3) Learn to use the Search function
Before starting a new thread, check that there isn't an existing thread about your topic. There is a lot of activity on these forums, which means that there is a good chance that there is a thread relating to your topic already. This is particularly true with the various support forums. You may find that someone has already posted about your problem, and that the problem has been solved. By finding that thread, you can solve the problem yourself, and it would take you quicker than if you had started a new thread and waited for replies.
Sometimes the search will return no useful results, or far too many results. In that case, go ahead and start a new thread, but mention that you did search the forum. This will demonstrate that you're not a lazy sponge. We don't like lazy sponges.
Of course, if the thread you're looking is correctly titled, you'll find it better. Which brings me to my next point...
4) Give your posts a proper title
The subject header is your golden opportunity to attract our attention in around 50 characters or fewer. So don't waste it on babble like "Please help me" (let alone "PLEASE HELP ME!!!!!!!!111ONE111ELEVEN"; messages with subjects like that get ignored by reflex. Don't try to impress us with the depth of your anguish, rather use the space for a super-concise thread description instead.
Try looking at the viewforum page, which has each thread shown by their subject headers. Make the subject line reflect your post well enough so that the next person searching the forums wanting to start a new post similar to yours will be able to follow your thread rather than posting the problem again.
5) Be professional when you post.
I've found in my many years of forum experience that people who are careless and sloppy writers are also careless and sloppy people in general. Answering such people is very frustrating. People tend to form opinions on you based on how you come across.
So, spend the extra effort to polish your language. You don't have to be stiff or formal - in fact, we value informal, slangy and humorous language used with precision. But it has to be precise; there has to be some indication that you're paying attention.
Try to spell, punctuate, and capitalise correctly. If your native language isn't English, you'll get a limited amount of slack for spelling and grammar errors, but that's no excuse for laziness. Don't confuse "its" with "it's", "loose" with "lose", or "discrete" with "discreet". Don't TYPE ALL IN CAPS; this is read as shouting and is considered rude. (All-smalls is only slightly less annoying, as it's difficult to read. rustypup can get away with it, but you can't.)
To put it more generally, if you write like a semi-literate boob you will be treated like a semi-literate boob. So don't use instant-messaging shortcuts. Spelling "you" as "u" makes you look like a semi-literate boob to save two entire keystrokes. Worse: writing like a l33t script kiddie haxx0r is the ultimate kiss of death and guarantees you will receive nothing but stony silence (or, at best, a load of scorn and sarcasm) in return.
I know that the font size, font colour and smilie options are tempting to use, but don't abuse them. One or two smilies is usually OK, but coloured fancy text tends to make people think you are lame. Seriously overusing smilies and colour and fonts will make you come off like a giggly teenage girl, which is not generally a good idea unless you're more interested in sex than meaningful answers to your posts.
6) Try to keep threads on track
Given that lots of people contribute on any given matter around here, threads tend to have lives of their own. These twists and turns often produce unexpected results.
The first post in a thread forms the theme of the thread. When you post a reply, try to keep in mind what that first post was about.
The occasional aside is OK, but if you have a good point unrelated to the main topic of the thread, it may be better to start a new thread, giving references to the old one.
7) Read though previous discussions
It can be very frustrating to come late into a thirty page discussion of a pet peeve, but do nonetheless take the time to read and consider each post. It's just downright rude not to honour the effort that went in them, not to mention that you run the risk of repeating already discussed items - which can lead to the moderators deleting posts to prevent the thread from going in circles.
8) Don't expect ego strokes
There's a lot of active people on these forums, all from different backgrounds. This means that every opinion, including the one you are opposed to, will most likely find someone defending it. Thus, do not expect to find questionless consent with the opinions you express. If you ask "Why do people hate Thermaltake?", this had better not be a rethorical question, because you will find someone offering you a long list, alphabetically ordered. Don't be insulted by differing opinions.
9) Don't feed the trolls
You will get some people that will attack you personally, flame without an apparent reason, try to start a flamewar... just ignore them. These flamers are either lamers who don't have a clue but believe themselves to be experts, or would-be psychologists testing whether you'll be drawn into a flamewar. The rest of us either ignore them, or find ways to deal with them on their own. Their behaviour creates problems for themselves, which don't have to concern you.
Don't be drawn into a flamewar, either. You will occasionally run across rudeness and posturing that is quite gratuitous. It may be acceptable to slam real offenders quite hard, but be very sure of your ground before you try this. The line between correcting an incivility and starting a pointless flamewar is thin enough that we ourselves frequently blunder across it. If you're new, your chances of avoiding such a blunder are low - so, if you're after information rather than entertainment, it's better to keep your fingers off the keyboard than to risk this.
10) Be respectful
Pretty much everything can be brought down to one word: Respect. Keep that in mind, and you'll be on the safe side. Don't, and word-by-word obediance to the forum rules and these guidelines won't keep you from being a pain.
And above all - have fun on these boards!
