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Forum etiquette and behavior

Started by Jeff Lewis, February 03, 2005, 03:50:14 PM

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perplexed

Apart from the registration agreement, do we have a list of forum rules on here?  I've not been able to find anything and was curious - thanks





perplexed

thanks, I guess I was expecting something more concrete about rules and behaviour on the forum.  Just every site seems to have their own so I wondered where they were hiding :)

Joshua Dickerson

Each board has its own rules. Although, the general #1 rule around here is to act in a professional manner. We, the team, act in such a manner and expect the same from the members. If you want a more concrete list of rules, see the registration screen.
Come work with me at Promenade Group



Need help? See the wiki. Want to help SMF? See the wiki!

Did you know you can help develop SMF? See us on Github.

How have you bettered the world today?

perplexed

thanks, I just expected a list somewhere and it occurred to me (after all this time) that I'd never seen one, apart from the registration agreement, as I said above.


Sirius

about some rules for the moderators as well ?  like deleting the wrong answers and useless posts,

I own a support forum and I always delete the wrong answers to a problem . If you don't do it, when we do a search, we end up with 5 pages of useless stuff and if we post again to ask for the answer we are told to do a search...   more it goes  and more your forum will become useless , full of answers like : clear your browser's cache and cookies..  answers given by peoples who don't have a clue about what they are talking about.

My moderators are there to delete the useless stuff so that when we do a search on my forum , we get an answer, not 5 pages of useless stuff.   I've been using SMF for ages now, been a paying member at one time but got frustrated with the amount of useless threads on this support forum..

don't get mad, there are no other ways to say this.

another thing that I find quite strange, when a newbie ask for an answer to a problem and someone tell him to do some PHP editing  and the newbie can barely install SMF, let alone some PHP scripts , I get a good laugh...how will he do this anyway..  why not post a small file so that he can replace the one in his installation...   and explain what you did so that those who want to learn can do it.

  maybe that I am an administrator of a support forum for too long and I am asking too much , but blaming it all on the members is wrong..  it is the mods and admins who make for a great support forum.

metallica48423

I dont think its being blamed on the members in any sense. 

I can't speak for the SMF team or the Support team, but, I personally aim to share my knowledge of SMF and help people understand how to do various things with the software, not just do everything for someone.  The only way someone will be able to get past the point of just being able to install SMF is by doing it.  That is not to say that in cases that i won't assist in making a code change or similar -- because if you read my previous posts i have done such many many times in the last month and a half. 

I think the idea of support is 'support' in literal definition, point someone in the right direction, maybe point out something they may not have seen, perhaps something that i know that they may not have.  I find that generally if something is above another member's knowledge, providing examples is the best way to culture and teach these things.  If they can't understand it, then yes i will gladly provide something they can use to achieve what they need, and provide information on what i have done to achieve this.    I don't believe 'support' should be 'Do this for me' and i definitely dont think it should be 'i don't know how to do this, so do this for me so i don't have to'.  The only person gaining from doing such is me, and it may solve a situation but in the end it doesn't help the user or his site out at all. 

I think theres a point of balance there that should be maintained.

I think that makes some semblance of sense :P
Justin O'Leary
Ex-Project Manager
Ex-Lead Support Specialist

QuoteMicrosoft wants us to "Imagine life without walls"...
I say, "If there are no walls, who needs Windows?"


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Sirius

i totally agree ,  but do you know how php scripts could be so intimidating for a newbie ? they don't even know where to start with this thing..   now i am ok with this or i simply give it to my php scripter.
the fact is that when someone start by downloading SMF and install it, he never thought one minute that he might have to go play in the core of the php files to fix a problem. Then he has to post :  sorry i don't know zit about this stuff . How many peoples can fix their own OS, not many, let alone fixing a php script.
You guys can eat some  php.ini 3 times a day and enjoy it, but for many, it is just a scary thing to start to play with.  In my support forum , i also do the same thing as you do and explain the way to edit a file, and I always end up posting the whole thing after a while because half of them don't understand what I've said. some of them are 50 years old and don't want to start learning something so complicated.   I am 53 by the way  :)

metallica48423

I am 21 :P

I agree as well.  Many of the core files of SMF still intimidate me!  php.ini?  forget it, lol.

My point was to say that i don't believe members are in the wrong, but sometimes just need a little help, and occasionally, to see something done, or to do it themselves, is the best way for them to learn something.  Of course you do have those who just want things to work right, or a new function, or whatever the context is, but nevertheless you need to support both cases, and that is what i at least attempt to accomplish.

Justin O'Leary
Ex-Project Manager
Ex-Lead Support Specialist

QuoteMicrosoft wants us to "Imagine life without walls"...
I say, "If there are no walls, who needs Windows?"


Useful Links:
Online Manual!
How to Help us Help you
Search
Settings Repair Tool

SaltedWeb

 Rules ? and edicate ?

Hmm I thought it was all common sense stuff.

Don't post to see your words posted ( dont speak to hear your self talk).

Do a search first before asking for support issues.

Hmm and a unwritten rule........... no whinning.

And well be nice.
Youde think that would be easy enough LOL.

But our forums we have to spell out what nice means.

OK I think I broke my own rule number one here I listed.

later


Coz








Knowing your limitations makes you human, exceeding these limitations makes you worthy of being human.

a7med


SMdot™

Quote from: sirius on April 10, 2007, 07:25:13 AM
about some rules for the moderators as well ?  like deleting the wrong answers and useless posts,

I own a support forum and I always delete the wrong answers to a problem . If you don't do it, when we do a search, we end up with 5 pages of useless stuff and if we post again to ask for the answer we are told to do a search...   more it goes  and more your forum will become useless , full of answers like : clear your browser's cache and cookies..  answers given by peoples who don't have a clue about what they are talking about.

My moderators are there to delete the useless stuff so that when we do a search on my forum , we get an answer, not 5 pages of useless stuff.   I've been using SMF for ages now, been a paying member at one time but got frustrated with the amount of useless threads on this support forum..

don't get mad, there are no other ways to say this.

another thing that I find quite strange, when a newbie ask for an answer to a problem and someone tell him to do some PHP editing  and the newbie can barely install SMF, let alone some PHP scripts , I get a good laugh...how will he do this anyway..  why not post a small file so that he can replace the one in his installation...   and explain what you did so that those who want to learn can do it.

  maybe that I am an administrator of a support forum for too long and I am asking too much , but blaming it all on the members is wrong..  it is the mods and admins who make for a great support forum.

I agree with sirius in the sense that deleting old threads, and then telling future users to do searches can cause quite a bit of confusion and lead to many dissapointed SMFer's. But is it a fact that the SMF Administration deletes old useful posts. Personally I think this site is one of THE BEST support sites out on the net. Period. For me I get a bit frustrated when I have to wait for like a week or more just to get a response. But I have to remind myself that this is shareware, it's a privalege, it's not like I have a right, or am supposed to even get any support. So I thank everyone on this site who's there to help us "newbies"... yes even those who don't seem to have a clue what they're talking about. At least there participating in the forums rather then just taking up space =P Hopefully they in turn will learn things as well.

madmat.it

really great changes!!!       :o :o :o

I love SMF!

Tnx for your job!       ;)
hxxp:www.clipscorner.net [nonactive]

seem21cs

I hope i don't post in the wrong section/forum but since i see that smf 2.0 topic is blocked, i think i can write here instead. I really wish that next versions of SMF will implement a modification who will let users to leave OFF topics at a topic by presing a button called OFF TOPIC. From that buton, a little menu will appear with next things:

- I agree
- i dont agree
- Off topic:  ~box for message~

metallica48423

seem21cs, since i cannot split from here, please post this in the 'features request' board.

Also explain the functionality a bit more so they know what you're talking about.  Honestly, i am not sure what you're asking for.
Justin O'Leary
Ex-Project Manager
Ex-Lead Support Specialist

QuoteMicrosoft wants us to "Imagine life without walls"...
I say, "If there are no walls, who needs Windows?"


Useful Links:
Online Manual!
How to Help us Help you
Search
Settings Repair Tool


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