CDRLabs Needs Guidelines for Posting

[BuddhaTB]

I seriously think there needs to be guidelines posted for people posting their questions or problems in the forums. I see too many threads that have one word headings like HELP that don't state what the topic is about. I also noticed today that someone used all caps and in bold letters to state their problem. There is no need for that kind of behavior. People will help you out and answer your questions in a timely manner if we do know the answer. Making your threads bold or in all caps will not get the problem or question answered faster. I also hate how people just ask questions that have been asked before or can be found on the net. Please search the net for 5-10 mins before asking for something, like the web address of the manufacturer of your cd-rw drive. I know the search feature here at CDRLabs doesn't work too well, but if you search for 1 or 2 words at a time, you'll eventually find the topic your looking for. I also notice people cross posting in several forums trying to attract attention to their threads, and this doesn't work and only annoys readers trying to answer your questions. Also multiple postings of the same question in the same forum is unacceptable too, just be patient and your question will be answered soon.

If you feel anything else should be added, feel free to.

[Ian]

I feel your pain. Spend some time in #cdr on efnet, its worse.

How about putting together a guide and making it a sticky in the CD-RW section of the forum? I can't guarantee that these "newb's" are going to read it, but we can hope.

[BuddhaTB]

How about putting together a guide and making it a sticky in the CD-RW section of the forum? I can't guarantee that these "newb's" are going to read it, but we can hope.

Sounds good Ian. We'll see if anyone else has anything to add and I'll make a more organized and detailed list and send it to you for editing and posting.

[Ian]

Sounds good.

[coolestnitish]

I think BuddhaTB summed it up pretty well. He got all the things people shouldn't be doing.
For a long time he has been replying to these people trying to make them understand but they just don't get it and even worse they reply rudely.
I'll admit i've asked questions which were commonly discussed too, so if anyone here got ticked off because of me, sorry
Well if we get the search feature working(it works for me but some people say it doesn't) then we can add to the list, to search using key words here at CDRlabs.
I also think we should have a rule saying if you are going to become a member just to ask your 1 question (which drive should i buy) and never come back to the site till the drive stops working, you might as well not become a member. I don't know what the admins think about this (the registered # of users does go up and shows that the site is popular) but I think it's simply rude to never come back. Atleast that's what I think.

[Spazmogen]

I think this would be a useful feature.

It's working over @ www.wimsbios.com 's forums located http://www.wimsbios.com/phpBB2/index.php. It governed how I posted my question.


Notice the top 2 sticky topics:

1) The Rules

2) Collected Wisdom.

I hate to suggest that CD-R Labs follow another sites example, but Wim's forums are pretty well laid out. He's not getting anywhere near the traffic this (Ian's) forums are, so he's got the time to do it.

But if we all pitch in, it can be done.

I'll write a few articles for a "collected wisdom" section if asked.

I did a search AND read the wisdom section prior to posting my 1 question.

[Reg-da-Ripper]

I'd like to add no call-outs and no cursing (of course, this is just a common-sense rule and I would image that it's a basic "netiquette" rule).

I'm not a prude; nevertheless, I feel that excessive cursing shows one's ignorance because one fails to express himself/herself in a better manner.

Can we leave the "momma" insults out as well?

One more thing: Please learn to use proper English for goodness sake! It's bad enough understanding some of the questions asked by "these people" while having to sort through the sentence fragments, poor spelling, poor grammar, and expletives. [Using a period (".") is a good first step. Proofreading also helps, and editing your comments after-the-fact shows good faith as well. ]

I understand that not everyone uses English as their native language; in fact, I'm not directing the previous comment to those who use English as a second (or third) language.

[BuddhaTB]

Don't worry guys, I'm working on developing the rules with some help from CDRLab members. It should be up sometime soon. All of the comments posted here will be taken into consideration.

[BuddhaTB]

The rules are up for everyone to read. Thank you to everyone who contributed to the rules and your names have been noted.

You can read it here:
http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=8914

[j_c_hallgren]

As a very new member here, I find the new rules to be quite appropriate with one possible exception. That is #12, related to the search process...which might be improved with more info on the best way to achieve a succesful search.

Before I made my first post, I spent a couple of hours reading/searching old posts, but was unable to locate any prior posts on that topic...and it seems there were some...but given the diverse methods of describing and identifying certain models/makes, it makes a thorough search sometimes quite difficult...so suggesting/requesting that one look for prior posts first is reasonable and valid...but rules as written seem to imply, to me, that any duplicate topic is not valid...for new users, that might present a problem, as they do not have the history of forum or know how certain items may be described typically here. So to improve on this, I may respectfully suggest some hints on how to describe a unit or media in a way that is consistent be added. I do not recall seeing this presently. If it exsists, I must have missed it. Thanks and keep up the good work!