Forum etiquette

• Post: Any message posted to the forum
• Subject: The title of a post
• Thread: A string of posts, all replies, or replies to replies, to an original post
• Topic: The subject of the original post that starts a thread

 

Be nice

• No 'flaming' - in other words, avoid personal attacks, pettiness or abuse. Respect other users, and if you disagree with them, explain why.
• No 'trolling' - trolls are posts deliberately designed to provoke an angry response. That doesn't mean you can't be controversial, if you really mean it.
• No personal disputes - if it gets personal, take it offline.
• Don't be patronising or sarcastic.
• No 'shouting', i.e. typing in ALL CAPS.
• Learn to let go - don't keep harping on about the same thing, or harking back to previous arguments. It is rarely productive to do so, and you always end up going round in circles.
• If someone else's post offends you, don't immediately fight back online. Consider whether they really meant to cause offence. It can be easy to sound rude without meaning to, especially if English is not your native language. However, if you really are troubled by the post, don't respond - take it to a moderator.

 

Be effective

• Stay on topic - try to focus on the original topic. In particular, don't change subject in the middle of an existing thread - just start a new topic.
• Conversely, don't start a new topic if your post relates to an existing one - reply to the existing thread instead. Make sure you reply to the appropriate post, not just the last post in the thread
• When starting a new topic, make the subject line clear and informative. It makes the topic easy to find.
• Make sure you're understood, even by non-native English speakers. Try to write full sentences, and avoid text-message abbreviations or slang.
• If asking a question, provide as much information as possible, what you've already considered, where you read it, etc.
• Read what's already there before posting. You may be repeating what others have already said or asked.