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Making the most of the Forum
Our Forum can be very active, and many of regular members who
have formed a strong online community. There are some simple
things you can do to quickly get the information or help that you
are looking for from the Forum.
We are keen for you
to join us and contribute to keeping our community supportive and
enjoyable, and the following tips are drawn from the managers'
many years experience of online communities.
Give
your post a clear and detailed title. The title is not your
introduction; it's an attention-grabber. If your post is called
"Do you ever do this?" it will get missed and you'll
feel neglected. If you call it "Ever got really drunk and
forgotten your password?" you'll meet people with helpful
and relevant stories to share. Similarly, a post called
"Exams..." is not much help to us, but "Exams
coming up, PHP advice please" is much clearer. Write the
title last, after you finish your message. That way you can more
easily summarise what your message is - this is the point of a
title.The title is not your introduction; it's an
attention-grabber.
Keep your posts "On
Topic" and relevant to the category you are posting in.
Don't direct posts to a single person. All posts are there to be
read by anyone and everyone. We do not encourage or allow posts
called "For Johnny" or "Are you OK Bob".
Picture the guy who's never Googled "CMS"
before. When posting and responding please do think before you
click about the person on the other side of the city, or the
world, who might be reading your posts. Picture someone who has
never used a CMS before and has never asked anyone the tricky
questions; this is the first time he/she Googles "CMS"
and after an hour he stumbles across our Forum. Would your posts
scare him off?
Put your Location in your Profile.
Update your profile to tell us in what part of the world you
live. It will make answering your questions, and understanding
your stories much easier. We have members from all around the
world. A city, state or country is enough - don't be too
specific.
Search! Before you post, hit Search at the
top of the screen to see if we have recently discussed your topic
- and provided witty and informative answers. Feel free to post a
response and bring back to life an old discussion.
Use the Quote function well. If you're responding to a specific
part of a long discussion, click the Quote button on the part
that you are referring to - THEN don't leave the entire message
in your quote - highlight and delete out all but the part you
want to refer or respond to. This might take some practice, but
please use the function properly.
Share your
experience. This is so important it gets a mention in the rules
too. The Forum is here for sharing experiences, and sharing
things we've learned through our experiences. It is not for
telling each other how to live our lives. It is not helpful to
cut and paste information out of other websites or books. Add
your story, share your challenges. When saying what works or went
wrong for you, give us some context - a simple distinction like
whether you are a new computer user or a veteran of 30 years,
makes for a much better conversation.
Instant
gratification. It can be exciting and fulfilling to know the
exact answer for someone's random, tricky question. And it can be
pretty cool to have a website where your name is up in lights,
maybe a thousand times, for all to see. Just have a reflect on
the instant gratification you're getting as you hit post. There's
no competition to respond to every single message, or contribute
every single thought that crosses your mind. Go for quality,
considered posts and you'll fast earn respect from the
community.
All admin issues, good and bad, direct to
the moderators. With technical hitches, log in problems,
complaints or constructive criticism about the Forum or Drake CMS
Forums in general, please email
Drake CMS. This
address is prominently blazed across the top of the Forum so you
can't forget it. Posting admin stuff on the Forum is not the best
way for us to deal with anything, and disrupts the Forum from
doing what it does best.
And above all, be
respectful. Kind, thoughtful, considered, funny and reflective
will also be tickets to success and fame. Do unto others ... you
know the drill. If you want people to help you, or make you
laugh, then you'll need to do the same for them.
With
technical hitches, log in problems, complaints or constructive
criticism about the Forum or Drake CMS Forums in general, please
email. All posts are there to be read by anyone and everyone.
Keeping safe
Please read if
you are under 18
Everyone needs to be
sensible and cautious about sharing information about themselves
on the internet. If you are under 18 and using the Drake CMS
Forums website, we ask that you and your parents/carers read the
following and stick to this advice:
Always ask
permission from your parent or carer before you give anyone on
the Internet your name or address or any other personal details.
This includes the name of your school, your photo or any personal
information about your friends and family.
Remember
that people you might meet online may not be who they say they
are. Someone claiming to be a 12 year old girl could really be a
40 year old man.
If you want to arrange to meet
someone you have so far only met online ask a parent or another
adult to go with you and always meet in a public place,
preferably during the day.
Tell your parents or
another adult you trust if you see upsetting language, nasty
pictures or something scary on the internet
For more
information, visit Chat Danger- how to keep safe in chat rooms.
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Forum Usage 