Good online hygiene

Status
Not open for further replies.

HapiSofi

Hagiographically Advantaged
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 16, 2005
Messages
2,093
Reaction score
676
When you start a new thread, it's best to give it a clear, descriptive name, even though it may seem dull at the time. Readers scanning down a list of topics need to be able to tell what's being discussed in them.
 

CaoPaux

Mostly Harmless
Staff member
Super Moderator
Moderator
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
13,954
Reaction score
1,749
Location
Coastal Desert
Hear, hear!

2) Be sure to read and/or search the forum to make sure the topic hasn't already been addressed (many times) before.

3) Return to the thread to acknowledge any response.

:Soapbox:
 

HapiSofi

Hagiographically Advantaged
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 16, 2005
Messages
2,093
Reaction score
676
4) Try not to include masses of quoted material beyond the specific needs of your own post.

5) Polite participants read the backthread.
 

Deleted member 42

I think we need to get the Mods -- Maybe Perks?-- to make this a single post, and an FAQ sticky.
 

reph

Fig of authority
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Messages
5,160
Reaction score
971
Location
On a fig tree, presumably
HapiSofi said:
4) Try not to include masses of quoted material beyond the specific needs of your own post.
It's especially silly for poster #2 to quote the entirety of post #1. Nobody's going to wonder which post you're replying to.
 

Sharon Mock

Wing nut
VPX
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 5, 2005
Messages
455
Reaction score
82
Location
Interstitial
Website
kirizal.livejournal.com
Thread necromancy: good or bad?

By which I mean responding to long-dormant topics. Here it seems appropriate, even desirable; but I've known communities that get very upset when topics return from the dead.
 

JennaGlatzer

wishes you happiness
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 9, 2005
Messages
9,703
Reaction score
3,460
Website
www.jennaglatzer.com
I guess it depends on why the thread is being brought back up. If it's just to reignite an old argument, bad. If it's because the poster wanted to talk about something, but did a search to see if the topic had been brought up before, then posted something on the old thread rather than starting a new thread on a topic we've already covered, I want to kiss that poster's darling little head a hundred times.

And sometimes we do it just to be funny-- like digging up a regular member's first post.

BUT!

(7) If you're going to resurrect a thread that's been dead for more than a month, mention that in your post, so people don't get confused and think the whole thread is current. We've had people bump up very old calls for submissions, for example, where the original poster was long gone from the boards, and probably not looking for submissions anymore.
 

ATP

What happened to my LIFE?!
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 1, 2005
Messages
1,733
Reaction score
52
CP and I have disagreed on another forum - B & BC - but on this point we are agreed: check the forum archives to see if the topic has been previously discussed.

I do this as a matter of course (this might have something to do with the fact that as features writer and analyst, I am used to searching for
information; I also like conducting research...). It is more or less a habit developed over a long period of time.

It isn't for everyone, though. On one other site's forum, I brought this to the attention of the members, and suggested that they first conduct a search of the archives before posting etc, to prevent reinvention of the wheel, rescusitating a question answered many times before. Well, you know, they're writers, and research is one of the major components of the job, so to speak. Correct?

Well,I was greeted with an eventual outcry,and some of the members got stuck into me alright! There were some quite telling comments though. One said that the archives search engine was antiquated, and difficult to use. It was. And one or two admitted that they were lazy. Others said that the interaction was the thing, not research, as it wasn't an academic site (or some such; this is quite sometime ago now).

The point here is that it would be 'nice' or 'good' if the members did do a forum archives search first. But, given the nature of the general freelance community, as well as here, I wouldn't count on it...

Just my... 0.5 minus 0.3 cents worth:)

ATP
 

William Haskins

poet
Kind Benefactor
Absolute Sage
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
29,109
Reaction score
8,861
Age
58
Website
www.poisonpen.net
8) remove your shoes before posting. mom's going to be pissed if you track mud across someone's thread.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.