What should I do before posting to the forum?
When posting for technical help please make
sure that you have done a basic search via Google, MSDN, or those technologies
forums if available (e.g. ASP.NET forums, MSDN forums and so on).
How to ask for help on the forums
Here at DotNetSlackers we want to help, in
fact we enjoy helping others, but there are certain ways that will yield a
better response from fellow community members:
- Provide the context for
discussion, e.g. if you have an error then give a little background information
about it rather than just posting the error itself
- Ask, don’t demand. When posting
a question do so politely, while it is understandable English is not the
primary language for many people you should do a basic check nonetheless to
make sure that your statements are not too demanding
- Don’t ask for the entire
solution. The average community member, if they see something in your post that
they know about is happy to spend 5 – 10 minutes to help you with it, asking
for the entire solution will yield poor responses as people have their own work
to do!
- Ask, and answer questions.
Rather than just drop by and ask a question and leave the forums, have a little
rummage around – particularly in the active threads to see if you can provide
any input, a community is a two way thing.
Should I paste in my code?
Yes. But bear in mind that people may be
put off if you are dumping the code for a 20+ line algorithm. Make sure that
your code is presented correctly – that means commenting where necessary even
if it is clear to you what that line(s) do, it will help passerbys get quickly
up to speed with your intent. As a general rule, and to entice more people to
help you keep code samples below 20 lines.
Nobody has replied to my post, what should I do?
If nobody has replied to your post it could
be down to a few factors, but if you have followed the previous guidelines in
this FAQ then you are giving your post the best chance to attract responses.
Nobody is obliged in any community to help, but if you ask nicely and don’t
expect too much then most likely you will get some form of help.
My opinion has been rubbished by another member, how
should I react?
Everybody has opinions; intelligent debate
is very healthy, however rubbishing someone’s post outright is not acceptable.
If you feel that what a user has said is incorrect, or perhaps not the entire
story then present your views like you would do to a friend not an ego contest.
The community consists of members of varying skill levels, from beginners to
experts and everything in between.
How do I choose the right forum to post in?
Think about what you are posting about; ask
yourself out of the existing forums which best fits what I need? If you have a
question for example on the MVC pattern then think about putting it in the
design patterns forum, if your question is specific to the ASP.NET MVC
framework then go for the ASP.NET forum. There may be cases where no one forum
fits the bill, in that case use discretion and post in the forum you most feel
appropriate given the content.
Why has my post been altered?
If you have not followed the points
outlined thus far then there is a chance that the moderators have altered your
post in any one of many ways. If you have posted your question in the wrong
forum then it has most likely been put into the correct one by the moderators,
if the text of your post has been altered then you may have been in breach of
something outlined previously.
My post has gone, why?
In scenarios where the moderators feel that
the user in question has disregarded the rules expressed in this FAQ to such an
extent then the users post may very well be removed. Depending on the severity
you may also be contacted or removed from the forums entirely.
I want to report bullying on the forums, why do I contact?
If you feel that you, or someone else on
the forum is been subject to bullying in the form of out of hand comments that
attack that persons character then please contact one of any of the people on
the about us page on the DotNetSlackers home page.
The forums are down, who do I contact?
You are encouraged once more to contact
anyone on the about us page to inform them of the exceptional circumstance, it
may be minor or major but feedback is encouraged in such an event – we are not
looking for a stack trace, but if you could explain a little about the
circumstance in which the error occurred we would be most grateful.