ON POSTING: FORUMS and SUBJECT LINES
It is a shame that this needs to be said, but since the "General Support" forum has been moved to the top of the list (a situation that has since been corrected), many people are looking no further and are posting things that are much better fits in other forums here. The list of all forums is here. Please think about the topic of your post and post in the proper forum. In particular, I've moved many posts in the past few weeks that deal with problems seen after a hard disk install from this forum to the Hdd Install / Debian / Apt forum.. There are many good reasons for this but the most important one for you as a poster is that it will get your question in front of the right people who can give you an answer to it. Posting a HDD install question here (for example) and not even bothering to mention that you did install the Live CD to hard disk wastes both bandwidth and people's time.
Other Thoughts on using the forums to post your topic in the right place:
- If you are seeing a networking problem while booting from the CD (including dial-up networking) then the problem belongs in the Networking forum.
Questions on other live Linux CD's other than Knoppix likely belong under Other Live CDs, although there may be some cases where questions might fit well in other forums.
Do not change the subject and post a completely different question inside of an existing thread. Start a new thread for a new topic.
Tips and Tricks is intended for posting helpful suggestions, not for posting threads that ask questions. If you have a question to ask please do not start a new thread in that forum (obviously questions to existing threads are on-topic).
There certainly is some overlap. Some questions might, for exmple, be on-topic in General Support, MS Windows & New to Linux, or The Lounge. But please try to select the best forum for posting a new thread, it will save a lot of people time and will help get you a correct answer quicker.
Also, once you pick a forum, look over the existing posts (or use the Knoppix website search feature on the top of each forum page) to see if others haven't posted about the same problem that you are posting about. There is certainly no good reason why many people post the same questions every day. It is not reasonable to say that "I can't be bothered to look at the previous posts" and expect others to spend their time in giving you the same answers that you could have found yourself if you had taken a few minutes to look.
And one more thought, although this too fits in the category of things that really should not have to be said: Please do not use subject lines like "how to?", "Please help me", "how do I" , "Need help" , "I'm a noob" , "I'm the uber-noob and you are here to server me" , or other text that givers readers and people who search through the forum looking at subjects absolutely no clue as to what the post is about. Personally, I'm going to stop giving any help to such posts, even if the answer is as simple as a link or I know a simple one line answer.
Re: PLEASE POST IN THE RIGHT FORUM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Harry Kuhman
It is a shame that this needs to be said, but since the "General Support" forum has been moved to the top of the list, many people are looking no further and are posting things that are much better fits in other forums here. The list of all forums is
here. Please think about the topic of your post and post in the proper forum.[b]...
Bravo!
I agree, completely... Not for the "moderator" point-of-view, but, for the poster. You have a better chance of getting not only an answer, but, a "better" answer, if your topic is in the correct forum...
As a side note:
If you feel the need to "quote" someone, in a previous reply, please edit out any extra "white-space" that doesnt pertain to the needed reason for the quote... As an example... Quoting someone who posts a complete output of "dmesg", you can edit out any "extra" parts, keeping only referance markers to where the "data" you need them to look for, or, this one just came up, quoting a picture, and not only keeping the complete picture in the quote, but only adding a few lines to the post...
If you need to post a topic, or a new thread, examine all forums before you post... General Support is just that, for a "catch-all" for those topics that dont fall into any of the other forums... Like video related issues, or not being able to boot the CD, etc...
As Harry said, may of the topics, and forums, can overlap. This is just because of the nature of support, and computers... Not everything can be placed in a nice, neat, forum, and as an issue is being resolved, it may, cross-over to another forum...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Harry Kuhman
Other Thoughts on using the forums to post your topic in the right place:
***** Do not change the subject and post a completely different question inside of an existing thread. Start a new thread for a new topic.
The word for it is "piggy-backing" or "hijacking" a thread, in some cases, when the topic is still maintained, only someone else wants more information, then this isnt the same, but, when the topic starts out as "I cant boot the Knoppix CD", and half-way through the thread, someone posts an issue on "How do I setup a network card", that would not only be hijacking, but, may not get the person an answer on there issue...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Harry Kuhman
***** Also, once you pick a forum, look over the existing posts (or use the Knoppix website search feature on the top of each forum page) to see if others haven't posted about the same problem that you are posting about. There is certainly no good reason why many people post the same questions every day. It is not reasonable to say that "I can't be bothered to look at the previous posts" and expect others to spend their time in giving you the same answers that you could have found yourself if you had taken a few minutes to look.
Chances are, in most cases, someone else has already had the same issue, and could have also got it resolved... This isnt something a "moderator" should have to point out, a poster should see this also: Searching for an issue that has already been resolved, is a lot faster, and will get you an answer quicker, than starting a completely new post, and waiting for a response... ALSO... from a response persons "point-of-view", I dont want to have to go to replying with a "link" to a topic, that gave them there answer, when they could have done the same thing themselves... I prefer the "personal" touch, but, if topics get repeating too much, that may get to be the responses you will get... i.e. I dont want to be cold, and have to post replies like... RTFM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Harry Kuhman
And one more thought, although this too fits in the category of things that really should not have to be said: Please do not use subject lines like "how to?", "Please help me", "how do I ..." , "Need help", or other text that givers readers and people who search through the forum looking at subjects absolutely no clue as to what the post is about. Personally, I'm going to stop giving any help to such posts, even if the answer is as simple as a link or I know a simple one line answer.
I am in complete agreeance here... I realize that many posts are done "in the heat of battle", or frustrations are high... But, if you really want an answer, quickly, the best form of communication, on the issue you are having, is through the "topic" or "subject" line, that, and the best forum choice. If its worth the time to post the thread, it is worth the time to research if the issue has already been covered, if not, then selecting the best forum to post, and using a well scripted topic / subject...
As a final thought:
Think of not only your issue, but, where is the best place for getting your answer, and asking for assistance by using a descriptive topic... It helps those people who are looking to solve a problem, in which, they would know the subject. The Knoppix.net Forums are frequented by many knowledgable, and helpful, people, but, many will only respond on what they know, and not "advertising" for there help, may not get you any...
Sorry to have taken any extra bandwidth on this topic, but, I can see where Harry is coming from... It shouldnt have to be said, but, now that it has, maybe more people will be getting more resolutions to there issues and problems...
Thank you for your time,
Ms. Cuddles