Getting Help, Asking Questions, Using
Forums
By Dianne Reuby
Forums or message boards are where people gather together
on the web to ask questions, answer questions, discuss
problems, exchange information, and chat. Unlike chat
rooms, forums have moderators, who check that posts
are relevant, suitable, and polite. Offenders will be
warned, and persistent offenders blocked from using
the board.
Most forums require you to register, and to log-in.
Choose a nick-name if you don't want to use your real
name, choose a password (something you'll remember!),
fill in as much of the information as is required, add
as many extra details as you feel comfortable with,
and get ready to be enlightened. You may prefer to "lurk"
(a techie term meaning to read messages rather than
to post them) until you've become familiar with the
board.
When you do post, you need to choose the right section
of the board, and to include only one topic in each
post. If you have three questions, you make three posts.
Make sure your subject heading describes your question
- don't use headings like "Please help" or "I'm confused!"
other users scanning the headers won't have any idea
what your question is going to be about - they may not
take the time to open and read your post.
You may miss advice from busy experts. So here are
some of my favourite boards - hope to see you around
soon!
Help with web building Site Ownershttp://www.siteownersforums.com
From beginners to experts. Site Pointhttp://www.sitepointforums.com
One of the most well-known sites, for all levels. Web
Developerhttp://www.webdevforums.com
Webmasterhttp://www.webmaster-forums.net Help with
your PC
The Newbie Clubhttp://newbieclub.com/?pramclub - Beginners
welcome, no tech-speak. You'll need to join, but it's
free, and gives full access to the tutorials as well
as the forum.
PC911http://www.pcnineoneone.com/index.html Also includes
very useful *How to* section. Help with your e-mail
Tek-tipshttp://www.tek-tips.com/ Not just e-mail,
and all levels. Help creating e-books
Ebook Friendshttp://www.ebookfriends.com/ Help on all
ebook programs, all levels.
eBook Forumhttp://www.ebookforum.com/ Help on reading
devices, creating and promoting ebooks. Help creating
an e-zine
EP Digesthttp://www.epdigest.com/ Small but helpful.
About the author:
Dianne Reuby is co-author of the e-book "First Website
Builder". Dianne created and runs the First Web Builder
site, dedicated to providing ebooks and tips for new
webmasters. Visit FWB at http://firstwebbuilder.co.uk
|
