What would you say to newer members of the CD community?

[Cynette]

Originally Posted by artdutra04

And here is how you get the "originally posted by" in the grey quote box:
If you want to see exactly how these were used, click the at the bottom right part of this quote in order to see the code used.

My Hero!

That is so simple and so obvious!!! And I never noticed it before! Somebody give artdutra04 really positive rep for me! I don't have enough posts yet to count!

Cynette

[Jherbie53]

My advice would be for them to look at and read the descriptions of each area in the forums list. This is an easy way to get to know the place and you might find the area where your post needs to go. Also I would tell them don't feel intimidated if someone with 700-800 or even 1000 posts disagrees with one of your thoughts. It can be very discouraging if it happens, but you don't need to go and avoid subjects because it happened once. The old saying of "when you fall of the horse, you've got to get right back on" is what you need to do.

I know it say it in the rules of posting, but I think it needs to be said and applies to everyone. If you just agree with some one, don't just quote them and say "I agree". In the rules it says that if your post doesn't ad anything to the discussion, then you shouldn't post it. Its not a BIG problem, but the little times when it happens is when its annoying.

This next one isn't for the new people, but for the people who will say "search before you post" or "this is in the wrong place" and thats all they say. Most of the new people on the forums don't get past the General Forum until they have explored the site a bit. Once that happens, it goes down a lot.

About the half a page posts, I usually wait until I have the time to look at and read them if its on a subject I want to read about. I agree that its easier to read them when you have posted in the thread.

This is a great thread to have because we can gather advice from people who have been on here scene the start and people who have only been here a year or less.

[nparikh]

Originally Posted by AtalanteStar25

I'd probably tell the new members to wait a few days after they join to just poke around and look at the content of the forums, what threads go where, when to start a new thread, etc.

Like Morgan (MercuryRising) said, CD isn't like most other forums. You are on here representing yourself, your team, your sponsor(s), and FIRST.

It has been said time and time again, and it is the one thing rookies should always remember: Think before you post!!

EDIT: I'd also tell them that separate paragraphs are good. It makes everything so much easier to read instead of having one giant paragraph.

Yep, Yep. Keep it professional. Keep it short and to the point. Who wants to read a convoluted, highfalutin question/explanation/point? FIRST teaches us to be Gracious & Professional. There's no reason for that to stop when you walk off the field.

[David Brinza]

Some of the threads will get very long, like this one (almost 300 posts...):

Championship location from 07 and onwards

Before you post to threads like this, take the time to read the other posts. If you're not planning to offer something new to the thread, don't post to it. If it's already been said, you're not contributing to the discussion. (I admit that in this thread, I refer to my own posts made earlier - a year earlier. I did that to illustrate that the thread was rehashing prior discussion).

Maybe the reputation system can include a "signal-to-noise" meter for its members. A member with a gazillion posts and relatively few reputation points is what I'd consider a "noise source". Whereas a member with high rep points and relatively few posts, is generally contributing "signal" - messages that have something (i.e. insight, perspective, and/or solutions) to offer to the readers. A really simple metric would be reputation points divided by number of posts...