A Musing on Forum Etiquette

Ah, you can smell it in the air. The smell of a thousand nerds, all stressing over a clue given out by the GDC. The smell of a thousand nerds, testing new electronic toys. FIRST has grown, and this forum is showing it. This will be the single largest group of teams to ever play the game. We're in a monumental year, folks.

With the shear size of the organization comes a downfall: The influx of what the internet has deemed "n00bs." This is no fault of their own, only a product of the energy that FIRST embodies. So where am I going with this? Into a rant about how it is appropriate to behave on a forum of this type. We have all broken these golden rules at some time or another, and hopefully we can all strive to not break them again.

Golden Rule Number One: Search Before Ye Post. It gets thrown around a lot, yes. But how many of us actually take the time to do this? Searching is more than just spitting one key term into the search engine and only looking at applicable titles. A true search is much akin to doing research for a paper. One first identifies many general sources, then spends some time scouring them for detailed information. This detailed information can be easily found, especially with the use of a second tool. Less often mentioned, this is the search within forum. Once you identify which topic might contain the information of importance to you, this little tool greatly aids in pinpointing it.

Golden Rule Number Two: Label Thine Threads Appropriately. In short, "Help" is too vague. A forum user should be able to guess what your first paragraph should say form your topic. There are hundreds of thousands of words in the English language. It can't be too hard to spend a few seconds finding the right ones to label your post.

Golden Rule Number Three: Think Before Ye Submit Post. Here on Chief Delphi, we like to think we've got a very professional atmosphere going. For the most part this is correct. Imagine each post as a writeup that you'd be posting on the office wall at your engineering firm. Sure you'd want to post that? Everyone can read it, and assumptions will be made about whoever's name lies at the bottom. It's important to be understood clearly, so spelling, grammar, and proper punctuation are paramount when trying to communicate.

Golden Rule Number Four: Don't be afraid to take things to PM. Most times you'll be able to get a custom tailored response if you take it to PM. Not ALL things need to be discussed in open channel. Criticisms especially. While it is important to bring design ideas, and strategy points to light in an open thread, personal criticism about methods of communication aren't always well received in an open channel.

Golden Rule Number Five: The FAQ and Read Before Posting exist for a reason. If you haven't read them because you think "all forums have the same stuff there," you're wrong. Chief Delphi is a unique community, and one that deserves some time spent to get accustomed to it.