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Kex
USA
190 Posts |
 Posted - 07 janv. 2010 : 20:45:22
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FAQ - HOW TO MAKE GOOD USE OF THE FORUMS ?
Internet forums frequently have their own, specific etiquette, or unwritten rules of conduct. As a new member here, I haven't quite fathomed all the niceties of GpsPasSion yet, and I don't want to offend anyone by seeming oblivious to the habitual customs and habits of "the locals", especially since I would like to contribute, to the best of my ability, in return for some very useful reading I have been able to do here recently myself.
A couple of things come to mind, in particular:
1) Is it considered rude on GpsPasSion to use common internet abgreviations, such as AFIK, or IIRC and IME etc.?
2) In other forums, it is considered "rude" to make lengthy, unwieldy posts. Long posts tend to bore readers, who will often just give up before they get to the end of one, so useful information may get lost in the process, or questions be left unanswered. They also make using the quote function a little more awkward to use, since a response may frequently address just one issue in a long post (rather than the whole thing) so you have to do some quote "editing" to use the function adequately.
I noticed recently that when I made two posts in the same thread, answering different posts, a friendly moderator came along and pasted them both together, and sent me a message to avoid multiple posts within a 24 hour period.
So, I am currently writing up a topic on the TomTom XL340S (as a reluctant convert from Garmin). I've been breaking it down into segments for improved readability, since I'm trying to be as detailed and thorough as possible, but it's going to be one hell of a long post if I don't break it up! What's the consensus on GpsPasSion for long topics in a single post, and is there a limit to the length a post can be?
3) The "quote" feature doesn't seem to get used a lot in replies. Is this not considered good practice?
4) Is it acceptable to mention pricing on GpsPasSion?
That's all folks! Thanks for any comments! |
TomTom XL 340S LIVE, GO LIVE 2535M, XL 340TM (RDS-TMC) in LA traffic
Garmin StreetPilot 2720 (worthy, but retired) |
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gpspassion
93427 Posts |
Posted - 07 janv. 2010 : 20:59:57
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Thanks for asking.
1. Best to avoid abbreviations yes, AFAIK, BTW, possibly being the exception.
2. As you were reminded via PM, multiple posts are to be avoided. They make the forums harder to read and they generate needless email notifications, sometimes clueless members who get them even report them as spam to our hosting company and we have to waste time explaining ourselves.
If you're writing something that gets long, the easy fix is to number your paragraphs and if need be use post an index at the top. 1. Pros 2. Cons 3. Tips, etc...That will let readers know what to expect.
If you're replying to several people just start your parapgrahs with @abc, @xyz, etc...
3. Quoting is fine if it helps understand the message. On the other hand, the full quote of a message located directly above makes no sense and will be deleted. Unless otherwise specified it's assumed a message picks up where the one above left off.
4. Again if it makes sense it's ok. Links for good deals should be posted in the "hot deals...cold deals" section though.
Overall, it's more common sense than arbitrary rules, but it's always useful to refresh our memories.
Last but not least :
BEFORE POSTING A NEW TOPIC/QUESTION, PLEASE SEARCH (1. TITLES USING THE FORUMS SEARCH ENGINE AND 2. TITLES+MESSAGES USING THE GOOGLE FORUM SEARCH) FOR EXISTING TOPICS ON THE SAME SUBJECT AND JOIN THE CONVERSATION THERE. IF YOU START A NEW TOPIC, USE A TITLE THAT DESCRIBES YOUR MESSAGE ACCURATELY, NO "HELP, URGENT, !!!". OUR MODERATORS SAY THANKS. |
Discounts and Assistance/Réductions et Assistance (Club GpsPasSion) / Où commencer? |
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Kex
USA
190 Posts |
Posted - 07 janv. 2010 : 21:17:18
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| Duly noted, Mr. gpspassion! I'll try to keep myself out of trouble and off everybody's "Custom Avoids" list! |
TomTom XL 340S LIVE, GO LIVE 2535M, XL 340TM (RDS-TMC) in LA traffic
Garmin StreetPilot 2720 (worthy, but retired) |
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danham
USA
7347 Posts |
Posted - 08 janv. 2010 : 15:50:11
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In addition to the excellent advice posted above, I'd add that for #2, as we used to say in the newspaper business, "less is more." It is a rare topic indeed that can't be adequately covered (or at least introduced) in a handful of well-constructed paragraphs.
Put another way, if a message fails to meet that standard for brevity, breaking it up into multiple messages makes the problem worse, not better.
Thanks for raising these important points,
-dan |
- Nüvi forum moderator -
Nüvi 760 in a '10 Jetta TDI Diesel SportWagen & zumo 660 on a BMW F800 ST
Guide to working with pre-programmed routes: >> details <<
Language Guide / US Topo / 350 & 680 / MacBook & Intel iMac with OS X & Win XP / BaseCamp / Cape Cod, MA
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Edited by - danham on 08 janv. 2010 15:50:50 |
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Kex
USA
190 Posts |
Posted - 08 janv. 2010 : 19:08:05
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Okay, since this is "hidden" in the nüvi section, here's a link to the thread for any other confused newcomers, such as myself, since it covers all the points mentioned already, as well as the "search before you post" thingy ...
http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=57830
Maybe a link to this from a general section somewhere (not nüvi specific) might be an idea ... Veterans obviously know the forum well enough to find everything, but it may not be as obvious - to those of us of limited intellectual abilities - as you might think ... |
TomTom XL 340S LIVE, GO LIVE 2535M, XL 340TM (RDS-TMC) in LA traffic
Garmin StreetPilot 2720 (worthy, but retired) |
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gpspassion
93427 Posts |
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kenhamer
Canada
12 Posts |
Posted - 23 août 2010 : 01:18:57
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In short, it doesn't go.
When I signed up, I looked at the FAQ. But rather than cherry pick from the Table of Contents, I simply read the entire document and saw nothing about multiple posts vs long posts. That's because that issue was not included within the "contents." The alleged ToC entry was actually a link to this thread, hidden elsewhere. So no, I did not see this thread.
But let me address the replies above, particularly issues #2 and the "newspaper" bit. First off, I strongly disagree that breaking your individual, significant points into seperate posts makes the forum harder to read. I just see no evidence whatsoever for that. On the contrary, having discrete, individual points neatly segregated likely makes the thread much easier to absorb, digest, and/or respond to. That's the whole point of chapters in a book. So that one just doesn't wash.
Secondly, if multiple e-mails are an issue, then it's time to get into the 1990's and update/configure the BBS software to send subscription notifications the way essentially every other BBS does -- with a message that states why they've received the notification (i.e. they subscribed to it), an explanation and/or link on how to unsubscribe, and a note that they won't receive any further e-mails in this regard until they visit the forum/thread again. Problem solved. In other words, fix the problem, not the symptoms.
Secondly, if you're writing something long, simply numbering the paragraphs does nothing to either make it easier to read, nor, more importantly, easier to post. It's hard enough to make a long post, particularly if it has multiple references, links, images and so on, and get the formatting correct, edit the post for grammer, spelling, clarity, etc. That's particularly so given the tiny "Message:" window, and the post facto display of what you've typed. It harkens back to my college days in the 1970's when we used something called TECO (text editor character oriented) where you typed in a bunch of stuff, pressed a button, and then hoped (usually in futility) that it displayed the way you wanted it to. Typing in an entire review or comparison, or even just a sigifnicant portion of it, while constrained with the tiny window and the after the fact display just makes it all that much harder again to end up with a readable post.
Furthermore, there are other issues. A lot of forums have a maximum number of characters per post, with 10K being common. If you're posting a comparison, it's pretty easy to to run up against that limit. But more importantly, and sometimes more frustratingly, if you've "almost finished" and something hiccups -- your internet connection, the forum server, your own computer, or anything else -- you may well have lost a ton of work. Breaking your extendo-post into managable and digestable chunks, mitigates that problem.
Now, on to newspapers. First and foremost, this ain't a newspaper. This is a forum dedicated to very complex technology. If you think you can "cover" the topic "in handful of well-constructed paragraphs" then you're not really "covering" the technology at all. If all you are doing is "introducing" a topic, then you're missing the point of the forums. In short, "brevity" is what led to today's reliance on the "sound bite" -- a spiffy little nugget that's easy to print or broadcast, that has an attention grabbing quality to it, but otherwise signifies nothing. It's how "death panels" obtained so much traction. And if newspapers think they can "cover" a topic "in a handful of well-constructed paragraphs" then they shouldn't be surprised that they are losing all their business to media (like TV) that thrive on short, snappy tidbits that fit between commercials.
But if you're comparing two complex pieces of technology, brevity is not your friend. Well, it may be, if you're writing for a trade journal or an enthusiast magazine. Of course we all know how those reviews end up. Invariably they summarize by saying that "overall the two units are similar and you really can't go wrong choosing either of them, but we picked Brand X over Tide(tm) 'cause it had a bigger ashtray." In short they are puff pieces that offend no one (particularly advertisers) by not really offering any solid issues or opinions.
On the other hand, if you're going to claim that a current model, high-end Garmin is a poor second (or eighth) choice to a pre-historic entry level TomTom (as I have) then you better make your claim clearly and in detail, and you better back it up with hard evidence. The more evidence and detail the better.
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Edited by - kenhamer on 23 août 2010 01:25:28 |
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gpspassion
93427 Posts |
Posted - 23 août 2010 : 03:48:27
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quote:
Originally posted by kenhamer
In short, it doesn't go.
In short? Hum...however long your post you're not going to convince us that it's your way or the highway, the rules of these forums have been laid out straight and clear and we're all sticking to them. Also so people understand what your post is about, it's an apparent answer to the private email you were sent reminding you of the forum rules, it would have been better form to also reply to that email.
Although the forums rarely time out, you do raise a valid concern about losing a long message, the easy fix is to post your message and just edit it and add to is as you go along.
Clearly the forum format is not always well adapted to long comparisons as they then to get "lost" (unless they are posted as the first message of a topic with a clear title) that's why there is an article section on the portal and reference topcs/comparisons are posted there, like this one http://www.gpspassion.com/fr/articles.asp?id=279 - if you want to contribute one of these that would be great. |
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FAQ - Forum Etiquette - How to use the Forums
