Some Suggested Posting Guidelines
We have had a somewhat small problem as of late with people trolling, posting multiple times about the same subject, flaming, etc. I am not saying that it is a major problem, or even remotely hinting at that, but I would like to make some suggestions about posting here to try to help prevent these types of posts from getting out of hand.
First off, no trolling. You may find yourself asking, "What is trolling or an internet troll?", or you may wonder why it matters. An "Internet troll" or "Forum Troll" is a person who posts outrageous messages to bait people to answer. Forum Trolls delight in sowing discord on??forums.?? A troll is someone who inspires flaming rhetoric, someone who is purposely provoking and pulling people into flaming discussion.?? Flaming discussions usually end with name calling and a flame war.(http://curezone.com/forums/guidelines.asp)
The next issue is posting the same question all over the forums. This can be a headache,??especially to those using the search feature of the site looking for valid information. It is also rather bothersom to the moderators who clean up the mess. Please refrain from posting??the same question several times in several different threads. It is a waste of time and resources. If you are unsure of where to post a question, feel free to contact one the moderators. That is why we are here.??We are here to help users in whatever way we can, when time allows, and to the best of our ability.????
The last thing I am going to point out is flaming. While I have been here I have seen primarily postive posts and comments. In most cases people are very polite, and always seem to go the extra mile to help users out. I must say there have been a few users who have posted some off color remarks that were uncalled for. Please refrain from calling people names or using profanity when addressing someone. These forums have stayed quite civil without the need of intervention from the moderators, and I for one would like it to stay that way, but if it gets out of hand it leaves the moderators no choice but to address the point and use measures that may cause the user to loose privelages to the site. This is a common practice at most forums, though I have not seen it used here at any time.
In closing,??keep in mind what I have stated, please try to follow the suggestions I have posted above, and just use plain old common sense. Most people know what the accepted social norm is for any enviroment they may interact with, and in most cases common sense will lead you in the right direction. Please try to be a responsible user of this sight and we will all benefit from it.
Absolutely agree
I quite agree JoeInTenn. It's a pain that we are still dealing with real life people here, some of whom have not been raised to pursue civil conduct. Since we cannot always prevent trolls from getting in, I would like to add one advice to your set of wise rules: never get provoked by any troll. Responding to their abuse is a reward, and the most efficient way to keep them out, is simply (!) ignoring them.
That's all
Newbie or not Newbie, there's always a question
Hello Group;A person from the
Hello Group;
A person from the developers mailing list posted a "how to ask questions".?? Maybe the person could post the same link here.?? Or some others.
FRANK
One other suggestion I failed to mention in the previous post
One other topic I should have covered in??my previous post on the subject of site usage guidelines is about posting questions in the "How-To" sections of the forums. These areas have been setup and designated specifically for posting on how to get something to function or produce desirable results, not for questions. This is a problem that is beginning to get out of hand and will need to be seriously addressed in the near future. Please refrain from using the "How-To" areas of the site to post questions. There are other areas of the forums designated for questions and these areas should be used for any questions users may have, unless someone is commenting on a "How-To" in someway and have questions about it.
This issue has already been addressed in a previous thread by one of the other moderators which can be found here: http://www.mepis.org/node/view/1520. Hopefully in the near future we can all get together and create, implement, and begin enforcing site usage policies that all of the users can use, understand, and easily adhere to and hopefully not deviate from. The usage guidelines are ultimately suggested to help the users of the sight have an easy, enjoyable experience while they are seeking help or information pertaining to Mepis. We are simply wishing to make the use of this site the best it can be and we are always trying to do what ever it takes to meet that goal. Thank you to all who have helped and may Mepis guide you to the light at the end of the tunnel.
The student is not above the teacher
The servant is not above the master
The student shares the teacher's fate
The servant shares the master's
"Hello Group;A person fr
"Hello Group;
A person from the developers mailing list posted a "how to ask questions".?? Maybe the person could post the same link here.?? Or some others.
FRANK"
Asking questions on the sight is very easy. The sight??uses a logical taxonomy based on common areas of usuage. For example, if you have a question on the support of a specific type of hardware, you would post the question in hardware being specific on what you are wanting to know. One problem I see is people posting questions without offering enough information. It is difficult to ascertain and troubleshoot a situation if you are offered a very general question or offered very limited hardware and configuration information or both. An example question may be presented something like: "I cannot get on the internet. What is wrong?"You can see the difficulty in trying to help someone out with such limited information. Once again, it falls on using common sense. The more information you give, the more help we can offer.
Another thing is making sure to get the question in the right place. I see posts all the time where people will ask an installation of Mepis question in the application area and vice versa. I can see this as being confusing since installation may pertain to the install of the operating system or the install of applications. The applicaiton area may appear to be only for configuration of applications and not for install, or vice versa. I suggest to just try your best to get it in the correct area.
I hope this helps, and hopefully more people will comment here on these issues.
The student is not above the teacher
The servant is not above the master
The student shares the teacher's fate
The servant shares the master's
Addition to My Suggestions
I have yet another guideline to add to??my list of suggestions: Please do not use this site to advertise other sites unless they are related to Mepis. I just edited a post that included a link to a site about Yoga, this post being located in the "Related Sites" area. This is a terrible waste of resources for the Mepis.org site and team, as well as a waste of time for users who may not wish to view this type of content on a site dedicated to Mepis Linux.
The student is not above the teacher
The servant is not above the master
The student shares the teacher's fate
The servant shares the master's
hi Joe,fancy gettuing rid o
hi Joe,
fancy gettuing rid of this one then?
2nd post down.
and
cheers.
they link to something else now, so I've removed the links
drlizau
This is exactly what I am talking about
Thanks for pointing those out. Those are the types of posts, comments, etc. that I am concerned about. As this distribution grows, the site grows, and we begin to receive more abuse of the site. It is a common problem all over the net, much like spam, chain letters. etc. Once again, thank you for pointing those out. If we stay on top of abuse of this nature, we may be able to keep it under control without having to use more drastic measures.
The student is not above the teacher
The servant is not above the master
The student shares the teacher's fate
The servant shares the master's