How To Post Clearly

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Parent Category: FAQs

Category: Forum/Site FAQ

Published on Wednesday, 03 September 2008 21:20

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Good Posting Guide

This article is an attempt to try and help users of the forum get the best response possible and explain why certain things are done in a certain way. Also included are some of the reasons why a post may be moved or modified.

We have had some posts written without capitals, punctuation and spaces between lines when it is the end of a sentence or paragraph. It can be very hard to read. And it is off-putting as well, when written like that. People sometimes will not bother to read it as it is can be difficult to understand. It is in your best interests when asking a question to spend some extra time on how you post looks prior to posting.  The site includes a spell checker and a preview option as well.

Post Subjects
Please try to make your post subject meaningful. It should be long enough to get the message across but not too long that it goes onto another line. Using one or two word subjects means that people may not see that the post is relevant to them. To get your question answered then it is in your best efforts to make it easy for other people :)

Long posts are fine as well but it does help if they are broken into paragraphs as your eyes get tired from reading all in one go.

I’ll give you an example…

Version 1.
to sherlock holmes she is always the woman. i have seldom heard him mention her under any other name. in his eyes she eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex. it was not that he felt any emotion akin to love for irene adler. all emotions, and that one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but admirably balanced mind. he was, i take it, the most perfect reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a lover he would have placed himself in a false position. he never spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. they were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the veil from men's motives and actions. but for the trained reasoned to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. grit in a sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a nature such as his. and yet there was but one woman to him, and that woman was the late irene adler, of dubious and questionable memory.i had seen little of holmes lately. my marriage had drifted us away from each other. my own complete happiness, and the home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to absorb all my attention, while holmes, who loathed every form of society with his whole bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in baker street, buried among his old books, and alternating from week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature. he was still, as ever, deeply attracted by the study of crime, and occupied his immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. from time to time i heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons to odessa in the case of the trepoff murder, of his clearing up of the singular tragedy of the atkinson brothers at trincomalee, and finally of the mission which he had accomplished so delicately and successfully for the reigning family of holland. beyond these signs of his activity, however, which i merely shared with all the readers of the daily press, i knew little of my former friend and companion.

Version 2.
To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but admirably balanced mind.

He was, I take it, the most perfect reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the veil from men's motives and actions.

But for the trained reasoned to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable memory.

I had seen little of Holmes lately. My marriage had drifted us away from each other. My own complete happiness, and the home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first
finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to absorb all my attention, while Holmes, who loathed every form of society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature.

He was still, as ever, deeply attracted by the study of crime, and occupied his immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police.

From time to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons to Odessa in the case of the Trepoff murder, of his clearing up of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, and finally of the mission which he had accomplished so delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland. Beyond these signs of his activity, however, which I merely shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of my former friend and companion.

I hope you can see that version 2 above is much easier to read and allows you to easily pause for thought or a rest and then return easily to your place.

CAPITALS ARE CONSIDERED SHOUTING!!!!
If you type all in capitals it is much more difficult to read for other people. Have look at the example below. And this allows capitals to be used for emphasis.

Version 1.
TO SHERLOCK HOLMES SHE IS ALWAYS THE WOMAN. I HAVE SELDOM HEARD HIM MENTION HER UNDER ANY OTHER NAME. IN HIS EYES SHE ECLIPSES AND PREDOMINATES THE WHOLE OF HER SEX. IT WAS NOT THAT HE FELT ANY EMOTION AKIN TO LOVE FOR IRENE ADLER. ALL EMOTIONS, AND THAT ONE PARTICULARLY, WERE ABHORRENT TO HIS COLD, PRECISE BUT ADMIRABLY BALANCED MIND.


Version 2.
To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but admirably balanced mind.


Do you see what I mean? A little thought may make a difference to your post and any answers you get. More information and examples will be added to here later.

Text Speak.
While text speak is a good way to communicate on a mobile phone it's use on the forum should be avoided.
example:
"Hello, how are you today? Not too tired and in too much pain, I hope" translates into
"LO, how R U 2day? Not t% tired & n t% much pain, I hOp"

Many forum members will not understand it and it also makes reading what you are trying to say more difficult. This could result in your post going unread.

Swearing
Please try and keep from swearing on the main boards. Even although most swear words are asterisked out they are still able to be understood. There are children that browse the site and we want to make the site acceptable to all where possible.

Reasons for Post being moved

From time to time your post may be moved to another board or to the Pending / Abuse board. There are many reasons why this may happen and it can vary from the moderators needing time to consider your post or moving to a more appropriate board for the content that you have posted.

This is often a judgement call on the basis of your content and getting it the most appropriate response. If you have any questions about why it was moved please get in touch with the mod concerned and they will be happy to explain why it was felt it should have been moved. Sometimes we do get it wrong and will move it back.

1. Try and keep the thread on topic if replying to a post
2. Please be mindful of other peoples feelings .... be honest, but not hurtful
3. Please do not judge others. just because you don't agree it doesn't mean the other person is wrong
4. Agree to disagree if you're not happy with what someone posts
5. Be mindful of how you offer someone support. try not to frighten other people if they are needing support, and if someone has asked for support, please do not turn the thread around to turn the attention onto yourself. If you yourself need or want support please start another thread
6. Try not to patronise other people by the language you use
7. Also, please remember if you receive a PM from another member, keep it to yourself, unless you believe the person is likely to harm either themselves or others, in which case please use the report function
8. Above all, enjoy the forum!

We will add to this text from time to time.