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JeffZemsky17-Peridot
17-Peridot
June 19, 2007
Question

Posting Tips

  • June 19, 2007
  • 8 replies
  • 1964 views
GUIDELINES

1. Always search the forums first. Your question may already been asked and answered.

2. If you see a new thread asking a similar question already covered. Add the link to the original thread. This will divert the future post of that thread, back to the original.

3. When replying - only use Reply with Quote when you need to refer back to something from the original post (or if reply via email - do not copy the original email). This will keep the forum posts readable and manageable.

4. Always search the forums first. You seriously may be asking something already covered. Search first. See rule 1.

Jeff Zemsky



  • PTC/User Director of Web Operations
  • -

    8 replies

    D
    dgschaefer21-Topaz II
    21-Topaz II
    June 19, 2007
    Jeff,

    In general, I really like the new forums and appreciate the work you
    folks have done in setting them up. I think in time they will be of
    more value. There will be some whining in the interim, and perhaps even
    a drop in usage. You'll likely find that you need to tweak the way
    things work a bit to accommodate what folks want. I expect you saw that
    coming.

    In regards to your tips, I have some thoughts. In general, the more
    things you ask folks to make sure they do every time, the less
    successful you are going to be in making that happen. Ideally, you'd
    have nothing folks have to remember to do.

    #1 & #4 is the bane of internet forums everywhere. It will be an
    ongoing problem.

    #2 - I'm not sure what you mean, can you elaborate?

    #3 - That is a good suggestion for replying on the forum, but reply be
    email makes a mess. Email programs leave the original message in by
    default, not to mention they frequently add a bunch of stuff like the
    exploder messages to the bottom. The result is that the forum posts are
    a nearly unreadable mess including duplicate posts, multiple copies of
    replies.

    Here are a couple of ideas:

    1 - Don't allow replies to threads via email. Include a link to the
    thread in the email footer directing folks to go to the forums to reply.
    That would avoid all the extra text in replies and clean up the forums a
    lot. I know that some folks are not able to use the internet at work,
    but for the majority this is possible and will help keep the exploder
    clean. 🙂

    2 - Don't sent replies to the list automatically. All new threads still
    go to the list, but rather than sending replies to everyone, include a
    link at the bottom of the original message for folks to subscribe to
    that topic. Additionally, in each reply (once subscribed), include a
    link to un-subscribe to that topic. That way you get mail on subjects
    you're interested in, not on those you aren't.

    Here's what those things might look like in the footer:
    P
    ptc-8233651-Visitor
    1-Visitor
    June 19, 2007
    Sort of like this... delete the stuff you don't need just keep the part you want to reply too.

    In Reply to:
    #2 - I'm not sure what you mean, can you elaborate?


    P
    ptc-726461-Visitor
    1-Visitor
    June 19, 2007
    A real forum. Who would have thought?

    In reply to #2, I believe that Jeff mean if you know of a similar thread put the url in the post soother can get to both. You save other people from doing searches.

    Another tip is to title your topic correctly. There's lots of spaces in the Title line after all. "A Problem in Pro" will get a lot of people annoyed.

    Ray Ford - Solar Turbines

    In Reply to:

    2. If you see a new thread asking a similar question already covered. Add the link to the original thread. This will divert the future post of that thread, back to the original.

    P
    ptc-1315711-Visitor
    1-Visitor
    June 20, 2007
    Hi Doug,

    You wrote:

    "Email programs leave the original message in by default, not to mention
    they frequently add a bunch of stuff like the exploder messages to the
    bottom."

    I think that's true with formats like AOL and MSN. We use Lotus Notes, and
    previously used GroupWise. On these, the default reply pick does not
    inlude the original message. You have to conciously pick the option to
    include it , and attachments.

    I think we're going to have to wait for the dust to settle on this new
    forum before Jeff can take any more action.

    Regards,

    Gordon Caha
    Mfg. Engineering
    Rotor CAM
    Solar Turbines Inc.
    Phone 619 544-2329

    FOURTH WORKSHOP PRINCIPLE:
    The more carefuly you plan a project, the more
    confusion there is when something goes wrong.

    There are moments when everything goes well: don't
    be frightened, it won't last.
    -- Jules Renard, 1864 - 1910
    D
    DamianCastillo1-Visitor
    1-Visitor
    June 20, 2007
    Rule #2 is an attempt to redirect the question to a thread that already has an answer or other suggestions from the users.

    In a perfect world, once someone replied with a link to a thread that addresses the question. nobody else should reply to that thread, but click on the link to the original if they want to share some of their ideas.

    Hope that makes sense.

    "If you are not living life on the Edge, You are taking up too much space"

    M
    mikeeal1-Visitor
    1-Visitor
    June 20, 2007
    Some one will always reply to a post...

    Mike
    A
    ArnoldCollett12-Amethyst
    12-Amethyst
    June 20, 2007
    Hello group,

    Outlook includes the original message by default, but you can change
    that setting. Look under the "Tools" pull-down menu, "options"; on the
    "preferences" tab, select the "e-mail options..." button, then in the
    "E-mail Options" dialog box you can select from the different choices
    for replying and forwarding e-mails. (see attached photo)

    I also think that many of the problems that we're having with the
    exploder could be cleared up sooner, if we would quit flooding the
    servers with complaint messages. I am also getting a lot of e-mails and
    most of them are out of order, but I can deal with having to delete some
    e-mails for a while, until it gets cleared up.

    I'm sure that most of you are like myself and have received a lot of
    useful tips and information from this exploder over the years and we
    haven't had to pay any maintenance fees to get this information.

    If everyone could try to limit the amount of posts for a few days, and
    consciously remember to change the address when trying to reply to a
    person, I'm sure that Jeff and the ptcuser gang will be able to get the
    bugs worked out soon.



    Thank you,

    Arnold Collett
    Teledyne Brown Engineering

    ER34 - CLV-MPS
    MSFC/NASA
    Room 3435, Bldg. 4203
    Ph. - 256-544-1159
    Fax - 256-544-2032
    -



    D
    DamianCastillo1-Visitor
    1-Visitor
    June 21, 2007


    In Reply to:
    Some one will always reply to a post...

    Mike

    Mike. I did mention that in a Perfect World, nobody would reply to a post that was redirected, but you always have those individuals who just don't follow guidelines. At least it would minimize the problem, but surely won't prevent it.
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