Posting Tips

[JeffZemsky]

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
• -

[dgschaefer]

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:

[ptc-823365]

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?

[ptc-72646]

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.

[ptc-131571]

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

[DamianCastillo]

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"

[mikeeal]

Some one will always reply to a post...

Mike

[ArnoldCollett]

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
-

[DamianCastillo]

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.