How to be a Good Poster, Part 1

[Jhevz]

Hi Fellow Posters,
This topic is 1 of 4 threads on `How to be a Good Poster or How to Post Well‘; each thread will have helpful information for anyone who wants just a little more help on posting, newbies & such. It’ll also help anyone 1 of us who needs that little help on how to post just a little bit better; it also makes for good reading.

This threads begins with: Begin to Post or What shall I post 1st; the 1st 1 will be about starting to post after signing up here at Sadgeezer; the other is starting to post after not being here for awhile; lastly, will be some helpful hints for the rest of us who post as often as we can. Sometimes, we forget that others are gonna read our posts & may make comments that might or might not offend us; but how do we start posting you ask; well, here are a few helpful hints to help you, & me, along.
If you’re a newbie or a beginner here at Sadgeezer, the 1st post you might waznt to do is to introduce yourself; tell about how you got your Username, about you or both. You also may want to try a topic you heard on the news or something in your life you wish to share; you may also respond to a thread until you get comfortable enough to do 1 yourself. It’s not rocket science, just a forum on which to post your views on. 🙂
If you’re a member who hasn’t been here posting for awhile, don’t worry; everyone here has taken a break from posting now & again. It’s easy to come back & start your normal posting again or start fresh & tell a little bit about yourself; no matter where you’ve gone or what the circumstances were, Sadgeezer’s still here, so come on in, the water’s fine. Just start posting again & you’ll do just fine.
For those of us who’re still posting as often as we can, here’s a few pointers on writing a new post; 1st, start telling a little bit about yourself, Username or both; 2nd, the day’s events ( if daring enough) & so on. You might also trying to write 1 in 1 of the Fan Fiction forums; the possibilities are endless; hey, may be someday, I’ll tell how I got my Username Jhevz & a little bit about myself.
I hope these are helpful & have a great time posting; the next thread, Part 2, will be about Bad Posting & how not to do it.

Posters Unite,
Jhevz 😉

[nursewhen]

The thing that complete newbies tend to struggle with (and I mean people completely new to message boards in general) are the replies and quotes. At Lexx.com there’s a test forum where people can play around and make nonsense posts until they’ve got the hang of it. Here if you’re unsure, you have to do your experimentation in full view on a main forum which can be a bit daunting.

I’ve always though Sadgeezer’s could do with a test forum and maybe a help forum too. In fact that’s what I thought this forum was going to be when I first heard about it.

[Fatguy]

nursewhen wrote:

I’ve always though Sadgeezer’s could do with a test forum and maybe a help forum too. In fact that’s what I thought this forum was going to be when I first heard about it.

I second the motion on a test forum.

Maurice.

[Flamegrape]

Fatguy wrote:

nursewhen wrote:

I’ve always though Sadgeezer’s could do with a test forum and maybe a help forum too. In fact that’s what I thought this forum was going to be when I first heard about it.

I second the motion on a test forum.
[/quote]
Perhaps this forum can serve that purpose.

[Jhevz]

nursewhen wrote:

The thing that complete newbies tend to struggle with (and I mean people completely new to message boards in general) are the replies and quotes. At Lexx.com there’s a test forum where people can play around and make nonsense posts until they’ve got the hang of it. Here if you’re unsure, you have to do your experimentation in full view on a main forum which can be a bit daunting.

I’ve always though Sadgeezer’s could do with a test forum and maybe a help forum too. In fact that’s what I thought this forum was going to be when I first heard about it.

nursewhen,
That’s why another forum’s called The Pub; it’s actually for that kind of thing; also, other generallized forums are used for that. This forum was created, like the Help is on lexx.com; if other posters want help, they have somewhere to go to, even though they have to sign up on the list 1st.
I hope this helps you, Fatguy & Flame out in the confusion; may be there can be a separate forum specifically for testing, but this isn’t it.

Poster to Poster,
Jhevz 😉

[Anonymous]

Ok

As this frum is used to set policy for the board and be a place for posters to discuss how they would like to see SadBOARD develop, I’m happy to set up a test forum for people, to practice posts and play around etc.

[Jhevz]

SadGeezer wrote:

Ok

As this frum is used to set policy for the board and be a place for posters to discuss how they would like to see SadBOARD develop, I’m happy to set up a test forum for people, to practice posts and play around etc.

Thanks Sadgeezer,
At least, between the 2 of us, they’ll have a place to go to to test things out & to ask for help whenever they need it; it’s nice that a board, like this 1, has both, in case, anyone wants to test things out.
I’ll have to try things out there, now that we have 1.

Thanks,
Jhevz 😉

[nursewhen]

Woo Hoo!
I suggest a test forum, go away on holiday and when I come back, there’s a test forum!

Thanks Sadgeezer 😀

[Anonymous]

It is a cool test forum; neat addition, and a good suggestion.

Some great advice on starting off on the road to good posting, Jhevz. Sorry if I move over into the territory of later “How to be a good poster” threads…

For new members and old members alike, something obvious to bear in mind is that to be a good poster one must post. 🙂 And in becoming a better poster (improve your posting ability), one may have to post more (practice makes perfect! Hehehe). I won’t get into the quantity versus quality debate since one can have BOTH! 😛 Now flooding/spamming is bad of course. Here are some simple and obvious criteria for being a good poster:

Respect the other members: Try to take a genuine interest in the other members, and what they have to say. Try to make them feel comfortable and at home. Be quicker to praise than to chastise; quicker to laugh than to show anger (you’ve heard all the cliches before. 😉 AND… Have fun!!!

You certainly don’t have to agree with them (discussion is very flat and boring when everyone agrees with each other), but at least carefully consider what they say (don’t just automatically dismiss it), try to keep an open mind; be considerate. Feel free to loosen up and enjoy the ride — can have fun and learn something at the same time!

Oh, and as this is a sci-fi site, it couldn’t hurt to discuss sci-fi too! 😀

Fortunately, the people here are almost always considerate, entertaining, and informative — great site, and a great community.

In the immortal words of Spinal Tap, “We’re in this together!”

[Jhevz]

Hi Fellow Posters,
As soon as I can, I’ll be posting on Bad Posting or How not to do it; I’ll be posting these kinds of things every other month, so I don’t overwhelm anybody & so we can go back & say, `Now how was that written?’ Right now, since I’m making cookies & finishing up my Christmas cards, I probably won’t get to it till either after Christmas or the beginning of 2004; I’ll let you know & together, we can all become better posters & better at posting.

Sci-Fi Fans Unite,
Jhevz

[Anonymous]

Jhevz wrote:

…Right now, since I’m making cookies & finishing up my Christmas cards, I probably won’t get to it till either after Christmas or the beginning of 2004; I’ll let you know & together, we can all become better posters & better at posting.

I’m so bad at posting that I forgot to mail most of my Christmas cards… (sad but true). Ah well, there’s always next Christmas! 🙂

[Anonymous]

Here’s a funny flash tutorial on this very subject (link discovered by Lexxian fourthof5):
http://users.adelphia.net/~kamel/Posting.html 😀

If you visit a few boards, you’ll notice that rules (written or, all too often, unwritten) can vary considerably. For instance, I visited one board where you were not allowed to post more than a short paragraph because more than that was considered crassly and grossly self-indulgent. Needless to say, I got in trouble. 😆 At other sites, political and religious discussion is not tolerated, or it’s only really tolerated if you share the same bias. As what is acceptable varies, and many sites have numerous unwritten rules, you may sometimes feel like you have to test the waters a bit to define the posting parameters. Lurking a bit first is often a good idea since in some places the staff and members can be amazingly strict/intolerant. After reading the FAQs and/or rules, I go straight for the locked threads — gives you a feel for the place, and can, sometimes, be entertaining to boot.

Have a look at the rules here: http://www.genvid.com/forumrules.html Pretty soldier Sailor Moon demands much from her subjects. Hmm, looking at the forum, I do notice she doesn’t always enforce her Sailor powers. Still, very effective way to scare people off.

[Jhevz]

Thank you Logan,
for letting posters here know How to be a good poster & a link to rules on what’s appropriate & what’s not; I think sometimes we need to be reminded of Board ediquitte & not to forget that what we post may offend others.
Keep up this kind of posting.

Sci-Fi Fan to Sci-Fi Fan,
Jhevz 😉

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