Getting help, asking questions - using forums

Forums or message boards are where people gather together on the web to ask questions, answer questions, discuss problems, exchange information, and chat. Unlike chat rooms, forums have moderators, who check that posts are relevant, suitable, and polite. Offenders will be warned, and persistent offenders blocked from using the board.

Most forums require you to register, and to log-in. Choose a nick-name if you don't want to use your real name, choose a password (something you'll remember!), fill in as much of the information as is required, add as many extra details as you feel comfortable with, and get ready to be enlightened.

You may prefer to "lurk" (a techie term meaning to read messages rather than to post them) until you've become familiar with the board. When you do post, you need to choose the right section of the board, and to include only one topic in each post. If you have three questions, you make three posts.

Make sure your subject heading describes your question - don't use headings like "Please help" or "I'm confused!" Other users scanning the headers won't have any idea what your question is going to be about - they may not take the time to open and read your post. You may miss advice from busy experts.

So here are some of my favourite boards - hope to see you around soon!

Help with web building
Site Ownershttp://www.siteownersforums.com
From beginners to experts.
Site Pointhttp://www.sitepointforums.com
One of the most well-known sites, for all levels.
Web Developerhttp://www.webdevforums.com
Webmasterhttp://www.webmaster-forums.net

Help with your PC
The Newbie Clubhttp://newbieclub.com/?pramclub
Beginners welcome, no tech-speak. You'll need to join, but
it's free, and gives full access to the tutorials as well as
the forum.
PC911http://www.pcnineoneone.com/index.html
Also includes very useful *How to* section.

Help with your e-mail
Tek-tipshttp://www.tek-tips.com/
Not just e-mail, and all levels.

Help creating e-books
Ebook Friendshttp://www.ebookfriends.com/
Help on all ebook programs, all levels.
eBook Forumhttp://www.ebookforum.com/
Help on reading devices, creating and promoting ebooks.

Help creating an e-zine
EP Digesthttp://www.epdigest.com/
Small but helpful.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dianne Reuby is co-author of the e-book "First Website Builder". Dianne created and runs the First Web Builder site, dedicated to providing ebooks and tips for new webmasters.
Visit FWB at http://firstwebbuilder.co.uk/

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