Ok so I have a few ideas about communication on here.

by **Cauldron** on Thu 4 Feb 2010 - 1:54

To be really honest, I am clicking on to and then straight off a lot of threads on here at the moment, because often I don't understand what is being said and often I am finding them way to long.
I am just going to make a few suggestions about how we can all make our posts more user friendly, I am doing this because I know we all have a lot to offer and it would be a shame for knowledge and experince not to be read.

PLEASE NOTE! this is just a few suggestions from me as a member of the site, I am not laying down rules as a member of staff. So please feel free to ignore them or disagree as you like.

When posting a thread where you are sharing knowledge

First off we should all remember that peoples knowledge levels on here differ, so a good hint here is to really read through our posts when we have written them and before we post them, if our thread is aimed at imparting information about something.
Yes of course we can all ask questions when we don't understand something but if a lot of a post is out side of a persons knowledge level then it becomes daunting.

Don't write posts that are more then a few paragraths long. 2 or 3 bullet points to start off with are enough to grab someones interest. A lot of people will see a longer post as just too much. You can always add more later when you know people are interested.

When replying to a subject

What are you being asked for, your opinon? for help? or for knowledge?

Don't inpart pages of knowledge to someone who is asking your opinon, it does little to open up an interesting conversation and just shows that you are capable of remembering information.
If you are asked for your knowldge then its probably going to be a longer post, but remember just because someone is interested in a topic, doesn't mean that they still will be by page 5 of your post!
If you are being asked for help (I don't mean emotional support) then try and keep it short and to the point, people often need quick advice.

(Please forgive the irony of the lengh of this post!)

by **Helen** on Thu 4 Feb 2010 - 2:13

Thank you Cauldron,

I understand what you are saying and I agree, some of the information coming in is really valuable, but when so long can be daunting to read all the way through, especially if you have limited or no knowledge of the subject.

Newer members may find that it is too much like hard work to read all of the threads coming in and may even stay away for fear of feeling silly....

Thanks again cauldron

by **Cauldron** on Thu 4 Feb 2010 - 2:14

Helen wrote:Thank you Cauldron,

I understand what you are saying and I agree, some of the information coming in is really valuable, but when so long can be daunting to read all the way through, especially if you have limited or no knowledge of the subject.

Newer members may find that it is too much like hard work to read all of the threads coming in and may even stay away for fear of feeling silly....

Thanks again cauldron

exactly i think that's a real worry and I know no one here would want to have that effect on new members