I've been a bit confused as to where the line is drawn between the Guidelines for Posting that I'm suppoed to write and the Mistakes/Pitfalls that gbn is working on. I realised that the division really should be about things to do BEFORE making a post, and then things to watch out for within the content of posts that people make. With this in mind, I've made the following revisions to the guidelines for posting, and changed the title. Then the doc gbn is working on could be about writing your post, and common mistakes and pitfalls to avoid.
At least, this division makes sense to me. Hope it's okay I re-wrote before awaiting feedback. The content hasn't hugely changed, but I think this is much more readable than the last version I posted.
Here the scurvy document be:
Before you make your post: a two-point checklist
If you've got something to say, there are two important things to consider before writing your post.
1. Has someone else said this before?
One thing we do try to minimise within the forum is repetition. It can occur when people don't bother reading an entire thread before writing their post, but more commonly it occurs because people begin new threads to ask questions without first performing a search of the forum for existing threads that discuss their topic.
If you have something you'd like to say in the forum, before writing your post you should first browse through existing threads and perform a search to see whether something similar is already being discussed in a thread - you might discover that what you're looking for is already in the forum. For instructions and tips on how to search englishforum.ch, see
here.
If you find a thread that addresses the issue you were hoping to talk about, you can continue the discussion within the thread by clicking the "Post Reply" button, which is located in the top and bottom left-hand corners of each page in the thread. If you cannot find a thread that addresses the issue you have in mind, then it may be best to start a new thread. (For a definition of terms such as post and thread, please see the
Glossary of Forum Terms).
2.Where should I make my post?
If you're starting a new thread, you must choose a forum to put it in. The forums in englishforum.ch are organized into six categories:
- Living in Switzerland
- Help and Tips
- Activities
- Marketplace
- Off-Topic
- Support.
To find out which forum is most appropriate for your post, carefully read all the forum descriptions for each category on the
englishforum.ch index page. We also have a more detailed list of forum descriptions
here. If none of the forums in any category seem appropriate, there are three places you can put off-topic material:
- Daily Life: a forum for discussing aspects of day-to-day life in Switzerland that don't fit into other sections.
- Other/General (in Help and Tips category): a forum that addresses questions and answers related to practical issues of living in Switzerland.
- Off-Topic: this is a category that contains forums and sub-forums about things that have no connection to Switzerland.
Once you've decided which forum to post in, you can start a new thread by clicking on the forum or sub-forum name in the englishforum.ch index page (e.g. Swiss Politics/News, Free Stuff) and clicking on the "New Thread" button located to the upper left of the forum.
Writing your post: the next step
One you progress to the stage of writing your post, we encourage you to follow the guidelines we have for writing posts, which are outlined in
this document. Things that may seem relatively unimportant at first, such as the wording of the title or the smilies you add to your post, can make a huge difference to the way your post is received. Included in the document is a list of common mistakes and pitfalls to avoid.
We hope you enjoy your time in the forum and actively participate in it.
Happy posting!
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