The Forums

Forums should have a Readme Sticky, and if I was to write one, this would be my starting point.

Before you create a new thread requesting support at the forums:

1. Is it relevant? Remember that this is a WordPress forum, and that people such as myself who spend time here will answer questions on WordPress first - and probably best. Yes, we will help with CSS and plugins, but if you want to install other wierd stuff on your page, maybe this forum is not the ideal place ?
2. Register. There are many people that post anonymously, and if you start a thread as 'anon', then another 'anon' posts, and you post again ... it gets confusing. Registering is free. It's easy. It makes tracking your own posts very easy. Do it.
3. Don't diss those of us who take the time to help others out by posting something unhelpful anonymously. It annoys us.
4. Only ask questions if you are prepared for the answer. For example, your mileage might vary with the following question : "Is my site great ?"
5. Search. There are over 100,000 posts in the database, so maybe it's already been solved, or maybe the solutions in another thread don't work - so say so.
6. Search better. Use Google for your search, which might yield useful answers from outside the wordpress.org site. If you only want results from the wordpress.org site, put 'site:wordpress.org' at the end (without the quotes).
7. For continuity, when providing more information do not create a new thread. Just update the one you already started.

Now if you really need to create a new thread at the forums :

1. Be polite - all of the support available at the forums is voluntary, and we have a reputation (of being polite) to maintain.
2. Have a good topic title
   • Bad : "Please help a newbie"
   • Good : "Problem with reordering Links"
   More generally, imagine looking at the index of an archive of questions, with just the subject lines showing. Make your subject line reflect your question well enough that the next guy searching the archive with a question similar to yours will be able to follow the thread to an answer rather than posting the question again.
3. Write in clear, grammatical, correctly-spelled language.
   • People who are careless and sloppy writers are usually also careless and sloppy at thinking and coding (often enough to bet on, anyway). Answering questions for careless and sloppy thinkers is not rewarding; we'd rather spend our time elsewhere. So expressing your question clearly and well is important. If you can't be bothered to do that, we can't be bothered to pay attention.
   • Spend the extra effort to polish your language. It doesn't have to be stiff or formal, but it has to be precise; there has to be some indication that you're thinking and paying attention.
   • Spell, punctuate, and capitalize correctly. Don't TYPE IN ALL CAPS, this is read as shouting and considered rude. (All-smalls is only slightly less annoying, as it's difficult to read.)
   • Writing like a l33t script kiddie hax0r is the absolute kiss of death and guarantees you will receive nothing but stony silence (or, at best, a heaping helping of scorn and sarcasm) in return.
4. Be precise and informative about your problem
   • Describe the symptoms of your problem or bug carefully and clearly.
   • Describe the environment in which it occurs (Server's OS, MySQL, PHP versions, desktop OS, whatever else).
   • Describe the research you did to try and understand the problem before you asked the question.
   • Describe the diagnostic steps you took to try and pin down the problem yourself before you asked the question.
   • Describe any recent changes in your computer or software configuration that might be relevant.
   • Do the best you can to anticipate the questions a hacker will ask, and to answer them in advance in your request for help.
5. Describe the goal, not the step
   • Bad: How do I display only a link to an article?
   • Good: How do I create a page with a listing of the complete archives?
6. Describe the problem's symptoms, not your guesses
   • Bad: I suspect wp-login.php is broken
   • Good: I am not able to login. I have tried all the methods outlined in <links here>, and my server specs are <specs here>.
7. Do not post your entire stylesheet to the forum. We use browser tools which means we can see and work with the CSS you have on your page.
8. Do not post your entire 'index.php' to the forums - it is very hard to read in there. Only post those small sections that you are asked for.
9. If you are going to post code, then enclose your code in `backticks`. If you don't, it will make a mess of the thread, and make the responses you want to read difficult to make out.
   If you really need to post a lot of code, post it to one of these sites, and then post the URL you are given to the forums with your explanation of what is needed.
   • http://www.pastebin.com
   • http://paste.uni.cc
   • http://pastebin.ca
10. Please do not expect to receive answers through email. If you are too lazy to come back to the forum, folks might be too lazy to answer as well. Also, the answer will be useful for future problems only if it is on the forum.
11. If you post asking for urgent help, and yet you next post to that thread some 6 hours later, it wasn't really that urgent was it ? Be judicious in the use of words like "Urgent".
12. When you ask for help, one of the first things we will do is validate your code. This is done here: http://validator.w3.org for your XHTML and http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/ for your CSS. We do not do this to be geeky, superior, patronising or anything similar. We do this because if your code is not valid, it will produce odd results, and us suggesting a fix for the problem you posted with may produce further odd results. If your code is valid, we can find results that will work. If you are trying to get your code valid, and you do not understand what the validator is saying, then please do post.

After you have made the post, follow it up:

1. If a solution posted to the forum works, then say so. This not only gives you the chance to thank those that helped you, but also means that when someone searches for that problem at a later date, they can see that what was proposed does work. It helps others. That helps WordPress.
2. Do not bump your forum thread. Every problem is equally important, and if your problem has gone unanswered for a long time, like 24 hours, then think as to how you can provide more details for someone trying to help, and elaborate on your original problem statement. This also acts as a "bump" albeit a more useful one, and one that will get you results.
3. If you have mentioned on your blog that you had a problem, and the forums gave you the answer, then state that fact in a posting. A generic - "I figured out my problem and fixed it" - that gives no credit to the people who took time out to help you is not as good as a plug for someone who put in the time and effort to help you.
4. If someone has really helped you, think about linking to their page, or link to them in a post. It's a nice way to say "Thank you".
5. Personal note: Leave a visible link to WordPress on your page at all times. You'd like credit for something you did wouldn't you ?

Please read How To Ask Questions The Smart Way. It is an excellent guide with lots of tips as to how to get answers to your questions on forums.

If you have any constructive comments on this, then you can post to the forum thread