The following outline will provide some rules and guidelines on how to ask questions the smart way, how to answer to best help your peers and how to behave to keep the Community Moderators, Support Team and everyone else happy.
Rules
The following rules must be obeyed, they are for the good of all the members of the forum. Breach of these rules will result in a user being banned from the forum, after a warning.
1. Respect the Forum Staff
We provide a service in our free time to keep the forum running efficiently; we are not here to make life harder for anyone. Any decision taken by the Administrators and Community Moderators is final and will be respected. Do not argue with the Staff in a thread. If you want to discuss an issue, do it by email or by a PM (Private Message) but do not message support staff directly for support unless offered.
2. Do Not be Abusive
Abuse doesn't get you anywhere. It generates bad feelings and is very likely to get you suspended from the forum. We're here to help each other not fight.
3. Use Informative Titles
Instead of using a title like "Heellllppp!!!?!!!" or "ARGH Zikula broke AGAIN!!!!!", use a title that is specific. Such as "FAQ Module Not Sending Emails" or "Install Results in BLANK SCREEN". A clear title will attract more views to your thread, as it gives a clear indication of the content of the post in a mature manner. Experienced users usually have little time for immature complaints. Ultimately this will allow you to get more help of a better quality. Failure to comply will normally result in your thread being ignored.
4. Do Not Cross-Post (Double-Post)
Posting your thread in several parts of the forum is immature. Just because it's in more than one location doesn't mean that more people are going to answer it. In fact quite the opposite normally as experienced members have little time for this sort of behavior, staff members will close all offending threads. Posts or threads advertising other posts are also seen as cross-posting.
5. Do Not Advertise
We are not a space to advertise your product, and you are not permitted to do so without the express consent of the Staff. Links to commercial sites and products may also be considered as ads. Check before you post them, see signature rules below.
6. Do not post images containing nudity, violence or otherwise offending content.
This is a friendly support forum and we do not want to cause offense.
7. Do not breach copyright
This is to prevent the forum from being sued. So please make sure you have permission before posting that super cool wallpaper you found to the gallery.
8. Don't post Religious or Political threads
There are many forums for such posts. This isn't one of them. Most people have strong feelings on these topics and may be offended.
Guidelines
These guidelines if followed can help you get more from the forum and make it a more pleasurable experience for everyone.
General
1. Be polite.
This is a user forum and we all do this as a hobby, in our free time. Please and thank you can get you a long way.
2. Try to make understanding as easy as possible.
We're an international forum with users from all over the world and not all of us are fluent in English. Write in as proper English as you are capable of. Honest mistakes are fine, we all make them.
Remember:
- Write in English.
- Add white space to your posts. Use enter for paragraphs.
- Capitalize Correctly. All uppercase is considered screaming and very rude. All lower is hard to read.
- Use correct punctuation. Never use more than one question mark or exclamation mark and only at the end of a sentence.
- Never use "texting abbreviations", "leet-speak" or slang. The purpose of language is being understood, not sounding cool.
- Never invent acronyms, use as few acronyms as possible. It's called a problem, not a "pb" and a question, not a "Q".
- Never use colors in all of your posts. Colors are there to highlight something important.
- Read your post over before posting it. Try to catch typos. If you find an error after posting, use the Edit button to make your corrections.
- Don't "bump" your post by adding a second post with no worthwhile content. If you haven't received a response in over 24 hours, consider following up with the efforts you've tried in the meantime and their result. Naturally, if you forgot to add important information, a second post or an edit of your first post is acceptable.
3. Report bad posts.
If you discover an abusive post or someone posting a thread in the wrong section, report it to the staff using the "Notify MOD" link, that is below every post.
4. Go easy on the images.
They may help to explain something more clearly or indicate a problem you are experiencing better but you have to remember that not everyone has the same amount of bandwidth to waste on downloading large image files. If you feel you have to post images, make sure that they're properly compressed and no more than 100KB at the absolute most. **Links to images always work better than embedding the image itself.**
5. Trolling, Flaming and Whining threads will be closed.
If you're displeased with Zikula and want to leave parting remarks, do so with dignity and respect. Remember that the Forum is users helping users and that we can't 'fix' the distro itself, but can report bus to the developers.
Signature Guidelines
1. Use no more than 4 lines of text in a signature, or one inch on a screen (~72 pixels).
2. If you wish to use a image logo, it must not to be more than 20KB in size and not to be more than the size of a standard avatar, or one inch tall on a screen. Try to keep the width under 400px.
3. If you wish to promote yourself or a business entity to which you are directly related to, you are permitted a link and some text not to extend past 4 lines. Advertising in your signature, outside of the guidelines above will not be allowed.
4. Do not use offensive material in your signature.
When Asking Questions
1. Read the documentation for the area you are working with FIRST! Also, search community.zikula.org before asking questions. Check the Getting Support Wiki for assistance. Search the Zikula mailing lists (Google Groups) and give Google a whirl as well. There's a good chance your question has been answered before.
2. Details, details, details! Don't be brief. Include your Zikula version, Module version, Theme or other pertinent information and everything you think might help. If you're using 3rd party Modules explain where you got them from. Link to screen shots or other files if you think it might be useful.
3. Don't talk yourself down. Don't call yourself an idiot, we have all been newbies at some point. Don't add things like this to your posts:
Quote:
I know I'm an idiot but I just can't figure this out..
No question is too stupid.
4. Don't mark your question as important or critical. All questions asked are equally important.
5. Come back to the forum even after your question has been answered and give your thanks to the people who helped you. Try to generate that good, warm, fuzzy feeling amongst your peers. And, as your skills increase, consider coaching others.
6. If you get help outside the forum, or figure out the answer yourself, come back to your post and give a brief description of the solution. This is a community and it will benefit others.
When Answering Questions
1. Don't be cruel. We have all been newbies at one point and no one needs someone telling them how stupid they are.
2. Don't use jargon in your instructions if it can be avoided, newbies may not understand. If you don't have any better answer than RTFM (Read the fine manual), just be quiet.
3. Point the user to existing resources if they can provide useful information. Use community documentation in your answers, adding the solutions in the Wiki once a problem is solved is a good idea as well.
4. Always assume the the user has a default installation unless you're told otherwise. Unless, required, don't instruct users to modify core files, as upgrades may overwrite them in the future.
5. Always assume that the user is a newbie unless you're certain the user is not. Give detailed instructions.
6. Use proper formatting, use[CODE] tags around code. You can attach files and pictures that you think might help.
7. Do things the Zikula-way. There are always more than one solution to a problem, choose the one you think will be the easiest for the user. Try to think as a newbie and choose the simplest solution.
8. Explain each step of the solution. The ideal solution to a problem should be able to teach the user how to solve similar problems in the future. Teach people to fish, don't just throw them a salmon.
Thank you for using Zikula.
