[wp-forums] Advice For Using The WordPress Forum

[Michael E. Hancock]

From: "Jeff Chandler" <jeffro at jeffro2pt0.com>
> I'm planning on writing a featured article on the use of the WordPress 
> forums which will provide tips, advice, etc...



Jeff,

Here's a few things:

1.  A new user may want to read the Forum Rules at 
http://wordpress.org/support/topic/68664?replies=6
2.  Report inappropriate posts/threads by adding the 'modlook' tag to that 
thread
3.  Link to Codex article by using the wiki code of two beginning and ending 
brackets.  [[Template Hierarchy]] will create a link to that article in 
Codex.
4.  Try to place your question in the correct Forum--if it is related to 
Plugins use the Plugins and Hacks Forum.
5.  If needing to put a large code example in your thread, paste the code in 
a pastebin and put the link to that code in the thread
6.  Click on View Your Profile to see all your threads.  Note:  Currently 
the Threads Started feature is broken.
7.  You can initiate a forum topic from a particular plugin at the WordPress 
Extend Plugins site.  At the bottom of each plugin page there is a "Write a 
new topic" link that displays a form to enter the topic and automatically 
creates a tag related to that specific plugin and automatically selects the 
Plugins and Hacks Forum.
8. A new topic is started by first selecting (entering) the particular Forum 
(e.g. Installation) and at the bottom of the screen, the New Topic form is 
displayed.
9. Use the Version box when starting a new topic.  If the Version isn't 
listed, select Other and then type the Version in the box.
10. A tip from LesBessant--you can hide the tag cloud in Firefox by adding 
the file usercontent.css to the 
...\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\xxxxxx.default\chrome folder.  Put this in the 
file:
.frontpageheatmap, #hottags {
display: none;
}
11. Use the Report a Site Bug link at the bottom of the screen to report 
bugs with the forum software.
12 . When creating a new topic, make the topic be descriptive and brief. 
"Help me now" is a poor topic.
13.  If asking a question about a plugin or theme provide a link to download 
the plugin/theme.
14.  Use meaningful tags.  Using the same tags as the topic isn't very 
useful, but using keywords from the topic is good.
15.  Make use of the search before starting a new topic.  Also a Google 
search such as "wordpress plugin cforms" will return a good list of info 
about the Cforms plugin.

MichaelH