Netiquette

When I started answering questions there were NNTP Newsgroups and we moderated ourselves and so came our own set of *Netiquette* Rules.  This is MY adaptation of the Rules from The Access Web .

Asking Questions in any Forum and/or Newsgroup

I knew I shouldn’t have posted my eMail address in a public forum!

1. Do not expect an answer via your personal eMail
   1. You should also not post your eMail address in a public forum as you are inviting spam and…
   2. Sending a reply to you and you alone does not benefit the next person with the same problem
2. Do not send unsolicited eMail to folks posting answers
   1. A lot of us, if not most us, have day jobs and volunteer in our spare time to answer questions and…
   2. See 1(2)
3. Multi-posting is takes up valuable time
   1. Posting the same question to multiple forums takes time away from others posting questions and see 2(1)
4. Use the subject line properly, *Help* does not tell us anything
   1. A question with a proper subject line is more likely to get a reply than one with a generic cry for help
   2. The subject line should be brief, yet descriptive of the problem
   3. Don’t forget to select Office Version, Operating System and/or Business Application
5. ALL CAPS is considered yelling (and it’s harder to read)
6. Clear and descriptive questions are more likely to get an answer
   1. If you get an error number, include that!
   2. Letting us know what your tables, queries and/or forms and/or reports look like and what you are trying to accomplish helps us answer your questions
7. Be patient!
   1. See 2(1), however…
   2. If your question remains unanswered for a day or two then take another look at it and make sure it is clear and descriptive AND is in the correct forum.
8. Please don’t post your new question to an old thread, even if the issue is the same but the resolution did work for you.  It is likely to be ignored and you may never get an answer.
   1. However, feel free to include a link to that particular post if you feel it will help us help you.
   2. For tips on how to ask a *good* question, see Microsoft KB Article 555375
9. If your question was answered, please return and mark it so
   1. This lets us know that no additional help is needed so we can move on to the next Poster and…
   2. …is bound help another poster with the same problem
10. Cite your source…
    1. …when posting code, especially if you have modified it.  It is difficult to remember every line of code ever written and spending time trying to remember what it was before you modified it may cuase one to move on to an easier thread.

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