EDN Admin
Well-known member
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif; font-size:9pt Hello and welcome to the MSDN Visual Basic Language Forums.
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif; font-size:9pt These forums are both a Question & Answer system for VB.Net related questions as well as a Discussion board for VB.Net Language related topics.
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif; font-size:9pt The following three guidelines will help you both to create a thread that is likely to be read and responded to by the many talented community members who volunteer their services to help others,
and to build a knowledge base of information from which others can learn and find answers.
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif; font-size:9pt Guideline #1: Create the correct kind of thread.
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif; font-size:9pt When you create a new thread (click the Ask a Question button) you have two options at the top of the Start a New Question or Discussion page. Be sure to select the appropriate option to either
ask a question or to start a discussion. The difference is that "ask a question" enables the Q&A system allowing contributors to suggest answers and allowing you to close the thread when your question is answered. A Discussion is an open-ended conversation
whose topic is not expected to have a specific answer.
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif; font-size:9pt When you create a new question, be sure to use the "Mark as Answer" link to close your thread after the question has been answered. There can be more than one post marked as answer in a single
thread, so mark whatever posts directly answered your question. Always select at least one post as answer once you are finished with the thread.
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif; font-size:9pt You can also mark a post as helpful (whether or not is answers your question) by clicking the "Vote as helpful" link under the name of the person who made the post.
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif; font-size:9pt Guideline #2: Write a good post.
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif; font-size:9pt Writing a good post means that you first create a descriptive title for your thread. Never use titles like "Help Me" or "I Need Help" or "Please Help!!!" Always use titles that briefly
describe the question at hand, or the topic to be discussed e.g. "Creating Controls at Runtime", "How do I draw and move a picture on my form?", "Looking for advice on how to (do something)". Never try to post your entire question in the title.
Ensure that the title is brief and to the point.
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif; font-size:9pt At this point you could be done before you even write your question. As you move focus to the Body editor in the new post, the page will attempt to find links to other questions similar to yours.
You should take a moment to right click and open in a new tab, or window, any links that look like they could be relevant.
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif; font-size:9pt If none of the suggestions help answer your question, then you can continue to use the Body editor to create your post.
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif; font-size:9pt When writing your post, be sure take the time to explain yourself as best you can, and edit yourself for punctuation and grammar. If people have to work very hard to decipher what you are trying
to ask then they may misunderstand and answer something other than what you were asking, or they might simply give up and go look for a post that the user took their time to create. In this forum, you will often find that the level of effort you receive
is directly proportional to the level of effort you put in.
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif; font-size:9pt Never use text-message abbreviations when writing a complete sentence (you can use LOL and the like of course, but dont make people try to read things like "c u l8r!").
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif; font-size:9pt Always include the message text of an Exception (error) if one is occurring in your code.
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif; font-size:9pt Whenever possible, try to include a brief example of the code in question. Always indicate which line or lines contain the problem or cause the exception. Always use the Insert Code button in
the editor (looks like a box with lines and <> in it). Paste your code into the dialog that opens and select the VB Language from the dropdown at the top. If you find that blank lines are lost after you submit your post, put a space on each
blank line in the editor before clicking the Insert button.
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif; font-size:9pt Guideline #3: Be polite and patient.
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif; font-size:9pt The vast majority of the contributors of this site are all volunteers who enjoy sharing their knowledge and helping others solve problems. While you will see Microsoft Staff (and Contingent
Staff) from time to time, most of the replies to this forum come from people who do this because they want to, not because they are paid to.
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif; font-size:9pt Obviously being a jerk rarely gets you anywhere with other people. So there probably is much to say about being polite.
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif; font-size:9pt You should allow up to three days for a response to your question. The practice of "bumping" is discouraged and generally unnecessary as the site offers filters to view unanswered questions
or questions with no response. If no one replies to your post after three days, consider editing the post. Make sure youve followed the guideline on writing a good post and try to add more detail if you can.
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif; font-size:9pt Never make duplicate posts or post the same question in different forums. When found, duplicates will be merged or deleted depending on the existing replies.
In Summary
By following these three guidelines you can ensure the best possible response to your inquiry and can help to create a valuable repository of useful information.
If you have comments about, or suggestions for, this thread please start a new discussion titled "RE: How to Use this Forum" (or something similar) and provide your feedback. <hr class="sig Reed Kimble - "When you do things right, people wont be sure youve done anything at all"
View the full article
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif; font-size:9pt These forums are both a Question & Answer system for VB.Net related questions as well as a Discussion board for VB.Net Language related topics.
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif; font-size:9pt The following three guidelines will help you both to create a thread that is likely to be read and responded to by the many talented community members who volunteer their services to help others,
and to build a knowledge base of information from which others can learn and find answers.
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif; font-size:9pt Guideline #1: Create the correct kind of thread.
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif; font-size:9pt When you create a new thread (click the Ask a Question button) you have two options at the top of the Start a New Question or Discussion page. Be sure to select the appropriate option to either
ask a question or to start a discussion. The difference is that "ask a question" enables the Q&A system allowing contributors to suggest answers and allowing you to close the thread when your question is answered. A Discussion is an open-ended conversation
whose topic is not expected to have a specific answer.
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif; font-size:9pt When you create a new question, be sure to use the "Mark as Answer" link to close your thread after the question has been answered. There can be more than one post marked as answer in a single
thread, so mark whatever posts directly answered your question. Always select at least one post as answer once you are finished with the thread.
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif; font-size:9pt You can also mark a post as helpful (whether or not is answers your question) by clicking the "Vote as helpful" link under the name of the person who made the post.
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif; font-size:9pt Guideline #2: Write a good post.
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif; font-size:9pt Writing a good post means that you first create a descriptive title for your thread. Never use titles like "Help Me" or "I Need Help" or "Please Help!!!" Always use titles that briefly
describe the question at hand, or the topic to be discussed e.g. "Creating Controls at Runtime", "How do I draw and move a picture on my form?", "Looking for advice on how to (do something)". Never try to post your entire question in the title.
Ensure that the title is brief and to the point.
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif; font-size:9pt At this point you could be done before you even write your question. As you move focus to the Body editor in the new post, the page will attempt to find links to other questions similar to yours.
You should take a moment to right click and open in a new tab, or window, any links that look like they could be relevant.
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif; font-size:9pt If none of the suggestions help answer your question, then you can continue to use the Body editor to create your post.
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif; font-size:9pt When writing your post, be sure take the time to explain yourself as best you can, and edit yourself for punctuation and grammar. If people have to work very hard to decipher what you are trying
to ask then they may misunderstand and answer something other than what you were asking, or they might simply give up and go look for a post that the user took their time to create. In this forum, you will often find that the level of effort you receive
is directly proportional to the level of effort you put in.
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif; font-size:9pt Never use text-message abbreviations when writing a complete sentence (you can use LOL and the like of course, but dont make people try to read things like "c u l8r!").
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif; font-size:9pt Always include the message text of an Exception (error) if one is occurring in your code.
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif; font-size:9pt Whenever possible, try to include a brief example of the code in question. Always indicate which line or lines contain the problem or cause the exception. Always use the Insert Code button in
the editor (looks like a box with lines and <> in it). Paste your code into the dialog that opens and select the VB Language from the dropdown at the top. If you find that blank lines are lost after you submit your post, put a space on each
blank line in the editor before clicking the Insert button.
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif; font-size:9pt Guideline #3: Be polite and patient.
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif; font-size:9pt The vast majority of the contributors of this site are all volunteers who enjoy sharing their knowledge and helping others solve problems. While you will see Microsoft Staff (and Contingent
Staff) from time to time, most of the replies to this forum come from people who do this because they want to, not because they are paid to.
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif; font-size:9pt Obviously being a jerk rarely gets you anywhere with other people. So there probably is much to say about being polite.
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif; font-size:9pt You should allow up to three days for a response to your question. The practice of "bumping" is discouraged and generally unnecessary as the site offers filters to view unanswered questions
or questions with no response. If no one replies to your post after three days, consider editing the post. Make sure youve followed the guideline on writing a good post and try to add more detail if you can.
<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif; font-size:9pt Never make duplicate posts or post the same question in different forums. When found, duplicates will be merged or deleted depending on the existing replies.
In Summary
By following these three guidelines you can ensure the best possible response to your inquiry and can help to create a valuable repository of useful information.
If you have comments about, or suggestions for, this thread please start a new discussion titled "RE: How to Use this Forum" (or something similar) and provide your feedback. <hr class="sig Reed Kimble - "When you do things right, people wont be sure youve done anything at all"
View the full article