How to Be the Best in a Web Forum

Forums are meant to be helpful by means of communication & information. Unfortunately, not everyone follows basic forum rules. Flaming, misbehaving, and getting off-topic is often a problem. The following steps will teach you how to be the master of your domain... or any forum, at least.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

1. All forums have rules. It would be very wise for you to read them before making your first post. This will save you, members, moderators and administrators a lot of time. Why? Simply due to the fact that almost half of all forum topics break their rules in some way, shape or form. Usually this is followed by the deletion of your topic, or immediate warning/ban.
2. Second rule: If you want to be respected, you have to respect others. People often come into forums asking for general help, but usually leave discontent thanks to a few of us who provide more flaming, insults and sarcastic jokes than actual answers. Do yourself a favor and help others. Besides, you never know when it will be YOUR turn to receive assistance.
3. When posting a new topic, TRY to provide as much information as possible. If asking a question on a malfunctioning application, for example, clearly state any errors given, if it has worked in the past, what changes you have made to your system recently, and so on. This will save everyone an unbelievable amount of time by providing a quick, helpful answer.
4. When replying to topics, please stay WITHIN the topic. Many members tend to introduce a new conversation that's very often irrelevant to the initial subject. Unfortunately, many other members get easily distracted and actually follow this trend. Before you know it, the subject in question has not yet been answered, and everyone's time has been wasted.
5. Take good initiative. People highly appreciate anyone who is prompt, informative, and helpful regardless the topic that is being addressed. Even if you are unsure of an answer (when replying to an open subject), feel free to provide an idea, along with any external links that may support your theory for such question.
6. Respect everyone's point of view. Forums are usually very open and honest. If you are involved in a religious conversation, for example, choose your words carefully. If you do not agree with any comments made by a forum member, send him/her a private message or handle the matter by contacting the forum's moderator(s). Do not create a scene that's meant to be kept between two individuals.
7. Feedback is always welcome in a forum. When someone provides useful information, express your gratitude. Even the smallest "Thanks" will mean something to the person who helped. If you need to correct someone, do it in a very respectful manner, as opposed to simply calling him or her an idiot for any wrongdoing.
8. Be the CEO of the community. Forum moderators and administrators are very helpful, but also busy people. They are not always available to take care of any misconduct in forum topics. If a topic with inappropriate behavior/material is created, immediately report it to one of your "higher ups". They will highly appreciate your ability to keep an eye open.
9. Forum creativity usually has no limits! If you feel that any community is lacking more categories or materials, feel free to express your thoughts to the community and the forum admin. People who oversee forums are always looking for ways to improve it, in order to better serve the community.
10. Keep things fun. If you sign into a particular forum one day, and there are no new topics and everything seems to be slow, don't end things there. Go ahead and create a new topic to give people a reason to remain active. These generic subjects may include "what your favorite music genre is" or simply the latest craze on TV shows.