This group's etiquette

  • Thread starter Thread starter Louise
  • Start date Start date
L

Louise

Hi I'm new to news groups and a fairly green programmer. I would like to
know if there is any limit to how many questions I should be asking? Is it
OK to ask another question of someone who has responded to a query about a
different issue - or should I start a new post? Being so green I may not be
able to answer questions - is this OK? I just don't want to take the
proverbial and annoy people.

Thanks, Louise - P.S. could you let me know if my email address is showing
on the reply. - Please respond through the group if it is
 
Hi Louise,

No limit to the amount of questions, there is an expectation that the
newsgroups show you the way (help you to learn), in a lot of cases will give
you direct answers, but don't expect that every time. Make sure the title of
your post is relevant and descriptive, don't go mad on the size of the
title, 10-15 words max. Make your questions as descriptive as possible.
Include your code if you are having problems with a piece of code. Please
don't address your post's to individuals as others may ignore them thinking
it is targeted at specific person. Please Please use google groups first to
search for your specific problem before posting as this has the complete
history of the newsgroups.

http://groups-beta.google.com/


A couple of links to help you on your way.

http://www.newsreaders.com/guide/netiquette.html

http://www.wjh.harvard.edu/wjh/newsgrp.shtml

and good luck.....
 
Louise:

Your email address is showing. I would NOT recommend putting your real
email address in a public newsgroup.



You may ask as many questions as you like, but please try to locate an
answer FIRST. My pet peeve is seeing the same questions posted all the time
when the answeres are right there (often even on the same day as the poster
asks the questions again. Use the help files, and search for previous posts
in these newsgroups. Use google.com and click on "groups". Then enter...

microsoft.public.access Xxxxxxxxx

Where Xxxxxxxx are keywords that you think might locate posts on your topic.



Generally speaking, it is better to start a new thread when you have a new
issue. It is better to continue to post to your existing thread if you have
questions related to the responses given to you there.



Good Luck,
 
Rick is totally correct don't use you real email address in plain form.

but I am advertising my real email address and happy doing so because I have
very good spam filtering in place, but for most people this is not a good
idea as your email address will harvested, by automatic crawlers your email
address is then sold to very nice people (I am trying to keep it polite) who
try to sell you everything on the planet.

break your email address up e.g. (e-mail address removed)1e.u1k and then say
remove the ones if you want people to know your email address,
 
Louise,
In addition to Alex's Netiquette links...

In your questions... try to strike a good balance between brevity and
detail. Too much of either can be a problem.
Be specific about error messages and failures.
Let folks know, briefly, what solutions you have tried so far.
Be patient in awaiting a response.
If someone responds, post back to them with the results of your trying
their suggestions... good, bad, or indifferent.
If you happen to solve your own problem, post that info (including the
solution) under your original question.
Welcome,
Al Camp
 
Louise,

Answer questions if and when you are able. To add to what has already been
said, be as precise as you can in describing what you are trying to do. Use
plain English until you are comfortable with database terminology. Add your
own question to an exchange only when it is relevant to the thread. Perhaps
a solution to somebody else's question will be very close to what you have
been trying to do, and you will ask for help applying it to your situation.
In general, though, start a new thread when you have a new question. Take
some time to read through some of the postings. You may discover things you
didn't know could be done.
It's fine to identify yourself as a beginner, but please don't ever feel the
need to apologize for that. Some people do, which is the only reason I
mention it. The most sophisticated Access experts out there (and some who
post here are quite expert indeed) was a beginner once.
 
Everyone,

Thanks for your advice - great to feel so welcome - I have already used the
advice about searching on Google and found it useful, although the thing I
searched for info about had not yielded any replies - perhaps it is an
intractable problem, anyway I shall try again here.

Louise
 
Hi I'm new to news groups and a fairly green programmer. I would like to
know if there is any limit to how many questions I should be asking? Is it
OK to ask another question of someone who has responded to a query about a
different issue - or should I start a new post? Being so green I may not be
able to answer questions - is this OK? I just don't want to take the
proverbial and annoy people.
Click to expand...

Everyone who answers questions here is a volunteer (even Microsoft
employees who answer questions here do so on their own time, I
understand). We're here because we can help, and want to do so.
There's no obligation to post answers; if you see a question and you
have an answer (and you're comfortable that it's correct!) feel free
to post it - that's what it's all about, peer to peer support, users
helping each other.

But nobody will be annoyed if you ask questions; just bear the other
suggestions in mind, post in appropriate newsgroups, provide enough
details so the question can be understood, and you'll be fine. Thanks
for asking, and welcome to the newsgroups!

John W. Vinson[MVP]
 
Sometimes it just does not seem possible to frame a search topic in Google
groups, especially when you are trying to do something but don't know what to
call it. For instance, if you are trying to see just records that meet
certain criteria, it is a lot easier to find information if you know that you
need to filter the records.
 
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