Imagine a tall cabinet with a lot of drawers.
  

Every one of the drawers is a forum area, (plant identification, garden pests, new members etc.)

Now in these drawers are folders, these folders are the topics.


You can make a new folder or topic yourself, but more on that later.

Now every one of these folders or topics contain the messages people post, just like writing something on a piece of paper and putting it in the folder in our imaginary drawer of this big file cabinet.


So lets say you're browsing around in the forum, you open one drawer on Garden Pests, you see all the file folders with tabs and writing on the tabs, those are the topics, you choose one in the beginning of the drawer to look into.
The topic or tab says “Snails and Slugs”.
You open up that folder and in it is the first page that has a question from someone that started the topic.
She asks; “How do I keep snails and slugs out of my garden?”

The next message is by someone else, she says to try Sluggo.

The next message is by someone else again and she explains how to use copper wire, slugs won't go over the wire.

A third message, again by someone else asks about adjusting their lawn mower so it doesn't cut so short.

Wait a minute!
What the heck is this doing in this folder? It don’t belong here, it’s called “hijacking”.
That is when someone either does not know how the forums work or just does not care.
She might never get an answer from someone that knows lawn mowers, because that person won’t be looking in a Garden Pests drawer to help someone out with a lawn mower problem because it just is not right.

The point here is put your questions about a problem in the right drawer or no one will find them and for someone looking in that drawer, it’s a little upsetting to see that sort of mistake. If that were to continue, the forum would be a mish-mash of all unrelated things!


Just try to find something in that pile of junk!

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Now let’s say you are a new member.
To get started on the right foot, you should read the forums for a few days and see what goes on.

Then you should go to the New Member’s area, or drawer, and make a topic or new folder, ( some people call it a thread. ) The title of this should be something like; Hi All, My name is (your name).
Then in the message area underneath you should repeat that and more, like where you are from, maybe your age, touch on your experience, like; “I have a large garden and sell my produce at a farmers market” Or; “I love quilting.”
Be brief, maybe 50 to 100 words, not your whole life’s history.

You see, that message is in the right place, it’s not attached to someone else's message it’s your OWN!

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The same holds true after you get your introductory message out.

So you are this master gardener that posted in the new member’s area, you have a question about slugs in the garden.
You should go to the Garden Pests area or drawer and start a new topic or folder in that area or drawer.
Your topic should be your question in brief, like; “How to keep slugs out of my garden.”

Then in the body of the message describe your question in greater detail…
Hi, I need help keeping the slugs out of my garden. They are eating everything up. I tried some sprays but that didn't help.

Then submit the question.

People will come back with advice and maybe more questions like what type of sprays have you tried, where do you live or other related questions.
Answer them if you want help!

Just imaging that you answered and suggested to try Sluggo, or are they attacking certain plants or what is the soil like.
And the person never came back to answer those questions.
Wouldn’t that make you a little upset?

Here you are a master gardener with years of experience trying to help someone out for free and they don’t even bother to answer your follow-up question! It sort of makes you not want to participate or help the next person out.
So, answer the questions people ask you the best you can, they are trying to help and need more information in order to help you!

Finally, when you read all the answers and get that pesky slug problem taken care of, stop back and say thanks!
It’s the polite thing to do.


Again, imagine you are that master gardener, you helped the person with the slugs, Sluggo took care of the problem.
She stops back at the same Garden Pests area and in the same folder and leaves a message that says;
“Thanks, (master gardener’s name), that was it and they are gone now!”
That makes the retired master gardener feel better that she helped someone and she is more likely to help someone else just because someone said thanks.

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Now those are the basics, there are bells and whistles in the forum that you will learn about later.

The key is to be polite, answer questions, try and be to the point, (most of the time) and treat others like you want to be treated.
Help others when you have knowledge of the subject, if you don’t have knowledge, don’t attempt to answer, that just confuses things, instead read and learn so when you have that problem, you will know the answer!

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I know others will comment on this or ask questions, but before you ask any questions read it all over a few times and try to think it out.

If you have comments, please keep them related to the subject.
No hijacking please!
It may make you look bad to some people.

It is not for any one person, it’s for all new members that have never experienced forums before.