one thing most forum sites do wrong that you can do right

[soaringeagle]

when you visit most forums  you will see stickie threads and 1 saying please read before posting wich says something to the effect of:

please search the forums first before posting to make sure your question hasnt been asked before"

then in many as you submit your post it even guesses at the content offers possible related posts  and finaly alows you to lost if none are related.

then your post might be ignored or if its replied to yiu get some annoying guy saying dont you know how to search?  or read the stickies its answered already

this puts you off from wanting to ask more questions  and severely limits interaction and ..content creation..

instead, be ready to ansswer the same question over and over with a friendly smile and  a well written answer if theres 1 particularly informative post you can ofcourse link to it for more info but not instead of an answer

why?

ok its simple  this accomplishes 2 goals

1 makes the question poster feel welcome and respected and a part of the community but more importantly to the nc's goals.. 1 more chance to rank number 1 for a search related to that question

ok lets say 29 ppl this month ask where can i buy the best cheese (silly hypothetical example)

the 1st 1 writs a short post it lists in google on page 100 for where can i buy the best cheese

poster 2 writes a lil more detail it ranks on page 20 3rd poster  shows up on page 5 4th poster shows on page 1 position 8 eventualy 1 makes it to position 1 then guess what can happen

in possition 1 u not only have that post 1 but a dozen more related posts from your site stacked under it (not ranking 1 2 3 4 5 but just listed with that high post cause they are related on the same site)

that builds your authority on the subjuct and gives u 27 times more avenues of entry for that keywords

i know it maybe tiring to answer the same question 5 times a day even when the same questions 2 posts down on the main page..lol but think abut how frustrating it is when your desperate for cheese and your told to just go searching searching searching instead of geting samsdeli downtown has the best deals in town

another side effect is that guy you just sent to sams will be more willing to answer the next guy that comes along looking for a bit of brie  or chedar or feta for the dinner party they are furiosly throwing together..

[doone]

I agree totally with you, who needs a lecture on searching.  The more cheese posts the better - it shows people like cheese!

[soaringeagle]

thats 1 of the things that sets u apart  i know many of not most of my members say they never joined other sites for that reason but because we answer every single post..and very quickly  they love our site and feel its like no other..

it really makes a huge difference

[Pat Robinson]

thank you for the motivation to keep answering the same question. :-)

[Jeff Bean]

*Like!*

[Strumelia]

Goods thoughts.  Thanks!  

I actually have a handful of small templates with my helpful answers to questions newcomers ask over and over. They don't feel like templates if you add a little personalization, but they still save a lot of time rather than typing the same info over and over from scratch.

Call me old fashioned, but... I like actual punctuation, too. It makes discussions easier to read and understand (assuming one is not texting their discussion from a cell phone).   :)

[soaringeagle]

i find punctuation absolutely useless except question marks

do you really pay any attention to commas at all??

[SweetPotato]

" i find punctuation absolutely useless except question marks"

That hadn't gone unnoticed. :-)

[Ron Fritzemeier]

lol

[Strumelia]

Commas??  Why yes, commas can inject a hundred subtle meanings with a single elegant keystroke!   lol!

Without capital letters and periods marking the beginning and end of sentences (indicating inflection), some folks start a new paragraph for every sentence, just to separate them somehow so things make some sense when read. That turns a single paragraph into many paragraphs that may or may not be related to each other in thought. Otherwise, it's like listening to a speaker drone on and on who never finishes their sentence. 

I 'get' that you don't have a problem with this, but it can be a problem for readers (or listeners). Certainly to each their own, my friend, but I for one have not completely given up on cohesive expression just yet!   (Gee, and me an old E.E.Cummings fan, no less!)  :)

Thanks for bringing up a good point in your thread.  Peace...

P.S. And I love cheese!