Welcome to the forums!
This guide will share some ways to improve the quality of your posting by helping you increase the readability and usefulness of your posts.
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General Posting
While generally the length of your post is unimportant, we have set minimal character of 32 for each post. This should get rid of pointless spam such as "I agree", "Yes", etc. without further details, which contribute nothing to the thread or the forum.
It is the information conveyed by your post that is important. Develop your ideas before posting so that you include only relevant information. A good response should fully explain itself.
Never reply to any threads with "use the
search button" or "Google it". This is rude and contributes nothing to the thread. Should you feel it necessary to inform a poster of an already existing similar thread, post a link to that existing thread with a reminder that use of the search function on the forum could have been beneficial.
Post Structure
The proper use of sentence and paragraph structure will make your posts easier to read. Don't be afraid of punctuation or the enter key, these give the reader a place to rest.
Proper usage of spelling and grammar also makes your posts easier to read. It also lends credibility to your posts, and gives your opinion more weight.
Swearing
Don't do it. There is nothing in the pet owners' world that cannot be expressed without the use of vulgar language. Using it only detracts from the point of the post. There are plenty of ways to indicate displeasure or intensity without the use of the small handful of words that are socially unacceptable.
Communicating Emotion
Emotions and moods are parts of what make us human, and are also something that can frequently affect the quality of a post. There is much that is lost in written word communication. Audio and visual clues that indicate humor or sarcasm are completely lost. Some of this can be regained by using emoticons, such as
. Although overuse of them will detract from your post more than it will add. Take this into consideration as you are both reading and writing posts.
This is especially important in heated discussions. It is expected that in these types of discussions there will frequently be argumentative and/or disagreeable members. Should you come across posts that you feel are inflammatory, contact a Moderator rather than respond in kind.
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These simple guidelines will improve not only the quality of your posts, but the quality of the forums. Hope this helps you out!
