A quick guide to using forums, posting etc.

[Stephanie]

Guide to Forums – getting started, posting, replying and new threads

Getting started

Firstly, make sure you have placed your organization’s details on your user profile, and set up a showcase including a link to your website in our BizLinks area.

To try to develop a sense of community we encourage everyone to take part in discussions, but obviously that takes up time, so we appreciate there are some areas you will find useful and others you will wish to ignore. Have a look at the different forums and decide which ones you would like to get involved in. If there is something you want to discuss that you do not feel is covered by current forums then please let us know – there is a thread in the learning centre called ‘ideas for BizFace’. If you do not wish to state this publicly feel free to send a personal message (PM) to Stephanie, who will discuss it with you first.

If you are not used to discussing things on forums it can all seem a bit strange. We have therefore added a few notes here that may help you.

Firstly, for new forum users in particular - don’t be frightened to ‘say’ things on the forum. One always feels the others are probably further ahead, more intelligent, have already thought of it, etc., its not true!

Taking part helps other people to get to know you, and trust you, and also enables you to learn more about them.

When you first click on a forum, you will probably see one or more ‘threads’ (topics) – click on the title to get into the thread and see all of the different posts other people have made on the topic. But reading them is only one of the things you can do – remember you will gain more if you actually contribute.

Here are some of the ways you can contribute to forums:

Posting

There are a number of ways you can post messages, the best thing to do is to have a go. If you make a mistake after you have submitted it, you can amend it, so please do not worry about the fact it is a fairly ‘permanent’ way of communicating. Actually the permanence is one of its strengths, because whereas in a face to face discussion people can easily forget what you said a few minutes ago, including all those wonderful benefits of your product or service, here they can take another look whenever they want, and if they ‘see’ you regularly on the forums, they are more likely to go back and check your previous posts and your ‘links’ on the showcase. In other words, you are more likely to get business!

Replying

When you read a post you want to comment on, even if just to say ‘I agree’ (which can in itself be really useful), then you can either click on ‘reply’ and you are given a new box to enter a new heading if you wish, and type in your comments, or you can click on ‘quick reply’ (you must click on the little box in the right hand side of the message you want to reply to) – the only difference being that with quick reply you cannot insert a new heading.

With all posts you can include a quote of the piece you are commenting on by ticking the relevant box, and you can add smiley’s either within the post or with the heading, to give an indication of your mood/idea.

Remember posts are tallied up to your record so the more you post, not only will you feel more a part of the community (you will find more people will start ‘chatting’ to you and in turn you will generate more trust – and business) but also you will start receiving special status, offers etc., for hitting certain numbers.

Look out in ‘Announcements’ for further details about posting prizes.


Threads

Many forum areas will have a number of ‘threads’ (topic areas) but you can also start your own very easily if you want to start up a new discussion. All you have to do is click on the ‘new thread’ box when you are in the forum, and you will be asked to give a thread ‘header’. This is the one time you should try to get your spelling right before you post, as it is quite difficult to change a new thread heading. Then you type in the main box your thoughts on the topic, and click ‘submit’.

Polls

If you wish you can post ‘polls’ to new threads, to find out how others view the situation quickly and with a statistical base. So for example if you think some industrial action is causing your business a problem, you can start a thread about it and click on the ‘poll’ option. Then give the question ‘is this industrial action causing problems for your business?’ and then give the different types of responses people are allowed to give, such as ‘a lot; a little; not at all’ or just ‘yes/no’.

The best way to find out about all of these things is to have a go!