Page 2 - [NEW USERS] - How to post a question.

I'll soon be posting some questions...

Please be patient with my grammar, I'm the foreign kid.

While I think it's a good thing people check their post for errors in English grammar and spelling I don't expect all posts too be perfect. Thing is many people here (like me) don't speak English as a native language and may have some problems writing correct sentences. Seeing people saying they won't help just because of that and even linking the ability to write correct english to intelligence says more about the person who wrote it I think. Like some people already said: as long as it's logical/understandible it's fine with me and personally I love helping people who take the effort to write in a foreign language, even if it's not correct, in order to get some needed help so I'd like to encourage them not to worry too much about grammar and stuff but concentrate on coding!!

Regards

I'd like to suggest that everyone download the PHP Manual .chm file.
php.net is an invaluable resource, and there's no reason why you shouldn't have all the info at your fingertips at all times. It also makes it less cumbersome to find the right info.

Direct Link: http://www.php.net/distributions/ma...p_manual_en.chm
Other Languages/Formats: http://www.php.net/download-docs.php

Absolutely --> a must have.

I am also converting the updated manual to a dreamweaver mx extension to plug right in to the app, and converting it to a plug-in for quantaplus2 for kde/linux desktop users. I will post links to the projects as soon as they are done.....

Can whoever changed the topic name change it back to "How to post a question", instead of "How to post question ?".... the latter is not proper english.

That's jdk

Alright, its corrected.

JD

Don't mean to nit-pick but that question mark shouldn't be there

Thanks jdk, but the question mark doesn't need to be there, "How to post a question" is not a question itself, just a statement. And if you were to use a question mark, there would not be a space between the last letter and the question mark. Just letting you know
Thanks

Perhaps this isn't the right thread to add to but I didn't see one on 'how to reply.'

I definitely agree with all of the above comments. It is the original poster who is asking for help. However, I would like to make a point in regards to the replies that some people make.

*** If you aren't interested in helping the person who posts a question, please do not reply to it at all ***

This point has a reason and an implication. The reason being that many users who could potentially help the problem skip over the thread because they see that someone has already posted a response. The implication that I am referring to is that, for whatever small-minded reasons, there are people who enjoy making smart-aleck responses to questions that they deem obvious or below them. It seems to me that this is contrary to what the forum is designed to accomplish. If a person asks the question, it is obvious that the solution is NOT obvious to them. As long as they follow the above rules, they shouldn't recieve insults.

Again, if you aren't willing to explain something that you find elementary, please resist the urge to exert your awesome technological brilliance and let someone else do it.

Well, it's one thing to not be downright nasty, but it's another to correct people who obviously didn't do any of their homework, didn't read this topic, don't want to do their own work, are being discourteous themselves, etc.

I've begun to simply ignore posts like I described above. Threads that have lame topics like "Newbie needs help", et al., but have a valid question, I simply add a pointer to this thread right at the top of my response.

That seems perfectly reasonable to me.

Hi all,

I think this has gona slightly off topic. I would recommend that the Admins or Moderators spilt this topic.

Personally... if I see a "Newbie Please Help!" or a simple "Why doesn't '$get_var' work from the get variables anymore?", then I simply refer them to PHP.net or tell them to Search. I try to do this without throwing insults, or saying RTFM!

For some reason the "[NEW USERS] - How to post a question" subject line doesn't seem to catch new users attention. I suggest trying to make it flash or do back flips in some way

Hope this helps


Brent

I agree that users who don't take the time to learn the ropes and do their part are in the wrong. If they do it repeatedly, then I think they SHOULD be subject to insults to get their attention. Generally, I think if someone is interested in helping a 'newbie' who doesn't know any better, they can point them to this thread so they can learn what they should and should not do.

My previous point is regarding people who have no interest in helping but only to show how clever they are.

I agree that anyone who is a "newbie" should do their homework. I'll admit - I'm a newbie. But, I'm also a Librarian, and honestly - searching forums is not easy. Especially when you don't know anything about what it is you're looking for in the first place. And, I've yet to see anything that gives an adequate explanation on searching.

Many people, myself included, get frustrated with being told to look somewhere else, or that we've posted wrong, or we're stupid. Don't you think we might have already looked somewhere else? Maybe we learn better one on one - and not out of a book?

My suggestion - Remember you were once a "newbie" too.

-E