HOW TO: Important discussion forum guidelines

[Cami Walker -- 29Gifts Founder]

IMPORTANT DISCUSSION FORUM GUIDELINES
PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING ON THIS SITE
Below are some important things to note when posting in the forum. Please follow these guidelines to help us keep information organized and in line with our group mission of creating a worldwide revival of the giving spirit. The more we grow, the more important it is to follow community standards.

Please keep all content you post in the public forum focused on the topic of giving in general and your experiences as they relate to the 29-Day Giving Challenge. If you want to talk off-topic, please do so in your personal giving blog.

1. Please refrain from advertising.
There are many entrepreneurs and small business owners in this network (including me, the founder). There are lots of networks that are intended to help you market your services, but this isn't one of them. This is a giving challenge, not a marketing challenge.

We kindly ask that you NOT advertise your products, services or post logos or product shots in the discussion forum or public image gallery. Any discussion strings or images construed as advertising will be deleted by our forum moderators. If a member is sending you solicitation messages or wall comments, please REPORT THE ISSUE so we can contact the member and remind them of the no advertising rule.

NOTE that IT IS ACCEPTABLE to mention your business or include a logo or product shots on your PERSONAL profile page or in your giving stories that you post in your personal giving blog. The best way to attract people from this community to your business is to GIVE DAILY, BLOG often, COMMENT on stories and PARTICIPATE in our community discussion forum.

2. Check archives.
Before posting, it's a good idea to look through the forum archives to see if your topic has already been posted. If it has, you can add a comment to that discussion string and it will bring that topic up to the top of the list and it will appear on the main page again. Please take a few seconds to do a few keyword searches in the forum archives first.

3. Use a specific and clear title and select the best post category
ALWAYS TITLE your giving discussion posts using brief and clear titles that indicate what your post is about.

Below are GOOD examples of clear and specific titles:
Giving Suggestion: Read to a child
Giving Suggestion: Feed the birds
Giving Suggestion: Help a local teacher

Examples of POOR titles (too vague)
Giving Suggestion
Giving Suggestion: You'll like this
An idea for you

Our forum has a number of topic categories, which are all clearly defined on the forum page. When posting a new discussion, please do your best to choose the most appropriate category for your post.

4. Use keyword tags.
ALWAYS TAG YOUR POSTS with keywords so people can search by topic easily. The tag box is RIGHT below the box where you type your post.

FORMAT FOR KEYWORD TAGS:
USE QUOTE MARKS around words you want to "appear together"
SEPARATE each keyword tag with a COMMA -- Comma goes OUTSIDE your closing quote mark.

Example: Here's how I would tag the read to a child example above.
"giving suggestion", read, child


ADDITIONAL FORMATTING HELP

HOW TO ADD A LINK TO YOUR POST:
*Within the post entry, highlight the text you want to show up as a link.

*Click on the little button that looks like a chain link in your formatting bar.

*A little box will pop up where you can enter or paste the url for the website you want to link to. NOTE: make sure you don't enter http:// two times because it automatically comes up once in the prompt.

*Click OK and the code for your link will appear in your post text. Once you hit "publish" you can view your post and test the link to make sure it works.


HOW TO POST AN IMAGE IN YOUR DISCUSSION POST:
You can insert an image by clicking the "Add an Image" button in the toolbar. This button looks like a framed picture. A window will pop up prompting you to select a photo from your computer to upload. Once you've found the image you want, click the "Add" button. This will insert the image into your blog post.

HOW TO FORMAT TEXT IN YOUR POST:
*Use your cursor to highlight the text you want formatted and click the button for the style you want in the formatting toolbar.
B = bold
I = italics
U = underline
S = strikethrough

If you need help posting a story, image or link in your giving blog, follow the directions here.

If you haven't already, please also make sure you have read the 29 Gifts Code of Conduct.

If you notice something worrisome, please promptly REPORT THE ISSUE and our network administrators will address it as quickly as possible.

[Cindy]

Thanks Cami! It's good to have clear guidelines so that the whole Forum runs smoothly! I've been involved with a few online gathering places and clear, simple guidelines really help.

Of course, it's never perfectly followed - but it just takes a few to keep it on track!! You're doing a really terrific job!!

[Deb~ Community Manager]

Very helpful info. Thank you...