I’ve had this inquiry cross my mind a few times, “How do I make a (Insert object here)?” or “What is the answer to (Insert an insanely difficult problem here)?”.

Don’t you ever get tired of not knowing the answer to something? Or looking for something on the web, but come up on the short end of the stick?

For example, some couldn’t think of the name of a song, so do they do hours and hours of lyric searches, radio listens, among a variety of other activities that will get them nowhere.

So what’s the answer? Join a discussion forum.

I’ll do my best here to explain how to use a discussion forum properly and what is involved with them exactly.

What Forums are For…

This is why online communities exist, for people with similar minded interests to gather and talk about topics that intrigue them.

There are many knowledgeable experts in any given field, who would be happy to offer you there wisdom. The odds are great that if you join the right place, someone will know the answer to what information you are looking for.

Many forums are free to join too, only a few specific ones require you to pay to participate (although I’m not a member of any).

Types of Forums

There is literally a forum for everything, ranging from conspiracies to music to even a niche as specific as a Halo 3 community.

Just do a Google search on the topic and add “Forum” to the end of your query or something. You should find whatever community you are seeking this way.

Seek a community based on what your looking for. If your trying to figure out how to cultivate your farm crops, you probably won’t find the answers you’re looking for on a mobile phone forum.

What Forums Run on…

There are many different pieces of software out there that discussion boards run on: Comparison of Internet Forum Software

Personally, the only type of forum based software I can stand is vBulletin. They have the best options available and they use the cleanest design I know of. All other ones just don’t measure up, from a design and usability standpoint, that is.

But in no way does this mean that those other forums are not useful or have intelligent and knowledgeable members, it’s really up to you on which community you’d prefer to join.

How to Ask

Believe it or not, some people have no clue how to use forums, and that’s OK. My family didn’t understand how they operate, what they involved exactly, among other things, so I taught them about how it is structured and what you can do with them for a small fee (Alright, I’m just joking about that “fee” part ).

The typical discussion board will require a certain amount of steps before you are eligible to participate:

• First you have to register. It usually takes only a few minutes to fill out the required fields and receive a welcome email from an administrator.
• Find the right place to ask your question. Most boards have many different sub-forums, so make sure you post your thread in the right place.
• Also remember that you may not receive an answer right away. Some members may be busy or just not know the answer, and they’ll leave it for other members to look at. So be patient.

Some Forum Lingo

Next you’ll want to know about the different terminology involved when asking questions. These are just the basics, which are required in order to understand how it works.

Post = States what you want to say. It is basically a form used to communicate with other members of the forum, raise points, quote others, etc.

Thread = A series of posts, you’ll start one of these to ask your question.

Reply = Just a response to the first (or last) post in a thread.

Quote = A response to a particular portion of the thread, it could be other replies, a specific thing another member says, etc.

How to Behave

You’ll want to keep in mind that once you join a forum, you can’t just do anything you please. Forums have rules, and not all are the same.

Many places basically are anti-spam, anti cross-posting, and anti-flaming. Spamming is basically creating posts that serve no purpose or just for the self-promotional reasons. Cross-Posting just involves asking the same question or giving the exact same response in multiple areas of the forum. Flaming means just insulting other members and their viewpoints. Don’t do it.

Some Forums I Use…

The following are the primary forums I use. I have the same username at the first two, jamestl2.

Webmaster-Talk

This is where I go to learn about web design, internet marketing, blogging, among many other web-based topics. The web is an ever-changing place,

It’s the primary place where I hang out. Plus my main fields I’m studying are blogging and information technology, so it’s only natural I’d want to join the best webmaster community on the net.

Steve Pavlina Forums

This forum is packed with a bunch of friendly people who are interested in personal development and increasing their own levels of growth.

I’m there also to assist others out with their web issues they may have. Plus it’s a great place to seek relationship advice, manifesting your intentions, and achieving a sense of personal enlightenment.

Conspiracy-Forums

Of course I had to include the forums which I own and operate. By no means am I saying I accept everything that I learn, or that “Big Brother” is behind everything that is wrong with the world. But I feel it is a perfect niche for my one of my favorite interests, and so far some of the smartest and nicest people have joined.

I’m currently the administrator of the conspiracy forums, so feel free to drop by sometime.

Other Reasons to Use Forums…

Not only is there tons of knowledge to be gained, they can be fun to use. Most forums have a general discussion area where you can play games, have debates, and learn about your fellow members’ personalities.

Also along the lines of learning about and socializing with others, you can also network with them this way. When you build up a positive reputation and contribute your knowledge on a discussion board, others will want to know what you have to say. This can lead to website traffic, blog interaction, and even in the seldom case, sales and conversions.

Last Thoughts

Discussion Forums can be fun to use, and they’re a valuable resource. Most people on them are friendly and know their stuff. So don’t feel dumb if you don’t know the answer to something that’s been bugging you, as we’ve all been there.

Who knows maybe one day you’ll be able to help others out, that were previously in a similar situation as yours. Or maybe you are already an expert in a demanding field, where others could benefit from the wisdom you have to offer them.

So in conclusion, I highly recommend you take advantage of them!

This entry was posted on Friday, March 21st, 2008 at 12:06 am and is filed under Online Communities. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.