Tips for posting on the forums
LivingtheLeanDream
Posts: 13,342 Member
#1 Keep it brief. But if that's not possible, use paragraphs. It hurts the eyes to see a wall of text LOL
Ok, now who's giving #2
Ok, now who's giving #2
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Replies
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If you're asking for weight loss help, include stats - sex, age, height, weight.8
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LivingtheLeanDream wrote: »#1 Keep it brief. But if that's not possible, use paragraphs. It hurts the eyes to see a wall of text LOL
Ok, now who's giving #2
Also, many won't read a post that's too long. Lurk the forums for awhile before posting, that way you get a feel for how things work on MFP.5 -
snowflake954 wrote: »LivingtheLeanDream wrote: »#1 Keep it brief. But if that's not possible, use paragraphs. It hurts the eyes to see a wall of text LOL
Ok, now who's giving #2
Also, many won't read a post that's too long. Lurk the forums for awhile before posting, that way you get a feel for how things work on MFP.
Agreed, I switch off if its too long.3 -
If you have questions regarding your food intake, open your diary to the public. Don’t list your meals in your OP.8
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use the search button...17
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#2 Search the forums or at least check the most recent 3-5 pages to see if your question/comment/article is already being discussed, or has been answered.
#2a Indicate that you've already done this by articulating why your question wasn't answered by previous discussion. "So I saw that jimbob(male 18 5'11" 175 lbs) asked about Stronglifts 5x5/C25K, I'm a female age 60 5'7" 218 lbs Does that make a difference"6 -
Learn how to handle criticism. We are not “mean people” just because you’re asking about ACV/starving yourself/following something brought up by Oz or Fung.16
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Put information in the title. "Help!" tells other posters nothing and makes it more likely that people will skip your post.9
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kommodevaran wrote: »If you're asking for weight loss help, include stats - sex, age, height, weight.
If you're asking for programming help- include stats, and a meaningful synopsis of your program/background.
Not helpful-I'm doing cardio/weight training 4-6 days a week for 30-90 minutes.
Helpful- I'm running 30-45 minutes/3-5 miles 3 days a week, and doing rep/set/exercise 3 days a week for about an hour with this weight/progression.
Helpful-I've never been in a gym before, I'd like to get stronger/faster/bigger/smaller. Stronglifts intimidates me, what youtube videos/channels have good form tips5 -
Come back to the forums to answer follow-up questions, provide more details, etc. The boards move fast and a lot of people expect the app to provide push notifications when you get responses here, which it doesn't. About half the people who ask a question never even come back to see the responses. A lot of weight loss questions are puzzles that don't have one easy answer. It may take some brainstorming, more information, whatever to help you out.16
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diannethegeek wrote: »Come back to the forums to answer follow-up questions, provide more details, etc. The boards move fast and a lot of people expect the app to provide push notifications when you get responses here, which it doesn't. About half the people who ask a question never even come back to see the responses. A lot of weight loss questions are puzzles that don't have one easy answer. It may take some brainstorming, more information, whatever to help you out.
You beat me to it. I just saw someone do that and it's so uncommon that it got me excited.
Also, if the advice is helpful come back in 4-8 weeks and drop a status update. Those are even more exciting.11 -
kommodevaran wrote: »If you're asking for weight loss help, include stats - sex, age, height, weight.
As well as any potentially relevant medical conditions...2 -
stanmann571 wrote: »diannethegeek wrote: »Come back to the forums to answer follow-up questions, provide more details, etc. The boards move fast and a lot of people expect the app to provide push notifications when you get responses here, which it doesn't. About half the people who ask a question never even come back to see the responses. A lot of weight loss questions are puzzles that don't have one easy answer. It may take some brainstorming, more information, whatever to help you out.
You beat me to it. I just saw someone do that and it's so uncommon that it got me excited.
Also, if the advice is helpful come back in 4-8 weeks and drop a status update. Those are even more exciting.
This is because you don't get automatically notified about your own discussions.
To get notified about new comments on the discussions you make click the little star at the top right hand corner of the discussion.2 -
This is an excellent thread...after reading through the community boards for the last two months I've seen the same questions and topics coming up again and again, those of you who have been on here for years must be tired of dishing out the same advice?
And if I see the word "keto" once more I might lose the plot completely lol
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Along the lines of no wall of text, while no one here will be marking your posts up with a red pen (maybe - I can't guarantee a rogue English teacher here or there doesn't print them off and grade them as examples for the class), an effort at proper punctuation, capitalization, grammar, and spelling out all words goes a long way toward helping us help you by way of effective communication.9
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If you ask for opinions, please don't get mad when you get them. Also, if you post a confession (ex. I just ate an entire cake) don't be surprised if you get some negative feedback. It's a public forum, and you're going to get a little bit of everything.8
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Thanks everyone for keeping the great tips coming
Now if only all newbies would have a look at this post and take some hints 1 -
This is an excellent thread...after reading through the community boards for the last two months I've seen the same questions and topics coming up again and again, those of you who have been on here for years must be tired of dishing out the same advice?
And if I see the word "keto" once more I might lose the plot completely lol
heck yeah LOL, and some of us have been here oh sooo long but its nice to give back and share what worked for us.2 -
Along the lines of no wall of text, while no one here will be marking your posts up with a red pen (maybe - I can't guarantee a rogue English teacher here or there doesn't print them off and grade them as examples for the class), an effort at proper punctuation, capitalization, grammar, and spelling out all words goes a long way toward helping us help you by way of effective communication.
Good point. When I see a post that's one long run-on sentence without any punctuation or capitalization, I won't even bother responding.4 -
Along the lines of no wall of text, while no one here will be marking your posts up with a red pen (maybe - I can't guarantee a rogue English teacher here or there doesn't print them off and grade them as examples for the class), an effort at proper punctuation, capitalization, grammar, and spelling out all words goes a long way toward helping us help you by way of effective communication.
Good point. When I see a post that's one long run-on sentence without any punctuation or capitalization, I won't even bother responding.
Agreed, its just too hard to read/take in.1 -
Make sure to state your question. Sometimes it's hard to figure out what the poster is actually asking.5
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On busy/high interest/long threads, use the quote or tag features. Or at least don't say things like "Yes" "I agree" etc without indicating what you're agreeing with.4
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If you post verbatim from an on-line article, blog, study, etc make sure you cite your source. It's very bad form to present other people's work as your own.5
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On top of the searching that was already mentioned, read through the Most Helpful posts in each forum. A lot of times your answer can be found there.5
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Use the correct wording.
Loose = not firmly or tightly fixed in place; detached or able to be detached.
ex "a loose tooth"
VS.
Lose = to no longer have
ex "he should lose weight"
I see the wrong word used way too often.
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On top of the searching that was already mentioned, read through the Most Helpful posts in each forum. A lot of times your answer can be found there.
The stickies are there for a reason. Read through them prior to posting as there's a good chance the question has been covered in them. No harm in trying to clarify and asking questions if something in them is not clear.
If you do search (either here or on google) make sure the thread is not long dead. Better to ask the question in your own thread than bump one that has been dead for years.
Just don't ask about ACV. It's never worth it 4 -
Tacklewasher wrote: »
Just don't ask about ACV. It's never worth it
But I heard I can lose 5 pounds a week by drinking it!2 -
Using spoiler when posting large images or multiple images
also, if you are looking for a response from a particular person, tag them "@username" Without the quotes3 -
Tacklewasher wrote: »
Just don't ask about ACV. It's never worth it
But I heard I can lose 5 pounds a week by drinking it!
Only 5??? Slacker.
2
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