UD Forum Posting Guidelines and Helpful Links
Before You Post
Put Thought Into Your Posts
When posting a reply, you might ask yourself, "Is this post contributing to discussion or are you posting just because there's a thread you haven't posted in yet?" When starting a new discussion thread, you might wonder, "Am I making a sincere effort to spark discussion?" When starting a question thread, you'll want to remember to be clear in what you're asking for and to use a "?" in your thread title.
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Search before Starting a New Thread
----Learn to fully utilize the
Search function - located at the top right of every forum page! This is the most useful when you want to discuss a particular subject; before starting a new thread of your own, enter a few keywords into the search to see if something similar has been discussed. This prevents creating superfluous threads, and will also give newer members a chance to read the replies of others who have already posted their thoughts. Selecting the third option under Search Previous (labelled "Search topic title only") will usually (but not always) yield the most relevant results. Remember that most of the animated classics already have great threads devoted solely discussing them. Search for them if you're interested! Aside from that most significant function, you can also utilize the search to, for example, find old posts of a specific member - whether it’s simply for your own reference, or to use as damning evidence against them!
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Continue Discussion in an Older Thread...As Long as You Have Something Important to Add
----If you find an older thread in which you would like to post your own thoughts, please make it worth the trouble! Posting in an old thread brings it back up to the first page of the board again - this is called "bumping." Bumping old threads isn’t prohibited, but only under the conditions that you’re bringing up an old topic again to contribute a substantial reply to it! This makes it "worth it" for other members to read the new post (to a topic that they, very well, may still remember!), and a substantial post also carries the benefit of stimulating conversation about that topic once again! That can't be a bad thing, can it?
Choose an Appropriate Forum for Your Topic
----There are five separate forums here, each with a specific focus. Read the description underneath each forum and take a moment to decide which one seems most appropriate for the topic you're about to post. We realize that some topics might not clearly fall in one or the other, and that's where we can step in to help. Everyone doing their best to put a new thread in the right place will go a long way to help.
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There is nothing wrong with being curious about things. But starting threads merely to have people search for things
for you instead of searching yourself is not the best way to feed the curiosity. There are many search engines, many ways to use them. They do not "give you the runaround". It's a matter of knowing how to use the search engines.
I'm not saying that everything you need you should search for on your own. I'm merely saying to think about what you're asking for. Is it worth not searching yourself just to go to the trouble of making a thread in the forum, waiting around for people will respond, and when they do respond, see if they actually give what you need? Will the thread actually be something that truly sparks discussion? Often doing that route will result in either a topic that gets little to no replies, or a topic that get people asking "Why do you need this?", since it would be easier to find it in a search.
Making requests like "I need a picture of trios" or "I need a transcript of such-and-such" is fine, but are best if they have a purpose for some other project. Asking for them simply because you're curious won't always yield positive replies. While I'm sure some people got a kick out of the trio pictures, all it amounted to was a vague "Oh, I just wanted to see some pictures". I'm sure people who contributed to the thread felt, "That's it? That's all it was for?". Makes their work and time finding them for you feel wasted, or at least unnecessary.
Escapay
