What is a Forum?
A forum is often referred to as a bulletin board. It resides on
a web site. It allows its members to post to a topic information
(such as notices, questions, requests for help). Members can
reply back to these topics or create new ones if required.
If you are still struggling with the concept, think of it as a
very large, structured and flexible notice board that is always
available to access and that you can pin new notices to it
anytime without first having to extract a drawing pin embedded
in the sole of your shoe. Such physical notice boards cannot
exist in reality, electronic forums offer so much more anyway
Why not just use email instead?
Email is fine when exchanging
information between two or three people,
but if there are several recipients
involved, all replying with their views,
suggestions and some going off on
tangents (creating rat holes), inboxes
become very disorganized and it becomes
very difficult to search for any nuggets
of information required. Also, if a
person has been missed out on the
distribution of the email, then it is
often quite messy to rectify that
situation if it becomes apparent.
Why we should have a forum?
Often our meetings have a full agenda
resulting in little time for members to
have discussions with each other. As a
result our meetings more often resemble
a presentation. A forum will give
everyone the opportunity to discuss with
others any topic they wish to do. As a
result of this, I think we will get to
know each a lot better and get a lot
more out of our great club as a result.
Is the forum moderated / what
does a moderator do?
This forum is moderated by two
admistrators. There role is to keep the
forum in order and ensure that everyone
contributing to it does so in a
courteous manner and in keeping with the
spirit of the forum's aims. In the
unlikely event of a serious breach, it
may result in errant messages being
taken off line and persistent offenders
suspended from contributing.
Hint and Tips on using a forum
1. Do not use capitals all the time; it
is uneasy on the eye and some people
would say you are SHOUTING.
2. Treat everyone with respect on the
forum. Do not use abusive language or
insult anyone, forum members or
otherwise. Do not write negatively of
people or other organizations (you might
get sued); say instead something along
the lines of "I looked at company A and
Company B, but were more impressed by Bs
products and services." Resist the
temptation to say that company A are a
bunch of charlatans.
3. Avoid heavy banter, even with those
you know are okay with it. Those reading
it that are not privy to the nature of
the relationship might find it
intimidating.
4. Before posting a new topic, please
check that it would not better be
located under an existing topic.
However, don't worry excessively about
it.
5. When posting an entry, please ensure
that the subject (title) is relevant and
useful; don't put "Somebody help me
please" but something more specific such
as "Problem with Nikon D200, control
panel shows [-E-]" Put enough
information in the body of the message
such as the circumstance in which the
error occurred and what you have already
tried to resolve the problem.
6. Use it often; this is the most
important rule! The more people that use
it the better it will be for all. Don't
be afraid to use a little humour from
time to time. If you post something that
turns out to be a bit too silly you can
either a. Remove it or b. Leave it there
and let everyone have a laugh.
How to join the forum
To register for the forum you must be a
paid up member of Saltburn Photographic
Society. Please send an email to:
info@saltburnphotographicsociety.co.uk with a
subject SPS Forum Membership Request
and provide the following information:
First Name:
Surname:
Email address:
We will endeavour to create the account
as soon as possible, usually within 2
days unless we are on holiday, in a
technology black spot or the like. As
soon as the account is created, you will
receive an automated response from
info@saltburnphotographicsociety.co.uk
specifying your account name and
password. Instruction on how to change
the password will be included in the
mail.
If you have any questions, you can email
us at
info@saltburnphotographicsociety.co.uk or catch me
(Ian Horner or Ken McDonald) on a
Wednesday evening.