Thanks to Manasa and Jose for stepping up!
I know the discussion of moving the group (or splintering the group) comes up from time to time. Is the Yahoo!Group system the best? Probably not, but it does some things well like handling bad email accounts, is a good gatekeeper, and the price is right. What it doesn't do well is search. While many software developers don't like to hear this, it's people that make efforts like this work. Software can help but it's the framework of rules and people that make it successful. There are several other groups out there but they don't get near the traffic this one does. Why is that? It's the rules of this group. The same is true for other lists. I've followed the WebDesign newsgroup for over ten years now. It's been around for 15 years, which is forever in Internet time. The rules there are VERY strict and the jack-booted list Mom enforces them. That keeps it going and it's a valuable resource because of the rules. Here's a start:
Membership
* Â Keep it closed as is. This allows members to speak their mind and let Epicor lurk. Blowing off steam in public isn't good for anyone.
* Â Continue the practice of "NO SELLING" on the list. The Epicor lists at ITToolbox and LinkedIn are terrible places to ask questions unless you want to be accosted by sales people or watch sales people from competing companies argue with each other.
* Be careful without direct emails. Someone may help you but don't expect them to - and don't sell offline!!!
Attachments
Keep files in the Files section! It is just too easy to get infected and have the group spammed with a dangerous attachment. Got a screen shot? Post it to flickr.com or picassa.google.com and send a link to the group. Heck, even use Twitter.
Ask Good Questions
There are many sites that give great advice on this. A quick summary:
* Do you homework. Don't expect others to do your work for free. Make some effort. Search for a solution using Google, Yahoo, EpicWeb before asking for the time of others.
* Describe what you're trying to accomplish. "Find all Order headers without Detail lines" is better than "How do I do an outer-join and test for NULL in this software?" There may be other solutions to your problem.
* Describe the situation. "Doesn't work" is so not helpful. What is happening that shouldn't happen? What's not happening that should happen? What have you tried and in what order.
* Give details of your situation. Progress, SQL Server, Windows, Linux, 32/64, Vantage, Vista, version
Format your message well
* Use a meaningful subject! "HELP" is not useful. A good title works far better than adding URGENT!!!!! everytime.
* New topics require new messages. Do NOT reply to an existing message and change the heading to something completely new and unrelated.
* If you want to branch a conversation into a new direction then DO change the subject title.
* Trim your replies. Do NOT hit reply and type the answer at the top of the email. This makes the archive harder to search and is awful to read when one receives the Digest instead of individual emails. Leave enough information in the reply so people know what you're talking about but remove all other extraneous text - including signatures! For a nice write up on forum posting styles:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posting_style
* Try to add something to the conversion. "I'll try that" or "Thanks" is polite but it's better to send that directly to the person and not the whole list.
* Be kind. People are not paid to do this.Â
* Send policy reminders offline and be polite and courteous. Nobody likes to be made an example.
Resolution
If you asked a question and figured out the solution, post it! If someone gives you an answer (online or offline) share it! Eventually, it would be nice to put solutions into a Wiki or FAQ.
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