Purpose
Purpose of this article is to define common forum rules and provide posting guidelines in the IoT group so topics can be answered fast and efficiently.
They could be seen as addition the Tech Community guidelines
https://tech.forums.softwareag.com/faq
Let’s start with some common rules
1. Common rules
1.1 Be friendly
Always be kind and friendly. Don’t be rude or use an offensive language in your post or messages.
1.2 Don’t spam
Avoid spamming in your post asking the same question over and over again. Don’t use the forum to advertise any offering which hasn’t been agreed by Software AG. Spam post & regular spammers will be deleted.
1.3 Don’t post AI-generated text as answers, articles or questions
AI generated text is most often incorrect and pointing in the false direction to very specific questions. Post with are obvious generated by any AI will be deleted.
1.4 Don’t post any sensitive or personal data
If possible don’t post any personal or sensitive data in your posts. Remove any kind of credentials or customer data if possible before you post. Try to anonymize your data before posting.
1.5. Mark post as answered
If you question has been answered correctly please mark the answer as accepted so everybody else can find a solution for the same question.
1.6. Flag inappropriate posts
If you think there is a post that is not following these rules or inappropriate, use the flagging option to flag it. Moderators will review this post and take actions.
1.7. Use the correct product tags only
Only tag the products you are asking the question or creating the article for. Repeatedly tagging all products tag for any reason to your posts will lead to a deletion of your post / article.
2. Creating a good forum post
2.1 Read the product documentation
Before creating a new forum post please make sure that you’ve read and understood the main documentation about your topic. Maybe your questions has been answered as part of the documentation already.
2.2 Make use of the community search function
Before creating a new forum post please use the search function and search for your question. It might be that someone before you had the same question and got an (accepted) answer or there is a tech article available that answers all your questions
2.3 Follow the posting guidelines of the tech community
2.4 Choose a meaningful title
When posting try to summarize the issue in a short & crisp title. Avoid common titles like “… is not working”.
2.5 Follow the post template
When creating a new post try to follow the post template. This make sure experts can answer you best!
2.6 Provide all required information to your question
Just don’t ask, “why this is not working?” without providing detailed steps you have tried, error messages, log entries or screens showing the issue.
If these information are not provided you either don’t get an answer at all or you will be asked to provide more information.
2.7 Avoid false / misleading information
Don’t make assumptions if possible. Avoid using wrong terminology which might be confusing for the members trying to give you a solution.
2.8 Use code-blocks over images
When posting code examples or log entries please use code blocks instead of images or screenshots. This make it easier to find any related issues in future and to analyze the issue. You can also attach files to your post when the content is too long.
2.9. Don’t switch topics
Don’t ask multiple questions to a different context in the same thread. Try to create new posts instead to separate these questions. Of course it is fine to ask follow up questions in the same thread in the same context.