by Barbara Mccutcheon

Created on: April 05, 2009

There are many forums providing technical support for a wide variety of problems. Some of these specialize in one of two areas, while others offer help for many different problems. Online forums also vary widely in size and quality.

Before posting a request on a tech forum, do a couple of searches. First of all, if the problem is with a particular item, application, or service, check that company's FAQ, Knowledgebase, and/or User Forum. If the company also offers free support, take advantage of it. If the manufacturer/publisher's site doesn't have a solution, try looking for your problem on one of the major search engines. This will probably turn up several tech support forums. Select a few to check. Right-clicking the link allows you to select the, "Open in New Tab" option. By using this option the original search is still available.

To find more forums that might help, widen the search by leaving out the specific problem. For instance, if an application is generating an error message search for that application with "problems" or "errors" as part of the search phrase. This will return sites that have information about other problems associated with your issue.

Check the forums by using their search feature to locate issues similar to your problem. You might get lucky and find a thread that already has the answer. If not, select a forum based on the quality of the answers. In general forums with a larger membership are more likely to reply with an answer quickly, but there are some very small forums that offer excellent answers in their area of expertise.

Before starting a new thread, read the forum posting instructions.

1.
Select the sub-forum that most closely matches the problem. If the problem is with a computer application, posting in the "Photography" sub-forum won't help much.

2.
Chose a descriptive title for your thread. "Help" or "Computer Problem" doesn't give the forum members much to go on, but "Word generates error on closing" is likely to catch the eye of someone who can help.

3.
Describe the problem in detail, and include the information from any error messages. Include enough information in the first post to narrow the problem. For computer problems, this should include the application and version, the operating system and version, and any information about other related items. If the problem is complex, consider using a word processing application to write the first post. This will reduce spelling errors and can prevent lost post problems. Add blank lines between paragraphs to make the post easier to read.

4.
Do NOT use objectionable language.

5.
Be prepared to try solutions or intermediate steps. If the problem is related to a virus or malware, you may be asked to run an application to generate specific system information.

Generally posting the same question on several forums is not a problem, but be polite. If one forum gives you a solution, check the other forums you used and mark the thread "solved" to let the folks there know they don't need to answer it. While it is not generally a good idea to post a link from one forum to another, it is acceptable to post a summary of the answer.

Using a tech forum to find solutions to problems is fairly easy. Just remember to search first, select the appropriate forum and sub-forums, give your thread a descriptive title, and include enough information in the first post.

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