by Rachelle de Bretagne

Created on: July 01, 2009   Last Updated: July 06, 2009

Communication allows us the privilege of being able to offer feedback and advice to other members. It is only effective if used in a constructive and encouraging manner. What people forget when they write a quick feedback note is that there is an individual behind every article who actually wants to do well, and to improve.

The manner in which you approach this affects the results of that feedback, and this article is written with both the commenter and the writer in mind.

*Contact this writer.

*Rating.

*Flagging.

*Article tools.

*Feedback forums.

Contact this writer.

This tool lets member communicate with member. It's a message system which allows you to write to a member giving feedback. The disadvantage of using contact this writer as opposed to other methods is that it does not highlight which article you are critiquing. For general help, however, it is exceptionally helpful. If you see a member struggling with layout problems or any other kind of problems you think you can help with, contact this writer allows you to do this. Often, when using this tool, it is easy to forget that the writer has not asked for your feedback. Always be upbeat and polite and never send a message to a member which you, yourself, would not be happy to receive.

Ratings.

When you rate articles, often you see something which is holding an article back from gaining ground in the ratings. The compassionate rater will give feedback to a writer about their article, and help them to maximize their use of the site. This is community spirited and welcomed. Perhaps a writer has a typographical error which they can direct to the typo system on Helium, via content@helium.com You should never be afraid to help other members. It is by spreading the news of services available to the membership that community is strengthened.

In ratings, often you can help a writer understand things which they may not be familiar with. Layout, grammatical problems, HTML coding appearing in their article or spelling errors. There is no need to give feedback with the flagging system in this instance, since the flagging tool only allows curt remarks which may come over to the user as hurtful. Taking the time to message the user and to tell them about features which will help them strengthens the site, and as the site gets better, everyone benefits.

When giving feedback to a member through the rating screen, remember to paste the article details into the message, since the automated

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