In all fields of interest, work and education, there are always questions to answer. Whether it’s a common question asked over and over by someone new to the area, an opinion question that could have many answers, or an in-depth technical question that only a very experienced person could answer, there is usually someone willing. to answer it. But how do you find these people? Or where can you go to share your knowledge on a particular topic with others? A forum is a perfect place to discover these things.
There are usually two types of forums. Some forums are just one page on the website of a game, company, organization, or project. This type of forum is for asking questions about the website and what the website offers or represents. Questions that are asked in this forum are often directed to the website owners or developers and are sometimes answered by frequent users or members of the website. Someone could use this forum to ask a question about a feature on another page that they don’t understand or don’t work properly. Website programmers or technicians may respond to or be aware of technical issues on the site. On the other hand, site owners can also use forums of this type to make announcements or ask questions of the user base.
The other type of forum is not complementary to the website, but the reason for the website. Some websites are created solely (or at least largely) for the purpose of hosting multiple forums on a topic of interest, such as baseball or a type of marketing. These sites often have a variety of subtopic forums, making it easy to find questions about a particular item of the topic of interest. This is a great place to do some research. If you are new to a topic, chances are you will come across frequently asked questions from the past that you could benefit from reading the answers. If you can’t find a question that has already been asked, you can add a new one. This type of site is also a good place to brainstorm or share ideas with other experienced and interested people. You can spend hours asking and answering questions on forums.
Although the forums vary somewhat, they all contain a similar format. When you first enter a forum, you will see a list of questions that you can click to read and answer. At the top of this list, you will often find the stickers. These are the questions that people often ask themselves over and over again. They have already been answered and resolved, but have been “pasted” to the top of the list for all to see. This is to minimize the number of people asking the exact same question that has already been discussed and answered in the past. You should read the stickers if you are new to a forum or topic to avoid asking something that has already been asked dozens of times before.
The rest of the questions listed are open ended questions, generally listed from newest to oldest at the time they were posted. When you click on an open question, you will see the original question and (if any) others’ answers to the question. As you scroll down the answers, you will probably notice these items:
1. Answers: There will be both answers to the original question and answers to other answers (if someone does not agree or wants to expand the answer).
2. Quoted text: Usually italicized, this is a way for someone to respond or state something that has already been said.
3. User identification: each individual response has a screen name, photo, signature, possibly some links to other websites. This is a way for a user to represent himself.
4. User qualification. To find out how experienced or respectable the answer to your question is, each user has some sort of rating that shows how long this member has been asking or answering questions. You can also see a rating of the person’s reputation that others have given you because they answered the question very well.
Forums are a great place to connect with other people around the world on a common interest to gain information, learn about new topics and techniques, or share your knowledge with others.