Groups Solutions

Follow and Give Advice With Caution!

Usually Yahoo Groups for computer help give great support for members. Most long-time members of a Group know who gives good advice and good support answers for computer problems.

The one of the biggest problems with an online list is anyone can post answers to questions, and the information provided is not always clear and sometimes the information is not correct.

Some guidelines for new members in a computer help group.

1. When asking a question, don't use 'HELP' as the subject line. It is much better to use a description such as 'Slow computer' or 'My computer won't shut down'.

2. Please, do not use ALL CAPS. (This is considered shouting on the Internet.) All caps are harder for some members to read and may just be ignored.

3. When we ask you for information about your computer, we want to know things like what version of Windows you are using, not things like 'It's white'.

4. Please be patient while waiting for an answer. Most of the members have jobs, families and other things that may prevent them from answering your questions.

5. Don't assume the answer you receive is necessarily the right answer. You may have misled (unintentionally) the group with the way you worded your inquiry.

Some guidelines for providing solutions to problems are as follows:

1. Make sure you understand the problem before providing a solution. Many computer 'newbies' may not know how to ask for help with a specific problem and may give misleading hints for the situation. Many new members will assume the solutions are correct if someone provides a solution to a problem. Ask for clarification of the problem if the poster is vague or uses terms like 'thingy' when describing what is happening (or not happening).

2. Never assume the level of understanding computer issues when responding to questions by new members. Just because you know what a CPU is does not mean everyone knows the meaning.

3. Unless you know the member is familiar with how to edit the Registry, don't go there! If the only solution is a Registry hack, be sure the member is warned repeatedly of the dangers involved with 'messing with the Registry'.

4. When giving a solution to a problem, give detailed answers. If you don't have time to give a complete description on how to resolve an issue, don't respond until you do have the time. A new computer user can quickly become overwhelmed even with detailed answers, incomplete answers may confuse and discourage them.

5. Don't respond to a question if you don't know the answer. However it's OK to tell the user you don't know the answer to acknowledge the question.