Guidelines for the PowerPoint Newsgroup

The Microsoft newsgroups (or forums if you're using a web browser) have a few simple guidelines. Following them will help keep the groups user-friendly, and will help you get the help you're after.

If you don't read anything else, at least read this, from PowerPoint MVP Sonia Coleman::

"The help you receive in internet newsgroups is not really free, though it is willingly and happily provided at a very low and reasonable cost. The price of admission is respect and professionalism and is due and must be paid in full with each post and reply. That's what makes it such a great place for learning and for sharing what we have learned."

I couldn't have said it better. I wish I could say it half so well. We now reluctantly return you to our regularly scheduled prosegramming.

How newsgroups work

Newsgroups are the internet version of the old "infinite number of monkeys at an infinite number of typewriters" trick: Tell your problem to enough people and one of them is sure to have a solution.

Newsgroups put your message in front of thousands of people. All you have to do is type it once.

Actually it's even better: When somebody answers your question, somebody else will chime in with other ideas or to correct errors. Everybody's in on the discussion, everybody's free to contribute. That's why it works as well as it does.

And it gets better yet: Using Google Groups, you can search for answers that someone may already have posted instead of posting your question and waiting for a reply.

So here's what you do:

First, check to see if someone has already answered your question. Search Google Groups for answers.

If Google doesn't come up with anything, post your message then make a mental note to check back later to see if there are any responses.

If you're using the web view of the newsgroups, you may be able to request email notification when someone replies to your question but ...

Don't ask for email replies when you post your question. A private email conversation deprives you and others of the give and take that often produces a solution to your problem. Besides, most regular newsgroup members ignore requests for email responses. It's simply considered bad form.

Before you post your message to the newsgroup, make sure it contains all the info we'll need to help solve your problem.

Help us help you

Check this FAQ before posting to the newsgroup.

Do a search on google.com or some other newsgroup archiving service. There may be answers waiting for you there before you even post your question. What a deal! Saves time, saves typing.

Supply all the details when you post to the newsgroup. Please describe your problem as completely as you can. Include:

1. The Windows or Mac operating system version (ie, Windows XP Home, Vista, Mac OSX/Panther, etc.)
2. Network type and version, if any
3. The version of PowerPoint you're using and what Service Releases (SRs) have been applied, if any
4. A detailed description of what you were doing (or trying to do) when the problem arose
5. If a printer or other special hardware is involved, supply complete details about that too

Now you know what to do. But before you go off to do it, there are a few things you shouldn't do.

Things that are guaranteed to annoy people

The people on newsgroups aren't paid to be there. They're not Microsoft employees. It doesn't pay to annoy them, so don't do this stuff:

• File attachments The bigger they are, the fewer friends you'll make. If somebody wants to look at your problem file, they'll ask you to email it or make other arrangements.
• HTML posts If there's some reason why you absolutely must post messages with picture backgrounds, flowered borders, eighteen fonts and blinking red titles, there's probably somebody in some newsgroup somewhere who'd be delighted to see it. Find that group and post HTML messages there. Stick with plain ASCII text in other newsgroups. If you don't know how to do that, ask. We'll be happy to explain.
• Multiple posts If you have a problem or comment, post it, then visit the newsgroup again periodically to see if anyone's responded. Posting the same question over and over won'tget you faster service. It will annoy the neighbors.

Your newsgroup messages get sent all over the world and read by tens of thousands of people. File attachments and HTML posts seldom add anything of value but always bloat the size of your messages. That wastes time and resources.

Some of our non-US members pay outrageous charges for their telephone and internet service. They will not welcome large messages. Many people simply ignore large messages as a matter of principle, even though they may have fast, inexpensive internet service.

It just doesn't make sense to annoy someone who might have the answer to your problem.

• Microsoft Bashing There's no point. Microsoft sponsors the PowerPoint newsgroups so that individual users like us can share problems, solutions and a little friendly chit-chat, but they don't generally monitor or reply to newsgroup messages. The MVPs who answer so many of the questions on the newsgroup are not MS employees. They volunteer their time to help (and learn from) others. They have no say in decisions Microsoft makes. Yelling at them won't solve your problem but it might make them less inclined to help you.

Banned in Boston and points west
There are a few things that simply aren't tolerated in any well-run, civilized newsgroup.

• Flames, ad hominem attacks and rudeness are out.

We're blessed with a great group of pleasant, helpful and knowledgeable people on the PowerPoint newsgroup. Let's keep it that way. If you disagree with something, by all means say so. We all learn from different ideas and points of view. But let's discuss ideas, not attack the people who express them.

• Spamming the newsgroup with commercial messages will annoy the very people you're hoping to sell to. And there's a very efficient elf in Redmond whose job is to remove spam as fast as it gets posted. So don't waste your time or ours with spam, please.

BUT: If a newsgroup member has a problem that your product just happens to solve, please say so. Just keep it low-key/non-commercial.

End of Sermon. Thanks for bearing with it. But by the way, here's the Official Word from MS on Rules of Conduct for the MS-sponsored newsgroups

It's that simple. Well, almost ...

If you read the Microsoft newsgroups through some news server other than msnews.microsoft.com, you may not see all of the messages. Some of the messages never make it to other news servers. It may appear that your question hasn't been answered when in fact it has. It's a good idea, then, to point your newsreader at the source: msnews.microsoft.com

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and welcome to the PowerPoint newsgroup!