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Help forums such as forums.asp.net, daniweb, and CodingForums.com are valuable resources in any programmer’s arsenal. Whatever you’re looking for help with, there is likely a board out there for you. You should search for, and be familiar with, the boards that apply to your language(s) and platform(s) of choice so you don’t miss out on the (FREE) experience and advice of other professionals in your field.

I’ve learned so much from help forums. Not only from the people kind enough to help me when I have problems, but from lurking in threads and trying to help people who are having problems I haven’t encountered yet.

Like any social circle, each board will have its own set of rules, conventions, and norms that you should follow to build rapport with the other people there. What is acceptable in one place may not be acceptable at another. If you want people to help you, you need to show a willingness to play nicely. You need to show that you respect them and their time, and that you’re grateful for the FREE help.

How to play well with others

• Read the board rules, if there are any. They didn’t type them up for practice. Failure to follow the rules may result in a banhammer, so it’s in your best interest to follow them. You can’t follow them if you didn’t read them.
• Read the FAQ, if there is one. Here is an example. If you ask a question that’s answered right in the FAQ, it shows you lack either common sense or common courtesy. No one wants to help someone who can’t be bothered to do a little research of their own, because it implies they don’t respect the time and effort of others.
• Check for sticky threads that tell you how to get the most from the forum, such as this one. There may also be sticky threads that address common issues.
• Lurk moar. Really, lurk around, read threads, and get to know people. Pick up tricks, and even answer a question or two yourself. Post a thank-you reply to a solution that helped you, even if you weren’t the original poster.
• Don’t try to push your question as easy or difficult. After all, if you can’t solve the problem, how can you possibly know if it’s easy or not? If it’s so easy, shouldn’t you be able to do it? If it’s so difficult, less people may look at it, because they think they don’t have time to address it, or because they don’t want to help with difficult issues for free. You’re not doing yourself a favor by stating the difficulty level either way.
• Put a good subject line. “I need help” and other generic subject lines that indicate you have a problem are redundant. We know you need help or you wouldn’t be posting a question. Your subject line needs to get the attention of the people who know how to fix your problem, so make it descriptive so it doesn’t get overlooked.
• Give as much detail as possible. Show you tried to do your own work so we don’t think you’re conning us for working for free. Tell us what you did to troubleshoot a problem so we don’t post 10 things you did already.
• Post a working example to demonstrate an issue. If you want help debugging, pull out troublesome code into a full code sample that we can use to see the problem. The less work I have to do to get to where you are, the more likely I am to help you. Most people on forums also have full-time jobs. Make it quick and easy for us or we may just not have the time to replicate, much less fix, your errors.
• Say thank you. There are a multitude of reasons to thank the poster(s) who helped you. They’re giving you their time and effort for free. Let them know you appreciated it. Let others know you’re a nice person who thanks people. Let future people who read the thread know that the solution was the correct one. Just be a decent person and express thanks when someone helps you.

Are you sensing a common theme? The people helping you when you post on a board are just that — people. They want to help because it gives them something as well. A sense of pride, more knowledge and experience, and/or a sense of satisfaction in helping others in need. Treat them with the same respect and courtesy you want to be treated with.

Be good to each other, and happy coding!