Posting Guidelines

We are glad to see you joined PHPHelp.com community, and we hope you enjoy this website and become an active member of our forums. The rules are here for you to read, and if you have any questions, feel free to submit your question to our Comments and Questions forum.

The following rules applies to ALL forums unless specified. We know we are asking something of our members, but we know you are getting something really valuable back in return!

  • Private Messages and Email
    Please post your questions in forums instead of sending private messages to the administrators or moderators of the discussions. Doing so will enable the whole group to work on your problem. No matter how knowledgeable an individual is, inevitably people have different points of view and will offer different solutions. It only benefits you and the community when questions are answered in the public forums for all to read.
     
  • Use common sense
    Just because it isn't explicitly stated as one of the rules below doesn't mean it's OK. Use common sense and good Netiquette when posting, replying and browsing these forums. Do not take a demanding tone in the forums. As my grandmother said, "you will catch more flies with honey than vinegar". A suggestion from genealogy: you will get much more help if you do your homework before asking a question. Do not ask people to do your work for you. Don't be too general in your questions. Make your titles specific. Do not just post "newbie needs help." Asking good questions is an art and a learned habit, do not be shy to learn how to ask good questions.
     
  • Problem solved? Then say it!
    If you have solved your problem, it would be curtious to add [Completed] to the subject line. Although this isn't a rule, it would help things run a little smoother.
     
  • Do NOT contact community users via email or private message with technical issues
    This cannot be stressed enough. In the past, members have received a large amount of personal messages asking for help with various technical problems. Help is provided in the forums.
     
  • Topic locking and user bans
    If a moderator finds your post to be in breach of any guidelines your post can be locked and/or deleted without prior notice. This also extents to banning. If however you feel that a moderator has made an incorrect decision, get in contact with that moderator/administrator with an explanation why you feel the decision was incorrect. Please note, you can only ask once, if your request has been denied and you appeal you risk being banned.
     
  • Read articles in the relevant section on the main site
    Start by looking for and reading articles in relevant topics in our collection of articles in addition to the forums. Chances are answers to many of your questions will be there. By doing the prerequisite reading and learning, your questions and comments will be both more answerable and more interesting to others when you do begin posting.
     
  • Third-party scripts
    Most third-party script distributors usually have an associated forum or contact form so users can seek technical support. It is best to save our time and your time by asking people who have specific knowledge on "said" script.
     
  • Read the PHP Manual
    Be sure to visit the official PHP website and read the documentation (they offer an interactive version of the PHP Manual including reader comments). You will be surprised how many questions can be so easily answered if initiative is taken and posters read the manual.
     
  • Take advantage of the online PHP Manual
    Consult the Online Interactive PHP Manual. You will find it contains many helpful annotations covering quirks, bugs and commonly asked questions. If you do not understand how the manual's advice applies to your problem, then please state what you do not understand and carefully define your problem.
     
  • Do your homework first
    Once you have exhausted the PHP Manual and learned the basic concepts of PHP programming, you can research more effectively on the site or post more clearly defined questions and get lots of helpful answers.
     
  • A problem defined is a problem solved
    So please clearly state what you are tying to accomplish, the goals of your project, before posting. Please state your problem in clear, plain language. Community members are much more likely to answer if you carefully define and explain what it is you want to achieve before posting a question.
     
  • Use Clear Language
    Avoid any defects of spelling or grammar that would interfere with understanding your question. Do not type in all lower or upper case. Avoid substituting online slang or abbreviations for real words. You do not have to write perfect English or construct sentences befitting a an English teacher, but make writing understandable. Do not assume everyone is an expert with all programming technologies, avoid excessive technical jargon.
     
  • "Bumping" Message Threads
    Please try to limit "bumping" of threads unless they are fairly old, dropping out off the first page of replies, and of interest to the general community. If you feel a thread like that needs bumping, please suggest in a private message to one of the moderators that we make it 'sticky' instead.
     

How to solve your problem fast and efficiently

Here are a four steps to take when posting a technical problem. If you follow these four rules, you'll find that you will get a far more efficient and worthwhile answer in a quicker time span.

  • Make sure you check www.php.net and read the documentation (they offer an interactive manual with reader comments), you'll be surprised how many questions can be so easily answered if initiative is taken and posters read the manual.
     
  • Please do not post "Can you Make This" enquiries. Most of us here will help with existing problems that you have come across and will not create whole programs for you. You will receive help quicker if you show that you have gone to some effort toward a solution.
     
  • Always provide as much background information as possible: Operating System : *nix, win etc etc; version of PHP (not necessary, but quite helpful for us).
     
  • If you are posting an error, please let us know:
     
    • What the error message is.
       
    • What line of code is causing the error.
       
    • Be sure to surround the code you post with the BBCode [php]...[/php] OR [code]...[/code] tags. A button for this is provided by a toolbar at the top of the "POSTING" page.
       

Help Installing Third-Party Applications

Our forum does not offer support for the usage of pre-made scripts. There are far too many applications of varying types available for users of this forum to be able to answer questions or provide support. You will have to refer to the original developers support forum to find a solution.

If your application is generating a specific error or you can narrow the problem down to a certain code segment, we may be able to give you a general answer to that specific PHP problem. We have no ability to help if you just say "Its not working, help me."

Please seek help in the application's support group first, wait for answers before asking somewhere else and try contacting the developers or authors. Be sure to check your configuration is correct and that the version of PHP you are running is compatible with the application or script.

Be sure to ask your hosting provider's support team about the version of PHP or any upgrades and configuration details, versions and configuration of support applications such as MySQL, the operating system (have their been any upgrades or switches to another flavor of Unix?), are appropriate libraries installed with the operating system, the way ownership and permissions are handled on your server, any 'wrapping' of scripts, deployment of mod_php or PHP as a CGI script.
 

If any topic is found to be disregarding any of the Posting Guidelines, your topic maybe locked, and repeat offenders maybe banned without notice.

 
PHPHelp.com Administration
Last revised on: February 2012 

 
This "Posting Guideline" is a compilation of suggestions for good forum etiquitte by many users most notably is Steve Knobolock, the Founder/Creator of PHPHelp.com and Paul Gardner.