Forum Tips - How to start browsing and posting

[C clearly]

A good place to start your forum explorations is this Home page, which you can always find by clicking on the shell logo at the top of this page. You can see how the whole forum is organized - with some sections highlighted like "LIVE from the Camino" or "Frequently Asked Questions", some forums have sub-forums by topic, and then there are all of the different routes. Once you have become a regular reader, you might start using the New Posts link under the Forums link on the menu. Those are new posts, added since you last clicked New Posts.

Another good place to start browsing is by scrolling down on the Forums page until you get to the collection of "Camino Tags". Click on any of those and you'll get a collection of threads on that topic.

You can post your questions as separate threads in whatever forum seems most suitable. If you get the wrong section, a moderator will probably move it. Alternatively, you can just keep posting questions in a single thread that you start in the "Introduce Yourself" forum. People will probably give you direct answers in that thread or they will post links to other relevant threads.

Any public thread that you create on the forum will be visible to everyone - either when they click on "New posts" to see all the new posts, or when they browse through the various forums and sub-forums. If you want private messages, you should use the Conversation feature - only you and the other(s) on the conversation will see those conversations.

Once you are more familiar with the forum, you might decide to put specific questions into different forums (such as "Equipment and Clothing" or "Camino FRANCES"). They are no more nor less visible to everyone, but using the Search feature to look for specific information works better when the threads are devoted to a specific topic, they are tagged and organized appropriately. Moderators will help make that happen.

We really appreciate it when people interact and respond when replies are given, but it isn't necessary to write a thank you post for every response - you would get worn out fast, and the thread will get very long! The emoji means "thank you". If you want to comment on something that has been said, or ask a follow-up questions, the Quote feature is useful - just highlighting the relevant part of the text. You can quote several different people in one post.

I hope this is helpful!

 

[peregrina2000]

As always, @C clearly gives clear step by step instructions. My two little comments are supplemental:

1. It is easy to figure out how to get your words posted on the forum by just filling the reply box. Lots of ”newbies” do this. This means, though, that your question is embedded in another thread and is not likely to be seen by many who would otherwise see it if you had a separate post with the specific title of your specific question. So, it is so worth it to follow @C clearly’s steps so that you can post your own question.

2. When you start getting replies to your questions, there is no need to reply to each person individually to thank them for their reply. Use an emoji. If you hit the like button, you will see you can express “like”, “love”, “thank you”, “buen camino”, “surprise” and even “anger/sadness.” I am not suggesting that we eliminate interaction with each other, and of course, lots of times a reply from someone will generate another question or comment. I’m only suggesting that we don’t really need to have long strings of replies that are nothing more than saying thanks for the reply.

Buen camino to all!

 

[C clearly]

When you start getting replies to your questions, there is no need to reply to each person individually to thank them for their reply.

I was editing my post at the same time as you were posting, to include some of this advice, so thanks for the elaboration. This is also an example of how you can quote a relevant piece of text to enhance the interaction .

 

[henrythedog]

It’s helpful for future reference if a thread can be posted in a relevant forum or sub-forum. It’s easier to find at a later date. Sometimes threads which might appear to be the 14th time this month someone’s asked the same question, take an unexpected turn or feature a new contributor with new and better information, so all are welcome.

If you don’t know where to post your thread, don’t worry. You could write a question on paper and hide it under a rock inside a box labelled ‘poison’ and some of the regulars here would find it within the hour.

 

[trecile]

It’s helpful for future reference if a thread can be posted in a relevant forum or sub-forum. It’s easier to find at a later date. Sometimes threads which might appear to be the 14th time this month someone’s asked the same question, take an unexpected turn or feature a new contributor with new and better information, so all are welcome.

If you don’t know where to post your thread, don’t worry. You could write a question on paper and hide it under a rock inside a box labelled ‘poison’ and some of the regulars here would find it within the hour.

On a serious note, if you aren't sure where to post a new thread go ahead and start it, then at the bottom of your post you can click the "report" button. A popup box will appear for the reason for the report. You can say "moderators please move this thread to the proper subforum," and we will move it for you if necessary.



Obviously, it's better if you can post it in the right subforum in the first place.

 

[Barbara]

The title question was asked on a different thread today, and I thought the answer was worth posting as a thread on its own.

Any public thread that you create on the forum will be visible to everyone - either when they click on "New posts" to see all the new posts, or when they browse through the various forums and sub-forums. If you want private messages, you should use the Conversation feature - only you and the other(s) on the conversation will see those conversations.

A good place to start your forum explorations is this index page, which you can always find by clicking on "Forums" in the menu on the top. You can see how the whole forum is organized - with some sections highlighted like "LIVE from the Camino" or "Frequently Asked Questions", some forums have sub-forums by topic, and then there are all of the different routes. Once you have become a regular reader, you might start using the New Posts link under the Forums link on the menu. Those are new posts, added since you last clicked New Posts.

Another good place to start browsing is by scrolling down on the Forums page until you get to the collection of "Camino Tags". Click on any of those and you'll get a collection of threads on that topic.

You can post your questions as separate threads in whatever forum seems most suitable. If you get the wrong section, a moderator will probably move it. Alternatively, you can just keep posting questions in a single thread that you start in the "Introduce Yourself" forum. People will probably give you direct answers in that thread or they will post links to other relevant threads.

Once you are more familiar with the forum, you might decide to put specific questions into different forums or sub-forums. They are no more nor less visible to everyone, but using the Search feature to look for specific information works better when the threads are devoted to a specific topic, they are tagged, and organized appropriately. Moderators will help make that happen.

We really appreciate it when people interact and respond when replies are given, but it isn't necessary to write a thank you post for every response - you would get worn out fast, and the thread will get very long! The emoji means "thank you". If you want to comment on something that has been said, or ask a follow-up questions, the Quote feature is useful - just highlighting the relevant part of the text. You can quote several different people in one post.

Feel free to ask any more questions about getting started on the forum.

I hope this is helpful!

How about making this a sticky?

 

[C clearly]

How about making this a sticky?

It is already a sticky - pinned to the top of the cleverly named "How to join and use the forum" forum.

 

[Barbara]

Just shows which bus I don't read, I suppose. Blushing....

 

[David Tallan]

Once you are more familiar with the forum, you might decide to put specific questions into different forums (such as "Equipment and Clothing" or "Camino FRANCES"). They are no more nor less visible to everyone

I guess it depends on how people read the forums. For those who read forum by forum like me (as opposed to, for example, all new posts anywhere in the forums), only the posts in the forums I frequent will be visible to me. They are available, but I'll never see them.

A question posed to the Via de la Plata Forum is available to me but I'll never see it because of the way I read the forums. I read the sub-forums that are of interest to me, or where I think I might be helpful. So I'll read the sub-forums for Caminos I've done or plan to walk but stuff posted to the others, I'll never see. Similarly, I'm tend not to read the sub-forums for bicycling the Camino, or travelling to/from the Camino.