read before you post / netiquette / choosing your title

[ca.funke]

Dear new member, (all others please read the notes first!)

General Note:

• Please do not write in all capitals, AS THIS IS MUCH HARDER TO READ (and appears to be shouting)!

Before posting, please think about the following:

• what is my situation
  • nationalities, current location(s), going alone or with the family...?
• what do I want to do/achieve...?
  • destination, permanent visa, visiting visa, mode of travel...?
• how can I summarise my situation in a few words?
  • This is your title!

Many newbies post their questions using general titles such as

• please help
• confusing situation
• urgent
• etc...

Since most people come to forums for help it´s needless to say that you seek help. Immigration scenarios are also usually confusing and urgent. All of this is in the nature of the topic. What you want to get out of this forum is a solution, and it works like this:

The regulars who can help usually have certain topics in which they can give some sort of advice. Now that they do so, free of charge and usually quite helpful, you may want to consider making their life as easy as possible. This means giving them an easy way to identify the threads in which they may be of assistance, and not forcing them to read every general outcry for help (actually they might not, and who loses out is you!).

Notes
a) The forum may or may not work in a similar way to other forums you visit.
New members are advised to watch and observe forum activity to get a feel for how ImmigrationBoards works.

b) Timeline topics are for timelines. Not for general discussion and/or questions.

c) Requests for updates in a topic are generally discouraged.

d) Members are welcome to add to a current topic if they have a direct question or observation or other response that relates to the original poster's (OP) topic.

e) It is not the practice on this Board to post some general or complimentary comment on someone's topic and to then ask your own question about your own case.
For your own questions, relating to you or your family's situation, a new topic should be created in the relevant sub-forum.

The reason is that everyone's circumstances are specific to themselves;
what, at face value appears to be a similar question, will have enough variations to make it a different and/or unique question.

A number of members posting their own particular questions in someone else's topic means that topic simply (and quickly) descends into a confused jumble of responses.

f) Choose a general enough title for your topic so that your subsequent follow up questions may be appended in the same thread.

Workshop: How to change the title of a thread:

• Make sure you´re logged in.
• When logged in, the top right of your own posts (inside the thread) shows two buttons: "Quote" and "Edit"
• click "Edit" in your FIRST post in the thread
• The subject for this post is also the thread title, which can now be changed
• click "submit" and you´re done

Please do note that the "EDIT" option will only be available for the first 15 minutes of making a post.

Thanks for reading and posting appropriately!
Rgds, Christian