Mike,

>As one who recently didn't provide enough information in my posts, I agree that we need to make things more specific. If its a technical problem, maybe we should use a technical bug description form. This could include Problem Title, Problem Description, Steps to Reproduce the problem. etc.

Mike, I don't put you into this category, but in general, I think many people who are not confident of their code or understanding of "how things work" may be terrified of posting their code and saying "what's wrong?".

They are much more likely to post a general question like "Is it possible to..... whatever", instead of "I'm trying to do such and such, here's how I'm doing it, and I get error # 1423 at this specific line".

Then we have to coax the details out of them over a series of 2 to 12 posts until finally getting enough info to be of much help.

I like your idea of a standard format, as in most MS betas, as a suggestion -- not a requirement.

There is some good info in the rules of conduct, giving tips on how to get help. Perhaps new users should be automatically directed to that page when they register.

Here are some excepts:

What is the problem?
This might seem trivial, but there are often questions phrased like: "When I close my form, another form is still open". This doesn't give a clue as to what you are asking.

Give as much information as possible
When asking a question, several pieces of information are required for anyone to be able to answer successfully. Suggestions would be:
What do you want to happen?
What is happening instead?
What Product Version do you use?
What OS do you use?
Examples are excellent!

Ask a question that will receive a meaningful answer
Asking: "Anybody have trouble with printing complex reports?" will get you an answer like: "No" or "Yes" which is typically not the answer you really need. These posts will receive a response like "What problem are you having?" and in turn, are not very productive.

Give your post a meaningful Title
Titles like "Help!!!" or "Problem" or "Question" completely defeat the purpose of a title line. You might as well call your thread "Post". Be as descriptive as you can when naming your thread, so other members have an idea before they read it if they will be of help. If you can, paraphrase your question in the title: "How to hide VFP SCREEN at startup".

Post in the appropriate forum and category
Having your post in a specific forum and category implies certain items to your subject. Also, some users may only follow specific categories, so choosing the correct category may produce a better answer.

After somebody has answered your question, follow the reply up with your status
Posts not answered, or answered simply with "thank you" don't do anything to tell the answeror or anybody else if his suggestion really addressed the problem. Suggested replies:
"Thanks, that's exactly what I was looking for"
"Thanks, but that doesn't work. Any other ideas?"
"Thanks, but I already tried that, and it didn't help."
"That's what I was looking for, but introduces another problem..."-