Please read this thread first then...here's some simple yet effective pointers.
The moderators here take moderating very seriously and we do try to limit our moderation to the bare minimum. However, members are also guests here who should try to stick to the (sometimes unspoken) houserules...
We can't jump into every thread and post our expectations, members need to understand that mindset. Also, there certainly is no hard-and-fast rule about what is appropriate to post. But sometimes it's easier to try to drag the thread back on-topic by deleting a few one-liner posts that don't really contribute to the discussion.
There are lots of other car messageboards where most discussions are limited to one-liner comments and lots of 'LOL' responses. We're not going to ever let that happen here. Posts containing nothing more than 'LOL' 'haha', etc don't really contribute anything to the discussion. Also we'd rather not see wildly off-topic one-liner posts in each and every thread. That very much limits the opportunity for meaningful, in-depth discussion which we try to stimulate here.
What we're trying to achieve on this messageboard is that members take the time to think about their responses. We'd rather see a 10 paragraph, highly detailed and well-argumented post about the merits of the CLS63 than 100 one-liner posts. That 10 paragraph post can be of interest to enthusiasts 10 years from now. The one-liners typically lose their merit immediately upon posting.
Don't start a thread about subjects that have been asked many times before. You won't get good quality responses. If you can't take the small amount of time to conduct a basic search why should someone else take the time to respond to your question? Use the search feature to find out if your question has been discussed before: The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com) - Search Forums or http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e39-m5-e52-z8-discussion/188431-timmay77s-how-search-tutorial.html
Many of the recurring questions have been compiled in one easy-to-find 'Frequently Asked Questions' thread at the top of the forum. If you think a particular thread is interesting and informative enough to add to this thread please let me know.
Don't ask subjective questions (such as "what color should I get?")...and expect an objective answer. You will only get subjective answers.
Don't use irritating or non-descriptive thread titles...examples of such thread titles are:
ALL CAPS - using capital letters is like shouting on internet. Don't.
Using excessive punctation!!!!!!????!!!! - your question very likely isn't the meaning of life so try to keep it down to a basic descriptive thread title
****LOOK AT ME STARS**** - if your thread is interesting enough people will spend time and effort on it. If it's not an interesting thread chances are you won't make it any more interesting by using lots of stars.
the simple yet utterly useless "HELP!!" - unless you're at the verge of being ripped up by a roaming circus tiger or drowning in a tidal wave chances are you can actually do better than this. If you can't put more effort into a thread title how much effort do you reckon others are going to put into reading the thread?
If it's your idea of fun to play 'poke the moderator' or stir up trouble on the messageboard then please realize you will banned. We're trying to encourage a friendy, constructive atmosphere and being an insolent know-it-all isn't very constructive. If you really do know better than the moderators here - feel free to start your own automotive forum and see how it is to deal with the many Monday morning quarterbacks...
Aside from all these pointers, it's also important to point out that you are very welcome here on M5board!
Update May 2011: http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e39-m5-e52-z8-discussion/187751-private-messaging-pm-threshold.html
The moderators here take moderating very seriously and we do try to limit our moderation to the bare minimum. However, members are also guests here who should try to stick to the (sometimes unspoken) houserules...
We can't jump into every thread and post our expectations, members need to understand that mindset. Also, there certainly is no hard-and-fast rule about what is appropriate to post. But sometimes it's easier to try to drag the thread back on-topic by deleting a few one-liner posts that don't really contribute to the discussion.
There are lots of other car messageboards where most discussions are limited to one-liner comments and lots of 'LOL' responses. We're not going to ever let that happen here. Posts containing nothing more than 'LOL' 'haha', etc don't really contribute anything to the discussion. Also we'd rather not see wildly off-topic one-liner posts in each and every thread. That very much limits the opportunity for meaningful, in-depth discussion which we try to stimulate here.
What we're trying to achieve on this messageboard is that members take the time to think about their responses. We'd rather see a 10 paragraph, highly detailed and well-argumented post about the merits of the CLS63 than 100 one-liner posts. That 10 paragraph post can be of interest to enthusiasts 10 years from now. The one-liners typically lose their merit immediately upon posting.
Don't start a thread about subjects that have been asked many times before. You won't get good quality responses. If you can't take the small amount of time to conduct a basic search why should someone else take the time to respond to your question? Use the search feature to find out if your question has been discussed before: The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com) - Search Forums or http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e39-m5-e52-z8-discussion/188431-timmay77s-how-search-tutorial.html
Many of the recurring questions have been compiled in one easy-to-find 'Frequently Asked Questions' thread at the top of the forum. If you think a particular thread is interesting and informative enough to add to this thread please let me know.
Don't ask subjective questions (such as "what color should I get?")...and expect an objective answer. You will only get subjective answers.
Don't use irritating or non-descriptive thread titles...examples of such thread titles are:
ALL CAPS - using capital letters is like shouting on internet. Don't.
Using excessive punctation!!!!!!????!!!! - your question very likely isn't the meaning of life so try to keep it down to a basic descriptive thread title
****LOOK AT ME STARS**** - if your thread is interesting enough people will spend time and effort on it. If it's not an interesting thread chances are you won't make it any more interesting by using lots of stars.
the simple yet utterly useless "HELP!!" - unless you're at the verge of being ripped up by a roaming circus tiger or drowning in a tidal wave chances are you can actually do better than this. If you can't put more effort into a thread title how much effort do you reckon others are going to put into reading the thread?
If it's your idea of fun to play 'poke the moderator' or stir up trouble on the messageboard then please realize you will banned. We're trying to encourage a friendy, constructive atmosphere and being an insolent know-it-all isn't very constructive. If you really do know better than the moderators here - feel free to start your own automotive forum and see how it is to deal with the many Monday morning quarterbacks...
Aside from all these pointers, it's also important to point out that you are very welcome here on M5board!
Update May 2011: http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e39-m5-e52-z8-discussion/187751-private-messaging-pm-threshold.html
