Can new members use the 'User Introductions' for just saying hello and post any other questions or information in the correct sub-forum for their query. Many thanks.
Also, can new members choose the relevent sub-forum they need and post only the information/question once. Instead of posting the same info/question in multiple sub forums. We will see it first time round.
I would be really appreciative if our moderators could make it a policy to get into the habit of renaming new member threads. One example only: We get a handful a handful of new posts every week it seems titled "Looking for my grandfather" Change that title the person's name and unit and whatever else is relevant. The first things folks look at is the title. Titles need to be narrowed down to topic specific words. That's what Google etc first look for. Years later someone will do a Google Search etc and that thread will pop up and critical pieces of missing information will arrive on the scene. When that happens, that is THE thing that knocks me out about this forum.
moved post to a pinned thread under User Introductions about Introduction threads, etc and explanation about good titles here... http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/34444-threads-with-clear-titles-in-the-right-section-get-a-better-response/ Main sub-forum for initial enquiries about researching individuals is this one http://ww2talk.com/forums/forum/13-searching-for-someone-military-genealogy/ Alternatively, and if specific Corps/Regiments is known http://ww2talk.com/forums/forum/25-unit-history-war-diaries-and-documents/ All things Naval http://ww2talk.com/forums/forum/15-war-at-sea/ Air Force http://ww2talk.com/forums/forum/16-the-war-in-the-air/
Thanks for telling me what I should be doing .....which I have been doing without mentioning it every bloody time since I became a Mod many years ago.
Whilst browsing on ww2f.com I fould this old thread by a character named Peppy, dated 2006, and thought it worthwhile to add here: Since I am an educator, I thought it might be useful to educate some of our members about proper posting. There are a lot of crappy posts out there, and what I'm trying to do is make a push toward quality over quantity posting. I'm going to cover a few of my most frustrating areas. If it's hot, don't touch! I never understood the desire for people to get angry and repeatedly reply to people who they clearly don't agree with. Some people are always going to discuss how great the nazi war machine was, some pople are always going to believe that with a few minor adjustments Hitler could have won the war, some people are always going to think that Patton was better than Rommel, and that Monty was better than both. It is not your duty to refute them. I mean for God sakes, this is the bloody internet, opinions are like a$$holes and if you repeatedly get sucked into these arguments don't cry to the mods when you get banned. The Ignore Feature Following up with the above is the most overlooked, underused feature of the Forums. If someone's posts bother you, go to their profile and ignore them. Voila! The source of your anger will be hidden from your eyes. My guess is that a lot of you little scamps simply won't be able to miss out on what that crazy member has posted and won't do this. All I'm going to say is that if you see a thread from a member you didn't like and you get sucked into an argument, you could have avoided it. The fact that this feature exists, just makes it sooo much easier for me to click the ban button in the admin profile. Replying to Yourself How is it possible that a sane person can make several posts in the same thread within a few minutes? I mean sh!t, the window to edit a post is 48 hours, if you need to expand on your previous posts just edit your last one. Sometime I see as many as three in a row. Even if you are replying to several people at once, you can do it in one post. Posting just Smilies It is never good for you to post a single smiley, or just two, or just three, as a response to a post. Honestly, no one cares that you got a chuckle out of a topic. If you do this, technically you haven't even typed anything, you just clicked the damn smiley box, and then clicked "add reply." To have an effective post you must type. Just so you all know, I'm going to start deleting such posts from now on. For every one I see and delete, I'm going to drop the member's post count by 10. I'm not kidding. Censorship The idea that if a mod deletes or edits your posts it is censorship. I'm happy to say that of all the Forums I've ever been to, this one is the best as far as leaving what is posted as is. That said, by definition, we are not capable of censoring you. This site belongs to Otto, and he can edit it any way he likes. If you don't like the fact that he moved your "Hitler was a great dancer" thread to the Free Fire Zone, pay for and start your own Forum. We can edit our own Forum, but we are not censoring you. Use the F*cking Search Function!! Sorry but you are not that original. This forum has been around since the year 2000. Do you really thing that no one has posted about the ethics of dropping the A-Bomb on Hiroshima? Do you really think no one has ever asked about how increased me262 production would affect the war? I'm sorry, but many of your ideas have probably been discussed in depth already. Don't be an ass and start a new thread, relax, take a breath, search, and then read through the older threads and add to their discussions. Post in the Proper Forum Each section on this Forum is titled in english, with a clear description, also in english. If I have to move your threads into another Forum because you are too lazy to read english it makes me wan to ban you. Thread Titles Name your threads properly. If you are asking a question, use a question mark in the title. My biggest frustration is to see a thread titled "Rommel in Africa" and when I click on it the post is asking: "When was Rommel in Africa?" If the post is a question then the title should have been "Rommel in Africa?" It seems obvious, but some numbskulls don't get it. Also, don't entitle a thread "Peppy's reserach topic #2" Every one of your posts is linked to your name, you don't need to title a thread with it. When you post, make the thread title reflect the subject matter of the post. Be respectful to Mods Admins and mods are not paid, be respectful of them as they have been here a long while and just might know a thing or two. Also, be especially respectful of Otto, he was good enough to build and pay for this website, and if you bite the hand that feeds you, I'll happily sick der PanzerPenguin on your ungrateful bitch ass. Posted Image Free Fire zone While I expect you all to be respectful at all times, the rules mentioned above are less stringent in the Free Fire Zone. In the FFZ, all bets are off. You can post just 1 smiley, a picture of your dog, start a disease naming contest, or whatever, but keep that crazy sh!t out of the open Forums and in the Free Fire Zone. One last thing... Before you click "Add Reply" and permamnetly posts that message to the Forum for all to see, ask yourself if you are adding anything useful to the thread or forums, if you can't asnwer yes, then back away from the keyboard. :peppy: :panzerpenguin: Peppy = Ranting and raving Otto Saluted this Ron
its a learning curve for most people signing up to a forum it certainly was for me. It takes time for members to find their feet and their level of input which they are happy with and also to find their way around.the forum.
Clive, I agree about the learning curve as I remember returning from Holiday after being without Internet for over two weeks. I logged on and found that such a lot had changed and for a short time I was out of my comfort zone. Looking and trying out the Features soon get you back in a personal comfort zone once again. Like anything practice makes you more competent. Regards Tom
Aaah - spent a horrible day doing all sorts of things I didn't want to do, then caught up with this thread - cheered me right up, thanks.
I liked Peppy, but 2F is/was a different place. Some thoughts, to which possibly should be added 'careful when posting half-cut.' Pah! If it's hot, get in there and say what you think, especially if someone is preaching sheer arse-gravy. A disagreement is not a breach of etiquette, despite that being a popular view among many of my countrymen. And don't worry, we haven't banned anyone for things other than Nazism & spam for years really. You might get sarcasm, or even a virtual tut, but banning is quite unlikely. The ignore feature is for cowards. Do we even have it now? Think so... maybe. I used it once years ago... I peeked after 24hrs. Yeah. Maybe. Sort of... Depends on the style of thread. Some of the info ones are innately strings of the same chap replying. Context is all. Maybe. Smilies can sometimes be funny, unless that's all you've got, or you use about 20 per post. Though as we seem to have scared off all the 14 year olds years ago we don't really get any of this. There is no justice. Just us. Again though, I haven't crayoned on someone's madder musings for years. Not since the first heady rush of gaining edit controls anyway. On balance I agree with this, though as our search function is not very good I can't really criticise someone who cracks on with a new thread. We can always shuffle things about later, and some persistent questions can benefit from a new thread, leaving the rotting bodies of bad blood and old arguments elsewhere. Then we can merge them later, so it looks like one massive falling out. Yeah. That. Though again, we can move stuff. Aye. Seriously, don't. I don't think any of us really expect you to be, and as regards actual threads rather than forum running stuff we'd all much rather be seen as equal members. Much more fun. Some forums take the dignity of their mods & admins so seriously that I've seen it destroy the 'feel'. I once got my hair caught in my shoe & fell over backwards... maybe pity me, but I deserve little respect. We have the barracks. It ain't moderated much, but then, thinking about it neither is the rest of the forum really - we seem to do quite well on trust. Hands up everyone who ever typed out a long rant and then thought 'hmm... maybe not...'. Yeah. Up to you really. Na zdorovie, ~A
On re-reading Peppy's article, still valid, I maintain, after nine odd years, I reckon the para I consider of most value is the one that deals with thread titles. I have lost count of the number of threads I have started that have not received even one response. One side of me accepts this as simply talking to myself and in my dark days I have even summoned up the phrase "casting pearls before swine" but if I am brutally honest the fault must surely lie with yours truly for not heading the thread with a more thought provoking title. Ron
Where can I find instructions about the proper use of this site including how to thank people who have Kepler etc.
Hi. I have just joined this site and hoping to find out some information on my grandfather. Still figuring out how to use this and will upload some photos and info asap.
Hi and welcome to the forum Julie, good luck with your research. Have you got his service records? Do you know in which unit he served? David
Hi there, I've just found your wonderful website/forum and this is my first posting. I am a keen motorcyclist (hence my user name!) and medically retired Paramedic Practitioner and also love trying to find family history. My Dad was Bob (Timothy Robert William) Block (he died in 2011) and he was in the RASC 8th HQ Car Corps 778 Company (like FloridaBrit's Dad) as a Vehicle Mechanic Group A Class 1. I have his Military History records and am trying to find out exactly where he was and when. Some of the things we know so far is that he had the B.A.O.R. campaign medal and was in Eindhoven for some time at the end of the war. We are lucky enough to have his letters to our Mum which he sent regularly after going into Europe on D-Day +6 which we didn't even knew existed until we lost our Mum in 2014. Like most he hardly ever spoke of his experiences but we knew he was mentally scarred by some of the things he went through, so finding these letters after his death were like a treasure trove. Time is always short after moving house last year so I haven't had the chance to read and transcribe many of them yet, but they will help us fill in a lot of gaps. One thing that may interest people 'of a certain age' is that Dad went on to be a radio & TV script writer and was the creator and writer of the children's programme Rentaghost, so his critiques of the ENSA shows he went to see in his letters should be interesting! I hope this hasn't rambled on too much and is acceptable as a newbies post! Trisha
