Forum Etiquette

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Forum Etiquette

Please take the time to read these guidelines regarding the use of the Report Studio forum.

1. Please describe your problem clearly. Posts such as "I have written a report and it does not work. Please tell me how to fix it" are far too ambiguous to allow anyone to know what the issue is. Please try to include as much detail as you can about the problem. Some examples include:
    a. If you are seeing an error, include the message.
    b. If you have an expression that is problematic, include the expression and describe in detail what is wrong with the results it returns.
    c. If you are asking for help with how to achieve a requirement, please indicate whether you are using a relational package or a dimensional package. Describe the requirement in as much detail as you can.
    d. If someone has suggested a solution and it doesn't do what you hoped for, please describe the result it is producing and how it differs from your desired outcome. Saying "it is not working" is not helpful.

2. "It is Urgent". We see a disappointingly high number of posts included with comments such as "it is very urgent" and "please give me the answer asap". Please do not do this. It can be seen as rude and pushy. Nobody is paid or rewarded to post answers on the Cognoise forum and contributors are giving up their own time to help, providing answers from the goodness of their own hearts.  To attempt to demand answers in a short time in this way is selfish behaviour, and often results in people ignoring the post.
Sometimes posters will continue to demand answers by adding extra requests for a response to the thread – occasionally only a few minutes after the original was posted. Please, please do not do this. If someone on the forum can answer, they will do so. Being super-pushy like this will only serve to annoy other forum members and alienate them. Moderators will often remove these messages as they are beyond selfish.

3. Search. It is quite likely your question may have been asked and answered already on the Cognoise forum. You can often save yourself a lot of time (and embarrassment) if you use the site's Search facility to try to find what you are looking for before posting a new topic. People are here to help you, but they can get frustrated if they are asked the same question nineteen thousand times.

4. Double posting. Please do not post the same question in multiple threads. If you want a topic moved to a new thread, please just ask a moderator - we're happy to help. Ideally you will post your topic in a new thread anyway, and not need this service. Posting the same question in multiple places can be confusing for people looking for an answer later on, and can also mean that people spend time answering questions that have already been resolved elsewhere.

5. Being a good citizen. Sometimes members can find the answer they seek independently, or using other sources. In this situation it is polite and helpful to include a post in the thread to indicate the answer has been found, and to describe the solution. It can be very helpful to others with the same issue to see how you fixed it. We can't enforce this, obviously, but we do ask that you be a good citizen and try to help others in this way. It is also useful to update the title of the original thread to include the fact it is now solved. If another forum member has helped you, it is polite to post a "thank you" message too, and possibly to use the Applaud link to applaud the member.

6. Security of client data. Please do not attach or link to confidential or sensitive documents provided by your client or employer. If you are describing a report you want to author, do not post an actual report output containing sensitive data you have been given to replicate. I know this seems obvious, but surprisingly it has happened.

7. Personal Information. Please do not include your email address or any sensitive personal information in any publicly visible post on Cognoise. If you want to exchange information with another forum member, use the My Messages link at the top of the page to send them a personal message – this might be a good way to give them your email address. If you do include personal information in a thread, it is highly likely a moderator or site administrator will edit the thread to remove it.

8. Exam dumps and interview questions. Cognoise welcomes open discussions between members about certification and interview topics. We do not, however, condone cheating in the certification exams in any way. Requests for exam dumps (ie lists of questions and answers from real certification tests) should not be made on Cognoise – either publicly or covertly. Anyone doing so will be warned initially, and banned if the requests continue. Similarly, posts asking for help with pending interview questions will be carefully scrutinised by moderators and administrators. If they are viewed as an attempt to cheat during a job interview, the post may be edited and the poster warned.

Thanks,

The Moderator team.