1 If you are new to forums, watch the boards for a few days to get a feel for the type of messages posted and read the guidelines for each Discussion Forum before posting. Traffic to your site will indirectly come from giving help to others. Most forums will allow you to leave a link back to you site.
2 Do NOT use these forums to post your ad. We have paid special attention not to list any forums that are full of ads from people posting messages. ADVERTISING is not allowed in most of these forums. You will get banned from some forums for spamming them with junk ads.
3 Post ONLY professional material . Do not post information that has nothing to do with the forum topic. It is annoying to people who are using these boards, and you will not be taken seriously.
4 Be professional and courteous. Using a business forums is a privilege. Everyone appreciates working with a professional. Treat people like you want to treated and you will receive maximum benefit in using these forums.
5 Never make anonymous posts. They diminish your credibility and you may not be taken seriously. People like to know who they are working with.
POSTING MESSAGES
Using HTML and/or UBB Code - You may be able to use HTML and/or UBB Code in your posts, if your administrators and moderators have these options turned on for each forum. Some forums may have either HTML or UBB Code turned off, or both turned off. Only your bulletin board's leaders can set this. Every time you post a new note, you will be told whether UBB Code and/or HTML is enabled for that particular forum. If HTML is on, you may use any HTML tags, but please be very careful that you use proper HTML syntax. If you do not, your moderator or administrator may have to edit your post. UBB Code is similar to HTML, but offers just a few basic functions, such as hyperlinking, image display, bolding and italicizing. A complete list of current UBB Codes are listed at:
http://www.theideaweb.com/forums/ubbcode.html
Cookies - Most bulletin boards use cookies to store the following information: the last time you logged in, your username and password, and your preferred "topic view," if you set it in preferences. These cookies are stored on your browser. Cookies are not used to track your movement or perform any function other than to enhance your use of the discussion forum.
Adding Signatures ? Most forums will allow you to use a signature (commonly used in email messages) on your posts. Most forums will have a way of storing your signature so you can access it to make regular changes. Note: Check to see if the board that you post on allows you to use an HTML in your signature file, otherwise use the signature file allowed in the UBB Code.
Creating a Hyperlink in your message. You can easily add a hyperlink to your message. All that you need to do is type the URL (http://www.webpositionadvisor.com), and it will automatically be converted to a URL ( http://www.webpositionadvisor.com )!
The trick here is to make sure you prefix your URL with the http:// , https:// or file://
You can also add a mailto link to your message by typing in your email address.
This Example:
david@webpsoitionadvisor.com
Outputs this:
david@webpositionadvisor.com
Another way to add hyperlinks is to use the [url] linkto [/url] tags:
This Example:
[url] http://www.webpositionadvisor.com/ [/url] takes you home!
Outputs This:
http://www.webpositionadvisor.com takes you home!
If you use this tag: [url=" linkto "] description[/url] you can add a description to the link.
This Example:
Take me to [url="http://www.webpositionadvisor.com/"] Webpositionadvisor?s Marketing Tutorials [/url]
Outputs This:
Take me to Webpositionadvisor?s Marketing Tutorials
This Example:
If you have a question [url="david@webpositionadvisor.com"] Mail Me [/url]
Outputs This:
If you have a question Mail Me