Very often, I see that someone has posted a question in the DHTML/JavaScript forum and recieved no responses. Sometimes I click on what looks like an interesting thread, only to hit the back button after a moment because I don't feel like answering the question. Here are a few pointers on how you can make your request in such a way that people will want to answer it for you.
1. Use the search feature and search both the DHTML/JavaScript forum and its archive to see if your question has been answered in the past. If we saw the same question not too long ago, we're very unlikely to answer it again, and we'll often leave without making a reply.
2. Here's the most important one. When you post your question, give us a link to a page with the problem. That doesn't mean cut and paste your source code. We need to see the problem in action to help you. If you're having the problem on a page that you don't want to show anyone until it's finished, then make a copy of the page and strip out everything but the problem that you need help with. Then upload the page and give us a link.
Cutting and pasting your source code is better than nothing, but it's often intimidating. It's difficult for us to see what it does, and it's hard for us to debug it until we've seen what it creates in a web browser. Posting all the code on a page is often too much code to look through; posting only part of the code on a page may mean you left out a peice crucial to solving the problem. Avoid this dillema by just giving us a link to a problematic page.
3. Give us enough information to solve the problem, but try not to say more than is necessary about it. The faster we can read your post, the easier it is for us to help. The easier it is to help you, the more likely we will. =)
4. We understand that English is not everyone's first language. Nonetheless, try to proofread your post and make sure that everything you said makes sense.
5. The more general a question is, the less likely it is to be answered. Sometimes there are prewritten scripts scattered around on the internet that will help you acheive a certain effect. (Though I have personally always been against these, if you must use them, go ahead.) Often questions like these have been answered in the past and you can find help by searching through past threads. Otherwise, do your best to solve your own problem, and try to narrow it down for us. Again, the less general your question is, the more likely we'll help you with it.
Finally, if you asked a question, and some people tried to help you, and then you found the solution yourself, please explain the solution! We are interested in how you fixed it. If you leave us hanging then there will be less motivation to answer your next question. Keep everyone happy and they'll be more likely to help you the next time around. =)
OZONE Asylum
