Asking & Answering in the Forums
Welcome! Before you post, please familiarize yourself with the rules of engagement and Community Guidelines.
Step 1: Finding An Answer
Rule number one: Try to find the answer first. There are tons of resources out there, show that you have tried to find the answer. A question that shows that the person is willing to try and help themselves is more likely to be answered than one which simply demands information. Tell us what you have done to try and solve the problem yourself - often we can learn from that too!
Obviously you should check SAP's online help, and if you have not looked for SAP Notes you should make the readers aware of this. Many SDNers are very helpful and will even search for SAP Notes for you if you don't have that possibility yourself, but many will assume that you have already searched for SAP Notes.
Search the forums, the articles, the blog posts and the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) in the Wiki for your topic.
Step 2: Asking Your Question
Once you have verified that no resources are available for solving your problem, ask your question. Do the following:
- Use a Good Subject Line
The subject header is your golden opportunity to attract qualified experts' attention in around 50 characters or less. Don't waste it on babble like "Workflow question". We all have busy jobs, often we just skim through the list headings and read those that interest us. Also, DO NOT reply to an unrelated post to ask a different question. This confuses those reading the thread and may lose people that would be interested in your question. Always start a new topic with a new mail.
Bad subject: Urgent problem with workflow
Good subject: Error after transport: "Inconsistent workflow definition"
Do not use words in capital letters and any of the words: urgent, quickly, burning, etc in your message. Especially not in the title!
The same goes for such things as ??? or !!! in appends. In the English language one ? or ! is sufficient to terminate a sentence.
- Only One Question Per Posting
For each question that you have, make a separate posting. Don't ask multiple questions in one posting, this is confusing for people and might not get answered, since the subject line does not reflect all your problems. If a new and unrelated question comes up during a thread, start a new thread.
- Provide Enough Information.
For starters, please tell us which version and type of system you're working on - e.g. SAP R/3 4.6C or SRM 4.0 (EBP 5.0). If your question is regarding an error, include that in the message. If it is a request for info, please be specific. Questions such as "How do I administer workflow" are vague, tell us exactly what you want to know - "I'm the administrator, how do I forward work items to another agent?". If it's a big query, its better to break it down into separate questions.
- Do not ask to send you an email.
The question you ask and the solution to it is often also interesting for other users of the community. If you ask somebody to send you the answer per email, you deprive others of also learning to know the answer. Therefore any requests for sending material or answers to an email address will be modified by the forum moderators.
In addition, do not use an email address as a user name. These will be removed as well. Email addresses can be added to a Business Card or wiki profile. Their usage in the forums is inappropriate unless we are referring to sdn@sap.com
- Re-read Your Query Before Submitting it.
Put yourself in a reader's position - does the question make sense? Can I understand the problem? Is this enough information to be able to answer the problem?
This is a very valuable technique, because many questions end up answering themselves when you read them carefully. It also leads to better questions. Many readers like good questions, especially if they are thought-provoking and thus help all of us understand things better. This is one of the main reasons many experienced consultants read the list regularly.
- Why is Nobody Answering my Question?
There may be a variety of reasons:
1) Never assume that you are entitled to an answer. Remember: this is a community forum; people have jobs just like you and respond voluntarily. Perhaps nobody knows the answer.
2) Did you give the other users enough time? Don't be impatient. If the question is urgent, go to the official service channels.
3) Is your subject misleading? your post in the right forum? your problem description understandable?
- Please do not Cross post.
Post your question in the most appropriate forum; not multiple forums. This is bad netiquette and will might only aggravate potential repliers.
Step 3: Provide Feedback and an Update
Finally, it's nice to follow up with a brief update if you found the solution. People may try to help not because they know the answer, but because they are interested in solving the same problem; or people may just encounter the same issue in the future and be searching the archives. It's a good way to give back to the community, irrespective of whether you are a beginner or an expert.
Step 4: Thank Others by Giving Points
SDN/BPX has a Contributor Recognition Program. Which in short text means that for each question you have 10 points, which can be given to the person that answers your question. 6 & 2 points should also be given for helpful answers. For every question you later award points for, you in turn receive 1 point for. Please note that you do not need to explain that "points will be awarded". We should all know how the forum works.
Step 5: Answering a question
The community lives by people like you, trying to help others. When you see an unanswered question where you think you can answer, do so and help the poster. Remember to be polite and if you do not completely understand a question and need more details, request more information from the poster.
Do not ask for points - This forum should be firstly about information exchange; points are an incentive and a way of saying thanks.
Asking for points is like asking someone to say "thank you": The only time we do this in real life is when teaching a child good manners. Saying it to an adult is insulting, so why do it in the forums? If someone keeps asking questions without awarding points, simply stop answering them or use the abuse button to report it.
- Provide materials as attachment to a post.
As helpful material is, do not forget that other users might also be interested in your documents. Do not send them as email to the asking poster, but include them in your answering post or in the appropriate wiki section. Its also possible to provide a publicly available link. Use the How to Contribute -> Content Submission System link on the SDN, the SDN platform team will upload the document for you and provide you with a link. This way you not only serve others but also yourself, by avoiding dozens of posts also asking for your material.
- Do not provide copyrighted material.
Do not offer copyrighted material, where you do not own the copyright. Soft copies of books, certification material, etc. often is copyrighted and even if you got it through other sources, do not send it around. The authors of this material have a right to have their material protected.
Why worry? At the end of the day, all of us are human, and a small recognition goes a long way. This way, you win in getting a good answer. The person answering gets that warm feeling of having helped and with enough points gets a small reward.
SDN/BPX is a community that lives for and from its users. Which means when asking a question, you also assume the responsibility to assign the points. Its recommended that you assign 6 or 10 points once to the answer/person that helped you the most. Assign 2 points to everyone that contributed something. See also FAQ.
SDN is a place where developers meet other developers and BPX where Business Process Experts meet others. One takes the time to see the problems other developers, consultants, experienced end users and business process experts are facing, the time to read possible solutions (to learn), and maybe one day the time to answer some questions.
Use Proper Language
The language that you use in the forum should not hurt the co-SDNer or BPXer. Please don't use curse, slang, inappropriate or otherwise offensive language. Every professional has the responsibility to maintain good relationship/environment around. This is a community but a professional one please keep that in mind as you converse with others here. Any abuses should be reported to the moderators if no acceptable resolution can be found.
Please also avoid 'txt spk'. Many people are not native English speakers and using abbreviated slang makes it more difficult to understand. Apart from that, it is also unprofessional. Write as if you are communicating with your boss (or an English colleague of theirs!)
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Text in this message was borrowed from
- Brian McKellarand the BSP forum, SAP Workflow User Group FAQ by Mike Pokraka and from the community as a whole.
