This is a short introduction to the community boards, a whole universe that lurks under the under the button labeled Community.

1. Choose the right board for the topic you wish to ask about

• There are a number of different boards or forums

• All of the boards have a brief explanation about their purpose at the entry point - best to read it

• Some are eBay specific and some are not. 

• Probably best not to ask:

• "Which are the best nightclubs in Benidorm?" on the Q&A board

• "What should I do about my account hijacking?" in The Nags Head

2.  Scan the pinned messages at the top of the board (the ones with a pin symbol)

• EBay has pinned them because they contain important information

• They may contain the answer to your question (sometimes) 

3. Lurk a bit before you post anything

• Lurking is staying ABSOLUTELY quiet but still attentive to what is happening

• Lurking allows you to gauge the tone of your chosen board and scurry out unscathed if it seems a too dangerous place

4.  Use the search facility to see if  the question has been asked recently

• The search is at the top of the board

• Although we all like to think our problems are unique, the chances are they are not

• The regular posters can get bored with repetitive questions

• Bored posters can become unhappy posters!

5. Use a posting ID to post messages

• A posting ID is a new ID that you have just set up for posting messages on the boards.  All you need to do it is a different email address from your main ID.

• Fluffy, soft, neutral posting IDs work well for posting and will get helpful answers whereas questions with a posting ID of "Let_me_scam_you" may go unanswered!

• A posting ID, for a buyer, stops:

•  people looking at what you have recently bought

• commenting on what you have bought which can be embarrassing sometimes

• checking your feedback

• A posting ID, for a seller, stops someone:

• checking your feedback 

• looking at what you are selling

• commenting on what you are selling

• reporting you, if you are in breach of some rule

• wrecking your auctions, if they take a dislike to you or just out of sheer badness (it has happened)

6. Do not swear in your post

• Swearing is out on all the boards - even if you use %^*(*() instead of some letters it is still swearing

• Twonk IS allowed 

7. Spell check your post

• On some boards there are people who take grammar and spelling very seriously

• To see if your chosen board is picky about such things search for the word "bidded" and read any posts associated with it (or scan a few posts)

• As a general rule, writing your post as a text message will result in at least one abrasive comment 

8. Do not upset the natives

• Each board has a group of people who are regular posters - the natives

• Even if you think a native is a complete twonk NEVER say so

• If you do what you will find is that no one will answer your questions and your comments on any subsequent posts will kill them stone dead

9. Some no-no's

• There are lots of no-nos, here are just a few:

• Advertising or promoting your products, items, or website

• Publication of any personal information that would identify an individual

• Flaming - think or take a deep breath or have a sleep before you post that scathingly witty remark that is just at your fingertips

• Identifying buyers or sellers directly, if you are not part of the transaction on the posting ID

• Using bidded - the past tense of bid is bid :-)

• Slating eBay (haha just kidding - bet they wish!)

• Being rude about some of the GREAT long standing native posts or ME pages - these can cover very useful subjects such as Scam Buyers, Turbo Lister, Spyware and Viruses, Links to Useful Stuff and Hijacks and get moved up by the community daily 

10. Understand the Jargon

• Some boards have a brief introduction to the jargon pinned at the top

• If someone posts a reply with words that you do not understand then just ask again what they mean by the term say "pink", it is probably not what you first thought! 

11. Board posters are human!

• Even the most cynical board posters can still remember what it was like to be completely gutted the first time one of the 1000 things that can go wrong with a transaction happened to them

• People can post answers that are wrong, wait for a few replies before taking a view

12. Manners maketh man

• There are some extremely dedicated and helpful people out there who give out consistently good advice every day for FREE (they may get an eBay goodie bag at Christmas if they are lucky)

• The thanks they get from others is ALL they get for the rest of the year

• Make their day - tell them how GREAT they are (you all know who you are and by the way THANKS again from me, you are GREAT)

13. Have fun!