Asking for help on Toytown

Asking for help on Toytown

Toytown is made up of thousands of members and supporters who work or have worked in almost every field imaginable. Many have lived in Germany for years or are in relationships with Germans and have direct access to "national knowledge" -- all those things that every German grew up knowing and about which we forinjers are clueless.

Being that Toytown is Internet-based it's no surprise that more than a couple computer gurus are around. Lawyers, investment counselors, au pairs, professional cooks, rocket scientists, aerospace engineers... we've got them and a whole lot more. More importantly almost every single one of them is ready to answer your request for help before your thread disappears or worse, heads down the path of lame jokes and insider banter.

So why didn't your question get answered? Probably because the person ideally suited to answer it never noticed it. The reason for this is that most requests for help are too generic. You should make the subject of your request clear and specific in the title and subtitle.

Do:

1. Request help and state the general area of knowledge in the title
2. Add further details in the subtitle
3. Describe things clearly giving full details in the body of the topic
4. Remember to thank the people who helped you

Examples:

Need IT help with my DSL
Router has IP address but computer doesn't see it

Need help with cooking a souffle
Always falls no matter what I do

Legal problem with landlord
He's told me that I can't sublet my apartment when I leave for three months

Do Not:

1. Write generic "Help me!" topics which don't specify what kind of help you need
2. WRITE IN ALL CAPS. It's annoying and obtrusive, and there's no way in hell most people will read through your entire all-cap post.
3. Use lots of punctuation!!!!!!!!!! It's a clear sign of a twisted mind.