CONSEILS AVISES AUX NOUVEAUX VENUS
SUR LES GROUPES DE DISCUSSION EXCEL
Introduction
Cette page correspond est pour ainsi dire la traduction de la page que maintient Chip Pearson : http://www.cpearson.com/excel/newposte.htm [© Copyright 1997,1998,1999, 2000 by Charles H. Pearson], dont l'intégralité se trouve en bas de page.
Ce qui suit sont des suggestions destinés aux nouveaux venus sur les
newsgroups Excel mais aussi aux plus anciens comme moi ;-)
L'objectif est de donner quelques conseils aux gens qui font appel aux forums
excel, pour favoriser leur apprentissage d'Excel, qui se révèle
à eux comme un outil insoupçonné et puissant. Je suis un
peu timide pour cette introduction, me manque la verve des bavards du forum
!
Voilà la liste
Introduction
The following are suggestions for people who are new to the Excel newsgroups.
These are suggestions and guidelines, not commandments or rules.
Use your best judgment, and play nice. This list is maintained and posted more
or less monthly by Chip Pearson. Thanks to everyone who has made suggestions
for the list (you know who you are!). Send suggestions, comments, and questions
(or even compliments) to chip@cpearson.com
The List.....
1 Always tell us what versions of Excel and Windows you're using.
We don't want to give you a simple answer that works in XL2000 but won't work
in XL95.
2 Use an illustrative subject line. Don't put in a subject line like HELP ME! or EXCEL question. Instead, say something like Trouble With Pivot Tables In XL97. And remember, saying URGENT doesn't make it any more urgent to anyone but you.
3 Post in the appropriate group. There are various microsoft.public.excel groups, for charting, programming, etc. If your message isn't about VBA programming, don't post to the programming group. Don't post to more than one group, unless the question really applies to more than one group. The "regulars" read all the Excel groups, so someone will read your message. It won't be lost.
4 Don't ask more than one or two unrelated questions in the same post. Of course, you may need to ask more than one question to address a single issue. Generally, each post should deal with only one problem.
5 Include example data and formulas in your post. The more you tell us up front,
the easier it is for us to answer your questions. If your formulas aren't giving
the results you want, include the results you want to get, as well as the results
you're getting. Your post should include at least
a. some sample data,
b. the formula you're using now,
c. the result you're getting now,
d. an explanation of why your result isn't what you want, and
e. the result you want to get.
6 Remember, we don't know what you need, or expect, or what your abbreviations mean. Please include as much detail as you can.
7 If you've already tried using some formulas or VBA, include what you've already tried. You may be very close.
8 Be very specific when reporting error messages that you get. Don't say "I get an error when I do this". Tell us the text of the error message. Exactly what did you do to get the error? Was it generated by Excel, VBA, or Windows? If it came from VBA, was it a compiler error, or a run-time error. What line of code caused the error? Be specific. Details count.
9 Don't attach a workbook to your message. We normally don't need to see an
actual workbook, if you've clearly explained your problem, formulas, and data.
If someone wants to see an actual workbook, they'll ask for it by private email.
Also, many people won't even read a message that has a workbook attached, because
it take a long time to download, and because of the possibility of macro viruses.
Attaching a workbook to your message pretty much guarantees that you won't get
a rely.
10 If you're following up to a previous post, you don't need to include everything.
Snip out what's not relevant. But do include what is relevant. Some people may
have missed the original post. (See #11 below)
11 When posting a follow-up to a post, put your new text at the top of the
message, above the cited text of previous messages. (See #10 above).
This makes it much easier to others to read the responses to a message that
has been posted.
12 Please post messages in "plain-text" format, without formatting. No HTML. Generally speaking, we don't want to see the cool new stationary or GIFs you've found.
13 Please don't email your questions directly to us. There are (hopefully) many people on these newsgroups that will have the answer to your question and you might be helping others who are having the same problem. If you post to the group, you'll likely have an answer within a few hours (sometimes even within a few minutes!).
14 Please don't ask us to email you directly because you can't get back to the newsgroup to check. Some of us email all their responses to the original posters, but generally you will find that we don't have the time to email and post the answer. As one frequent contributor wrote, "Read it where you post it."
15 NOSPAM email addresses.... If you feel the need to put "Spam Protection" in your email address, do not expect to get an email response to your question, and don't ask for one. Those responders who do take the time to email a reply will likely not take the time to delete or change the "Spam Protection". Don't say "remove the obvious to reply". YOU remove the obvious if you want a reply.
16 We are not here to do your work (or your homework) for you. Before posting a question or request for help, make sure you put in time and effort yourself.
17 RTFM. That's what F1 is for. First try to find your answer in online help (press F1 and go from there). Next try Microsoft online support and Knowledge Base: http://support.microsoft.com If you are still stuck post away.
18 Check Deja News (http://www.dejanews.com) before asking a question. It may have been answered last week. Deja News archives every newsgroup post ever made, so if it was asked here, you can find it there. (Granted, Dejanews has gone downhill lately, in their attempt to be a "web portal" site. But still, do a "Power Search" there.) If you don't find it there, post away!
19 Take a look at the Comp.Apps.Spreadsheets FAQ http://www.faqs.org/faqs/spreadsheets/faq/
20 Try it out. Before posting a question asking "Will this work?" or "Can I do this in Excel?", try it out for yourself. You might be smarter than you think.
21 "I posted a question an hour ago, but didn't get any responses. Should I post it again?" No. It can take anywhere from a minute to a day for your post to actually show up on the server. Then, someone has to read it and come up with an answer. Give it a few days before thinking about resubmitting a post.
22 "I posted a question last week, but didn't get any responses. Should I post it again?" Well, maybe, maybe not. The regular responders to the groups probably read your question, but had no idea what you were talking about. If you didn't get any responses to a question, rewrite your question, and include (more/better) sample data and formulas. Also, check DejaNews to make sure that the message actually did get posted.
23 "I posted a question, and no one emailed me an answer. Should I post again?" No. You should not expect to get an email reply to your question. Replies will show up in the newsgroup, not your email.
24 Be polite. Rudeness has never been a problem around here, and let's keep it that way.
25 This is not the "I hate Microsoft" group. There are other newsgroups for that.
26 The MS support and development people don't read these newsgroups (or they do so covertly). This is not the forum in which to
a. complain about features that aren't available, or
b. suggest new ones.
The "regulars" here aren't MS employees, and we don't have Bill Gates' secret email address. This is public, peer-to-peer support.
27 When declaring variables in VBA, use explicit declarations, with explicit types. Sometimes errors arise from an improperly declared variable in VBA. For example, use Dim W As Workbook rather than Dim W or Dim W As Object
28 When including dates in example data, try to use a dd-mmm-yyyy format. This will prevent confusion among international date styles. For example, 09/02/98 means 2-Sept-98 to USAn users, but it means 9-Feb-98 to many (most?) European users. Using 2-Sept-98 leaves no room for misunderstanding. If you're dealing with dates after 1999, use the full 4 digit year.
29 Be careful using characters like "!" in the subject line of a
post. Some folks automatically filter out messages based on the subject line.
A subject like "Help Me !!!!" can be easily confused with a line like
telling you how to acquire wealth at the present moment.
30 Where do I get more on-line help? There are a number of very good Excel sites
on the Web. In my humble opinion, the best are:
a. John Walkenbach's http://www.j-walk.com/ss
b. Stephen Bullen's: http://www.bmsltd.co.uk
c. Baarns Group (archive site): http://archive.baarns.com
d. Frank Isaacs': http://vbapro.com
e. Beyond Technology: http://www.beyondtechnology.com
f. My own: http://www.cpearson.com
John Walkenbach's site has a very comprehensive list of links, so you can find many other sites from there.
31 Learn to use the VBA debugger. Learn how to set breakpoints and to examine the contents of variables. This skill can save you many, many hours of frustration.
32 For best results, connect directly to the Microsoft news server:
msnews.microsoft.com . If you connect through your local ISP's news server,
your message may be dropped or may take a few days to show up on the MS
server. In your newsreader (e.g., Agent or Outlook Express), find the "Tools"
or "Options" menu, choose "Accounts" or something similar,
and add a new news account, pointing to msnews.microsoft.com .
33 DEJA and CNET Customers and other "web portal users". Please remember that your questions are not answered by DEJA or CNET users. Neither of these services provides any answers whatsoever. These services simply forward your question to the public newsgroups, where other people, wholly unconnected with DEJA or CNET answer your questions. All DEJA and CNET really do is allow you to see advertising while you look for answers written by others. DEJA and CNET do not provide any answers themselves. The only thing they do is pass the questions on to us, and splatter advertising across your screen. If this appeals to you, then that's just wonderful. Just remember, when you ask a question on CNET or DEJA, neither of these advertising services are giving you the answer.
34 Please use you're real name in your messages. And include your real name in the body of your message. A nickname like "Kewl Guy" might seem cool on AOL or CNet, but in the newsgroups, we're friendly and informal. Use your real name.
35 Don't email me telling me that plural of "formula" is "formulae", not "formulas". I already know this.
And Last But Not Least....
If we have helped you save some time, some hair pulling, some frustration, or whatever... a quick "thank you" is always appreciated, either through the newsgroup or directly by email. Remember that none of us are getting paid to do this. We don't work for Microsoft; we do this to help the Excel community and to help others grow (and to grow ourselves).
Send any questions or comments or suggestions to Chip Pearson, chip@cpearson.com
[You may freely distribute this message in its entirety to any forum or publication, as long as the copyright statement remains: (c) Copyright, 1997 - 2000, Charles H Pearson. ]
--
Cordially,
Chip Pearson
Microsoft MVP - Excel
Pearson Software Consulting, LLC
www.cpearson.com chip@cpearson.com