Should reports meet minimum Posting Guidelines?

[Lucky888]

Good formatting, punctuation, etc. leads to higher caliber reports and forum content. Chat-like formatting will lead to chat-like content, personal attacks and other less-useful topics.

My belief is this: if you have time to contribute useful information or ask a question not previously addressed in the forums, then you have the time to make it readable.

Also, I personally am not nearly as likely to respond to a post that is formatted or written poorly, even if I'm nearly an expert when it comes to answering their question.

Jackson, I'd like to say I truly appreicate the time you take to review and correct posts which do not follow the guidelines.

[Admin]

Greetings everyone,

A few months ago I proposed a relatively limited set of minimum posting requirements, which after a period of public comment, were made a part of this Forum's operating policies.

These Posting Guidelines may be reviewed by selecting the "Posting Guidelines" link in the left side menu bar, but they essentially encourage Forum Members to use standard capitalization and punctuation. Chat room format is specifically discouraged. The Posting Guidelines do not require good grammer, good writing, or correct spelling.

Since these Guidelines were enacted, I have noticed an appreciable improvement in the quality of the contributions to the Forum. However, I have also observed that a number of Senior Members are completely ignoring these minimum requirements, and also that a very small number of formerly active regular members have quit posting altogether.

Personally, I believe that the tradeoff in the loss of a small handful of member's reports is greatly offset by the improved readability of the current reporting, but now that I have activated the Forums survey function, I though I'd bring the subject up for debate again and perhaps benefit from a more statistical analysis of the membership's opinions on the subject.

Thanks,

Jackson