This sounds cranky, but it really isn’t. It is specifically *not* posted in response to anything here currently, rather, it summarizes notes from my soaping journal a while ago that I thought I might post at a time where there was no ongoing discussions/examples of any of these things, so I did not inadvertently hurt someone’s feelings. I have asked *so* many questions here myself I think I have some useful insights about how to do it 
Re line: try to phrase a short one that still summarizes your question. Eg; “What should I do” [question continued in post] is a problem b/c sometimes someone might *know* the exact answer and have been willing to offer it, but is too busy to click on the post because the re line tells them nothing, so they will never know that you had it in the first place. I ran out of space myself on this one (I know, it is all crammed up), so I get how hard it is.
Formulas/process: Asking general questions about a soap which has gone wrong very rarely provides enough details to respond thoughtfully on what might have happened. If you have one, always provide as much information as you can on how you made it.
At minimum, a recipe, including amounts/percentages of oils/lye/water/anything else. The best thing here is to cut and paste the recipe from whatever calculator you are using. If you think there might be something else relevant (additives, ambient soaping conditions), that is good too, espec. since that won’t show up in the calc printout. Also a picture, if the problem has a visual aspect.
Following on this, what process is at issue? Ie; HP or CP? O/w some helpful soaper might spend a bunch of time typing up info which is not helpful to you. Usually it is possible to guess from the post (even if unstated) but more info is better than less in that regard.
Make it easy to read. Proof read, avoid run on sentences and paragraphs (w/long ones, break them up into easily readable chunks), no caps, italics, bold, etc. unless you really, really mean it (“YOU DON’T HAVE TO SHOUT AT ME, I WILL GET IT AT NORMAL FONT SIZE!”). For me making things easy for others to read is v. important, but I am a cranky so-and-so in this respect, I admit.
I know that I am really bad about writing run-on sentences myself, so I try not to be (even it if requires going back and editing later), and also to be careful in being explicit/making my responses easy to read/understand. Even more so w/questions, where I am asking for peoples’ help and want to make it as easy for them to give it to me as I can, since they are doing me a favor.
If posts are too hard to read/figure out (unless I can tell there is an actual language issue, ie; non-native English speaker, then I will work harder) I sometimes just skip replying, even if I think I might have useful information. I don’t like it when posts make my brain/eyes hurt.
Politeness/come back w/results. V. occasionally – this really does not happen a lot here, people are pretty polite – I see a post that asks for a good deal of information, generates careful, well-thought out responses, and then the OP never comes back to say “thanks, y’all”, “so, this is what ended up happening”, or anything else. Until the next time they start a thread, on something new/different, and the same thing happens.
These people tend to be repeat offenders, they are not really interested in being forum members, just getting good advice as fast as they can and with as little effort possible (to themselves) as they can. That is well and good, but if I remember their names I am not v. motivated to respond.
Sorry if this turned into a rant-like thing, I promise I did not mean it to be.
ETA: See, the editing thing, I did warn. I don't want to discourage posts from newer people, the opposite, they are what keeps the board alive. I just want them to get as many responses as possible.
Re line: try to phrase a short one that still summarizes your question. Eg; “What should I do” [question continued in post] is a problem b/c sometimes someone might *know* the exact answer and have been willing to offer it, but is too busy to click on the post because the re line tells them nothing, so they will never know that you had it in the first place. I ran out of space myself on this one (I know, it is all crammed up), so I get how hard it is.
Formulas/process: Asking general questions about a soap which has gone wrong very rarely provides enough details to respond thoughtfully on what might have happened. If you have one, always provide as much information as you can on how you made it.
At minimum, a recipe, including amounts/percentages of oils/lye/water/anything else. The best thing here is to cut and paste the recipe from whatever calculator you are using. If you think there might be something else relevant (additives, ambient soaping conditions), that is good too, espec. since that won’t show up in the calc printout. Also a picture, if the problem has a visual aspect.
Following on this, what process is at issue? Ie; HP or CP? O/w some helpful soaper might spend a bunch of time typing up info which is not helpful to you. Usually it is possible to guess from the post (even if unstated) but more info is better than less in that regard.
Make it easy to read. Proof read, avoid run on sentences and paragraphs (w/long ones, break them up into easily readable chunks), no caps, italics, bold, etc. unless you really, really mean it (“YOU DON’T HAVE TO SHOUT AT ME, I WILL GET IT AT NORMAL FONT SIZE!”). For me making things easy for others to read is v. important, but I am a cranky so-and-so in this respect, I admit.
I know that I am really bad about writing run-on sentences myself, so I try not to be (even it if requires going back and editing later), and also to be careful in being explicit/making my responses easy to read/understand. Even more so w/questions, where I am asking for peoples’ help and want to make it as easy for them to give it to me as I can, since they are doing me a favor.
If posts are too hard to read/figure out (unless I can tell there is an actual language issue, ie; non-native English speaker, then I will work harder) I sometimes just skip replying, even if I think I might have useful information. I don’t like it when posts make my brain/eyes hurt.
Politeness/come back w/results. V. occasionally – this really does not happen a lot here, people are pretty polite – I see a post that asks for a good deal of information, generates careful, well-thought out responses, and then the OP never comes back to say “thanks, y’all”, “so, this is what ended up happening”, or anything else. Until the next time they start a thread, on something new/different, and the same thing happens.
These people tend to be repeat offenders, they are not really interested in being forum members, just getting good advice as fast as they can and with as little effort possible (to themselves) as they can. That is well and good, but if I remember their names I am not v. motivated to respond.
Sorry if this turned into a rant-like thing, I promise I did not mean it to be.
ETA: See, the editing thing, I did warn. I don't want to discourage posts from newer people, the opposite, they are what keeps the board alive. I just want them to get as many responses as possible.
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