Seven Ways to NOT Get Answers to Your Microsoft Dynamics GP Questions via Newsgroups

The shift from newsgroups to forums is well under way for Microsoft Dynamics products. Mariano Gomez highlighted the trend in a recent article. With the change, I wanted to examine the best ways to actually get your questions answered in the forum.

Moderators care a lot about how questions are formatted.  Certain types of questions will either go unanswered or get non-answers. Avoid these types of questions if you want to actually receive an answer:

1. The please-do-my-job-for-me question.

These questions are typically broad questions asking for more information than a normal human being is willing to give.  For example, I've altered this recent question slightly to protect the guilty:

"Can anyone help me write the code in VBA To connect to the SQL server tables, retrieve data and display it in the Report writer through Visual basic editor?"

This person is asking for VBA, SQL and VB code. He or she doesn't want help, but rather free outsourcing.

When I see a request like this, I cringe. The question is really asking for more than anyone is willing to give. It's like asking LeBron James if he can spend the next ten minutes with you to get your overweight behind up to NBA standards. It's offensive to people who have spent a ton of time and effort building their own skills.

A more effective approach? Ask a specific question to get past the first hurdle and continue working. There is nothing to prevent asking another question at the next problem area.

2. The I-am-totally-clueless question.

Everyone is willing to help new people in the forums and we are ...