FAQ
ITKnowledgeExchange – Frequently Asked Questions
This is a community full of questions, and you’re bound to have a few that can’t be answered in the forums. This FAQ should help, but if not, you can always feel free to email us (web-contactus@itknowledgeexchange.com) and we can help you out.
What is ITKnowledgeExchange?
ITKnowledgeExchange is a community site where IT professionals can ask and answer technical questions, discuss issues with peers, and read expert blogs covering topics across the IT industry (you can also start your own blog if you’d like).
Check out our ITKE community blog to stay up to date on community news, promotions and contests.
To gain access to all of the features of ITKnowledgeExchange you must be a registered member. Fill out our short registration form to get started. Once you register, you will receive a confirmation email.
During registration you will have the ability to sign up for updates on particular topics; if you do so, you will receive a daily email when new content is created using those tags.
Your public profile gives other users a better understanding of you and your area of expertise. After you register, go to the “Create your public profile” section. There you will be asked for additional information about yourself; all fields are optional. Don’t forget to upload an avatar of yourself; this will be displayed on your profile and next to the questions you have asked.
To edit your profile, click on the “Edit My Public Profile” link at the top right of any page and you will be brought to your profile page. Here you can make edits to your profile page and add or remove information.
How do I ask a question?
Go to the “Ask a Question” page or use the “Ask a Question” widget that appears throughout the site in the right sidebar. You will need to include a brief title for your question, followed by the question itself. There is no limit to how long your question can be.
Tag your question with all relevant tags so that it will be easy for your peers to find. You can also add any relevant hardware or software you’re using.
Once you submit your question it will be published and available for all to view and answer. It will also be automatically added to your Watchlist, so you will be notified of any answers or comments.
Do you have any guidelines for submitting questions?
Glad you asked. There are a few things you can do to give your question the best chances of being answered.
- Make sure the question fits on our site. We cover a lot of topics related to the IT field, but there are some technology topics that are outside that scope. Take a look at existing questions to get an idea of what we cover.
- Use the search function. Your question may have been asked before, so you may be able to solve your problem without even asking!
- Try to offer as much detail as possible about your situation. This can include explaining the problem you’re trying to solve, detailing what you’ve tried so far, adding the technology/code you’re using and anything else that gives the community an idea of how to approach your problem. Be prepared to give further details as needed in the comments section – many of our users will have follow-up questions for you.
- Don’t expect a quick fix. Our members visit the site often, but there are a lot of questions and discussions going on, and they might not get back to you right away (using the proper tags will help to make sure your question is visible to the right people). Be patient and respectful of others’ time and expertise, and you’ll eventually get the answer you seek.
What are tags and how do I use them?
Tags are relevant keywords or terms associated with questions submitted on the site (also blog posts). Tags are used to best categorize the main topic or topics of the questions of blog post and to help other community members find content in their field of interest.
To add tags to your question, begin typing a topic in the tags section of the “Ask a Question” box. The most popular tags matching your topic will pop up (not that these are typically related to specific technologies and concepts — so if you are submitting a question about Microsoft Outlook contacts, your tag would be “Microsoft Outlook,” not “contacts”). You can also add your own tag if the topic in question does not appear. Make sure to separate each tag with a comma.
To browse existing tags, click on the “Tags” link in the top navigation bar. On the resulting page, you’ll find the most popular tags, categorized by parent topic. Click on each tag to find a list of the most recent questions submitted using that tag.
By subscribing to alerts on ITKnowledgeExchange, you will be notified daily about new questions, answers and comments posted using the tags you select. These emails are delivered once daily; you can sign up for as many topics as you like. To change your topic alert preferences at any time, go to ‘Edit My Account’ at the top of any page and check or uncheck whatever topics you choose.
How do I edit a question?
If you made a mistake when submitting your question, or would like to add more information, you can edit it. Click “Edit Question” at the top right of the question box and make your changes, then click “Submit Question.”
Click on any question title or the “Answer Question” link below it. If a question doesn’t have an answer, click in the editor box marked “Answer Wiki” below the question and type in your response. Click the “Save” button and your answer will be posted immediately to the site. Once your answer is posted, other users will have the ability to improve the answer by adding additional information or edits.
If a question already has an answer and you feel as though it can be improved, click on “Improve This Answer” and make edits. This will replace the previous answer text and you will be noted as the most recent answerer of the question. Please make sure you are actually improving the answer; if you have additional comments to add, it may make more sense to add them to the discussion section below.
How do I comment on a question?
You can comment on any question or answer by entering your comments in the text box at the bottom of any questions page and clicking “Add to the Discussion.” Your comment will appear at the end of the current discussions. This is the place to ask a followup question to the original asker or a person who has answered a question.
How do I approve an answer to my question?
It’s helpful to the community if users acknowledge that a question has been answered satisfactorily, so other community members can focus their attention elsewhere. To “approve” an answer, click on the check mark at the top of the Answer Wiki box.
The text editor adds the appropriate formatting based on the option you select. For example, clicking
the “B” will insert an opening [B] tag. You can then type in your word or phrase and click the “B” again
to insert a closing [/B] tag. The text between these tags will be bolded.
Important note: When adding code please make sure to use the “code” button in the editor. Click the button before you write the code and after once you are complete. This will keep the code in the current format and avoid any other formatting issues. Also, if you’re using black-slashes (\) make sure to ‘escape’ them by using (‘\\’) so that they aren’t seen as an ‘escape character.
- b = bold
- i = italics
- link = hyperlink (when you click this, a popup displays; type your URL there)
- img = image (when you click this, a popup displays; type the URL of the image there)
- ul = unordered list
- il = ordered list
- li = list item
- code = code, which will display exactly as you type it in, e.g. with indents
How can I view the answer history of a question?
Because the IT Answers section of the site is a wiki, you have similar functionality as you do on Wikipedia. Users have the ability to view the history of the question by clicking on the “View History” link located beneath the answer. This will display a list of all edits made, when they were made, and who made them (if no edits were made, this link will not appear).
How can I compare answer edits?
When you are on a question page you can compare edits by clicking on the “View Answer History” link. On the History page you will see a list of versions. Select the two versions you wish to compare and click “Compare Selected Versions.” Another page will load showing the two entries side by side and highlighting which edits have been made.
How can I revert an answer to a previous version?
To revert the answer back to a previous version, choose the version you wish to revert back to and click “Revert.” The answer that now appears will be the one you have reverted to. If you chose the wrong edit to revert to, go to the “View Answer History” page and revert to the correct version.
How do I delete questions?
Find a question that doesn’t belong on ITKnowledgeExchange? Let us know by clicking “Vote to delete question.” If enough users also think it is worthy of deletion, the question will be removed. You can also let us know about objectionable content by emailing moderator@ITKnowledgeExchange.com.
Please note:
The owners, administrators, and moderators of this site reserve the right to remove, edit, move or close any post or ban any user for any reason. By registering with ITKnowledgeExchange.com, you agree to this rule and to all of the other site rules and guidelines.
All content posted on ITKnowledgeExchange.com is granted to TechTarget with electronic publishing rights in perpetuity, as all content posted on this site becomes a part of the community.
These rules and guidelines are subject to change at any time without notice.
The Watchlist was created to help you easily track questions and answer and discussion threads that you wish to follow. The questions with the most recent changes will appear first on the list. These can be questions that you have been involved in or just questions that you’re interested in. You must be registered and logged in to use the Watchlist feature.
Adding to your Watchlist
To add to your Watchlist, go to the question you wish to watch and click on the “Add to My Watchlist” link. A confirmation message will appear notifying you that this question has been added. Questions you create yourself are added to your Watchlist by default.
Removing a Watchlist item
To remove an item from your Watchlist, click the “My Watchlist” tab to go to your Watchlist page. Then check the item you wish to remove and click “Remove.” To remove all watched items, use the check all button to automatically select all and then click “Remove.”
How do I earn badges and receive prizes?
ITKnowledgeExchange awards badges to the members who provide value to the community.
The badges reach all levels of users, whether you’re new to the community and racking up knowledge
points by asking questions, or you’re a more experienced member providing multiple answers an hour.
To say thanks for making this community what it is, some of these badges will earn you real rewards.
Remember, we will be reviewing all questions and answers for validity before rewarding points/rewards.
Here’s the breakdown of the badges, what they mean, and how you earn them.
| Badge | What is it and how do I get one? |
|
Platinum Member |
Becoming a Platinum Member is the highest honor. Platinum Members have earned 25,000 knowledge points. |
|
Gold Member |
Our Gold Members have earned 10,000 knowledge points. |
|
Silver Member |
If you’re a Silver Member, that means you’ve earned 2,000 knowledge points. |
|
Bronze Member |
If you’re a bit newer to the community, 500 knowledge points earns you the right to call yourself a bronze member. |
|
Nerd |
If you’ve answered 30 questions in a single topic area, then you’ve earned the Nerd level for that topic! |
|
Genius |
100 answers in one topic earns you a second cog and the Genius designation. |
|
Brainiac |
250 answers in one topic gets you your final Cog, plus notes your Brainiac status within the community. |
|
Certified Nerd |
Hitting the 30 accepted answers earns you one checked Cog, respectively, giving you further validation of your intelligence. |
|
Certified Genius |
With 100 accepted answers, you’ll earn 2 checked Cogs, this means you’re a Certified Genius. |
|
Certified Brainiac |
Get 3 checked Cogs validating that your brainiac status is certified and your answers have helped a lot of people–you’ll get these Cogs with 250 accepted answers. |
|
Contest Winner |
For anyone who wins a contest, you will receive the Contest Winner badge. |
|
Featured Member |
This badge is awarded to anyone who is featured by IT Knowledge Exchange for their exemplary work. You may often see mention of these members in the Community Updates, Blog and ‘What’s New’ boxes. |
|
ITKE Blogger |
This badge identifies the members who blog for IT Knowledge Exchange. |
|
Sponsor |
These Sponsor badges will help you to identify which members in the community partner with TechTarget to provide value-added content and live chats. |
|
Community Manager |
The Community Manager badge identifies the IT Knowledge Exchange members who currently oversee the features and functionality of the community. |
|
Moderator |
The Moderator badge is awarded to the members of the community who oversee the discussions and help guide members on how to properly ask/answer questions. |
Click on the “Comment” link on any blog post and enter your comment in the “Leave a comment”text box and click “Comment.” Please note that some blogs may be moderated and comments may require approval from the respective blogger before being posted to the site. You must be logged in to leave a comment.
You can have your own blog hosted on ITKnowledgeExchange by emailing us at moderator (at) itknowledgeexchange.com. We will send you a form to fill out including the blog title and description, and will then set up the blog for you in WordPress.
How do I earn Knowledge Points?
You can easily earn Knowledge Points by contributing to the community. Here is a breakdown of how many
points you can earn depending on what you do:
- Ask a Question: 5 Knowledge Points
- Answering a Question: 15 Knowledge Points
- Discussing a Question: 10 Knowledge Points
- Accepting an Answer: 10 Knowledge Points – approve an answer a fellow member has give to your question
We will be highlighting the top ten contributors to the community throughout the site so start earning your
Knowledge Points today. To view the point total of any user, simply click on their handle to view their profile.
Where do I find ITKnowledgeExchange RSS feeds?
You can add any question to your RSS feed reader of choice by clicking on the RSS icon on any question (next to the “Add to Watchlist” link). This will update you with any updates to that question.
RSS feeds are also available for discussions related to each question (click on “RSS-Discussions”) to add that particular discussion feed to your reader.
To add an ITKE blog to your RSS reader, click on the RSS feed link located in the bottom of the right sidebar on any blog page. You can also subscribe to the comments on any given post using the link at the bottom of the post.
