Tips

May 7 2008   2:18PM GMT

Filter to see only answered or unanswered IT questions

Posted by: Brent Sheets
Tips, ITKE, Contests, Most Active Member

In case you hadn’t noticed, we recently added some new features to the homepage. We’ve upped the list of most recent questions and answers on the homepage from 60 to a whopping 200. Plus, you’ll also find a new tab for filtering unanswered questions.

In addition to the homepage, you’ll now find these 3 tabs on every major topic: Recent IT Questions, Recent IT Answers and Unanswered IT Questions.

So now, if you’re looking for questions to answer within your specific expertise, simply click the Unanswered IT Questions tab on any of the topics of your choice below.

Recent IT Questions
→ This tab displays the most recent 200 questions, both unanswered and answered. This is the default view.

Recent IT Answers
→ This tab displays the most recent 200 questions that have an answer or a partial answer. The answer may be rated, improved or reverted by fellow members.

Unanswered IT Questions
→ This tab displays the most recent 200 unanswered questions. This is a handy tab, especially during contests, to quickly view only unanswered questions.

We currently have a Most Active Member contest during the month of May, so jump to your area of expertise and start answering questions to build up your Knowledge Points and you could be our next winner. Thanks.

Community Manager

VIEW UNANSWERED QUESTIONS ON THESE TOPICS

AS/400 (unanswered questions) Channel (unanswered questions) CIO (unanswered questions) CRM (unanswered questions) Database (unanswered questions) Data Center (unanswered questions) Data Management (unanswered questions) Development (unanswered questions) Exchange (unanswered questions) Linux (unanswered questions) Lotus Domino (unanswered questions)

Microsoft Windows (unanswered questions) Mobile (unanswered questions) Networking (unanswered questions) Oracle (unanswered questions) SAP (unanswered questions) Security (unanswered questions) SQL Server (unanswered questions) Storage (unanswered questions) Virtualization / VMware (unanswered questions) Unified Communications / VoIP (unanswered questions)

VIEW ANSWERED QUESTIONS ON THESE TOPICS

AS/400 (answered questions) Channel (answered questions) CIO (answered questions) CRM (answered questions) Database (answered questions) Data Center (answered questions) Data Management (answered questions) Development (answered questions) Exchange (answered questions) Linux (answered questions) Lotus Domino (answered questions)

Microsoft Windows (answered questions) Mobile (answered questions) Networking (answered questions) Oracle (answered questions) SAP (answered questions) Security (answered questions) SQL Server (answered questions) Storage (answered questions) Virtualization / VMware (answered questions) Unified Communications / VoIP (answered questions)

May 6 2008   6:37PM GMT

SQL and SQL Server tutorial and reference guide

Posted by: Brent Sheets
SQL Server, Blogs, ITKE, Tips

There’s no doubt our community is one of the best places to post an IT question. Our members are some of the best and brightest and the distilled knowledge of our membership can be a lifesaver when an IT issue is driving you mad. But did you also know that your fellow members are sharing their expertise in their blogs?

You’ll be amazed at the tips, tweaks and time-savers you’ll find in the blogs of your peers and colleagues on IT Knowledge Exchange. Our sister site, SearchSQLServer.com, has gathered together related posts from our SQL Server with Mr. Denny blog to create a reference guide for those just getting started with SQL or anyone wishing to brush up their skills.

So be sure to visit the SQL and SQL Server tutorial and reference guide and take a moment to browse through our growing number of IT blogs for other topics of interest.

Community Manager

Jan 17 2008   7:35PM GMT

Tags are an important ingredient for success

Posted by: Brent Sheets
Tags, ITKE, Tips

Tags are an important factor in whether or not you get a quick reply to your IT question. Why? Because your question lives for only a short time on the main page and is then deposited in the categories of the tags you use. Here’s a helpful tip about this essential feature.

I’ve previously detailed how to increase your chances of getting an answer but I’m seeing quite a few tags that look more like run-on sentences or a series of keywords than a actual tag.

For example, this is not a tag – it’s a question:
what cisco certification is best or should i go for mcse?

Nor is a series of keywords a proper tag:
Certifications Cisco certifications CCNA MCSE

Instead, you should break these terms into individual tags, like this:
Certifications, Cisco certifications, CCNA, MCSE

This will ensure that your question appears in the proper categories so that members browsing those categories will see it. Just be sure that the tags you use are applicable to your question. You should never use a tag that is not related to your question.

Community Manager

Dec 11 2007   7:11PM GMT

Don’t wait for IT problems to strike

Posted by: Brent Sheets
Subscribe to Alerts, Public Profile, ITKE, Tips

It’s only a matter of time before IT problems strike. Why wait? Stay ahead of the curve with our new Subscribe to Alerts feature. You can sign up to your favorite IT topics and receive a daily digest of questions, answers and discussions for the tags you select.

To subscribe, visit the Subscribe to Alerts page and check off all the tags of importance to you. You’ll receive a Daily Question and Answer Update in your inbox each day. It’s a great way to keep abreast of potential problems within your area of expertise before you have to face a similar predicament.

If you ever wish to unsubscribe from any or all topics, simply login and visit your Public Profile page to uncheck any unwanted topics. It’s fast and simple – and we hope – helpful.

Let us know what you think about this new feature and keep your suggestions coming. Thanks.

Community Manager

Dec 6 2007   5:42PM GMT

Want IT answers? Think before you type

Posted by: Brent Sheets
ITKE, Tags, Tips

You want answers to your IT questions, right? Of course you do and it’s our job on IT Knowledge Exchange to help you get those answers. Here are a few simple steps you can take to increase your chances of getting a helpful IT answer from fellow members.

Step 1: Think!
Stop, take a deep breath and think before posting your question. This isn’t a speed contest. You want an answer quickly but posting a poorly worded question will result in decreasing your chances of getting an answer. Think and word your question carefully.

Step 2: The Question Title
The title you use is important. You want your title to be clear and concise so that other members will click to read your full question. Using HELP!!! or I need an answer is not helpful for the members searching or browsing for questions to answer. Please do not use all caps or excessive exclamation points.

Step 3: The Question
Some questions can be written in a sentence or two while others may require more details. For example, someone attempting to answer your question may need to know the operating system you’re using, the software version, etc. Provide enough details so other members can help you. And remember, a well-written question using proper grammar is much easier to read. ITKE isn’t a cell phone; so feel free to spell out the entire word.

Step 4: The Tags
Tags are the backbone of IT Knowledge Exchange. The tags place your question in specific categories. So using a tag of “Exchange 2003″ will put your question in that category. Other members wishing to answer questions about Exchange 2003 would visit that tag. But using a tag of “Help me” or other meaningless phrase, would not put your question where other members can find it. Think – and use common sense when tagging your questions.

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Bad Example
Title: HELP ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Question: my users using usb drives and i want it to stop.
Tags: plz halp, stopping users, 431, beer

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Good Example
Title: How to block access to USB drives using Active Directory?
Question: We have a 50-user network running Windows Server 2003. I would like to use Active Directory to block all USB drive access permissions for a specific group of users. Would someone please explain how to define the group policy for this? Thanks.
Tags: Active Directory, Group Policy, Windows Server 2003

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I hope these tips are helpful to you. Feel free to post a comment if you have any questions. Thanks.
Community Manager

Nov 20 2007   10:00AM GMT

All hail the power of the thumb

Posted by: Brent Sheets
ITKE, Tips

Back in the day, getting a thumbs down from a Roman emperor meant you’d be put down faster than you could holler, “Don’t tase me, bro!” So I’ve got good news for any members desiring Caesar-like powers – we just added a nifty ‘thumbs up or thumbs down’ feature to help rate the answers on IT Knowledge Exchange.

That’s right – the power of the thumb is now yours. When you spot a good answer that contains helpful advice, click the thumbs up to help alert other members. If you come across an answer that you know is bad advice, then click the thumbs down. And remember, the next time someone provides you with a helpful answer – show your appreciation by giving it a thumbs up.

Naturally, you won’t find this widget on unanswered questions. So to view or try out our new rating system, you’ll need to visit an answered question. There, you’ll find a little box labeled Rate this answer with the text Click to Vote. Simply click the applicable thumbs up or thumbs down button and you’re done. The rating widget will keep a running tally of all votes.

I ask our members to please think before rating an answer and not give indiscriminate thumbs up or thumbs down. If we use this feature wisely, it will be a helpful addition to our community.

Pollice verso!

Community Manager

Nov 19 2007   3:55PM GMT

Recent Activity now listed in your Public Profile

Posted by: Brent Sheets
Recent Activity, ITKE, Tips

Have you ever come upon a really good IT answer on IT Knowledge Exchange and wished you could see all the answers from that same member? Well, now you can. Feast your peepers on our latest feature, called Recent Activity.

You already know that clicking on an ITKE member’s name will display the Public Profile for that member. Starting now, the Public Profile also includes a list showing all the questions, answers or comments that a member has participated in.

This is not only a cool way to look up answers from other members – but you can also visit your own profile to view your participation history. It’s like looking back at your footprints in the sand to see where you have been. I hope you’ll use it as a handy way to see your previous questions or to return to improve an answer.

So what’s the difference between My Watchlist and Recent Activity? I’m glad you asked. With My Watchlist, you can add any question you wish to your own personal watchlist. The Recent Activity feature, however, is designed to automatically build a participation list in each member’s Public Profile page.

So try it out already, for Pete’s sake. Visit the IT Answers section and click on your own name, or someone else’s, and explore. Take a moment to leave a comment to let us know what you think.

Community Manager

Nov 16 2007   9:53PM GMT

The mother of all Tag Clouds

Posted by: Brent Sheets
Tags, ITKE, Tips

If you like big tag clouds (and I do mean big) then you’re going to love the whopper we just added to IT Knowledge Exchange. We’ve super-sized our tag cloud and gave it a page of it’s very own.

See that new tab in the navigation bar? The one labeled Tags? That’s the tab to click whenever you wish to browse this much larger cloud.

As you know, tag clouds are just a list of keywords that are weighed based on their popularity. Sean has already covered why it’s important to properly tag your questions on IT Knowledge Exchange. The bottom line is to think carefully and use tags that best categorize your question so that others can find your question easily.

And now, back to that big ol’ tag cloud. This honker can be sorted in a couple of ways. The default view is …Cloud View. Duh. But you can also sort by List View if you prefer a simple list format to the tag cloud format. And lastly, you can also sort using Alphabetical or Most Popular.

That’s about the long and short of it. So if you’ve been pining away for a big honking Tag Cloud to browse, your wish has come true. Leave a comment and let us know what you think.

Community Manager

Nov 9 2007   7:41PM GMT

Firefox search engine plugin for IT pros

Posted by: Brent Sheets
Firefox, ITKE, Tips

That’s right. Just like the cool kids, we have our own Firefox plugin. Now you can search IT Knowledge Exchange from the comfort of your Firefox search bar. It’s a no-brainer to install, so get it now!

To download the plugin, visit MozDev.org and click the link labeled “IT Knowledge Exchange.” A dialog box will pop up asking if you wish to install our search engine plugin (and who wouldn’t want such a spiffy plugin, I’d like to know?). Click yes to install and the plugin will be added to your list of Firefox search engines.

Now you Firefox folks have absolutely no excuse. Search IT Knowledge Exchange often for answers to your IT questions. Thanks.

Community Manager

Nov 1 2007   8:03PM GMT

The cure for grayness has been discovered!

Posted by: Brent Sheets
ITKE, Public Profile, Tips

Hey, don’t get too excited, I’m referring to that gray silhouette that appears next to your question when you post on IT Knowledge Exchange. We’re a community here; so don’t hide behind that default avatar like a shadow – show yourself!

To get rid of the gray – first, log into IT Knowledge Exchange and click the Edit my Public Profile link. Then it’s a simple matter of clicking a couple of buttons to upload your photo or logo. Pretty simple cure, eh?

And while you’re on your profile page, why not enter a little information about yourself to allow your fellow members to learn more about you? It’s a good way to share your interests or areas of expertise with the ITKE community. There is even a place to enter the URL of your blog or website. And we all know a little self-promotion never hurt anyone.

C’mon, we all want to see more faces and less gray silhouettes. So login and visit the Edit my Public Profile link today. Thanks.

Community Manager