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kad: Discussions Forum Hints & Tips

Disclaimer: Apple does not necessarily endorse any suggestions, solutions, or third-party software products that may be mentioned in the topic below. Apple encourages you to first seek a solution at Apple Support. The following links are provided as is, with no guarantee of the effectiveness or reliability of the information. Apple does not guarantee that these links will be maintained or functional at any given time. Use the information below at your own discretion.


For new members and those not yet familiar with many of the features of the current Apple Discussions forum, here are some hints and tips to help make posting on this board profitable for all of us. Please take the time to read these suggestions:

  1. Please read the Help & Terms of Use. If your post violates the Terms of Use, it can be deleted by the moderators, and if the violation is severe, your membership in Discussions can be lifted. So, if you’re thinking of asking for ways to use an iTunes Music Store track, or rip a copyrighted or copy protected disc neither you nor your client own the rights to, don’t.
  2. Search, but don't threadjack. Before posting a New Topic, please make use of the Search box to the right. Try typing different search terms and see if your problem has already been solved on another thread. However, do not threadjack by posting your problem in an existing thread. The Apple Discussions boards are designed with a Trouble Ticket mindset, meaning that when a person posts a particular problem about his or her system, all replies need to be directed toward resolving that problem on that system. If you have a similar, or different problem, start a New Topic from the main index page of the forum your problem relates to.
  3. Format your posts for easier reading. Please avoid using text messaging or IM/chat type shortcut words and phrases in your posts. Few of us have hired language interpreters to help with the task of understanding what these cryptic-to-us postings mean. Also, format your posts into logical paragraphs, with line and paragraph breaks for easier readability. DON'T SHOUT" using all caps not only makes a post difficult to read, it is considered the net equivalent of screaming.
  4. List your setup. If you don’t include your system specs and configuration (hardware and software) in your thread-starting post, then it might take longer than necessary to resolve the problem, as other members will need to ask you various questions. For example:

    1. version of Mac OS, ex: Mac OS X v10.4.5
    2. version of Final Cut Pro, ex: Final Cut Pro 5.0.4
    3. version of QuickTime, ex: QuickTime 7.0.4
    4. Type and size of drive volumes, and amount of free space on Scratch Disk, ex: 400GB FW800 w/ 230GB available
    5. Mac Computer specs, ex: Dual 2GHz PowerMac G5
    6. Amount of installed RAM, ex: 4GB RAM
    7. Capture Card info, ex: Aja Io

  5. Please be detailed in your explanation of the problem. If your post is not clearly written, you might not receive help in a timely manner, as those who do reply will have to waste time asking for clarification. If the problem occurs only under certain conditions, please tell us what those conditions are.
  6. List the steps you've taken. Please detail all the steps you’ve taken, prior to posting, to resolve your problem. Stating "I've done everything I can think of" is inadequate and will likely lead to responses that ask for the necessary clarification, potentially delaying your solution. In telling us what troubleshooting you've done, please don't merely refer us to a different thread, saying, "I've done everything suggested." List the steps in your thread.
  7. Do not bump or re-post without reason. After you’ve posted your New Thread, it is not necessary to make added posts just to 'bump' the thread to the top of the list. If you need to add more information to help us understand the problem, that’s acceptable. Any new post can be edited within 15 minutes of its original post time; click on the edit icon in the top right of the post box. Also, do not post multiple threads with the same question or problem. If you need to clarify a point concerning the problem, or post updated information, post it to the same thread.
  8. Be courteous and respectful. When another member replies to your thread, please understand that almost all of us are volunteers, not Apple Employees, So, it’s not helpful to criticize or lambast us or our replies.
  9. Mark posts appropriately. When you receive a reply to your thread that is helpful to you, please take the time to click on the Helpful box for that reply (you are allowed to mark up to two replies on a thread as Helpful). If one of the replies to your thread leads you to the solution to your problem/question, please take the time to click on the Solved button for that reply. Clicking on the Solved button will mark that post with a green Solved star AND will also mark the thread as Answered. By doing so, you will be awarding points to the members who helped you solve your problem. Points awarded will add to their point total, which acts as a reputation indicator. To some degree, members can be rated according to their point total and forum level (as in, Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, Level 4, Level 5).
  10. Always acknowledge the solution. As stated earlier, if one of the replies to your thread leads you to the solution to your problem/question, take the time to click on the Solved button for that reply. However, if you receive the solution to your problem/question OUTSIDE of the replies to your thread, then, and only then, go to the top of the thread and click on the purple ‘answered’ link in the box. You will then need to post a reply to the thread explaining what the solution or answer was. Of course, regardless the source of your solution, please post the solution on the same thread you posted the problem to. This will aid those searching for solutions (Tip #2).
  11. Participate. Of course, you don’t need to have a question or problem to post here. If you have knowledge or experiences that others don’t have, then we need your help answering questions and solving problems here. Also, the vast, cumulative knowledge of those who post here means that virtually everyone gains something - a tip, an alternate workflow, etc - by reading on a regular basis.

Thank you.

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