Ask Me Help Desk FAQ

By default, Registered members may communicate by Private Messaging, which is similar to email, but is done within the site - and uses the member's username as the "to" address.

Please Note: Do not use Private Messaging for questions that should be asked in an appropriate topic.

Sending Private Messages

From anywhere on the site you can go to your Profile and click the "Send New Message" link on the left.  From there you simply enter the member's User Name in the Recipients box, give your message a title, type your message then click the Submit Message button.

Alternatively, while viewing a member's User Name next to his/her post, simply click the User Name and choose "Send a Private Message" from the dropdown menu. The member's name will be in the Recipients field ready for you to give it a title, type your message and click Submit Message.

While viewing another member's Profile, you'll see the "Send a Private Message" link in the Contact section.

Private Message Folders

By default, you will have two folders in your private message area. These are the Inbox and the Sent Items.

The Inbox folder contains any new messages you receive, and allows you to view all the messages you have received, along with the name of the person who sent it to you, and the date and time the message was sent.

By default, all messages you send are saved to the Sent Items folder.  This feature can be turned off when you are sending a message by unchecking the "Save a copy" option below the window where you compose your message.

You may create additional folders for your messages by clicking the 'Edit Folders' link.

Each folder has a set of controls which allow you to select messages, then either move them to one of your custom folders, forward them to someone else or delete them completely.

You will need to periodically delete old messages from your folder, as the administrator has set a limit to the number of private messages you can have in your folders. If you exceed the number of messages specified by the administrator, you will not be able to send or receive new messages until you delete some old messages.  Your limit, along with how much you have used, shows at the top of your Private Messaging area.

Whenever you read a message, you will have the option to reply to the message, or forward that message to another member of the topic. You may also have the ability to forward that message to multiple members of your buddy list.

By default, Private Messaging is enabled. If you do not wish to receive Private Messages by other Members, you can disable the feature at your Profile Options page.

If you are trying to contact a member who has this feature turned off, see below for another option: Sending a message via email.

By default, members are able to communicate with other members via an email form. It can be disabled in Profile Options under the Messaging & Notification section.

When enabled, member email addresses are not shown; instead, a form is used to email a member.

To send an email to another member, click on their username either from the member list, or any of their questions or answers.  That will bring you to their Profile, where you will see the "send a message via email" link under the Contact section.

If the member has disabled the option, you will be told so when you click that link.

Moderators and Super Moderators help with the maintenance of the forum. They generally have the ability to move, edit and delete posts - and perform other manipulations; primarily responding to reports of inappropriate posts but also correcting posting errors such as posts in the wrong area or questions asked in existing threads.

Moderators have these abilitys on individual boards while Super Moderators have these abilities throughout the site.

These members were chosen based on their activity and reputaton on particular boards or the site overall. These active members post alot, so bear in mind that except for moderation activities, the views and opinions of the Moderators and Super Moderators are their own; not that of Ask Me Help Desk.

• RSS 0.91 - This feed is based on a standard written by netscape and provides a link and the title of the question.
  http://www.askmehelpdesk.com/external.php?type=rss
• RSS 2.0 - This feed contains the title and the contents of the first post of the question.
  http://www.askmehelpdesk.com/external.php?type=rss2

To add this to MyYahoo click here.

The topics to which this applies can also be limited to specific guest viewable topics by adding another paramater to the URL containing the forumids as follows:
http://www.askmehelpdesk.com/external.php?type=rss2&forumids=123

If you would like the content to be generated for multiple topics you can seperate the forumids by commas.

If you wish to limit your RSS feed to particular topics, see the list of forumids here.

The designation of Expert is offered to members who

1. are recognized by other members (Reputation comments and ratings) to have exceptional knowledge, expertise and/or helpfulness in a particular area or areas.
2. have been registered at least 3 months,
3. have at least 200 replies (in any/all areas), and
4. answer most if not all questions posted to a board or boards.

Click the Experts link at the bottom of any page for the list of our Experts, along with the subjects of their expertise.

The best way to be recognized is to simply stand out as one of the most helpful in the board(s) of your expertise: respond helpfully in most - if not all - of the questions on those boards. Your reputation comments (Click on My Profile to see them) should reflect positive feedback in that/those area(s).

To facilitate this, you should subscribe to the boards that you have special knowledge/experience in. You will get instant email notification of new questions in those areas to be sure you see them all.

You should also be sure to complete the Experience field of your profile, so that your experience and expertise is shown to members and administrators.

Beyond the title, there is potential financial benefit to Experts that are explained when you are upgraded to Expert status.

Those who wish to be named Expert, and whose activity on the site reflects the above, should send a Private Message to RickJ.
(Please be sure to name or list the specific topic(s) that you are expert of).