A Little Netiquette

Here are some bullet points that will be helpful for our online communications.

First, remember those rules on the back of the form you filled out to get your CCIS login? Well, we take them seriously. If you use your CCIS account for bad things, then bad things WILL happen to you. If you have any questions about an activity that you are thinking about, write systems@ccs.neu.edu and ask. In general, they don't bite and will answer serious questions seriously.
Netiquette refers to all your online communication, not just those in this class. You may have been communicating online for your entire life, but it's always good to review the basics of online conduct. Here is a useful guide.
We will be using Piazza for the majority of our online communication. Don't write the instructor or the TA via email unless it is absolutely necessary. Use Piazza instead. Piazza allows you to create private messages to the instructor if you want.
Before you post a question, READ THE EXISTING POSTS. Often your question has already been answered.
MAKE YOUR SUBJECT LINE DESCRIPTIVE. For example
```
what if mouse is dragged outside the canvas?
```
is much more informative than
```
please help me
```
TAG YOUR POSTS. Piazza uses hashtags, like twitter. I've created standard tags (called "folders" in Piazza) in Piazza that will help you (and us) categorize your posts. (For those of you who know, these replace the "forums" in Blackboard). These appear under the "Note Tags" box so you can select them with a click.
- #module1 ... #module12 for the "modules" or "weeks" in the course. Use these tags to ask questions about the online or lecture material for the specified week.
- #lesson1 ... #lesson6 for the individual lessons in a module. So a question about module 2, lesson 3 should be tagged module2 lesson3. Please use BOTH tags so we can easily determine what you are asking about. Please also identify the particular slide or tab you are asking about as best you can.
- #ps1 ... #ps10 for questions about the problem sets.
- #question1 ... #question4 for questions about a particular question in a problem set. So a post about problem set 3, question 2 should be tagged as #ps3 #question2.
- #systems-problems for inquiries about the various computer systems we use in class. This is where you can complain about difficulties with svn, etc.
- I've also created #webcasts and #design-recipe for issues relating to these topics.
FEEL FREE TO RESPOND TO EACH OTHER'S POSTS. We won't hold it against you if your response is incorrect-- indeed, this will help us identify things that the class doesn't understand.

Following these guidelines will get your questions answered more quickly.

Last modified: Mon Jul 29 16:05:03 -0400 2013