Please format code in your posts using the [code][/code] tag!

[liorean]

This post will contain a few guidelines for what you can do to get better help from us. Let's start with the obvious ones:

- Use regular language. A spelling mistake or two isn't anything I'd complain about, but 1337-speak, all-lower-case-with-no-punctuation or huge amounts of run-in text in a single paragraph doesn't make it easier for us to help you.

- Be verbose. We can't look in our crystal bowl and see the problem you have, so describe it in as much detail as possible.

- Cut-and-paste the problem code. Don't retype it into the post, do a cut-and-paste of the actual production code. It's hard to debug code if we can't see it, and this way you make sure any spelling errors or such are caught and no new ones are introduced.

- Post code within code tags, like this [code]your code here[/code]. This will display like so:

alert("This is some JavaScript code!")

- Please, post the relevant code. If the code is large and complex, give us a link so we can see it in action, and just post snippets of it on the boards.

- If the code is on an intranet or otherwise is not openly accessible, put it somewhere where we can access it.

- Tell us any error messages from the JavaScript console in Firefox or Opera. (If you haven't tested it in those browsers, please do!)

- If the code has both HTML/XML and JavaScript components, please show us both and not just part of it.

- If the code has frames, iframes, objects, embeds, popups, XMLHttpRequest or similar components, tell us if you are trying it locally or from a server, and if the code is on the same or different servers.

- We don't want to see the server side code in the form of PHP, PERL, ASP, JSP, ColdFusion or any other server side format. Show us the same code you send the browser. That is, show us the generated code, after the server has done it's thing. Generally, this is the code you see on a view-source in the browser, and specifically NOT the .php or .asp (or whatever) source code.

[zealotgi]

Also, if your code is small, please post it here instead of sending us to your page to search through all of your code, and you'll probably get a reply sooner too.

[Pyth007]

I know my signature is a little cheecky, but the first link is a very good resource describing how to write a good question in any technical forum.

In addition to the points Liorean made, this link also mentions another "newbie" mistake I've seen a lot (and have fallen into, myself):

Ask a question that meets your goals (similar to Liorean's "be verbose"). If you have a broad goal in mind, state that goal and then the more specific question relating to how you think you can reach that goal. If your goal is to make a js menu, state that, and then describe your specific problem of using onclick. It may be that a CSS solution instead of using JS's onclick event would work better for your overall goal, and by telling us about that goal, we can direct you down the appropriate path.