does this forum stress heavily on the use of good punctuation in all threads?

I think there's a difference between having to immaculately and perfectly articulate a sentence, abiding by all the rules of the English language...and then just making sure people can actually *understand* what you're trying to say. That's why punctuation is important (especially sentences and proper paragraphs). There's nothing more frustrating than trying to read a run-on that strays from one topic to the next, with no coherent structure. Or...even worse, people typing in "SMS speak." If I have to get a translator...I'm not going to waste my time deciphering it.

Personally I'm not too worried about proper capitalization or even the occasional typo, but as I mentioned, sentences and decent paragraphs (not those huge gigantic essay-long ones) are crucial.

sometimes i wonder if some of those who insist on correcting and complaining about other peoples typing and punctuation are only doing so because they have nothing of any intelligence to say.

But seperation of paragraphs makes the post easier to read and thus aids in getting help not only faster but of the correct type. Spelling is not and shouldn't be a big issue as we all know a lot of people who post for help on the forums are using english as a second or third language so they should not be belittled because they make a few errors. Just my opinion

Politeness...and being comprehensible are important.

You are allegedly attempting to communicate....which means you [the generic 'you'] are expecting an audience and perhaps even a response.

If all you want is to maybe shorten the life of your keyboard a little more through semi-articulate [ordered] key-punching then go for your life....however you may not attract respondents willing to decypher/interpret.

Life is short.  Treat all your words as if they were your last. [make them count].

My last will be on my gravestone...something like "Bugger that hurt"....;)

The internet is people from all around the world. Many have trouble understanding English. Your words go unheard by alot if you talk in slang or tardspeek.

this is the one place where you can get away with bad punctuation, at least that is what i have observed, and there is nothing wrong with that, as long as the message comes across in the right way, that is what is important

I would have to go along with Bebi's thoughts.  Personally if one has the ability to properly compose an article, no problem.  If it's a chore to do so then do your best.  If one must speak street slang of whatever variety (to the exclusion of proper English), then they should be concentrating on more education and not on Internet forums. IMHO

For non-English speakers that try to do their best I salute you.  Many of you fare much better than some of our own high school graduates, to the shame of our educational systems.

To me it’s laziness.  A simple mistake here and there is one thing but when people try to communicate to other people and they use “gangsta” talk or SMS speak.   It does nothing but confuse the message.

If you think you need to type the fluctuations of speech to communicate your thoughts properly you are mistaken.  If anything you confuse the reader and make him/her work at trying to understand your own thoughts.  If you really want to put a point across then proper use of the English language is your best bet. 

There are some leniencies I am willing to put up with.  I understand using the words "cant, wont, aint, dont" and so on and so forth.  But I see words such as "wut, wud, tha, da, dere, peeps, dat," and many others.  This is to me is just plain laziness.  Maybe if you were posting from your phone I would have more understanding, but you have a keyboard in front of you with all 26 letters.  Why can we not use them?  Are we so pressed for time that we can’t put the one extra letter?

I guess it all comes back to the fact that we have allowed Ebonics to come into being. (The acceptance of a portion of our culture to misuse and misspell words)  Why do we feel the need to accommodate the uneducated? 

Follow these simple rules and I promise you will get your message across to the reader.  And even more so, you will the response to deserve.

1. To join two independent clauses, use a comma followed by a conjunction, a semicolon alone, or a semicolon followed by a sentence modifier.

2. Use commas to bracket nonrestrictive phrases, which are not essential to the sentence's meaning.

3. Do not use commas to bracket phrases that are essential to a sentence's meaning.

4. When beginning a sentence with an introductory phrase or an introductory (dependent) clause, include a comma.

5. To indicate possession, end a singular noun with an apostrophe followed by an "s". Otherwise, the noun's form seems plural.

6. Use proper punctuation to integrate a quotation into a sentence. If the introductory material is an independent clause, add the quotation after a colon. If the introductory material ends in "thinks," "saying," or some other verb indicating expression, use a comma.

7. Make the subject and verb agree with each other, not with a word that comes between them.

8. Be sure that a pronoun, a participial phrase, or an appositive refers clearly to the proper subject.

9. Use parallel construction to make a strong point and create a smooth flow.

10. Use the active voice unless you specifically need to use the passive.

11. Omit unnecessary words.

On the other hand, how sad it is that we end up losing the elegance of the English language because of technology.

Don't make me hurt you....

Shouldn't that be "shouldn't"? ....JAFOCHECK ....;)

turdspeek rather

In regard to spelling I would refer yu to this link. https://forums.wincustomize.com/329858

Give us an example Snowman.

Does Zubish have Zubtype and Zubspeak comopnents? 

Seriously though, I like trying to help if I can...but with my limited knowledge of 'matters tech' it helps if it's an understandable question. I do check in cases where I don't understand to see where the writer is located for a hint as to why I'm having a hard time understanding....or whether (at my age) I've had a stroke.

Remember Doc that not everyone puts truthful information into their profiles for whatever reasons.  Some people think listing their country might be problematic for other forum members.  To that I would say yes, a very small percentage of forum members might be put off by someone because of their origin.  There will be racists and bigots in any venue.  As for me, I enjoy having people from other countries join in and do the best they can with English.  I certainly would not do very well on a Russian forum. 

Not for long....

Not here....;)

Never occurred to me Ed. I don't care where a person's from apart from any difficulties he/she might have with English. As I said, I like to try to help someone with a problem (hence what I do). If I can't I try to give the person someone to address with the problem. You should now have the reference to the original thread.

Way to go Jafo!

I wasn't referring to you Doc, that was a generalization.

good punctuation stressing can at times help clarify a problem a poster might have without it the tendency is sentences that run on and on mingling various issues causing confusion separation of thought and process of what went wrong when you did what is always beneficial in trying to come up with a solution periods ending thought and paragraphs separating like thought help those who help

proper spelling hasn't really been stressed since 150,121

Zubaz!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You know, its a shame when you know someone by their member number.

Proper spelling and punctuation are important if you want to be understood by others.  If your spelling/punctuation is so bad that people can't understand what you're typing, you're probably not going to get any response (or at least no useful response).

SMS talk, leet-speak etc hurt your ability to communicate.

We're not incredibly anal about any of it, but we do encourage proper use.

greetings and salutations to all members of this community. i just want to stress a point here, in no way is this directed at dr JBHL. nor is it involving him in our confrontation when i first joined. i have patched things up with him and hopefully we can become friends. excuse me if my thread's title seemed to touch any sensitive nerves if it has occured...iam trying to fit in i must rethink how i want to present my next thread so it wont look like i want to start trouble or pick a fight lol. iam very observant of things that go on a forum. iam also very outspoken and will express my feelings on the subject if needs be.

with that all said and done, i hope everyone had a nice thanksgiving holiday as i did. i hope to pop in again when i get time off from my duties in the real life   cheers all