howto How to Quote

[bradl]

Quoting is easy, but please think twice before quoting. Here are some do's and don'ts for appropriate quoting.

• Quote only when necessary to establish a specific context for your added comments.
• If you are responding directly to the topic title or question it is not necessary to quote at all - that's the whole reason for the topic in the first place; the only exception might be if the thread has wandered so far off-topic that you NEED to make it clear you are responding to the original topic - which frankly you can do more quickly and easily by simply saying, "Back on topic, ... "
• Never quote a post in its entirety - especially one that is still right on the page for anyone to see.
• Use the Quote button to capture the post for your quote, but then always trim the quote to the bare minimum necessary to make it clear what you are responding to. Don't just replicate the entire post - that's already been posted.
• A quote is a good thing when you are responding only to one small part of a larger post - but trim your quote to make it clear which specific part you are responding to!
• If you're pasting in text from somewhere else to quote, make it clear that it is a quote by selecting the pasted text and using the  editor button to wrap the text in quote formatting, like so:

 

Quote

Always trim the quote to the bare minimum necessary to make it clear what you are responding to.