I've noticed lately an increase in the number of threads asking questions that are covered several times a week here on BYC. I was thinking maybe it would be helpful to start a discussion about how to use the vast amount of information contained in the BYC forum.
Advanced Search
Using the advanced search function is probably the quickest way to get answers to generic questions. If you can think of a poultry/fowl question it is very likely it has been asked and answered here on BYC. Advanced Search is located below the main search bar at the top of the page. Clicking the link will take you to a new page that looks like this-
-Type your question in the Keywords bar and select either Full Text or Titles only. Titles only does just what you would think and searches for your keywords only within the titles of threads. Full text will search within every post of every thread for your Keywords.
-If you are looking for posts by a specific user, enter their user name in the Search By Username bar. For best results using this function leave the Keywords bar clear.
-Additional options allows you to select the specific section of the forum you would like to search. For instance if your question is "I only have brown quail but a yellow chick hatched, is it albino?" you can select the Quail forum and receive results from within the Quail forum only. This is an extremely useful feature since there is so much information here on BYC it can be difficult to find exactly what you are looking for.
Stickies
Stickies are the way that forums keep useful and important posts from getting buried in the Archives. On BYC you can find the stickies for each species at the top of the forum dedicated to that species. If you select the quail forum from the Forum Nav bar it will look like this.
Clicking the blue link titled Quail Notable Archives & Important/Frequently Requested Topics will take you to a page that looks like this
These Stickies will answer 90% of the questions anyone would have about raising a specific type of bird. I recommended that all new members read through the stickies for their respective fowl before starting a new thread.
If you have anything to add, fire away, this is intended to be an informative discussion about how to get the most out of BYC.
Advanced Search
Using the advanced search function is probably the quickest way to get answers to generic questions. If you can think of a poultry/fowl question it is very likely it has been asked and answered here on BYC. Advanced Search is located below the main search bar at the top of the page. Clicking the link will take you to a new page that looks like this-
-Type your question in the Keywords bar and select either Full Text or Titles only. Titles only does just what you would think and searches for your keywords only within the titles of threads. Full text will search within every post of every thread for your Keywords.
-If you are looking for posts by a specific user, enter their user name in the Search By Username bar. For best results using this function leave the Keywords bar clear.
-Additional options allows you to select the specific section of the forum you would like to search. For instance if your question is "I only have brown quail but a yellow chick hatched, is it albino?" you can select the Quail forum and receive results from within the Quail forum only. This is an extremely useful feature since there is so much information here on BYC it can be difficult to find exactly what you are looking for.
Stickies
Stickies are the way that forums keep useful and important posts from getting buried in the Archives. On BYC you can find the stickies for each species at the top of the forum dedicated to that species. If you select the quail forum from the Forum Nav bar it will look like this.
Clicking the blue link titled Quail Notable Archives & Important/Frequently Requested Topics will take you to a page that looks like this
These Stickies will answer 90% of the questions anyone would have about raising a specific type of bird. I recommended that all new members read through the stickies for their respective fowl before starting a new thread.
If you have anything to add, fire away, this is intended to be an informative discussion about how to get the most out of BYC.
