Ok, I've been bottling this up for a while; time to unleash.  Entitling your discussion "HELP!!" is not helpful.  Keep in mind you're not only seeking answers to your immediate need, but the entire discussion becomes an archive for future generations of JBers.  It gets pretty tedious going through a whole index of discussions called "HELP!!" not knowing what they are about.

We KNOW you need help; that's why you're posting.  Trust us: People will read your post, and they will help if they can.  You don't need to say "Help".

Try something like this (these are random; not pointing fingers at similar recent discussions): "Dog is too big for airline to carry."  "Need info on Sasebo housing." "Which smartphone is best?"

Now... Isn't that better?  So the dog lovers, Saseboians, and smartphone geeks all know which discussion to read so they can add their expertise.

Unfortunately, the worst offenders are newbies who, naturally, will not read this post.  I imagine "Rants" is not the first forum they turn to.  But newbies are not the only offenders so let's try to clean up our act.

Bottom line:  Create a discussion headline that gives some insight as to what the discussion is actually about.  Am I wrong?  I have no doubt the error in my logic will be pointed out by others.

My help request is now edited however you should clean up the web form to not include a subtitle.

Nah... I've been tossing around ideas for a "How-to-post" post. And it would include how to write a clear and informative title. It gets more hits if the title is very specific on the topic. There are days I just scroll over the vague topics because I don't have time to click open a tab I have no idea of what's in the content --which I'm sure translates to many other JB.com-ers doing the same thing. Like "Housing question" should be more like "What appliances are in the Yokosuka towers?" "How sound proof are the walls in the Ikego town-homes?" Etc.,etc.

My thing is people also need to be very clear which base they're talking about too. This is not just a Yokosuka forum.

We're here to help, I just want to make sure people aren't ignored because of a vague title.

Elizabeth I usually just go to the Sasebo pages. Because while there are a lot similarities it is not the same. I got to admit that I do not always look at any other sections than the Sasebo.

Thaiguy~ I so just went to my post to make sure I did not put HELP in the title line! AHAHAH Just thought Id share that with you!

lol, The Bakers rock!

Caught!! I've done this.. TWICE at least that I can remember.  I remember putting "Help Black mold" recently, because I truly was looking for help. I realize now the confusion that would place on the 'helpers'.  

Yeah, but "Help Black mold" is very informative as to what your post is about! It's exact and to the point, lol. Wouldn't worry about something like that --it's a good title!

I just want to piggy-back off of this (vice starting a new "rant") and say how irritating it is when people post about the same topics ALL the time... I often wonder if people read through old topics first, before asking their questions. I just feel like some of the things posted on here have been answered, more than once! At least ask your question on one of those threads instead of starting a new one.... I feel like it makes it harder for new people to sift through all the threads regarding command sponsorship, or housing, or whatever it is) when there are 20 different threads on the topics instead of just a few!

Like this: "Can I bring my iPhone to Japan?" Like that's never been asked. o_O

The problem is there are a lot of forum newbies on the internet. Just looking for a quick answer, and do not want to register to get it. Rather than search through a thousand threads because the question has been asked over and over again... they start a new thread, because that is easier. At least now on here you have to register to do anything (at least I think that's how it is now)

I've been on a lot of forums for a lot of different topics and I've found that it takes some pretty consistent moderating of threads to clean it all up. It's a lot of work, and I'm sure nobody has the time to sift through years of old threads to do the work like combining like threads and cutting out the clutter. Making "Sticky" threads for very common questions, or having a newbie area with links to FAQ's... and instead of having to answer them... you can just give them a link when they register to check out and hopefully get their questions answered quickly without bugging the old farts who get annoyed by the same questions all day every day.

In the end, you are not forced to be here. You do not have to respond to questions. You can be nice and answer them... or get annoyed and click elsewhere. Either be helpful or don't. Just my opinion. I've learned a lot here just by using the search function (a function that is never used by a forum newbie). I will admit that you have to sift through a lot of crap to find a good answer sometimes... but with a little patience and it can be found. Anyway... just my 2 cents.

Guys please before we start posting new topics lets try searching for answers first. It will save you the time for the answers because it might be on other topics already and save you the hassle of putting a new one.