The Human Connection Community forums are where the magic happens – where cybersecurity professionals come together to ask questions, share knowledge, solve problems, and build relationships. This guide covers everything you need to know to actively participate in Community forums.
Exploring Community forums
The Immersive Community offers several forums, each with its own focus and purpose. Getting familiar with the available forums helps you find the right place to ask questions or start discussions.
Main Community forums
You may want to get started with the following forums:
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Community forum: General discussions about the Community, introductions, and community-related topics
- Best for: Introducing yourself, asking about the Community itself, and general discussions
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Help & Support forum: Technical support, troubleshooting, and how-to questions
- Best for: Platform issues, feature questions, technical problems, and getting help with labs
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Cyber Million forum: Discussions specific to the Cyber Million program
- Best for: Cyber Million participants, questions about the program, and sharing progress
Browsing forum content
When exploring forums, you can:
- Browse all posts: See all recent discussions in the forum
- Filter by status: View only posts with "No solutions yet" to find questions you can answer
- Sort by activity: See most recent, most popular, or most active discussions
- Use tags: Filter by specific topics or themes (more on tags below)
Creating posts
When you’re signed into the Community, you can create posts to ask questions or start discussions.
How to create a post
- Navigate to the desired forum
- Click the Ask a Question or Start a Discussion button (depending on the forum)
- Ask a Question: Use when you need help, have a specific problem, or want to know how to do something
- Start a Discussion: Use when you want to share ideas, get opinions, or have a conversation
- In the message editor, craft your post (see tips below)
- Add relevant tags (see the Using tags effectively section)
- Click Publish
Writing effective posts
For questions:
- Use a clear, specific title: "How do I reset a lab?" is better than "Need help"
- Provide context: What were you trying to do? What happened instead?
- Include details: Browser, platform region, error messages, and screenshots if relevant
- Show what you've tried: Mention troubleshooting steps you've already taken
- Be specific about your goal: What outcome are you hoping to achieve?
For discussions:
- Use an engaging title: Make it clear what you want to discuss
- Provide your perspective: Share your thoughts to start the conversation
- Ask open-ended questions: Encourage others to share their views
- Be respectful of different opinions: Foster constructive dialogue
Mentioning other members
When typing your post or reply, you can mention other community members to notify them or reference their expertise:
- Type @ followed by the member's username
- A pop-up menu appears as you type, showing matching usernames
- Select the correct user from the list
Note: Depending on how members have set up their notifications, they may be notified immediately when you mention them.
When to use @mentions:
- Directing a question to someone with specific expertise
- Thanking someone for their help
- Bringing someone into a conversation they might find interesting
- Following up on a previous discussion with that person
Using tags effectively
A tag is a single keyword or phrase that describes the topic, theme, or subject of a piece of content (such as a discussion post, article, or event) within the Community. Tagging helps to organize Community content and helps others discover posts that interest them.
Why tags matter
Tags serve several important purposes:
- Organization: Help categorize content by topic, making it easier to browse
- Discovery: Allow other members to find posts related to their interests
- Following: Enable users to follow specific tags and receive updates on those topics
- Searchability: Improve search results by providing topical metadata
How to tag a post
In this Community, all tags are pre-defined to maintain consistency and organization.
All forum discussions should be tagged. To tag your discussion:
- Before clicking Publish for your discussion post, select the relevant tag(s) in the Tags group
- You can select multiple tags if your post covers multiple topics
Choosing relevant tags
Best practices for selecting tags:
- Be specific: Choose the most specific tags that apply to your content
- Use multiple tags when appropriate: If your post covers both "crisis simulations" and "team management," tag it with both
- Think about your audience: What tags would people interested in your topic be following?
- Check existing posts: See what tags are used on similar posts
Using tags to find content
Many Community pages include a Tags group on the right-hand side:
Simply click the desired tag(s) to filter the content. The content that appears will be adjusted based on the selected tag(s).
Following tags
If you’re interested in particular topics, you can follow tags so you never miss new content related to that topic.
To follow a tag:
- Click the desired tag in the Tags group on the right-hand side of the Community pages All content related to the selected tag will appear
- To follow the tag, click the bell icon in the top-right of the screen:
Benefits of following tags:
- Stay updated on topics relevant to your role or interests
- Build expertise in specific areas
- Discover new discussions before they become popular
- Contribute to conversations where you can add value
Replying to content
When you are signed into the Community, you can reply to content in any of our Community forums, including answering questions raised by peers.
How to reply to a post
- On the post to which you want to respond, click the Reply button
- Type your response in the message editor
- You can use the formatting toolbar to add emphasis, links, code blocks, etc.
- You can mention other members using @username
- Click Reply to publish your response
Finding questions to answer
If you want to see which questions are still awaiting a solution and where you can add value, you can either:
- Filter the forum by selecting the No Solutions Yet tab
- From the Help menu, click Answer Questions
This is a great way to:
- Help other community members
- Build your reputation as a helpful contributor
- Solidify your own knowledge by teaching others
- Discover common challenges in the Community
Writing helpful replies
For answers to questions:
- Be clear and specific: Provide step-by-step instructions when possible
- Explain the "why": Help the person understand, not just follow steps
- Link to resources: Reference Help Center articles, documentation, or past discussions
- Test your solution: If possible, verify your answer works before posting
- Be humble: Use phrases like "This worked for me" or "You might try..." rather than absolute statements
For discussion contributions:
- Add value: Contribute new perspectives, not just agreement
- Be constructive: If you disagree, explain why respectfully
- Share experiences: Real-world examples make discussions richer
- Ask follow-up questions: Keep the conversation going
Receiving recognition
If your answer was helpful to the member who posted the question, they can opt to Mark as Solution, and you'll receive a notification. This helps build your reputation as a knowledgeable and helpful community member.
Marking answers as solutions
If you've asked a question on one of the community forums, you have the option to mark one or more answers as a solution. This helps other community members who may have the same question find the answer easily.
How to mark an answer as a solution
- Navigate to your question
- Find the answer that you want to mark as the solution
- Click Mark as Solution
- The gray text becomes a green box
- The reply will be pinned to the question
- This is visible to all Community members
- You can repeat this process if there is more than one solution to your question
The member(s) who posted the solution reply will receive a notification.
When to mark a solution
Do mark-as-solution when:
- The answer completely solved your problem
- The answer provided the information you needed
- You've tested the solution and confirmed it works
- Multiple answers each solved part of your problem (mark all that helped)
Important: Please only mark solutions if you are the person who asked the question. Don't mark solutions on behalf of others.
Why marking solutions matters
- Helps future visitors: Others with the same question can quickly find the answer
- Recognizes contributors: Shows appreciation for helpful community members
- Improves search: Solved questions rank better in search results
- Reduces duplicate questions: People can find existing solutions instead of re-asking
Best practices for forum participation
Being a good Community member
Do:
- Search before posting: Your question may have been answered already
- Be respectful: Treat others as you'd like to be treated
- Stay on topic: Keep discussions focused on the original question or theme
- Give credit: Acknowledge when someone's answer helps you
- Share what you learn: Pay it forward by helping others
- Use appropriate forums: Post questions in the right place
- Be patient: Community members are volunteers; responses may take time
- Follow up: Let people know if their suggestions worked
Don't:
- Post duplicate questions: Search first, or bump an existing thread
- Be dismissive: Even if an answer doesn't help you, thank the person for trying
- Share sensitive information: Don't post credentials, internal systems details, or confidential data
- Spam or promote: The Community is for mutual help, not self-promotion
- Go off-topic: Start a new thread if the conversation shifts topics
Building your reputation
Active, helpful participation builds your reputation within the Community:
- Answer questions regularly: Even simple answers help
- Provide quality responses: Thorough, tested answers are more valuable than quick guesses
- Share real experience: Your practical insights are valuable
- Be consistent: Regular participation keeps you visible and builds relationships
- Help moderate: Flag inappropriate content, suggest better tags, and point people to existing answers
Getting the most out of forums
- Follow forums relevant to your role: Stay updated on discussions in your area
- Set aside time weekly: Regular participation yields better results than sporadic bursts
- Learn from others' questions: You'll discover useful things you didn't expect
- Connect with active members: Follow users who consistently provide valuable insights
- Document your own solutions: When you solve a problem, share it so others can benefit
Summary: Becoming an active forum participant
To make the most of Community forums:
- Explore available forums and understand their purposes
- Create well-written posts with clear titles and appropriate tags
- Use tags effectively to help others find your content
- Provide helpful, detailed replies that solve problems and add value
- Mark solutions when your questions are answered
- Follow best practices for respectful, constructive participation
- Build relationships through consistent, quality engagement
Remember: The Community thrives when everyone contributes. Your questions help others ask better questions, and your answers help build collective knowledge.