Do I have to be registered to use the forums?
Anyone can read messages but must be a registered member to post a question or response. Simply sign in at www.oracle.com/technology/membership to register free of charge.

I have login or password problems. What do I do?
Please see this page for all password and login issues.

What is proper discussion forum etiquette?
When asking a question, provide all the details that someone would need to answer it including your database version, e.g. Oracle 10.2.0.4. Format your code using [code] tags (see "How do I format code in my post?" below). Consulting documentation first is highly recommended. Furthermore, always be courteous; there are different levels of experience represented. A poorly worded question is better ignored than flamed - or better yet, help the poster ask a better question.

Finally, it is good form to reward answerers with points (see "What are 'reward points'?" below).

What about Terms of Use?
A full document is posted here, but suffice to say that spam, defamation, obscenity, and bigotry are not tolerated and perpetrators will be banned. We're adults, let's act like them.

How is forum content organized?
The content in the forums is structured as follows:

• Categories: Categories represent a collection of forums as well as other categories. Often, categories are used to organize forums into a tree structure so members can find the right discussions more easily.
• Forums: Forums are the areas where individual discussions take place as a listing of threads.
• Threads: Threads are the discussions that consist of one or more messages displayed as a list, or in a tree structure of messages and their replies.
• Messages: Messages are the individual discussion posts made by community members.
• Replies: Message replies are posts in response to other messages and are organized in a flat or threaded mode.

Are there any useful formatting options not shown on the sidebar?
The following options were found on another Jive forum:

{code}...{code} Displays the line as programming code

{quote}Hello{quote} Displays the text "Hello" in italics with a highlighted background. (A ">" character at the beginning of the line has the same effect.)

{size:12}Hello{size} Sets font size to 12

{color:green}Hello{color} Sets font color to green

{font:Courier}Hello{font} Sets font face to Courier (HTML <tt></tt> tags could also be used for inline monospace effects)

{forum:id=123} Displays link to forum 123

{thread:id=12345} Displays link to thread 12345

{message:id=1234567} Displays link to message 1234567

{user:id=1234} Displays link to user 1234 (numeric ID)

A dash ("-") character at the start of a line will be replaced with a bullet point. Two dashes will become a second level bullet point.

Note that unlike HTML and other forum markups, curly-brace tags don't need a closing "/". Some tags are also supported using the more standard square braces, and these do need a closing "/", for example: [code]select sysdate from dual;[/code]

What are the smileys?
Happy :) http://forums.oracle.com/forums/images/emoticons/happy.gif
Sad :( http://forums.oracle.com/forums/images/emoticons/sad.gif
Grin :D http://forums.oracle.com/forums/images/emoticons/grin.gif
Love :x http://forums.oracle.com/forums/images/emoticons/love.gif
Mischief ;\ http://forums.oracle.com/forums/images/emoticons/mischief.gif
Cool B-) http://forums.oracle.com/forums/images/emoticons/cool.gif
Devil ]:) http://forums.oracle.com/forums/images/emoticons/devil.gif
Silly :p http://forums.oracle.com/forums/images/emoticons/silly.gif
Angry X-( http://forums.oracle.com/forums/images/emoticons/angry.gif
Laugh :^0 http://forums.oracle.com/forums/images/emoticons/laugh.gif
Wink ;) http://forums.oracle.com/forums/images/emoticons/wink.gif
Blush :8} http://forums.oracle.com/forums/images/emoticons/blush.gif
Cry :_| http://forums.oracle.com/forums/images/emoticons/cry.gif
Confused ?:| http://forums.oracle.com/forums/images/emoticons/confused.gif
Shocked :0 http://forums.oracle.com/forums/images/emoticons/shocked.gif
Plain :| http://forums.oracle.com/forums/images/emoticons/plain.gif
Fortunately, smileys do not convert in code, so you can keep using :x as bind variable !

What are "rewards points"?
It is possible for you to reward an answerer 5 points for a "helpful" answer or 10 points for a "correct" one (or none at all). Users who accumulate certain amounts of points reach different levels of recognition (see legend). In this manner, users who offer consistently helpful or correct answers raise their standing in the community. (Note: in order to award points, you must identify your post as a "question" first - which is set as default.)

Can I change my handle, name, or email address?
Oracle's privacy policy allows you to manage any personally identifying information. You may change your handle, name, or email address (for receiving watch emails only, not your OTN username) by clicking Your Control Panel. In addition, you can choose to hide your name or email address to protect your identity. (Note: If you select a handle that is already in use, you'll get an error message.)

How do I start a discussion or post a question?
Every Forum has a Post New Thread icon above the main index. Click the icon and fill the form to start a new thread. If you are not logged-in, you will be prompted to login. When you are finished, click Preview, reread your post, then click Go Back/Edit to make changes or additions. When you are finished, click Post.

How do I reply to a message?
Every message has a Reply icon to the right of the date that the message was posted. Click the icon and fill the form to reply to the message. If you are not logged in, you will be prompted to login. When you are finished, click Preview, verify your post, then click Go Back/Edit to make changes or additions. When you are finished, click Post. I can't reply to a thread, it doesn't have a reply icon or link. Why?
If a thread has a "lock" icon next to it, a forum moderator has decided to lock it. No one may further reply to the thread until it is unlocked.

I posted a message earlier, but now it is gone. What happened?
Two things could have happened. The message was either deleted or moved to another forum because it was off topic by a moderator.

What are Watches and how do I use them?
There are four types of watches: Category, Forum, Thread and User. A watch notifies you by email if the Category, Forum, Thread or User you are interested in has been updated.

• To add a Category to your watch list, navigate to the category you want to watch and click the Watch Category link.
• To add a Forum to your watch list, navigate to the forum you want to watch and click the Watch Forum link.
• To add a thread to your watch list, click on the Watch This Thread link at the top of the thread page.
• To add a User to your watch list, click on name of the User you want to watch, then click Watch This User.

Click on Stop Watching to end the email notifications for Categories, Forums, Threads and Users. After 90 days, inactive watches automatically expire. To see the current list of watches, click on Your Control Panel and then Your Watches. From this screen, you can manage each watch individually. You can delete a watch by checking the Delete tick box for the watch you want to delete, then clicking the Delete button.

What are RSS Feeds and how do I get them?
Really Simple Syndication (RSS) Feeds are used for sharing headlines and other web content. For the Discussion Forums, you can get RSS Feeds for a category or forum, which will download all messages in that feed so you can view them without going to the discussion forums. To download RSS Feeds, you need an RSS Aggregator. There are many free ones available on the Web. To subscribe to a feed, click the RSS icon on the bottom of any page, then click "Get Requested Feed" and copy that URL from your browser bar. Paste the URL into your RSS Aggregator and it will download the feed and continue updating until you remove it. You can subscribe to RSS Feeds for Announcements, Threads, Popular Threads, and Messages for a particular Forum, Category or get a Global Feed.

Can I attach files to my messages?
Sorry, due to security and legal reasons, attachments are not supported.

What is an Oracle ACE?
The Oracle ACE program formally recognizes Oracle advocates with strong credentials as activists in the Oracle community. Oracle ACEs and ACE Directors are identified by special icons in Oracle Forums.