There are a few things to keep in mind to make sure you get the most out of the community's wealth of knowledgeable users.
But first things first. Have you tried searching for the answer to your question? There are literally thousands of topics on the community, and while we can’t guarantee that your question has already been answered, there is a good chance. See this article on using the community search feature.
If you didn’t find what you were searching for, how do you start a topic? Click this table of content to jump to a relevant section.
First, we need the button at the upper right side (or floating pen on mobile) that says “Create topic” that is where we start.
If you are on a PC, it will be at the top right corner next to your profile:
If you are on a smartphone or tablet it will be at the bottom right corner:
When you have clicked or tapped that button you will see this page:
Choosing topic type
Let’s start from the top of the page, at first you must select what kind of topic you are creating.
There are two types, a question, or a conversation.
- “I have a question” is if you are looking for an answer to a question. This can be things like “How do I best mount my Era 300s in my livingroom?” or “Which Sonos speaker works with my TV?”. It is a post where there is a specific answer to the question that will be marked later as the “best answer” by you or a moderator.
- “It is a conversation” is for the broader topics. This can be topics like recommendations for a specific kind of setup, speakers in a room, tips, and tricks to get the most out of your Sonos system etc.
Don’t sweat your choice too much, community staff can easily change it.
If your topic is a question, you will have the option to mark one of the replies in your topic as the best answer, read here how to do that: Mark best answer
Title
For the title, make it descriptive, so it clarifies your intent in one sentence. Some examples for conversation topics can be:
- “Looking for tips and tricks for using Era 100 in the kitchen.”
- “What kind of colors do you wish Sonos came in?”
For question topics, feel free to use the question as your title. However, ensure it is as short and accurate as possible - put the details in the description. Some examples:
- “My Sonos Beam in the living room, and the two surrounds (Ones) is often unresponsive.”
- “Why does my [music service] music drop out from time to time?”
Once you start typing your topic title you will see some topic suggestions come up underneath it:
These are already created topics that could already have the information you are looking for. You can click on each topic, and they will open up a new tab. Did none of them have the information you were looking for? Move on to writing the description for your topic.
Description
When it comes to filling out the description, what it should contain depends on what type of topic you are creating.
Here are some guidelines for you:
I have a question.
- Start by outlining why you have the specific question/challenge.
- If you have a specific issue, state the problem and how you reproduce it (if you can).
- If it is a question, explain how you got to that specific question and why you would like to know more about it.
- Explain what you have tried so far to fix it, and don't be afraid to give details.
- Other users can sometimes spot the solution just by the details provided, making it easier for both parties as you won't have to keep answering new questions.
It is a conversation.
Do you want to have a great conversation about a particular topic?
- Start by explaining why you are creating this topic and what kind of insights you are looking for.
- If you have any, lay out your own opinions on the topic and make sure it is open for discussion.
- Incite answers by asking other people's opinions.
- There are many ways to do this, but you can ask, "What are your thoughts on this? Anything I missed?" and similar open questions.
Now, where do you want to post it? If you haven’t already, look at our Community overview article which will give you a good idea where certain topics fit. Put it in the “Ask a question” area if you don’t know where it belongs and our moderators will help you by moving your topic to the correct subcategory.
Tags
While browsing topics on the community you might have noticed that all topics have “tags” at the bottom of the post like this:
These tags are different keywords that are important to the topic being discussed.
Tags helps other users find your topic when they are searching on the community. The basics for tags to remember is, they need to be relevant to your topic. So if you are discussing Era 100, add that as a tag. Talking about music services? Add the name of the specific service you are having a chat about.
Once you are done filling out the tags the page should look like this:
Are you happy with what you have written? Great! go ahead and click Create topic. You are all set and have now created your first topic! We hope you get the answers you are looking for and have great conversations with other community users about the topic.
NB Always remember to keep an open mind when creating a topic and replying to other users' posts. This helps to ensure a great community atmosphere and that everyone has a chance to learn something new.