This post will help you get started on interacting with others in the Google Developer Program forums.
Google Developer Program forums Guidelines
Before posting, please take a moment to read the Google Developer Program forums Guidelines found at the bottom right of each page. As a participant of these groups, you agree that you will uphold the Google Developer Program forums Guidelines and are responsible for all activities and content you post or upload. This is your Google Developer Program forums. Help us to keep it safe, friendly, fun and helpful.
Joining Google Developer Program forums Groups
Joining a group ensures that you are able to contribute and engage in specific areas of the Google Developer Program forums.
To locate all of the Google Developer Program forums groups, click on Groups in the left rail menu.
A list of available groups will be displayed
You can freely join in groups that have the 
option for you to join. Not all groups are open to the public, while others are closed and joining will not be an option.
Making a Post
To ask a question in the forums, navigate to the discussion board that most closely aligns with your topic, but first be sure you join the Group to gain access to posting. To join a Group, expand the hamburger menu in the left rail, click Groups and join all Groups you would like to participate in and engage with users.
Once you have joined a Group(s) you want to participate in, you can now create a New Topic or reply to an existing topic. To create a new topic, you will click on the New Topic button 
, located to the right above the activity feed the following screen will appear. Please be sure to fill out each required field, including Title/Topic, details in the body of the topic, and at least 1 tag.
Tip: Make your subject clear and concise, as it’s the only part of the message that shows up on the message-listing page. In the Body field, type your message. Be sure to include all necessary details, especially for technical topics.
Although it is always a good idea to keep a backup of your post text, e.g. in a Google Doc, in case of connectivity issues or a login timeout, your posts are auto-saved, periodically. You can find a list of your post drafts on your profile summary under the Activities or you click avatar>profile icon>Drafts
If you want to save your topic/reply as a draft, click Close at the bottom of the editor page, a pop-up will occur, select what you would like to do with the topic/reply in the editor.
Replying to a Post
Click Reply to respond to a post and a pop up for your reply will appear at the bottom of the screen. When you reply to a post, the subject line is filled in automatically. Your reply is added to the existing thread. It will not create a new thread.
Editing a Post
You have the ability to edit your own post or title after it has been created. Please use this option sparingly to avoid confusion and allow readers of the thread to follow the conversation.
- To edit your original post in a new thread that you created, click on the pencil icon located at the lower right hand corner of the body of the post.
- To edit your response to another user’s post, locate the response and click on the pencil icon, located at the lower right hand corner of the body of the reply.
- A window with your post/response will open. Click Save Edit on the bottom left to save changes. If you select Close, your post/response remains the same as your original post/response content.
Deleting a Post
You have the option of deleting your own posts, for example, if you have accidentally created two identical threads. Just like the edit option, this option should be avoided, if possible, in order to avoid confusion. Please note that you can only delete a post if it has no replies. This applies to both new threads and replies to a conversation.
- To delete your own post or a response on another user’s post, locate the three dot icon at the bottom right of your post. When you click on the 3 dots, to expand the options, one of the icon options will be a trashcan.
- The icon will turn into a trash can image when you delete the post and then to an undo arrow, if you accidentally delete and want to restore. The history of your edits will show in the top right corner as an orange pencil icon.
- You will not be able to delete a topic if there are replies on the topic or if a user has made a reply to your reply on a topic. You will see the trashcan icon, if you hover over the icon you will see that you do not have permission to delete the topic or reply.
Flag as a Solution
Flagging a solution is a way for you to choose the reply that best answers a question that you’ve posted. To mark a message as a Solution, click 
on the reply. You can mark a solution as accepted only for questions that you started. Community staff can also mark accepted solutions. Accepting a reply as a solution makes a few visual changes to that message and the thread itself. The below image is an example of a post with a flagged Solution.
Protect Your Privacy
Always double-check to make sure that your post does not include personal or otherwise sensitive information. This can include (but is not limited to):
- Real names
- Your date of birth
- Physical addresses
- E-mail addresses
- Phone numbers
- Credit card information
- Login information, especially passwords
- URLs
- Product codes
Sensitive information can also include sales figures and other information considered confidential by your company. Use your best judgement when sharing any data related to the company that you work for.
To protect your privacy, you should either fully exclude sensitive information or black it out in screenshots.
If you do expose PII information, that content may be removed from your post by community administrators or moderators.
Posts Marked as Spam
The platform scans for spam automatically and we monitor all flagged posts to determine whether or not the content should be unmarked. There are multiple variables the platform scans for and I have no way of knowing exactly what triggered your post to be flagged. Some common trigger items are copy and pasting content into the post and multiple post edits.
Don’t worry if your post is ever marked as spam. We monitor post reports during regular business and make sure to unflag anything that is not spam.
If you come across spam or other questionable content in posts, you can report it by selecting the Flag option at the bottom of the post. The pop up screen will give multiple categories as seen below.
Limiting User Interactions
Should you ever desire to limit or no longer interact with another forums user, you have options to do so based on your forums Trust Level (see below). Please only select these options after you have already reported the respective posts. When you visit the user’s profile to the right (below your own avatar), you will see the following drop down option based on Trust Levels. Note: You can change your interaction with the user at any time.
Trust Level 0 users are unable to manage user interactions.
Trust Level 1 users can manage interaction with the below options:
Trust Level 2-3 can manage interaction with the below options:
