# PLEASE READ before posting
**URL:** https://forum.cmascenter.org/t/please-read-before-posting/1321
**Category:** CMAS Center
**Created:** [March 31, 2025, 4:00am UTC](https://forum.cmascenter.org/t/please-read-before-posting/1321 "2025-03-31T04:00:00Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@lizadams](https://forum.cmascenter.org/u/lizadams)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2025, 4:00am UTC](https://forum.cmascenter.org/t/please-read-before-posting/1321/1 "2025-03-31T04:00:00Z")
Welcome to the CMAS Forum! Here, users and developers can discuss issues related to the U.S. EPA’s [CMAQ](http://www.epa.gov/cmaq) modeling system and associated [software](https://github.com/USEPA/CMAQ) maintained by the U.S. EPA and the CMAS Center.
Please review **all seven steps prior** to submitting requests for assistance to the CMAS Center Forum.
1. [Search](https://forum.cmascenter.org/search?expanded=true) the CMAS Forum and review the [CMAQ FAQ](https://www.epa.gov/cmaq/frequent-cmaq-questions) for an error or problem similar to the one in your log file.
2. Prior to submitting a new topic, [visit the category](https://forum.cmascenter.org/categories) that best describes the software product you are using.
3. Start a new topic
4. Type a description of your problem including the name of the build or run script that generated the error and include a **short quotation of error message** in the body of the topic.
5. To upload a dataset to share for testing purposes one option is to upload to the incoming folder on the CMAS Center Google Drive. CMAS User Forum Google Drive Upload Site for scripts, log files, shapefiles, etc. Read details about this feature in: [README-CMAS\_User\_Forum - Google Docs](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EkjEV4eNKSRmATeDFjni2cmOPnlw0-b-uCI07k5e_UI/edit)
6. When someone replies to your topic, you will receive an e-mail notification. Please click on the “VISIT TOPIC” button in your e-mail to return to your CMAS Center Forum Issue and reply to any follow-up questions or suggestions.
7. Please follow the Community Guidelines [Guidelines - CMAS CENTER FORUM](https://forum.cmascenter.org/guidelines)
This is a community based support system. We encourage you to help other users with questions or topics. Once you respond to a topic, you will be notified of additional posts to that topic.
If you are a new user, there are also additional tips here: [CMAS User Forum - New User Guide](https://forum.cmascenter.org/t/cmas-user-forum-new-user-guide/3381)
Note: if you would like **to receive e-mails every time a new topic is posted under a specific category** , visit the category you are interested in, click on the bell in the upper right hand corner and select “ **watching** ”. If you select “tracking”, you will NOT receive e-mail notifications. Tracking only allows you to view a counter that shows the number of new posts for a topic.
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### Author:  [@lizadams](https://forum.cmascenter.org/u/lizadams)
#### Post date: [March 9, 2020, 7:28pm UTC](https://forum.cmascenter.org/t/please-read-before-posting/1321/2 "2020-03-09T19:28:48Z")
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### Author:  [@lizadams](https://forum.cmascenter.org/u/lizadams)
#### Post date: [March 9, 2020, 7:29pm UTC](https://forum.cmascenter.org/t/please-read-before-posting/1321/3 "2020-03-09T19:29:15Z")