Right, you've heard of etiquette, yes? Good manners in society? Well, then, anyone online should quickly become familiar with Netiquette, a widely-accepted group of guidelines-to-type-by, sort of thing, which all message board users should read.

So, here are our starters for ten - please note, these are in addition to the T&Cs, not instead of.

1. This is not a chat room or instant messaging facility. It is an asthma message board, and should be used as such. The odd bit of off-topic posting is fine, but random "I'm bored, anybody out there, who wants to chat" posts are NOT appropriate and will be removed in their entirety.

2. Please make every attempt to make your message clear and readable to other users. We don't ask that you have perfect grammar and spelling, but please take time to read back through your post for spelling errors, duplicate characters, etc. If you have difficulty with spelling, you could try typing in e.g. Word and then spell-checking before cutting-and-pasting into the text box on here. Please text speak to a minimum - you have no character limitation on a message board, and text speak is incredibly difficult for people with dyslexia to read.

3. Please don't type in all capitals - it's the internet equivalent of shouting.

4. BUMP = to add a post to a topic to bring it to the top of the topics list. It should only be used to promote messages of importance - usually Moderator Messages, which will be clearly marked - or if there has been an interesting discussion in the past which might inform current discussion. This is not the same as going back to an old post and adding to the discussion on it, or adding your own thoughts and opinions - this is fine!

5. As a reminder - there should be no personal contact details (this includes mobile/landline numbers, email addresses, home addresses, etc etc) either on the boards or in your profiles.

6. Don't post the same question repeatedly. It doesn't increase your chance of a response, it simply clogs up the board and makes it difficult to use and moderate. If people want to respond to your post, they will - in their own time. Please note it may take hours or even days for a response - see point (1) above, and bear in mind that user often only check in a couple of times a week (if that).

7) Please, please remember that this is a board for children and young people with asthma, and make sure you keep content and language to a standard that would be appropriate for young children to read - so be sensitive and considerate in your topics and don't swear.

- CathBear and Peaksteve

In addition, this is a "Message From the Kids for The Kids" - a kind of newbie's guide to KA, which sums up some useful points for first-timers!

First off, welcome to KA. We're a friendly group of people and most of us have asthma of varying severity.

This is just a general guide to the Message Boards, but it might help with any questions you have. Remember the forum rules though.

Right, so you've just joined and you don't know anyone on here. The majority of people on here will be willing to talk to you and will be friendly.

A good place to start is Camping for KA. Pop in, introduce yourself and put up a 'tent'. Although sometimes it's tempting to, don't start threads saying things like 'Hi, will anyone talk to me?' 'Is anyone there?' 'What do you want to talk about?' This clogs up the board and means people are less likely to see or read your post - instead find a thread that interests you and see if you can offer some advice or contribute to the discussion.

You'll find on KA, and on the main boards if you use them, there might be quite a few people with 'bad' asthma. There isn't any reason this should put you off- you don't have to be severe to post and we welcome anyone of any severity. It might sound obvious but please try not to join in with 'I'm worse than you' type posts- these aren't encouraged.

Although it's not against the rules it's probably best to avoid typing lyk dis cos it mks it hrd 2 reed. (Translation: typing like this because it makes it hard to read )

To make smilies:
:-) makes this (Remove the - )
:-( makes this (Remove the -)

Useful Abbreviations:
Meds: Medicine
Nebs: Nebuliser (a machine that creates a mist of medicine which you breathe in through a mask)
Tabs: Tablets
Pred: Prednisolone (steroid tablets usually used when your asthma is bad to help get it back under control)
jks: Jokes
KA: Kick asthma
Costa: Hospital
Hosp: Hospital
'Captured': When someone is kept on a ward in hospital
Doccies: Doctors/ Doctors Surgery
Salb: Salbutamol
Mont: Montelukast
Lol: Laugh out loud

With thanks to Becca, Simi, Cookie, Vicky, Emzie and co. for this mini-guide to KA!