Avoiding TLA’s

Hi @BPLightlog and thanks for this idea. 

I’ve made it a forum specific idea, and I’ll change the status of this now to ‘open for votes’. I’m keen to hear from others on this. 

Do you feel Forum members and moderators use acronyms that mean it’s unclear what we refer to? Which ones?

Digital service best practice says one should always write out the words in full first, and follow them with the acronym in brackets. This allows the use of the acronym from then on. An In Home Display (IHD) is a classic TLA that we often shorten. IHD is so much quicker to write!

Unfortunately there are so many and whilst some have knowledge of the industry I would think that most do not so when talking about ASHP’s , DNO’s, DMU’s, IHD’s, CDC’s and others it gets very jargon filled rather quickly. 
For those who regularly chip in, I realise that it saves time but for the average user trying to find help, in my view it makes thing rather difficult. 
Every industry does it but it’s not very helpful

Even an easy to find ‘cheat sheet’ with often used terms would help

That sounds like something which could probably be done fairly easily. I think it’d be best if it was owned by a moderator account, to help prevent undesirable changes.

Sheet sounds like a good idea.

There are times that some threads can get quite technical, particularly some of the long consolidated threads. 

Just need to get the balance right.

A handful of volunteers are making 1000s of often very quick posts to try and help as many customers as possible as quickly as possible. @Blastoise186 is simply amazing IMHO. 

Certainly the ovo content should spell out terms as appropriate.

I usually try and tweak the language i use based on the poster,  but i don't always get the balance correct.... You can usually tell very quickly and adjust your language. I reply simply on my android phone so try and limit what I type. Sometimes i spell things out, but not always.

Sometimes even spelling out a term in a post  i doubt is going to help, e.g. SMETS. It may even confuse. 

It is as much about figuring out what a customer needs/wants to know in my experience. The difference between the terms smart meter and IHD for example. For some queries it is better i think not to correct people, simply much better to resolve their issue in a single short post if we can. 

That deserves a LOL!

I can honestly say i would never spell that out  in any post 😊

Let’s be honest, almost everyone recognises SMETS1 and SMETS2 at this point, but I very much doubt 99% of folks would recognise Smart Metering Equipment Technical Specifications. :P

Hmm, not sure I fully agree. Ask the ‘person in the street’ and I doubt they would know what SMETS meant .. but here there’s an opportunity to expand understanding .. Smart Meter is very well known and although they wouldn’t know if they have a 1st or 2nd generation version, we’re on the way to better communication 

I totally hear you, and I agree. ‘SMETS1’ is jargon. ‘Smart Metering Equipment Technical Specifications’ is jargon. ‘First generation smart meter’ is much more accessible language. 

Can I ask how the cheat sheet would be used? Is the idea that the person unsure of the acronym can refer to the resource? Or the person using the acronym links to the resource? Isn’t my approach better:

I would think that a signposted resource would be useful and also when those ‘in the know’ are replying, if they include a link to the resource that would be even better. 
You are correct @Tim_OVO that best practice suggests an initial full phrase with the acronym in brackets and then it can be used and referred to in its own context. 
But as we all know best practise is rarely the norm 😬