Abbreviation

Definition

EPX

Enabling Platform Experience. This is the group within Microsoft that is responsible for the forum software.

EPX Platform

Software environment that hosts the TechNet and MSDN forums. The Enabling Platform Experience group is responsible for maintaining the platform as a whole, applying fixes, and responding to incidents and outages.

ECO Platform

Software environment that hosts the Microsoft Community (formerly known as Answers) forums. The Engineering + Community Online group is responsible for maintaining the platform as a whole, applying fixes, and responding to incidents and outages.

PII

Personally Identifiable Information. PII consists of any data that can be traced back to a unique individual, such as an email address.

Forum

Individual container for the exchange of posts and threads on a given topic. Examples of forums are the Windows 7 Hardware and Drivers and Gaming forums on Microsoft Answers.

Category

Logical grouping mechanism for forums, such as Windows 7.

Category Group

Logical grouping of forum categories. Not all forums use category groups. An example of a Category Group on Microsoft Community is the Microsoft Office Forums. Within the Category Group is a set of categories – one for each product, such as Microsoft Office Word and Microsoft Office Excel. Within those categories are the forums themselves, such as Using Formulas and Equations.

Discussion

Thread type that requires no answer. A discussion thread is simply a way for posters to exchange thoughts and ideas.

Question

Thread type that requires an answer. Answers can come from community, Microsoft, Microsoft Support, or partners.

OP

Original Poster – This is the first post in the thread.