I have been an active member of the quizzing side of this magnificent site for a while now, but apart from viewing the forums, have only recently delved into the participation of them. Whilst I understand most of the rules, there are a few that pass me by.
As an absolute beginner of the chatboards and discussion boards participation, I am not fully aware of what 'chatspeak' is. I thought I did, but then noticed some threads were advised by the moderators not to use this type of language, which on reading was not obvious to me.
I would be grateful for some advise, as I wouldn't wish to unknowingly post something that offended anyone.

Hiya beerboy! Welcome to The Forums - it's a pleasure to meet you !

About the chatspeak ... have a look at your post there. It is a fine example of a readable, spelled, articulate and chatspeak-free entry . Over here, we don't use abbreviations or shortened spellings (like '2' being used instead of the word 'to', etc.). The reason for this is simple: many of us just don't understand some of the more "elaborate" chatspeak symbols/shortenings AND some of our members don't use English as their first language and it is especially hard for them to decipher such business. Pretty much we spell it out in English, use correct punctuation, and so forth. You will see the occasional univerally known things - like LOL or ROFL (those sort of common ones). But, by and large, it is just regular, well-tested, used-in-a-magazine-or-newspaper 'English' here.
Again, your post above is a fine example of what works very very well. Does that help? If not, let me know. OK?

Hi, beerboy! Welcome to the forums!
In answer to your question, chatspeak is the "shortening" of correct English, supposedly to save time when typing. Replacing words with numbers or letters ("2" for "to", "u" for "you") or using acronyms to abbreviate instead of taking the time to type a few letters - these are just a few examples. Chatspeak also tends to be void of capital letters and correct punctuation.
Our reason for not allowing chatspeak is not necessarily that it is offensive (although it certainly is to some people), but that English is not the first language for many of our members, and we strive to be "user-friendly" to everyone. Every message needs to be readable by all members!
We're happy to have you here in the forums and hope you spend a lot of time here!

What they said

Welcome!

Welcome to the Forums Beerboy!

Hi Beerboy - and welcome!

Hi, Beerboy. Welcome to the forums! Don't be shy - dive right in!

Welcome Beerboy. Yes, I think it's abbreviations like btw (by the way) and such that are a problem.
FYI (for your information) is quite common and well known by most English speakers including people who don't chat on the net but again, for the benefit of people whose native language is not English, probably best to write this out fully too.
Also, some abbreviations are very well known in some English speaking countries and unfamiliar in others.