some new members doesnt do searching, just jump in

[Kowalski]

http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/foru...ic.php?t=28604

see this subject. this is a new member. with the first post he breaks a golden rule: search.
most people are too lazy and find directly asking easier than searching.
Jason, you made a guideline for this forum 2 years ago which was short and simple. You can put that where new members sign in so this can prevent us from topics like this?

[Kowalski]

http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/foru...ic.php?t=28604

see this subject. this is a new member. with the first post he breaks a golden rule: search.
most people are too lazy and find directly asking easier than searching.
Jason, you made a guideline for this forum 2 years ago which was short and simple. You can put that where new members sign in so this can prevent us from topics like this?

[Pat Logsdon]

Originally Posted by Kowalski

http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/foru...ic.php?t=28604see this subject. this is a new member. with the first post he breaks a golden rule: search.

I don't think that's a universal golden rule. I don't mind it at all when people ask questions. Generally speaking, if one person has a question, someone else will as well, and bringing it up as a current topic frequently spurs additional conversation. For example, the thread you're referring to mentioned the fact that you can get aluminum grips from PocketPCTechs. If you weren't here several months ago when those came out, you'd have no idea that they were even an option. That's the kind of thing that makes this community so great, in my opinion. That and the fact that people can ask questions without getting yelled at. :mrgreen:

Originally Posted by Kowalski

Jason, you made a guideline for this forum 2 years ago which was short and simple. You can put that where new members sign in so this can prevent us from topics like this?

I don't recall that guideline, but I have noticed the tagline Jason has attached to every one of his posts: "Have a question? Ask it in the forums!". :wink:

As far as I'm concerned, it's the obligation of those who are annoyed by repeated questions to ignore them, and it's the obligation of those who aren't annoyed to answer them. That way, everyone's happy. :mrgreen: Bottom line - we were all newbies at one point.

[shawnc]

Originally Posted by Kowalski

http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/foru...ic.php?t=28604

most people are too lazy and find directly asking easier than searching.

This is way too harsh. Lighten up! It always amazes me when members NOT named Jason, Pat, Janak, Kati, etc. try to impose their standards on the community.

He's a new member. Let's welcome him and gently nudge him in the right direction. Not beat him over the head for his inexperience/enthusiasm.

[nosmohtac]

Originally Posted by Kowalski

http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/foru...ic.php?t=28604

see this subject. this is a new member. with the first post he breaks a golden rule: search.
most people are too lazy and find directly asking easier than searching.

I'm not a newbie, and although I use search quite often, it is far from perfect. Depending on how you word your search string, you can end up with 100's of search results that have nothing to do with your question.

I agree with Pat. It's nice to see the same questions pop up now and again and have them revisited. One of the most common questions is "What are your "must have" apps?". This changes as time goes on and new programs are introduced. Some of my "must have" programs are different today than they were 3 years ago.
I don't mind answering these questions again and again, and the fact that many others are willing to do the same is one of the main reasons that I subscribe to this site.

[Don't Panic!]

I've been around for a while and as long as the post doesn't mention "The Best.." or "Must Have Programs" I love newbie questions. 0X

Don't Panic!
Bobby

What's your Star Wars name? Nobody's asked that in awhile so I've forgetten the link to find out.

[JvanEkris]

Problem is that questions get asked again and again and again, which annoys people to the extreme when they visit daily and get about 20% identical questions. Although newbees have the right to ask questions, the people answering them should not get irritated by the 10.000th question about localizing PocketPC for the dutch market.

We have fought it very hard on our board (250 active threads a day, about 30.000 active members with a 130 new members each day) to make people search. It really is a daily struggle. Especially newbees do not search. As admin i try using to find the answer with the exact same wordings they have used. In 99% of the cases the answer is in the first 10 search results. When members apply they are told that they are expected to "search before they post". A lot of them do, but also about ten a day don't.

This requires a lot of effort of our staff. Not only by identifying threads of people that do not search, but also by merging threads that are about the same topic (and adding a synopsis on the end), writing FAQ's about topics, etc..This does help however. The search function works a lot better (FAQ's typically ending up in the top-ten of searches, whatever wordings you use). Lucky for ous, older members help us out by e-mailing duplicate threads as well, they see the value of a clean forum as well.

It must say it is effective. The search function works great. I see "old threads" come back up from the archives again. I see people ask more to-the-point questions. Downside is that some people get attacked for asking questions that are almost (but not entirely) identical to other things. Some people lose sight on subjects that are 600 posts long that consisted of 18 threads (i.e. 17 people did not search). Although a synopsis in the end helps it scares people. But by doing so, really new topics are found relatively easily and people are not annoyed by the 100.000th how-to-install-TomTom-in-a-car topic....

Jaap

[Kowalski]

jvanekris explained the situation more clearly.
today i read more than 5-6 topics which the new members ask and the answer is lied in the first 10 results when you make a simple search.
a normal visit to ppct forums conts me about half an hour and i do this usually two times a day...

It always amazes me when members NOT named Jason, Pat, Janak, Kati, etc. try to impose their standards on the community.

i am just a normal member and i have the right to suggest something. whats the wrong with this? in the end them members named jason pat... makes the rules
lastly i dont want to offend anybody, this was just an example

and how about this:http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/foru...ic.php?t=28625

[shawnc]

Originally Posted by Kowalski

lastly i dont want to offend anybody, this was just an example

Very difficult to call someone lazy and NOT be offensive.

[Steven Cedrone]

9 times out of 10, you can tell what the question is before you read it. IMHO, if you really don't want to answer the duplicate questions that are asked by "newbies", you can just ignore them. There are plenty here that will answer them! As far as the search feature goes: unfortunately, unless you have been here for quite awhile (and are aware of it's "idiosyncrasies" :wink: ), it can return some "strange" results. My advice to those that do answer these posts is, answer the question and "gently" remind them to try to practice using the search...

Steve

Originally Posted by shawnc

It always amazes me when members NOT named Jason, Pat, Janak, Kati, etc. try to impose their standards on the community.

So now I'm an "etc". I am depressed...

[Darius Wey]

9 times out of 10, you can tell what the question is before you read it. IMHO, if you really don't want to answer the duplicate questions that are asked by "newbies", you can just ignore them. There are plenty here that will answer them! As far as the search feature goes: unfortunately, unless you have been here for quite awhile (and are aware of it's "idiosyncrasies" ), it can return some "strange" results. My advice to those that do answer these posts is, answer the question and "gently" remind them to try to practice using the search...

I agree...if you have issues with something you see on the net, simply ignore it.

So now I'm an "etc". I am depressed...

Haha...perhaps you should PM "shawnc" to kindly use the "edit" function on that respective post :wink: It's not nice to be excluded... hehe.