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jasorn
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Joined: 12 Jul 2006
Posts: 191
Location: USA
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Hello,
Is there a doc that condenses some of this forum into a 'certified' faq? I know some would think this is redundant but I think it's helpful if at least the most often asked questions are distilled and put into a faq. That way the users can read through the most common questions before posting the same questions over and over. Sometimes the new person doesn't even know the right keywords to search on but if there is a list of top questions he can usually read through that and tell if his question is there.
I'm thinking more than just cutting and pasting from the forum to create the faq, but also validating replies and condensing them, etc.
Does such a doc exist and I didn't see it? Do you think that's a waste of time. redundant?
I ask because I have my own mainframe faq I've made over the years and was thinking I'd go through this one looking for things to add. So I want to see if it's been done and/or if there would be interest in such a doc on a wider scale than just little old me and the people that come to me for help. |
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mcmillan
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Joined: 18 May 2003
Posts: 1210
Location: India
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| Nice Idea. Waiting for other members feed! |
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sreejasukumaran
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Joined: 23 Jun 2006
Posts: 1
Location: Chennai
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Hi,
It was a good idea wat jasorn gave, it is very difficult for me as well as for new joinees to post a question with a doubt whether this question has the solution previously.
It would be better to have a forum with condensed and modified with all the frequently asked questions at a single forum.
Pls do the needful, it would be helpful at are crucial time. |
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mcmillan
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Joined: 18 May 2003
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Location: India
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| Quote: |
| it is very difficult for me as well as for new joinees to post a question with a doubt whether this question has the solution previously. |
That's why we have the Search facility! Isn't it? You can search the forum before posting your queries. |
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calspach
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Joined: 05 May 2006
Posts: 32
Location: USA
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I think it's a good idea, but it would take alot of work. There are thousands of topics that may come up when working with mainframes.
Oh, and just by the way, I really hate it when someone posts a question and all they get for response is "DO A SEARCH BEFORE POSTING!!!"
Is it really that hard to answer the question again?
Granted, it might be that easy to search the forum, but every time I'm reminded about something, It sticks with me longer. That's one of the things about mainframes, you might do something really cool and inventive and then not use it again for 10 years. People asking questions and reminding me about all the cool stuff these things can do is beneficial to me, and I have to think it is to others too. |
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jasorn
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Joined: 12 Jul 2006
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| calspach wrote: |
| I think it's a good idea, but it would take alot of work. There are thousands of topics that may come up when working with mainframes. |
There are lots of topics and it would be a lot of work. But the work can be done in pieces and begin with things that we know have already been asked over and over. It neednit neccesarily go backward in time but could be built going forward. For instance when someone asks an age old question, the person/people who maintain this doc could then add it to the this doc. In no time the very frequently asked stuff would be accounted for. And the new person would have a relatively short list of the very frequently used questions to read through if he wishes.
| Quote: |
Oh, and just by the way, I really hate it when someone posts a question and all they get for response is "DO A SEARCH BEFORE POSTING!!!"
Is it really that hard to answer the question again?
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I was going address this in another post but I'll put it here: As someone who's been answering and asking mainframe questions for more than 10 years, in my opinion, the best way to handle this situation is to give the person who needs help a good tool to search first. And then make it a requirement that the questions start like, "How do I ??? I've searched the tool(in this case forum) for the following key words x,y, and z and can't find anything that answers this question."
And if the question has been answered before, I think the best approach is for the 'guru' if you will, to reply something like this. "This quesion has been answered in the past and if you search the forum for the key words, a,b, and c, you'll find the answer."
That way the question asker will get his answer and the guru will be helping while at the same time instilling searching skills to the question asker. And also the key words that might not be obvious to the new person can be reinforced. And the habit of using the tool in the correct manner BEFORE taking the guru's time is created.
| Quote: |
Granted, it might be that easy to search the forum |
I think it's more than a matter of ease. I think it's detrimental to the whole process for people to just answer the question again, and to post the links of the answer again. I think that just reinforces the tool not being used properly. I think the question should NOT be answered again. Rather, the guru should tell you which keywords to search for. Also to instill into the question asker that the guru's time is valuable and he shouldn't need to answer questions more than once. In my opinion posting the links again does the opposite of reinforcing the habit of searching for the answer first.
To recap the main parts are:
1. Give the person the tool to find the questions already answered and information on how to use it.
2. Make it clear the question asker must include specifically how he researched in his question.
3. Make it clear the guru's won't answer questions again. And use the tool for you to give you the link but rather will help you use the tool so you can find things as easily has the guru can.
To the comment, "That's what the search feature is for." This may very well be the case and I'm not disputing that. But one of my points is that often times the new person doesn't know what to search on. |
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jasorn
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Joined: 12 Jul 2006
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| mcmillan wrote: |
| Quote: |
| it is very difficult for me as well as for new joinees to post a question with a doubt whether this question has the solution previously. |
That's why we have the Search facility! Isn't it? You can search the forum before posting your queries. |
Yes, we should definitely enforce searching the forum first. But sometimes it's a matter of the person being so new, he doesn't really know what to search for. Granted, plenty of times it's just laziness. Read my other comments under this topic for thoughts on this. |
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jasorn
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Joined: 12 Jul 2006
Posts: 191
Location: USA
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| mcmillan wrote: |
| Quote: |
| it is very difficult for me as well as for new joinees to post a question with a doubt whether this question has the solution previously. |
That's why we have the Search facility! Isn't it? You can search the forum before posting your queries. |
Yes, we should definitely enforce searching the forum first. But sometimes it's a matter of the person being so new, he doesn't really know what to search for. Granted, plenty of times it's just laziness. Read my other comments under this topic for thoughts on this. |
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mcmillan
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Joined: 18 May 2003
Posts: 1210
Location: India
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| Quote: |
| But sometimes it's a matter of the person being so new, he doesn't really know what to search for. |
I agree with you. That's why we have created a forum named "FAQ", for those WHO DON'T KNOW TO SEARCH.
Anyway, We are here to serve you better.
Waiting for the responses from other members! |
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jasorn
Warnings : 1
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Joined: 12 Jul 2006
Posts: 191
Location: USA
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| mcmillan wrote: |
| Quote: |
| But sometimes it's a matter of the person being so new, he doesn't really know what to search for. |
I agree with you. That's why we have created a forum named "FAQ", for those WHO DON'T KNOW TO SEARCH.
Anyway, We are here to serve you better.
Waiting for the responses from other members! |
That fits the bill. And apologize for not performing my due dilligence in checking out this site. I'm very new to it and haven't taken the time I should to see what's all here. |
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