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RahulG31
Active User
Joined: 20 Dec 2014
Posts: 446
Location: USA
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Hello All,
There are 2 things that I would like to discuss:
1. I've observed that a lot of users are not able to post a question properly on the forum. Sometimes they don't use the code tags, sometimes they don't tell the expected output and sometimes the question itself is pretty vague.
2. I've also observed that a lot of users are posting like: "I have this problem and I want a solution". They don't even care to tell what is their approach to the problem and what have they tried to resolve and failed. May be the reason is that they don't even try and directly post on the forum to get an answer.
So, can we arrange something like a template which asks users to fill things like:
a. Problem
b. Expected Output
c. Has the problem been searched on the forum/web
d. What is their thought/approach about resolving the issue
e. What has been tried so far and failed
f. Have they read the manual and may be there is something they don't understand and need help
and possibly something other than the above.
I believe this may reduce some unnecessary posts on the forum trying to know what the user actually want.
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Nic Clouston
Global Moderator
Joined: 10 May 2007
Posts: 2455
Location: Hampshire, UK
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Some of this is in the Rules. But I guess most just dive in and post their question - often in the wrong section.
Perhaps this sort of thing could go in the e-mail they receive that confrims their registration. |
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RahulG31
Active User
Joined: 20 Dec 2014
Posts: 446
Location: USA
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Thanks for the thought Nic.
My idea was that when someone clicks on 'New Topic' there should be a pre-filled message body as mentioned below.
Now, users can delete some of the options while posting their message But at least they'll not forget to tell a few basic things.
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Problem :
Expected Output :
Has the problem been searched on the forum/web :
What is your thought/approach about resolving the issue :
What has been tried so far and failed :
Have you read the manual and may be there is something you don't understand and need help :
Last but not the least; Are you using code tags :
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enrico-sorichetti
Superior Member
Joined: 14 Mar 2007
Posts: 10873
Location: italy
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Rohit Umarjikar
Global Moderator
Joined: 21 Sep 2010
Posts: 3053
Location: NYC,USA
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I think , these two make sense to know the issue clearly.
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a. Problem
b. Expected Output |
We have such suggestions posted many a times; One of that,
ibmmainframes.com/viewtopic.php?t=45675
May be too much of hard rules may potentially lose the "Users" that is looking for help and that is why Site Admin may be becoming soft and making forum more friendly.
However, for such TS Misbehave, Warning and then Banning is facilated to Moderator's. |
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RahulG31
Active User
Joined: 20 Dec 2014
Posts: 446
Location: USA
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Thanks for your thoughts Enrico.
Rohit,
I see a couple of things in:
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| May be too much of hard rules |
The user can delete the options which he doesn't want to answer. So, the rules won't be that hard.
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| may potentially lose the "Users" |
Only those users who do not research before posting
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| that is looking for help |
The problem I see is that many of the users are not looking for help, they are looking for a solution without even trying something themselves.
And this forum is called as an 'Expert' forum. If the user has not done enough research then they should not be posting primary questions on this forum.
And if they can post anything on this forum without answering certain basic questions, then what is the need for having a beginner's forum?
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Bill Woodger
Moderator Emeritus
Joined: 09 Mar 2011
Posts: 7309
Location: Inside the Matrix
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For a first question, there is already a box. It gives some instructions and then says, "if you understand all this, delete this text and write your question". Something like that. A couple of times a year the original text, unchanged, is posted.
Extending the text for, say, fewer than 20 posts, may help. If the poster reads the text.
As to the behaviour of some posters, there's not been a lot of problem recently. I'm not sure anything more specific needs to be done. There's post, PM, warning, ban. If someone is determined, the whole gamut is not usually run. |
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Rohit Umarjikar
Global Moderator
Joined: 21 Sep 2010
Posts: 3053
Location: NYC,USA
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Rahul,
This is totally what I ( personally) have seen so far here...
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| The problem I see is that many of the users are not looking for help, they are looking for a solution without even trying something themselves. |
This is the case since may be from begining, So nothings we can change than helping(Whoever wants to , Of Cource) them to the right directions/close to the solutions.
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| And this forum is called as an 'Expert' forum. If the user has not done enough research then they should not be posting primary questions on this forum. |
Sometimes ( not always) we think the questions are primary or a basic but for TS that may not be the case always. When I know the questions is basic/primary then I just provide them with manual link/any existing forum links/a direction but not 100% working solution.
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| And if they can post anything on this forum without answering certain basic questions, then what is the need for having a beginner's forum? |
If this happens they will be redirected to beginner's forum, Period. |
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prino
Senior Member
Joined: 07 Feb 2009
Posts: 1306
Location: Vilnius, Lithuania
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| Rohit Umarjikar wrote: |
| ... May be too much of hard rules may potentially lose the "Users" that is looking for help ... |
Who cares if the site loses such "users". I administrate FanDeZhi, and if a user registers and hasn't posted after a month, they are mercilessly deleted. It's not the quantity of users that counts, it's the quality. |
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steve-myers
Active Member
Joined: 30 Nov 2013
Posts: 917
Location: The Universe
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I agree with Prino in one respect: the number of users is basically meaningless. As I started writing this post, I see 117 lurkers and 2 real, registered users in this forum.
I, too, started as a "lurker" in every forum where I have eventually registered. One forum - not computer related - I've been "lurking" for 20 years, mainly because I rarely have anything significant or useful to add. Looking at that sentence makes me ask, why am I still bothering with the forum? Unlike these computer forums, there are very nice images - no, not those kinds of images - and that lures me back.
What is important is the quality of the responses to queries, and that depends on the quality of the responders. Not the queries. We have all seen exceedingly dumb queries, both here and in the so called "beginners" forum, to the point where I think we might be better off shutting down the "beginners" forum. Even the dumbest query deserves an intelligent response. |
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RahulG31
Active User
Joined: 20 Dec 2014
Posts: 446
Location: USA
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| Quote: |
| Even the dumbest query deserves an intelligent response. |
I agree. Now, what if that intelligent response was given a number of times earlier but the user doesn't want to read those and posts the same query again?
Such users are looking for a shortcut to their problem by posting on the forum rather than reading the books/manuals. So, instead of learning something themselves they rely on others' learning. The same users will come back and post on the forum if even a slight variation is given to the same problem.
[IMHO] we should encourage learning and not just provide them with a solution straightaway. The solution should be given if the user has tried and not able to achieve the results.[/IMHO]
(I'll reiterate) my suggestion was, when someone clicks on 'New Topic', there should be a pre-filled message body with a couple of pointers as mentioned above. If we can have that then the users will also be aware that they also need do some home work and in the process their thinking will evolve and we'll get some really quality questions to think about. That's it what I am trying to say.
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RahulG31
Active User
Joined: 20 Dec 2014
Posts: 446
Location: USA
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And a couple of things as mentioned in forum rules:
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Search before Post
Try to solve the problem yourself and make sure you have used the 'Search' facility before posting. You may be warned by the moderator, if your query already discussed and solved in our forums. If you are not satisfied with the previous solutions, post the query in the relevant/FAQ forum with your 'search' history. |
And, as prino mentioned for his website, there is already a forum rule regarding termination but there is no definition for 'a long period'
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Termination
OUR GOAL IS NOT POPULATION! So we have the rights to terminate the membership without any notice, if the user is not active for a long period. |
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PeterHolland
Global Moderator
Joined: 27 Oct 2009
Posts: 2481
Location: Netherlands, Amstelveen
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| Quote: |
| Even the dumbest query deserves an intelligent response. |
Oh really? And then that response is answered with an even dumber question, because the intelligent response was of course not understood.
And then there are those users that are not giving any response after an answer. That fucks me up big time. |
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steve-myers
Active Member
Joined: 30 Nov 2013
Posts: 917
Location: The Universe
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| PeterHolland wrote: |
| Quote: |
| Even the dumbest query deserves an intelligent response. |
Oh really? And then that response is answered with an even dumber question, because the intelligent response was of course not understood.
And then there are those users that are not giving any response after an answer. That fucks me up big time. |
True. But that's simple discourtesy. |
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