Hi,
It's been a while since I signed up, but is there some SUGGESTION or REQUEST in the welcome to newcomers to use search before posting their question? I don't want to be snarky to new subscribers but there sure are a lot of repeat questions.
To the forum modertors, is there a request to new subscribers to search before posting?
Encouragin newcomes to search?
Moderators: Bill Smith, Pilot
Many forums do have a "Read Me Before Posting" Announcement at the top of each forum category that puts into words the rules of etiquette for the forum. On forums where I am Moderator or Admin I put such etiquette into the EULA in the signup process, as well. Another thing I do as Moderator or Admin is to take a simple, repeat question and merge it into the appropriate pre-existing thread. This will put the umpteenth "There's no name on my Caller ID." question, for example, at the bottom of the No-name-on-Caller-ID thread, where the new user can pick up both his answer and the history of the topic. It's more work for the Moderators, but it keeps the forum cleaner.
The point in my mind, though, is that it is simple common courtesy to read as much as possible before beginning to contribute. When I was young, parents and teachers reinforced in children that they should do their own research instead of having answers spoon fed to them. My mother was famous for telling her children, "Look it up in the dictionary (encyclopedia, thesaurus, etc.)!", and 99% of those stray questions disappeared into self initiated research. This common sense and common courtesy extends to forum life.
The overwhelming majority of forums in use today use phpBB. Unless the master style sheet is modified, they all have the same Search button in the same place in the forum masthead, and they all work the same. It does not take long to Search for your already posted answer prior to repeating the question. At best, repeating an oft asked question delays receiving an answer until someone spoon feeds the answer hours later. At worst, it antagonizes the members who volunteer their time and effort to advance the goals of the forum.
Once having answered the question(s) that brought the new user to the forum, it is again simple courtesy to read through the history contained in that forum. The least someone can do, in my opinion, is to read the thread titles for the most recent 3-12 months and open the threads that seem interesting. This gives the reader a feeling for the nature of the forum and insight into into how to successfully formulate questions or more effective Search criteria, should the need arise. This isn't rocket science; it's common courtesy.
In the 20 years I have been using internet forums and dial-up BBSes before them, I have needed to start a new thread in order to ask a question only about 5 times. The many other thousands of questions I have had were answered by searching and reading. Google, et al., didn't become successful by spoon feeding individual answers to the millions of comers in search of them, but by providing the search tool to find the answer that was already out there.
I have yet to start a thread on this forum, and doubt I ever will start one in order to ask a question. I certainly could not imagine ever starting a new thread on any forum or BBS as my very first posting. The chances of someone having a truly unique question for his first posting are miniscule. I have seen it exactly once in the thousands of new threads added since I joined this forum. Exactly one new member researched his problem, found no answer, and asked a unique detailed question in a new thread as his first posting.
The point in my mind, though, is that it is simple common courtesy to read as much as possible before beginning to contribute. When I was young, parents and teachers reinforced in children that they should do their own research instead of having answers spoon fed to them. My mother was famous for telling her children, "Look it up in the dictionary (encyclopedia, thesaurus, etc.)!", and 99% of those stray questions disappeared into self initiated research. This common sense and common courtesy extends to forum life.
The overwhelming majority of forums in use today use phpBB. Unless the master style sheet is modified, they all have the same Search button in the same place in the forum masthead, and they all work the same. It does not take long to Search for your already posted answer prior to repeating the question. At best, repeating an oft asked question delays receiving an answer until someone spoon feeds the answer hours later. At worst, it antagonizes the members who volunteer their time and effort to advance the goals of the forum.
Once having answered the question(s) that brought the new user to the forum, it is again simple courtesy to read through the history contained in that forum. The least someone can do, in my opinion, is to read the thread titles for the most recent 3-12 months and open the threads that seem interesting. This gives the reader a feeling for the nature of the forum and insight into into how to successfully formulate questions or more effective Search criteria, should the need arise. This isn't rocket science; it's common courtesy.
In the 20 years I have been using internet forums and dial-up BBSes before them, I have needed to start a new thread in order to ask a question only about 5 times. The many other thousands of questions I have had were answered by searching and reading. Google, et al., didn't become successful by spoon feeding individual answers to the millions of comers in search of them, but by providing the search tool to find the answer that was already out there.
I have yet to start a thread on this forum, and doubt I ever will start one in order to ask a question. I certainly could not imagine ever starting a new thread on any forum or BBS as my very first posting. The chances of someone having a truly unique question for his first posting are miniscule. I have seen it exactly once in the thousands of new threads added since I joined this forum. Exactly one new member researched his problem, found no answer, and asked a unique detailed question in a new thread as his first posting.