everytime I turn around a newbie is asking the same question and then you give them the answer they want you to tell them what to do next....
People are lazy and don't bother using the search. I've considered changing the system like it is in doom9 that new user has to wait 10 days before he/she can post any messages after he/she registered to the site. This would probably encourage searching the old messages.
dRD, I love the idea of the delay for posting. You might want to try setting it for, say, five days at first and see how that works. I ran a BBS about 16 years back where I got tired of people trying to chat with me at 0200 hours, so I turned around and added a rude version of an Eliza program to act like I was answering. The BBS was called, "Bill The Cat's Litterbox" and the chat program was fond of all sorts of rather obnoxious phrases whenever it detected stupid phrases or questions being entered. "barf" and "puke" ing its way through the late night idiots, it was fun for me to read the log file I had it write of each "conversation" Fear not! You are not alone in being in charge of something where you tire of the idiots visiting. In the words of someone not famous in the least: "Thou art obtunded, but 'tis the result of ancestry or alchemy? That is the question."
MrAmpuT: I know exactly what you mean, I used to run BBS from 1991 until 1995 And we have several ideas for pushing people to be more active in searching the existing answers.
"Now I understand." When I first visited this site, I said to myself,"What a bunch of rude bastards!" I was AFRAID to post a question after reading a few misguided threads! Most of all I just didn't want to come off like an bumhole asking a question that had been answered 100 times. Some of these people have brass balls cross posting the same illconceived question all over the damn site. I can tell when someone has never even bothered to read anything. I think some of them never even return to read the reply that has been written to their question. Now I understand-
Call me cynical but I like to give some people the benefit of doubt. Don’t forget, for a lot of people, English is not their first language (it’s my one and only). I guess it can’t be easy reading all those threads that DON’T tell you what you want to know. Having said that, I do agree with the cross posting issue, I do hate wasting my time reading a post several times over. HomerJ
I personally did a lot of searching B4 I put anything on the message board but the point of a message board is to help peope who require a nudge in the correct direction , granted you can lead a horse to water but you cant make it drink . but I dont like going onto dooms site for this exact problem haveing to wait 5 days for help is a waist of time especially if you have a nagging wife complaining that you spend more time on the computer than you do with her, sometimes people cant see the woods for the trees. Sometimes all it take is a diffrent way to say the same thing and it will click for those people and you have a growing following and those people will visit your site than anyone elses , also I now try and help anyone if I can .Hope I havent pissed any senior member off but thats how I see it. see ya ;0)
Senior Members are just a bunch of people that started off where you are.. I think afterdawn grows more popular because more and more people like you decide to start helping out. ;-)
THANKS EVERYONE!! i love this forum.. can i get my newbie status removed ever? i have posted quite a few times and added movies into the database about dvd-9 or dvd-5... otherwise, i love this place.. its like.. my second home.. haha.. peace seamonkey420 always remember that knowledge is power, spread the power!
But them I wouldn't be able to post messages? Anyway aren't message boards for people who need answers?
They are, but the problem is that 90% of all questions have been answered previously and new users have this tendency of not bothering to search for old messages where the answers are, but ask the very same questions all over again and we old users get bored and pissed of this when it happens too often. So, having a 48hr "quarantine period" would possibly encourage users to search for existing messages.
With Christmas just around the corner, wait for the mad rush from all those folk who have been given a DVD burner by Father Christmas, only to find that it's not as easy copying DVDs as it is with CDs. It's the same people who don't do their research before they buy, who ask the "I NEED HELP" questions. HomerJ
Luckily then we can just redirect them to grab a copy of DVDXCopy using AfterDawn.com's affiliate links and support our site with couple of bucks per sale
Everyone brace yourself. Christmas is only a week away so those annoying questions will be pouring in.
You are right Homer j people will find out that burning a dvd is a bit more complicated than a cd. Sure dvdxcopy is out there but still it takes some technical skills to get it right.I try to tell people this and they don't listen until they try to do it, but oh well thats life i guess.
The site is great, but the messages are not sorted in a great way. Recommendation: have a set list of question summaries as most people write something stupid and you don't know what the problem is (so you have to open it along with the other hundred of questions). The number of people that have a problem with the sound on downloaded avis is just stupid, and it seems the answer is always the same, that person is an idiot.
