Forum etiquette

rasat · 2004-02-19 04:34:51

sarah31 wrote:

....i don't think it is very kosher to tack questions onto questions. some of the really long threads have had several questions asked in them and it really annoying for both searching and wanting to help.
basically i was just hoping we could reconsider some of the forum ettiquette.

AL's 15,000 posts are still nothing compared to Gento's 863,441, but the same problems are appearing what sarah31 is saying. Forum etiquette is one way but the main roll is for the moderators to split / move the posts where they belong. I am aware this causes lot of reading / keeping track what's going on, so are there any other ways how to manage the posts... to make them more searching friendly.... best if not needed to repeat the answers again and again?

sarah31 · 2004-02-19 05:03:36

pinning select posts helps a bit but one of the best ways to prevent old posts from resurfacing and other being repeated would be to have the arch documents as dynamic as possible. incorporating most of the common appearing questions into FAQs or whatever would easily cut down on some of the posting that has been happening these days.

creating a FAQs forum may help too

believe it or not one of the most beneficial things one can do, even if it may seem like a pain in the arse, if if someone suggests a certain method and it solves your issue post back that it worked. that way the deves/moderators/whatever can actually use the info in the thread in any way they see fit (either as a FAQ or pinned thread).

of course alot of what i suggest requires a group of regular moderators. (it really is not a hard job but good moderating (ie moving posts to the right forum, removing old stickies, removing double posts, splitting topics, and generally make sure that people do not get into bad habits). but moderating is important and so are enforcing "rules" as the idea for both is to keep the forums functioning and helpful.

rasat · 2004-02-19 12:09:41

Thanks sarah31. I am seeing several possibilities and one idea can be incorporated into the phpBB itself.

1. In the welcome message(s) (~/language/lang_english/email/), which are automatically send to the user after registration, can include instructions about forum etiquette, links to FAQ and other first hand docs.

2. To incorporate most of the common appearing questions into FAQs, the job is to copy from forum and paste to the official docs. This may not happen when depending on the doc incharge and he/she may not be aware what's going on forum. The moderators and active forum members are the right persons to copy. But they need a place where to paste. Here again, why there is a delay setting up the wiki.

3. I like the idea "if someone suggests a certain method and it solves your issue post back". How to get it done? The user him/herself or the moderator?

terrapin · 2004-02-19 14:16:37

3. I like the idea "if someone suggests a certain method and it solves your issue post back". How to get it done? The user him/herself or the moderator?

A solution I have seen on other forums and one I have try to do here is once a solution has been found to edit your orginal topic subject and appending the word "RESOLVED". This could indicate that the topic has been resolved and others *should* be able to find the answer in the posts.

It's a small thing but might help when trying to search for answers.

Mr Green · 2004-02-19 18:57:59

How about next subject line ...Search (ie has this been asked before ) as on linuxquestions.org...

Lets not forget the web is a big place so narrowing threads to relate to arch itself may help ease the strain.....

Again Good docs & FAQs help (but only if people can be bothered to look!)

Three threads types are coming up again&again network,install,sound.....

I know I am guilty of asking questions but I was always told it was the way to learn...in the same way I try to help others...but we could help everyone who uses Arch by taking action now before its too late....

Mr Green

Ps s31 don't flame me girl i'm just tryin to help

rasat · 2004-02-20 04:17:09

Mr Green wrote:

Again good docs & FAQs help (but only if people can be bothered to look!)

As I said, to add links in the welcoming message for newly registered users. For existing users, the moderators and active forum members will have to teach by own example to post links to FAQs and Docs instead of answering the same questions again and again. This will also encourage the user asking the question to solve the problems on his/her own as per AL's style.

Of course, first we have to develop the FAQ site. Here both moderators and active forum members will have to collaborate. To get started, lets concentrate with Mr Green's point:

Three threads types are coming up again&again network,install,sound.....

dp · 2004-02-20 11:04:01

there should be a "How-To's" section where all the nice howtos belong in:

http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php? … ight=howto

...

rasat · 2004-02-24 03:33:53

terrapin wrote:

....appending the word "RESOLVED". This could indicate that the topic has been resolved and others *should* be able to find the answer in the posts.

The idea is good and I have applied it. Unfortunately the search engine is not case sensitive nor accepting "[ ]" as criteria thereby gives a result output of several pages. The keywords [REMOVE] and [MOVE] have the problem e.g. "remove" six pages, "move" three pages, and "resolved" two pages.

To have unique keywords and also more appealing as part of the subject header, I am changing the words:

RESOLVED -- [FXD] .... fixed
REMOVE --- [RME]
MOVE --- [MVE]

natael · 2004-02-24 05:19:17

rasat wrote:

RESOLVED -- [FXD] .... fixed
REMOVE --- [RME]
MOVE --- [MVE]

Now that's just cryptic.

How about a forum section dedicated to fixed/resolved technical threads ? All the RESOLVED threads could be moved in there, allthough they would lose a bit of context that way. Just an idea. Pro's, con's ?

Getting threads sorted like this will make it easier to extract official FAQ's out of them, which is nice.

As for [FXD] and friends, I would much prefer XRESOLVEDX or something instead, at least that makes sense.

- natael

rasat · 2004-02-25 04:02:53

natael wrote:

Now that's just cryptic.
I would much prefer XRESOLVEDX or something instead, at least that makes sense.

I agree. It sounds cryptic because of the silent "e". Moreover, doesn't represent the script codes for "mv" and "rm". The RESOLVED is too long for the limited character width in subject title box.

I have replace the "e" with "x" ..... "x" makes an unique search code.

RESOLVED --> [FXx]
REMOVE --> [RMx]
MOVE --> [MVx]

Arch Linux

#1 2004-02-19 04:34:51

Forum etiquette

#2 2004-02-19 05:03:36

Re: Forum etiquette

#3 2004-02-19 12:09:41

Re: Forum etiquette

#4 2004-02-19 14:16:37

Re: Forum etiquette

#5 2004-02-19 18:57:59

Re: Forum etiquette

#6 2004-02-20 04:17:09

Re: Forum etiquette

#7 2004-02-20 11:04:01

Re: Forum etiquette

#8 2004-02-24 03:33:53

Re: Forum etiquette

#9 2004-02-24 05:19:17

Re: Forum etiquette

#10 2004-02-25 04:02:53

Re: Forum etiquette

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