Search First!!

Please don't get me wrong, I'm not ranting. But there are at heaps of repeat posts by new members daily, on the exact same topic.

Can't we make it so thy have to agree in the rules to search for a topic FIRST. In one day a person can see the start of 2, 3, seemingly identical threads. On Hard drives, networking/data transfers, needed 3rd party software, and video transcoders.

And maybe a link to Apple Support Search, and Google Search, and tell them to do updates on their computer.

I swear this is ridiculous. And if there is a sticky, or something somewhere, clearly it’s not being read. :bomb:

amen.

point in case, (not to flame the nubie)

http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47997

matt, you keep switching from banned to member. whats up with that?

kodorsean said:

matt, you keep switching from banned to member. whats up with that?

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i keep getting banned thats why but im gonna be a good boy and try not to again

what do you keep doing to get banned? maybe if you get it out others will know what NOT to do.

kodorsean said:

what do you keep doing to get banned? maybe if you get it out others will know what NOT to do.

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good idea.

things not to do on mac-forums:

insult people

create arguements

abuse rep

annoy mods

being rude

the list could go on and on..

This is just how forums work, it makes no difference what the forum is for. There are always going to be repeat questions daily and people won't read stickies by default, no matter how many "hoops" they are required to hurdle.

We have to realize that not everyone is on the same level of understanding or knowledge that you or I may be, so someone will eventually ask something that is a "common" question.

Rather than simply answering the question every time, suggesting that people use the search function is one option. Alternatively, you could simply point them in the direction of the correct sub-forum for their answer. Just be sure to be diplomatic and tactful about it, so no offense is taken on the part of the new member.

personally, i think matt is a good kid. perhaps a little impulsive, but a decent guy who does want to help. i try to throw a little positive rep his way when he seems helpful. i just don't want him to get discouraged if a few others are not giving him the space to find his way.


on topic...
i don't mind so much. just like in the thread that was posted as an example, someone posts a redundant question, i dig up a recent thread or give them some info. i think it just fosters a more pleasant feeling for the new guys. maybe if they get some decent help rather than a "have you searched for it?" they'll stay a while and become a contributing member.
ideally, yes, everyone will search for the info they want, spend days before they post anything just perusing the boards for info they may need. but people aren't perfect, they may not always try hard enough. it's not my job to crush them when they slip. but as someone who is trying to be a helpful member of a community (real or online) i do feel its my job to lend a hand even if someone missteps a bit.

an additional bonus is that as these new people post these easy to pick off questions, some of the 'slightly less new' members get a chance to prove themselves helpful and earn a little rep to boot.

Ice Cream Man said:

Please don't get me wrong, I'm not ranting. But there are at heaps of repeat posts by new members daily, on the exact same topic.

Can't we make it so thy have to agree in the rules to search for a topic FIRST. In one day a person can see the start of 2, 3, seemingly identical threads. On Hard drives, networking/data transfers, needed 3rd party software, and video transcoders.

And maybe a link to Apple Support Search, and Google Search, and tell them to do updates on their computer.

I swear this is ridiculous. And if there is a sticky, or something somewhere, clearly it’s not being read. :bomb:

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I guess people should just do as you say and not what you do? I think the best way to lead is to by example.

http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34206

pbg4 - LOL!

Ice Cream Man said:

And if there is a sticky, or something somewhere, clearly it’s not being read. :bomb:

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I already covered that, and stated that clearly nobody is reading it. It’s always nice to find the smart a. It's really a point in case.

It’s not "eventually", it's almost hourly. There are other forums in this world that manage to hamper the issue. I'm sure something could be done. It just isn't happening. It would not be impossible in a forum of this size. That is clearly growing without control. To add a required “accept terms” page that would only mention searching, in clear, large, concise, plain, diplomatic English. I mean even from an administerial point of view, consider how much traffic is just one or two time users, which get redirected off the site anyway.

I have been in many forums, and non are as out of control is this. And I’m not talking about moving threads, or hampering unruly behavior. Just utter growth, and disregard for the simple search. And invariably most users will feel bad if the first thing they are told to do is search. And it does no good when they’ve already posted anyway. I would be interested in knowing how many new users per day there are. And secondarily, how many are “switchers”

Ice Cream Man said:

I have been in many forums, and non are as out of control is this. And I’m not talking about moving threads, or hampering unruly behavior. Just utter growth, and disregard for the simple search.

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you can't have been on that many then. i've seen some wacky stuff. this forum is very well moderated. for my other opinions - just look a few posts up.

eric said:

you can't have been on that many then. i've seen some wacky stuff. this forum is very well moderated. for my other opinions - just look a few posts up.

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There are at least five that I’m involved in right now. That’s not all of them ever. But that is current. And please don’t get me wrong, it’s not the moderation I’m talking about. Just uncontrolled growth. I think a note about searching first, should be the first thing new people see before they can post a thread. I don’t think it is unreasonable.

you've got to admit though that pbg4's post with a link to an old thread about the same topic in your topic about searching the forums for similar issues is pretty dang funny!

funny, but covered by case in point.

But it's not like it would be difficult. They could make it so the first time a person hits "Post New Topic" they are redirected to a dialog that says, "Have you searched the forum, for the topic on which you are posting. <Yes> or <No>" or something polite and robotic that they would love. The yes would let them post, and the no would take them to the search page/dialog.

It could even just be a pop-up dialog for the first 5 time a user posts a new topic. Just to drive it home. Something besides mediocrity.

Ice Cream Man said:

funny, but covered by case in point.

But it's not like it would be dificult. They could make it so the first time a person hits "Post New Topic" they are redirected to a dialog that says, "Have you searched the forum, for the topic on which you are posting. <Yes> or <No>" or something polite and robotic that they would love. The yes would let them post, and the no would take them to the search page/diolog.

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thats a real good idea right there

not sure if it could be done with the software, but i understand your point, and it might help. maybe based on number of posts.

if user has posts < 10, then redirect to "did you try to search?" page

Ice Cream,
Mac-Forums is the largest, most successful forum-only Mac site on the net. We've run the board the way we've run it for a long time. You've been around less than three weeks, you are hardly the judge of what is or is not a problem here. To be honest, there is no difference now than there ever has been with people not searching.

And yes, you do agree to the terms and our welcome e-mail specifically links not only to the rules but also a forum courtesy thread that talks about searching. Some people just don't read or understand how to use a forum. I'm actually surprised that you don't see this problem on other forums. I frequent about 10 forums a day and I see this issue in every single one.

If your suggestion was a personal preference, that would be one thing. Instead you framed it in a hostile, "something is broken" tone. My suggestion would be to step back for a second and gain some tenure in this community so you can better understand it.

vBulletin is a powerful, scalable and fully customizable forums package for your web site. It has been written using the Web's quickest-growing scripting language; PHP, and is complemented with a highly efficient and ultra fast back-end database engine built using MySQL.

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It can be done, it's only php. Someone, or some people would just have to right a mod. And mac-forum would have to install it. :yinyang: