Watered Down?

[OO]

Are stricter policies going to be enacted against those who ask questions easily answered by a search? I think this needless repeated questions, often by those who have admitted unwillingness to read, makes the threads even longer, and it waters down the density of useful information.

I'm not requesting that it be this way, but has it been considered?

 

[SSVUN~YAH]

I agree search first unless your in a conversation, but that's not forum. Maybe try ignore, for those people that you don't think you can get any useful information from???

 

[OO]

I agree search first unless your in a conversation, but that's not forum. Maybe try ignore, for those people that you don't think you can get any useful information from???

Not a bad idea, I do tend to hope that people will improve themselves though, and would hate to missout on a valuable contribution due to their previous laziness.

 

[CentiZen]

I too have been trying to come up with a way that we can reconcile the incredible wealth of prexisting information on this forum with new members who may not be savvy or resourceful when it comes to trying to find an answer to their question. It certainly does decrease the overall quality of the threads to keep reiterating what may be common knowledge to some.

It's a bit of a difficult situation though, because while most questions relating these vaporizers have been asked and answered already, finding that specific series of posts is actually pretty difficult in many situations. The sheer amount of data available here is huge and unless you are familiar with query based search systems it can be like trying to find a very small needle in a very big haystack. The search system here seems to me to be very hit-or-miss, and unless you really know how to craft your queries the first several pages of results could be entirely unrelated to what you are trying to figure out.

At this point I really don't have a good idea as to how we can go about this. There certainly a big contingent of users who just don't want to try to find the answer themselves, and that isn't O.K. But there is also probably just as many users who tried to find the answer but got nowhere.

The only thing that I can think of is to have an banner for new users with a short collection of recommendations for efficient searching. That's not so much a solution as it is a mitigation though, but it could help some of the users who are willing to help themselves, making it easier to separate them from the ones who just don't wanna.

 

[nopartofme]

I think continuing to flesh out Vaporpedia is a great way to address this problem, and was likely the initial intent of its creation anyways. No small task, but one that is probably worthwhile.

The forum format isn't designed for archival information retrieval like a wiki is.

 

[Enchantre]

I think that continuing to put targeted, informative threads as "stickies" at the top of the several forums helps the newbies, too. Maybe a short series of "How to..." stickies could be created, with some links to the best threads that address that subject. Only mods can add/delete the info.

It's how they (we) ended up dealing with it on priuschat.com (Several hundred thousand members, covering Prius from 2007 to now & future).

 

[satyrday]

Maybe Vaporpedia type content should be put into a special newb forum (McDonald's Playland). Vaporpedia can be a little "out of sight, out of mind" when in a forum browsing mindset.

 

[nopartofme]

Stickies like Enchantre suggested, with links to relevant sections on Vaporpedia, would work well for bringing attention to it.

 

[OO]

This is a very constructive crowd!

I think Centizen summed up my concerns quite well and in a very well spoken way!

All these ideas are great. Implementing them is no small task, maybe we can get some moderator input on this one?

 

[Mr. Gweilo 420]

As some one who is still relatively new here I find this an interesting and relevant topic. To be honest, the amount of information and expertise here is very overwhelming. I read this forum for probably 4 months before I felt I could post.

I have thought about starting a similar thread about how information is organised here. I honestly don't think the search tool is particularly effective and I could understand many users abandoning it in frustration. On the other hand anyone (like me) who sees themselves as a new member of this community and values this community needs to be very careful about asking silly questions. I have probably asked a few myself but for every question I have asked there were 20 that I spent possibly hours or days researching.

I wondered if sub-forums could be possible. For example, under the Arizer Solo thread there could be sub-threads such as Efficiency, Mods, Vapourbonging, etc. However, I do realize that managing the quantity and variety of information here in that way could be too difficult.

Honestly in 6 months I feel like I have learnt a tonne here and compared to a lot of you I'm still nowhere. Although what I have learnt has been fantastic in improving my personal situation and will continue to do so.

Perhaps one of the issues is the gap between vapour nerds and Mr. Average who just wants to get high a little more safely and efficiently than combusting.

 

[EveryDayAmnesiac]

I agree that silly questions can be annoying, and I have been the cause sometimes.

However, because of how goddamn reactive people can be to questions, I'm actually becoming worried about asking them. There have been times recently when I wanted to ask something, then figured even though I couldn't find it in search, that it must have been asked already and I don't want to suffer any repercussions for, god forbid, asking the same question twice. Basically, I just don't want to be bitched out by a mod or a reg or an elder or whatever. Not really a fan of that. Overly severe repercussions for questions can keep people from asking them, and sometimes those questions are ones that should, or NEED TO, be asked.

I also have not had great success with the search feature. Sometimes works, sometimes doesn't, for me.

So while I agree the same question again and again is fucking annoying, I also don't think a bunch of severe warnings are going to be helpful overall. I mean, we NEED people asking questions, preferably good ones, but if some bad ones slip through, well so be it.

Just sayin'.

 

[farscaper]

I can understand the frustration of seeing someone ask a question you have personally answered many times, but perhaps this topic is a perfect example of where we should all practice the tolerance we all ask for. Not everyone has the same computer skills... There was a time I couldnt even figure out the search function. Google works better most of the time "for me"... But I dont think that harsh punishment for questions is what this place is about... at least I hope its not or that seems hipocritically ironic doesnt it... Bunch of potheads asking for more rules? LoL

Crud, did I just steriotype myself there

 

[Buildozer]

maybe.. some people that are very skilled w/ search can start a thread about how to use the search engine better, and share some knowledge... some people are pretty good w/ the FC one.. and when some one asks a question that's been covered.. you can just say read the FC search tips thread, instead... maybe link it in your sig. to make it easier? seems a whole lot easier than making and enforcing more strict policies.. a solution doesn't have to be all that complicated.. those concerned can easily come together and build an informative thread.. hopefully w/o random comments.. only tips.. that would be nice.. i'm surprised there isn't a thread like that already.. there could be.. i'm not the best w/ search LOL.. iv'e gotten better though.