Not to make more work (frequently posted questions)

and there is a row of links under the blue tabs...the second one is what you seem to be requesting - so the work has been done. I think there needs to be a way where posting privileges are not granted until viewing that page...

Hmm ….when a new member registers and receives a welcome email. Can a line be added to direct them to the row of blue links under the tabs? For example: Welcome to POI-Factory, please be sure to view our blue links on the top right corner of your screen for imperative information before requesting “how to” via a post. Again this is just a thought to work with kch50428 idea.

If we had posting privileges, like kch50428 recommended, JM would be bombarded with emails lol.

Let me play the devil's avocate for a second (not that normally don't), when a new person comes in and has a question, sure he can search for the topic, but often that topic gets lost in the merid of endless other topics that it is often easier to just ask the question again.

No matter what forum you frequent, you will see the same topics covered over and over and over again. I think it is just part of the nature of forums.

Possibly the “nature of forums”, I’ve witness many new members that are excited and would like immediate help on “how to” which is great. Adding the blue link in a welcome letter would minimize the “how to” post to some affect. I don’t think anyone is looking to eliminate any questions as all questions are truly welcomed. I think were looking to control some of the questions some of the times, if that makes sense lol.

Oh I totally agree that if there is something that will wave off repeated discussions, that would be great, but I was just saying that I have seen and the way (at least me) work.

I agree that a link in the welcome letter would be a simple addition that can improve a new user's experience and help us all with the multiple questions.

...but they cover just a small fraction of the posts/re-posts I'm talking about. Every so often someone bothers to respond to a person's question about 'how do I...?' and they say 'go to this thread which answers everything.' That's what I'm talking about. I appreciate JM has a few other details to attend to. I guess it comes down to cataloging a wealth of information, or leaving it as disorganized chaos.

GC

I did a lot of reorganizing in the FAQ section today:

Created new pages to group FAQs by subject.

Reorganized links for existing FAQs.

Created some new FAQ pages.

There's still room for improvement, but these changes should make it a little easier for people to locate the FAQs we've posted on the site.

JM

I have to agree with Asianfire in that no matter how perfectly designed a faq system is, the easiest way for people to get answers is to ask.

Researching a subject within an open discussion format is a daunting task. Also, for most computer illiterate types (myself included), the askee may not even know what termonology he or she needs to look for.

It may be easier to not answer common questions over and over again, but respond with a word or two that can be entered into the "search" box at the top of the page that leads the person in the right direction.

Ah, a very good point indeed!

Kinda like when my wife says that the computer isn't working when she really means that I need to reset the router...lol.