Forum Moderators: open
On my version of this page, I put a big list of the main FAQ topics. I put the boxes for site and Google search. I put links to important documents. It forces new registers to see the most common questions asked in that forum and significantly cuts down on the repetition.
Mebe even require correct answers to a short (3-5 question) quiz? Kinda like those Academic Online Testing Services provided by Publishers and made available to Students?
Don't complete 'so-many' out of 'so-many', then dump your cookies and try again. <Shrug>
They were pretty cool...
All in all, an excellent suggestion BGumgle.
Pendanticist.
Isn't that wht they do at Zeal. You have to answer so many questions correctly to get to edit.
Seems like a good idea to me. At the moment Google posts are almost impossible to follow because of these sort of new users posts :(
If not a test, at least interrupting them with the FAQ / Charter / Rules is a smart thing to do rather than serving them the posting page and hope they click the links.
That would leave me out of a job! ;)
Nick
...rather than serving them the posting page and hope they click the links.
Boy, that reminds me of my earlier days with WNI (WebTV Networks Inc. now MSN-TV) when I used to post frequently in the 'users' group, I think they called it.
Every Christmas, when the new subscribers plugged in their LBBs (Little Black Boxes), they ultimately ended up in that group asking redundant questions and it did get tiring.
My pat sig (after answering them for the umpteenth time) was:
"The answer to this, and any as yet un-asked questions can be found behind every link off of your homepage."
But, then along came Search Engine popularity. Instant answers to literally any question imaginable. I think that has come full circle here at WebmasterWorld. Folks just pop in and drop a question, and then they either sit back and wait for a reply, or come back later.
So, Nick? You'll never be out of a job.
I wonder if the whole structure could be changed for the new users, somewhat similar to those dreaded automated answering systems where #s are links in the form of questions.
If your question is about 'blah', 'blah' or 'blah'... (and then the Titled link to the appropriate forum/solution) sans click here of course). Kinda like a tour, only not quite as lame as some I've seen. Use tables contained on one page for that.
Not that I don't like the Forums Index page, but it's cumbersome compared to the above method. My point is the terminologies used (in Forums Index) may be very much foreign to the new visitor.
I've been here a year and there are more things that I don't understand, than there are that I do! So, how can we expect the newer members to understand? Come on down to Earth and simplify it.
If you want to educate the new users, do it on their level and not yours (collectively speaking).
Navigation. The Internet is all about navigation. The data served up, must be done in the same fashion the mind seeks it, in a logical manner. Long scrolling pages sometimes cause convolution of thought because we/they see things they hadn't thought of and next thing you know...off on a tangent with newer questions.
Part of that concept is what fosters repetitive questions. Folks get tired digging and end up doing the SE thing....asking. Not always in the appropriate forum either.
Hell, far as that goes, hide the boards until a certain pre-determind/established level has been reached. I know I've read loads of posts about rendering one page to some and another to the rest. Eh?
Oh, one more thing. Consider requiring viewers to be logged in to view this thread.
Oh, one more, one more thing. :)
Essentially, we have two WebmasterWorlds now. One public and one private. Encapsulate everything discussed here and everywhere else into the Third WebmasterWorld. That one being an 'entry' level WebmasterWorld where once you've acquired certain insights and such, you post here.
Pendanticist.
