Want advice on the board? You must answer this?

cbrown372

As the title states "you must answer this", does this mean that if you don't answer the list of personal questions that you won't get advice on the board?

fortunately I haven't needed to ask for advice, so far, but the thread title doesn't seem exactly welcoming.

SomeBozo

Fran wrote: »

How rude!

No need for that post. Unless of course you are trying to stir up anti-Fran feelings?

Hi Fran

The post was not meant to be rude.

It was born out of frustration as I have tried to PM you on at least 4 occasions in the past few months and each time I am unable to PM you as your mailbox is full.

I originally put it down to being unable to manage your PM box, but on reflection I can see how a board guide might get a lot of messages a day and this means its constantly full and you are unable to manage it.

I rarely see board guides in here, and it just felt, when I wanted one, the reason I could not contact them was a PM box issue.

No offence intended.

Bozo

SomeBozo

cbrown372 wrote: »

As the title states "you must answer this", does this mean that if you don't answer the list of personal questions that you won't get advice on the board?

fortunately I haven't needed to ask for advice, so far, but the thread title doesn't seem exactly welcoming.

Hi cbrown.

If you don't answer the list of questions that does not mean you will get no advice.

However to get the best advice for you, on a individual level, you are best to answer the questions. Otherwise you find that your first few "answers" are actually requests for more information.

All the questions asked are exactly the same kind of questions you would get asked if you approached someone like the CAB.

Bozo

bestpud

cbrown372 wrote: »

As the title states "you must answer this", does this mean that if you don't answer the list of personal questions that you won't get advice on the board?

fortunately I haven't needed to ask for advice, so far, but the thread title doesn't seem exactly welcoming.

The post would obviously explain why the information is needed.

Tbh though, while I see you point about the wording, if someone doesn't feel they can give all the information needed to answer their question then they will be better served contacting the benefits agency in question.

It is absolutely pointless giving information that is based on assumptions and it seems sensible to point that out from the start. At least that way people can decide before they waste time posting.

Former_MSE_Andrea

Hi everyone

Just so you know, I unstickied a couple of our threads the other day that aren't really needed any more, the entitledto one because it's in the 5 Mins Benefits article and ideally that's where we'd like people to be pointed to for general questions about ways to find out what you're entitled to.

The other was the official discussion thread, which gets posted on fairly regularly by people coming through from the article, as it's regularly in the weekly email so didn't need to be a sticky.

dmg24 and somebozo (and anyone else that would like to help) - is it worth you doing a quick draft of the kind of thing you'd include in the Q&As and the format it would be in and sending it to me to have a look at before you do anything major?

I'm wondering if it's worth doing it in the same kind of style as Fran has done in her sticky, and similar to the Old Style Index, so that rather than having answers directly, it links to threads where it's been discussed before so newbies can join those discussions?

Do you think that would work on this board? You guys obviously know it much better than I do so let me know what you think.

Andrea

bestpud

MSE_Andrea wrote: »

Hi everyone

I'm wondering if it's worth doing it in the same kind of style as Fran has done in her sticky, and similar to the Old Style Index, so that rather than having answers directly, it links to threads where it's been discussed before so newbies can join those discussions?

Do you think that would work on this board? You guys obviously know it much better than I do so let me know what you think.

Andrea

I think that would work great for common or ambiguous questions - like 'how many nights can my boyfriend stay over?'

dmg24

MSE_Andrea wrote: »

dmg24 and somebozo (and anyone else that would like to help) - is it worth you doing a quick draft of the kind of thing you'd include in the Q&As and the format it would be in and sending it to me to have a look at before you do anything major?

I'm wondering if it's worth doing it in the same kind of style as Fran has done in her sticky, and similar to the Old Style Index, so that rather than having answers directly, it links to threads where it's been discussed before so newbies can join those discussions?

I don't think that linking to other threads would work, which is proven by the fact that it does not at the moment. People want the information in front of them, they do not want to have to go to another thread and then search through for the answers they want.

I think the question of what should be included in the Q&A's is pretty self explanatory - the most commonly asked questions, followed by answers that lay people should be able to understand. Following this information there could then be links to more in depth information, such as the Decision Makers Guide.