why don`t people use the SEARCH facility

Pink.

MATH wrote:

What good advice. I took it about a year ago actually, which is why I now disregard 75% of this board and rarely post. I've noticed that some question threads are on the board for the best part of a day sometimes before people can be bothered to read/answer? I'm not the only one skipping all the done to death posts. Unfortunately if these posts are allowed to prolifigate the gems won't be worth seeking out and people will leave (as many have) the OS board, taking their wealth of knowledge with them. Leaving a board full of questions and no answers

Hi Math,

I've noticed from your posts that you haven't been happy with the content on the Old Style board for some time.

From reading the above, in particular the bit I’ve highlighted, I’m not quite what it is that you would like us all to do. The bg's merge a number of threads each day if the answer to a query is already on the boards and we, along with many regular members, do our best to link to older threads that may help too.

We were all new to the internet, chat forums and MSE at one time. Lately there have been many new users on Old Style……..all eager to learn things that we perhaps take for granted. As there has been an increase in new members there has also been an increase in repeated questions.

MSE is is a public forum and people can and do post what they wish as long as it falls within Martins guidelines and rules.

I for one would not be happy to bluntly tell new users that they should search for the reply, especially as we all know that the search facility is poor.

I am genuinely interested to know how you suggest we as a community can prevent these posts that you object to from being allowed to proliferate.

Pink

JoeyG

Wouldnt it be a good idea to have an interactive chat room at the top of the page where you can ask any basic questions and get an answer immediately?

I say this because I often have really basic, 'how do you boil an egg' type questions (usually about cooking, cos i've just moved out of home) that I'm a bit embarassed about asking in the main forum, and usually need answering straight away... It would use up bandwidth, but would also save bandwidth cos people wouldnt need to search as much.

Just a thought

MATH

Pink-winged wrote:

Hi Math,

I've noticed from your posts that you haven't been happy with the content on the Old Style board for some time.

From reading the above, in particular the bit I’ve highlighted, I’m not quite what it is that you would like us all to do. The bg's merge a number of threads each day if the answer to a query is already on the boards and we, along with many regular members, do our best to link to older threads that may help too.

We were all new to the internet, chat forums and MSE at one time. Lately there have been many new users on Old Style……..all eager to learn things that we perhaps take for granted. As there has been an increase in new members there has also been an increase in repeated questions.

MSE is is a public forum and people can and do post what they wish as long as it falls within Martins guidelines and rules.

I for one would not be happy to bluntly tell new users that they should search for the reply, especially as we all know that the search facility is poor.

I am genuinely interested to know how you suggest we as a community can prevent these posts that you object to from being allowed to proliferate.

Pink

I don't think there is anything the board guides can do and I don't think hard and sometimes rude enforcing of 'rules' as can be experienced 'on occasion' on other boards (by posters not BG's) is the answer either. It relies solely on the posters thinking for themselves. If you don't have the IT knowledge to use google or search for cookery/food info sites and don't own a cookery book then it is perfectly acceptable to post a question on how to make cheese sauce. If however you can do the above it is just lazy to post the question, clogs up the board and makes the BG's more work merging threads and linking to answers already in sticky indexes. I make these comments because a: I am a grumpy Ol git and admit it LOL and b: because I really do not think the board has a sustained future if it continues as it is. Martin would need to employ an army of BG's to keep an ever increasing and undiciplined board under control, merging, linking and answering. Posters will soon log on each morning to 30/40 threads, all less than two hours old with little or no worth in them and give up. BG's deserve a medal and we posters should try and make their job as easy as possible IMO.

squeaky

Thanks Joey and MATH

I'm afraid there's no chat facility on the forums, but what we have done is start a couple threads specifically designed for slow cookers and freezing questions:

slow cooker quick questions thread

Freezing - quick questions thread.


We can't do this for every subject, or we'd be just as overloaded with these as anything else

What I propose to do in a few minutes is start a

Quick questions on ANYTHING

thread and sticky it for a while to see how it goes.


As Pink said earlier, we cannot and will not tell people to use the Indexes or the search, we can only ask and encourage. This why we regularly make pleas such as the "help us to help you" post in the Announcements thread (currently stickied as we speak), and it is also why we are working very hard with lots of members who have volunteered to create quick search indexes for us.

Anything we can do to help members find things - to make it easier to find something than just give up and ask - we'll do.

Note to self: Move the tutorial on how to make best use of indexes and search higher up your to-do list

squeaky

There are also a number of Breadmaker clubs about the place, and there's a breadmaker hints tips and recipes thread available via the Index collections in The Complete Breadmaker Index.

Your homework for today is to find it

Kazonline

Hi all. Just wanted to say that while I appreciate the frustration of seeing repeat questions, especially when you know there's a thread allready on the subject (actually, I believe there has been a thread about this issue previously, lol) I feel that new members should still be welcomed as should their questions.
If the board were to not include these repeat questions eventually it would turn into a 'read only' with a 'daily thread' being the only new addition. (I know, probably sound like heaven to the board guides at the moment, lol)
For my part whenever I see a question that I know has a good thread I do a search and include a link myself - it's easier for me because having already seen the thread I've a better idea as to what the title/content was.
Other times I've asked a question and been pointed in the right direction myself and it's appreciated.
I personally like seing questions asked - it often gives me new ideas that I would not have had otherwise. For example Kefir - I would never have heared of it if it wasn't for this board - but the thread is so full now there is little that could be added. If someone posted a question about it, it would be brought to the newbies attention - but if someone had searched on it and read the thread it would remain buried in the archives and newbies would be none the wiser.
I hope, that even though I have three boys that I will never feel that if they want advice on cooking a roast or similar that I feel the need to tell them to 'look it up'. Spellings, yes - but anything that I may have hints and tips on I want to help with. Surely that is what Old style is about - sharing and supporting, not just writing information to be searched and refrenced? (I'd just use about.com if that was what I wanted)
To me Old style is about support and sharing knowledge - even if that knowledge is where to find good info on the subject (ie a link to the relevant thread)
Kaz x

amyandoli

[QUOTE=Pink-wingedWe were all new to the internet, chat forums and MSE at one time. Lately there have been many new users on Old Style……..all eager to learn things that we perhaps take for granted. As there has been an increase in new members there has also been an increase in repeated questions.MSE is is a public forum and people can and do post what they wish as long as it falls within Martins guidelines and rules. I for one would not be happy to bluntly tell new users that they should search for the reply, especially as we all know that the search facility is poor. [/QUOTE]

Im with you pink, board guides do a great job! ive felt so bad for people feeling like they have to apologise for posting, some people are just plain nasty telling them off, or shoving them to a previous post. the search engine isnt great, but like everything else here its free. i think these are the same people who drive up your @rse on the roads, who make huffing and puffing noises at everything and are known as grumpy victor m's or annoying pug-faced nags! grr! lets have a board to refer nasties to so they can pick on each other! im not really angry, just sticking up for those who get picked on!

Kazonline

amyandoli wrote:

shoving them to a previous post.
i think these are the same people who drive up your @rse on the roads, who make huffing and puffing noises at everything and are known as grumpy victor m's or annoying pug-faced nags!

Oops - I'm guilty of all of those!!! I do the first with good intentions thinking it helps (might not have tried the options myself, but know of a good thread) - the rest because I'm a grumpy cow Please forgive me - I do try to be more patient

I too would like to say that the board guides do a great job. I know that they try really hard to resolve things fairly and diplomatically - and I bet sometimes they'd really like to have a go at some people themselves (even though I don't mean to, I'm pretty sure I've stressed them at times )
oops - waffling again, and I know that's probably what annoys the most.

"Well done Board Guides and thank you for your patience "
Kaz x

squeaky

Pointing to earlier links is a quick way of answering questions,and it works, and there is nothing wrong with someone then adding a newer solution to an existing thread.

Nice and helpful as we BG's like to be (otherwise we wouldn't have volunteered for the job) I promise you.... by the time you've written...

Yes, you can freeze your armadillo casserole after you've cooked it, even though the label on your pack of frozen armadillo steaks on the shell says do not refreeze. This applies only to defrosting your armadillo and then freezing it again. If however, you cook the armadillo, then you can certainly freeze it ( but not then later defrost the cooked stuff and refreeze it). The basic rule which applies to pretty much any foodstuff is that you can:-

1. Start from raw.

2. Freeze it once.

3. Cook it .

4. Freeze it once.

..long before you've written this out a few dozen times you'll be just posting a link to a previous thread where you've written all this out before.

Certainly we BG's don't get the time to write individual replies to common questions any more - which is why it's so often a brief word and a link.

thriftlady_2

mmmm armadillo casserole, can you cook that in a slow cooker Squeaky ?




I'll get me coat