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cwk9 - In my opinion, reading the FAQ before getting an account here would not totally solve the problem. People remember what is relevant to them, and a lot of it would not seem relevant until they started using the forum. It might help a person find the bloomin' FAQ more easily, though, at least for a day or two. (Sheesh! I sometimes can't remember if I took my meds 30 seconds ago. Would you really expect me to remember where to find a difficult-to-find item on one of many websites I frequent many days later?) :D
Kindred69 - Thanks for that link. I had found and read the first page once. And it did answer some of my questions. Then yesterday when I had subsequent questions I looked and looked for it and couldn't find it. (Clicking on "Assign Positive or Negative Points to This Post" no longer works as a link for me, but maybe that's how I found it first.)
Unfortunately, answers to some of my questions are not covered in JP's first post, nor even on the first page. I personally don't think anyone should be expected to wade through a seven page thread, most of which provides no additonal factual information, to try to find an answer to a frequently asked question.
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jethro - My sentiments exactly!
WebCarnage - If there are literally tons of posts suggesting that the FAQ should be placed on the home page or on top of certain forums, there must be tons of people who find it difficult to find at present. Seems to me, then, that a change should be considered.
An emailed copy of the FAQ might answer a person's immediate question. But how many people would find it easy to locate when subsequent questions arise?
There was a principle of storage I learned in an equipment class wa--a-a-a-ay back in college. "Place frequently used items near the point of first (repeated) use." Seems to me that should apply to more than equipment.
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A mandatory reading the FAQ before getting an account might no solve the problem but at least we would see less sub7 questions.
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Totally agree with cwk9!!
Enough with the Sub7 and the dual boot Linux and windows already! :)
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I think it's a double-edged sword, personally... part of "being a hacker" or "leet" or whatever else the kiddies are using to proclaim their profound highly superior knowledge these days... part of actually being beyond the kiddie is actually being able to find answers to your questions without having to have your #$#^%#^% hand held to find a #$#$#% FAQ.
That being said, yeah, it probably should be a little more obvious... or it should be stapled to the top of the "get an account now" page... then again, perhaps it serves as a good kiddie-filter where it is... *shrug*
Myself, when I first visited the page I might have, perhaps, taken a "weird path" - I read a few of the articles on the front page, then I browsed the forums... low-and-behold there was a newbie area and *gasp* right at the top there's a "sticky" FAQ posting. Hmmm... odd how that works. Like I said, perhaps I'm a bit demented (well, we all know I am, I think) - perhaps I've just been brought up on that old Usenet Net-iquette stuff (before the days of Canter and Siegel I might add... well, even long before the days of widespread NNTP actually, but that's yet another story). In short, weirdos like me probably learned a few things... and eventually helped enforce them:
- read a lot before you even first think of posting to a new group - then read some more
- search and read through any FAQ to be found - even go read RTFM or the FAQ newsgroup (no such luck these days).
- Remember: if you walk in to a newsgroup (at the time) and ask anything in the FAQ, there was a good chance you'd either 1) be ignored or 2) be told simply to "read the FAQ" and nothing else
...ah, the days of UUCP... but I digress... :rofl:
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draziw - You have a good point. But :D the kiddies probably have a lot less trouble finding things than the old fogies like me!
. . . now if I can still remember where to find it the next time I have a question! :dunce:
