rant

By your post nihil it seems that you at least somewhat agree with me. My method is that if I see a question that I don't know the answer to and I think google does, I will post for them to check google and I will be working on their problem. Then I go to google and try to find an answer. If I do I edit my previous post to incorporate the answer, if not, I just leave it be. I think that it is a pretty good method. It gives them pretty good odds of getting an answer whether it be by me or by themselves.
Just my £0.02

I will usually check google, and then post the page that is closest to answering their question, telling them I found it on google. I aggree with nihil, that it is impossible to know exactly what link would best fix their particular problem. Most new people don't really have a clue as to what a resourse google can be, and usually set their search parameters too broad.

Hi h3r3tic

I would go further and say that I substantially agree with your comments. I was just adding a little bit based on my way of doing things :)

I do tend to recommend software in quite a few of my posts, and cannot always remember the exact link, or find it easily (if it is on another box, for example). In those circumstances, I think it is legitimate to suggest a Google search for the precise Company/product, as I know that it will appear at the top of the first page of the search results. Another reason is that my link will tend to be to the site/mirror most appropriate to me over here in Europe, and that might not be best for people in other parts of the World. I have only recently got broadband so I can still remember 56.6 dial-up :eek:

When I come across a request for information regarding projects/papers/homework I will try to give some examples of the search parameters to try in a Google search. As Moxnix correctly states, newcomers to search engines usually set their parameters too broad and get swamped with the results.

My comment on geographical location is valid I think? I seem to recall someone from Saudi Arabia saying that their ISP blocked Google?

In a way it is a bit like your first systems/applications support role. You cannot "see" the problem and you do not know the extent of the User's knowledge. It takes you a while to get into the swing of things?

I am aware that we get some very frustrating requests which have totally inadequate initial details; but that takes me back to my comment that a lot of people who come to us with problems are stressed out, and are looking for a quick solution. I don't think that they have the time to explore the site and read all the tutorials etc.

Perhaps it would help if there were a few quick links or an "FAQ" on the front page, so they could get a checklist of required information before posting. I agree that the current search facilities are not the most user friendly :(

It is an interesting thread that you have raised.

Cheers

I think I should expand my first criteria for sending people to google. I agree with nihil's responses, because I think that suggesting people look on google with certain criteria is a very different thing from simply saying "go look on google". That was sort of what I was intending.

I think I would tend to assume ( rightly or wrongly ) that someone has already checked out google ( or similar ) before they post here ( or any other forum ). If I am going to offer any assistance, I either need to point them towards the appropriate criteria, or provide something of an answer. Otherwise, as nihil said, why post? ( apart from to increase the post count :D