Erm... ok? :confused:Quote:
Originally Posted by si_the_geek
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Erm... ok? :confused:Quote:
Originally Posted by si_the_geek
Apparently new comers are getting confused and post their questions in the VB FAQ's since it's the first forum section in VBForums. Saw that Si_The_Geek removed a couple already. Should it really be first? Since it's new, there really isn't a whole lot in there for people to look into first before posting their questions in the Classic VB section.
So far about 6 posts have been moved from there, and nobody has posted in there "accidentally" twice.
We'll see how this goes on, as I suspect that at the moment it is mainly people not realising that the new section has been added.
That is one of the reasons why I said that FAQ shall never be a forum. Make it just like "regular" FAQ or at least get rid of New Thread button ...
Also, "forum layout" takes more space than "normal" list of menus (links). You may only fit somewhat 20-30 stikys in oppse to 50-60.
We want people to be able to submit to it (as Penagate, Harsh Gupta, and Jacob Roman have), so the "New Thread" button is staying.
The number of stickies hasn't increased from the original 4, and I suspect that at most we will only have a few more (assuming that more categories are required).
I understand where you are coming from RhinoBull, but things are how they are. I cannot create or modify pages like the forum usage FAQ, and we see no reason to have it like that anyway as it restricts people from posting. I'm afraid we are not going to change everything around completely, based on essentially one persons views.
I will be making a few minor changes (such as only displaying the stickies if possible), but the general format is staying.
I don't know how to explain any better but I'm afraid you are completely off the pace with this FAQ design.
You don't need any forums to submit new ideas - you do that to some special repository if you will (via some button click or so) where few people are responsible for checking every submision out and adding it to existing FAQ or rejecting it for some obvious reason(s). Or you have a dedicated personal @JM or volunteers from our community to analyze entire forum so they can come up with list of FAQ. But the way you have designed isn't going to work.
I understand your point - you've already done it and don't want to change a bit, but trust me - that is a way to a dead end as far as navigation goes (at least): it will become a horror sooner or later.
What you are saying is almost exactly how it is, all you are suggesting is adding lots of work for Internet.com (as well as potentially the Moderators and submitters too) to make the index look different.
I have already been looking at various posts throughout the forums to find thorough answers to frequent questions, and some have been added already. Others need to be effectively written from scratch, as none of the existing answers are as clear/conclusive as we would like.
If anybody notices a very good answer to a common question, please let me know.
ps: the default view has been changed, so now only the stickies and threads from the previous 2 days are displayed.
That's the wrong approach: you should identify "common catagories" (very simple), then "common questions" first (requires some work - no doubt about it) and then (and only then) get the answers (this part is relatively simple).Quote:
Originally Posted by si_the_geek
What you do, however, is the exact opposite: you 're looking fo some good answers so they could be included. But that could also be called "code bank" or something ... which we already have. What you're missing is the concept of what FAQ is all about. But I'm sure you're already sick of my arguments ... ;) I have done it in the past and done it the "right way" so I know exactly what's involved so maybe it's a time when you guys would listen to me. :)
Best regards. :wave:
Maybe when there are more FAQ items then we can move from using stickys as indexes to sub forums instead.
Aside from that I don't see anything wrong with the way the FAQ is designed.
The codebank is for working snippets of code that people can download and use. The FAQ is for answering, and explaining the answers to, common questions that come up to do with VB. I posted an item on window handles that had no code in it at all, it was just an explanation. To me that's the difference between a FAQ and codebank.Quote:
Originally Posted by RhinoBull
That is the approach we took RhinoBull. ;) The only difference is that we limited the posts we included to only those that provided answers of a standard that we were happy with.
We do not want another CodeBank, what we want (as penagate mentioned) is fairly thorough explanations that allow the reader to understand the concepts and issues, rather than just code examples (some posts have already been rejected for this reason).
Unfortunately the majority of answers available to common questions have one issue or another, and ideally should be re-written/extended (or a few answers merged together).
For example, saving files in databases is frequently asked, and the code linked to in your signature is great, but does not have enough explanation for the FAQ's. Obviously we will be greatful if you post them to the FAQ with fuller explanations, or alternatively allow me (or someone else) to use your code, with credit to you of course.
Doing things this way, it is going to take longer for the FAQs to be considered "complete", but the end result is likely to be a higher quality of answers.
As several people asked to be able to contribute (in addition to those who already have), we thought it would be best to let them have a go at writing answers (with verification and potential alterations before they are published). This site is a community after all :)
We may well add sub-forums at a later date, but I think the stickies will probably stay, not sure tho! :)Quote:
Maybe when there are more FAQ items then we can move from using stickys as indexes to sub forums instead.
I hear you but afraid we are takling two different things: I say "there is a better way ..." and you "that's how it's going to be ..." so I'm tired of this.
Good luck with your new project. :wave:
Is there are reason why FAQ section shows threads from only the last two days by default?
I might write something when I get into it... however, it is pretty disturbing as after being six years visiting the forums and then the forum you visit the most often goes down by one... I didn't even notice it first, I just saw "no new posts again... and again? something weird is going on..." *scroll down and not notice the name of the forum has changed*
As the saying goes..."Nobody likes change but..."
Classic VB can not remain at the top forever. Like Brad mentioned, when VS.NET 2005 is released in November we will more then likely move VB.NET up one and Classic VB down one. So the future order will be ...
VBF FAQ
VB.NET
Classic VB
API
Games
Database
ASP/VB Script
Network
Reporting
VBA
COM/ActiveX
The stickies link to all of the threads (in categories), so there is no need to actually display the threads aswell. As previously noted in this thread, having all the threads visible leads to confusion.Quote:
Originally Posted by Merri
Ideally only the stickies would be visible, but arguably seeing the new threads can be a good thing. I have been thinking that penagates suggestion of separate sub-forums for the FAQ items may well be better, as only the stickies (which could be "unstuck") would be visible then.
That would be great :)Quote:
I might write something when I get into it...
So your saying, like pointed out, to eventually have the structure like CG's?
Possibly something like that :)