...Bump Button...

[Lee Mac]

Ok, I'm sure Wannabe has had enough of being "shot down", so now its my turn...

 

I was just thinking about threads that are sometimes posted, with sufficient information given, but with maybe a rather obscure question, that get "lost" in the forum after the first week or two, just due to the magnitude of threads being posted every day.

 

Sometimes the OP will post a random "bump" reply to the thread, just to get it to the top of the forum, and have more of a chance of being answered.

 

Why not resolve this issue with needless replies, by introducing a "bump button" to the thread.

 

This button would only be available to the OP, and would only be available after a period of time has elapsed since the thread was initially posted.

 

Perhaps this is a daft and not-very-well-thought-out idea, but it came to me suddenly, and I thought I'd share it with y'all...

 

Opinions and ideas welcomed.

 

Cheers

 

Lee

[Jack_O'neill]

Probably should limit how many times it can be "bumped". Otherwise those guys that fly in, throw something out and seemingly never show up again will keep bumping the "make $$ by doing my homework" stuff to the top of the list over and over again.

[Lee Mac]

Probably should limit how many times it can be "bumped". Otherwise those guys that fly in' date=' throw something out and seemingly never show up again will keep bumping the "make $$ by doing my homework" stuff to the top of the list over and over again.[/quote']

 

Ahh yes, this may lead to an increase in Spam - possibly limit it to two or three "bumps"

[Cad64]

This is another one of those situations that is very rare. There aren't many threads that go unanswered here, and if one does get lost, we are not against the OP bumping his question back to the top. Usually when this happens, the question starts getting replies the second time around. And if the OP doesn't get his problem resolved, we absolutely want him/her to come back and tell us so, not just hit the button without replying.

 

We, (the mod's), also browse through the forums in search of threads with zero replies and either bump them ourselves or move them to a more suitable area of the forum where they usually start getting replies.

 

IMO, I don't think a "Bump" button would be beneficial.

[Lee Mac]

This is another one of those situations that is very rare. There aren't many threads that go unanswered here, and if one does get lost, we are not against the OP bumping his question back to the top. Usually when this happens, the question starts getting replies the second time around. And if the OP doesn't get his problem resolved, we absolutely want him/her to come back and tell us so, not just hit the button without replying.

 

We, (the mod's), also browse through the forums in search of threads with zero replies and either bump them ourselves or move them to a more suitable area of the forum where they usually start getting replies.

 

IMO, I don't think a "Bump" button would be beneficial.

 

You make some good points CAD64 (as usual ), I suppose it is not really a necessity, but more of a novelty...

 

You mods do a good job - keep it up

[Cad64]

I suppose it is not really a necessity, but more of a novelty...

 

And since I don't think it's something that is readily available within the forum software, it would probably require some sort of hack in order to make it happen, which means more work for the admin.

[Strix]

yup - it does sound like one heck of a lot of work to implement for rather little return

 

often when people choose to 'bump' their thread, they add info too, which can kick start the thread properly

 

a bump button would therefore discourage these further postings

[skipsophrenic]

Myself i admit i bump threads if gone more than 48 hrs without an answer - and

like C64 said - if I've got any more info (or a solution o the problem i was face

with) then i try to remember to add that, that and maybe give all the moderators

and admin here a holiday to say thanks for all they've done.

 

That is when we win the big one on the lottery of course.

[Zorg]

It's the moderator's job to troll through un answered quieres and keep this site great. You can bump all ya like, but if its unanswered, its either not worth answering or you've really stumpped the whole community.

 

Z

[Strix]

It's the moderator's job to troll through un answered quieres

Nobody told me that was part of the remit for this job

 

Actually, that seems to be the stem of a number of 'problems' which arise here. There is a small group of people who think that this is some sort of customer services department where the way to get 'service' is to be somewhat demanding

 

This is a community which exists for members to support each other. The mods are here to keep the place tidy, so to speak. The questions which go unanswered are often those which don't provide enough information in the first place, are asking for something unreasonable, or (once in a blue moon) have the majority of forum members completely stumped. Posting questions in the wrong section is also a good way to ensure the people who can answer don't spot your question either :wink:

[Lee Mac]

I notice this kind of thing, especially in the Customisation Forum - people demand LISPs be made for them, instead of having a stab at it and asking for help - after all, this is a help and advice forum.

 

Sometimes it is nice to have a challenge - for someone to say "Can this be done with LISP...?", and I don't mind this, but its the demands that get me...

[Tiger]

Lee, you gotta learn to say no. I have noticed some of the Lisp-request that show up, and if I were in your shoes, I would not answer them - or tell them to try on their own and we're here to help if they need it.

[lpseifert]

What she said ^^^^

personally, I think some people take advantage of you, Lee. I would think it would be a bigger challenge to teach your knowledge, rather than give it away.

[CADTutor]

I would think it would be a bigger challenge to teach your knowledge, rather than give it away.

 

Spot on. CADTutor is based on the idea that people should be able to learn to help themselves rather than to rely on others. This site began when I became bored answering the same questions and teaching the same things over and over and over and over...

 

...now I just say, take a look at this tutorial, it tells you how to do it.

 

If people are motivated enough to learn, they will benefit and if they're not, they're not worth helping anyway.

[dbroada]

in Lee's defence, its not that long ago he couldn't write LISP and was grabbing everything as a learning tool - for himself.

[Lee Mac]

Lee, you gotta learn to say no. I have noticed some of the Lisp-request that show up, and if I were in your shoes, I would not answer them - or tell them to try on their own and we're here to help if they need it.

 

I know what you mean Tiger - some of the Lisp requests can be quite unreasonable, and its not just in the forums... I get PM'ed with LISP requests too.

 

What she said ^^^^

personally, I think some people take advantage of you, Lee. I would think it would be a bigger challenge to teach your knowledge, rather than give it away.

 

Well said, and this is why I wanted to join the FAQ team - I have written two articles which demonstrate how to both localise variables and create error handlers

 

in Lee's defence, its not that long ago he couldn't write LISP and was grabbing everything as a learning tool - for himself.

 

And yes, not too long ago (about 9 months ago approx), I hadn't a clue with LISP, but I have only learnt what I know now (which, compared to some people on here isn't actually that much...), from other people's code posts and other people's advice. And, if there's something in a code that I don't understand, I just query it until I do.

[Cad64]

Just remember, you're not here to serve these people. You don't have to respond to PM's and you don't have to do anything for anyone if they start making demands. When I get PM's I generally just direct the person, in a nice way, to post their question in the forum.

 

And as for answering questions, I always try to lead the person to the answer and try to help them to help themselves. I point them to tutorials or step them through the procedure. I never give drawing files or do anyone's work for them. Nobody ever learned anything by having someone else do the work for them.

 

Just think about when you were learning this stuff. If somebody just gave you the code every time you asked a question, rather than explaining how to write it, you probably wouldn't be where you are today.

 

Well, you probably would be, but most people wouldn't.