Sub-forums: a solution to the "master thread" madness?

[Moishebatchy]

I don't know about everyone else, but i dont ever remember looking for something and not finding it. But that's possibly because I lurked for a while before ever posting, getting a feel for the unwritten rules of DDF. I think the problem is that noobs sign up, and then there's nothing that tells them what to do, so they immediately create a thread to ask their question.
I think a Start Here thread in the main board would help a lot. Maybe it would be even better to add something like that to the sign up process, similar to XDA which makes you watch a video about these types of things.

-1

For the umpteenth time, it's not just about the noobs!!! Even veterans like me choke on 300-page "master" threads. People talk about the search tool like it's the Hammer of Thor or something, but let's face it: it's NOT magic. It's NOT always easy to use, and it's NOT always effective. Try this little exercise: look through the "Spain and Gibraltar Master Thread", and try to plan a trip of just Gibraltar. I challenge you to come up with a workable itinerary of Gibraltar - hotels, activities, meals - without wanting to tear your hair out by the time you're done. I had that challenge this past winter, and it was almost impossible, because any useful nuggets about Gibraltar were buried between gobs of info on Spain. And no, the search tool did not help, since 1) the word "Gibraltar" is not in all of the relevant posts, and 2) DDF has apparently been blessed with an abundance of people who do not know how to spell "Gibraltar", anyway. Eventually, I just said the hell with DDF, and went to pound the pavement (and the phones, and the internet) and do my own research from scratch.

My point is: the search tool is a decent tool, but it's just a stopgap measure, nothing more. Telling somebody to always "search" is like telling somebody whose tire keeps leaking to use a can of Flat Fix every time, instead of just replacing the darn tire with something that actually works.

[Dan]

The Spain and Toronto threads are ridiculous, but that's not proof of a broken system, just 2 threads that were ill-conceived.

If someone wants to volunteer to split them up I'm all ears

And I agree there should be a better system for n00bs.  If anyone sees an SMF mod to help with that then post here.

[ChaimMoskowitz]

Has anyone here read the BB wiki, for example, since the (fairly) recent updates? Is there something important missing that should be there, if only people would read it?

the wiki is well written but still hard to grasp for someone starting out. do you think a n00b would understand how to do a MC from it?

someone was trying to explain Uber to me via PM. i really didn't get it. they must be thinking what an idiot I am.

[Dr Moose]

Is this possible?

when you create a new thread, as you type it searches the rest of the forum with those keywords and suggests threads you might want to post in, instead of starting a new thread. Is there an SMF mod for such a thing?

[HDS]

the wiki is well written but still hard to grasp for someone starting out. do you think a n00b would understand how to do a MC from it?

someone was trying to explain Uber to me via PM. i really didn't get it. they must be thinking what an idiot I am.

If there is ever anything that needs clarifying in a wiki, I would hope that someone would comment about it in that thread so it can be updated. I'll take care of the MC thing as soon as I have the chance (tapatalk-less forum access).

Which actually brings up part of the wiki issue - tapatalk doesn't make it easy to see it, and I don't know the stats, but I'd imagine more and more forum hits are via mobile devices.

[ChaimMoskowitz]

If there is ever anything that needs clarifying in a wiki, I would hope that someone would comment about it in that thread so it can be updated. I'll take care of the MC thing as soon as I have the chance (tapatalk-less forum access).

short of adding circles and arrows (please don't do) the wiki is fine. it is just a learning process that most have to experience first hand.

[SOS]

I think if there is an updated wiki, that should help with a lot of the reposts

[@Yehuda]

If anyone sees an SMF mod to help with that then post here.

You still in contact with the guy who implemented the wikis?

[springles]

There is no one solution that will totally fix this issue.  You will always have some difficulty finding the answer to your exact question, which will lead to reposts.  So we need nicer veterans helping everyone out.  I dont just mean noobs but anyone who has a question should be treated nicely.  If the question has been asked many times then you can point that out and then point the person in the right direction.  Or even give them the answer outright.  Most of the time it doesnt take all that long. 

I think that Wikis are an answer that would solve a lot of the issues.  There are two types of threads that we are mostly talking about here.  Those with tips and tricks for things that are not generally known or easily publicly available.  And then those that are just gathered information and opinions about a place or service.  Wikis are extremely helpful and pretty easy to create for the 2nd type.  Wikis about specific destinations, hotel chains, car rental companies...  It just takes time and and a commitment from our members to get these wikis in good shape.  As someone is combing the thread for their own use it is quite easy to make a wiki that will help others following them.  Thats what I did with the LA and SD maps.  I was planning a trip there so I put all the info about restaurants, hotels and shuls together for myself and now anyone coming after me can use it too. 
There is a little more of an issue creating a wiki for that first type of thread.  People dont know how much info to put in a wiki, what tips should be easily attained and which must be "earned" by reading through a thread.  Furthermore there is more of YMMV things in theses threads which dont always translate well to a wiki.  But Id rather look through a long wiki than a 100+ page thread. 

So the main idea is just that we need to work on our wikis.  There has been a lot of improvement on these in the last month or so and hopefully that continues.  And when new info comes out it should be added to the wiki.

[AnonymousUser]

And I agree there should be a better system for n00bs.  If anyone sees an SMF mod to help with that then post here.

Whats wrong with starting with my suggestion? That doesn't require any mods.

[MC]

What was wrong with the rule that said that you can't start a thread until you have a certain number of posts? Why was that eliminated?

[ah]

What was wrong with the rule that said that you can't start a thread until you have a certain number of posts? Why was that eliminated?

IMHO # of posts isn't as important as time observing

[Dr Moose]

IMHO # of posts isn't as important as time observing

If you observed long enough, you'll know not to start unnecessary threads

[MC]

IMHO # of posts isn't as important as time observing

I agree but it might force them to look for the beginners thread(s).

[ah]

If you observed long enough, you'll know not to start unnecessary threads

my point exactly, some n00bs rack up post #'s mighty fast

[bubble347]

my point exactly, some n00bs rack up post #'s mighty fast

Lots of the posts are perhaps from their new threads.

[@Yehuda]

On a side note, I don't see the point of having
1) General Discussion AND Just Shmooze
2) Deals AND Goods for Sale

I think those 4 can become 2 and it would help declutter the homepage a lot.

[joey123]

I don't know about everyone else, but i dont ever remember looking for something and not finding it. But that's possibly because I lurked for a while before ever posting, getting a feel for the unwritten rules of DDF. I think the problem is that noobs sign up, and then there's nothing that tells them what to do, so they immediately create a thread to ask their question.
I think a Start Here thread in the main board would help a lot. Maybe it would be even better to add something like that to the sign up process, similar to XDA which makes you watch a video about these types of things.

+1 Lets keep DDF the way it is- perhaps, with slight variations. But let's not turn it into a spoon feed machine. 

[AnonymousUser]

+1 Lets keep DDF the way it is- perhaps, with slight variations. But let's not turn it into a spoon feed machine.

I'm not saying to spoon feed anyone. I'm just saying, if there were start here threads with links to all the important threads, maybe noobs would post there and not start new ones since they don't know where to go.

[joey123]

I'm not saying to spoon feed anyone. I'm just saying, if there were start here threads with links to all the important threads, maybe noobs would post there and not start new ones since they don't know where to go.

Agreed.