[TroyDBrown]

I want your opinions on helping new forum members get answers. I use to always just do the research and post the answer or if it was something quick just do a quick write up and post it.

I have started to do a few things:

1. I do a search using the most basic of search terms, make sure that results give the desired answer and then tell the perosn to search for this term.

2. I do the search and provide a link to the results.

I always try to come across as nice, but if you think it puts people off I wil change how I do it.

Don't get me wrong, I am all about helping out. I remember my first post. I sent it with fear. So what I would like to know is do I spend more time teaching users how to research their own issues or just provide answers?

Thanks for the input.

Troy

[ezrunner]

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8800/4.2.1 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/100)

I think the guidance as you currently give is adequate troy!

How I respond depends on whether or not I am on wap site or actual web. Can't really search and post links from wap! So I do the best I can to verbalize a response with as much info as I can remember or point them to an existing thread in a forum!

[Fireproof]

I think that's fair. If it looks like they are being resourceful already, then I don't mind giving them all the answers (assuming I have them). But if they just pop in and drop questions left and right, like it's a "chat", and obviously aren't putting forth any effort to search or read the FAQ, etc, I may take the "teach a man to fish" approach, rather than just giving them the fish.

[JSanders]

I think posting a link of workable solutions is the way to go.

If a user is indeed in the first few posts (say to 10-15 or so), I wouldn't tell a user to go search without some direction such as a link or which section of the forum or where in the FAQ. As a matter of fact, it has been requested of us NOT to simply tell a user to go search without some direction. Of course, it is also just simple kindness.

You are more than helpful around here Troy. Thank you for all you do.

[John Clark]

^^^What he said.

[LunkHead]

What he, he said...

[snowskier79]

Originally Posted by JSanders

I think posting a link of workable solutions is the way to go. . . .

I feel the same.

[juwaack68]

^^ What they all said, Troy

[daphne]

Ditto x 7!

[TroyDBrown]

Thank you so much for the input. I will offer a little more than a go search this term type of response. I to kind of judge by the question being answered.

[cmguerra77]

I agree with you troy. I'm fairly new here and my first post was done without searching b/c I needed a question answered and didn't know where to search. IAfterwards I realized how easy it would have been to just search first. I think people who are brand new to the site should get a bit more help with their answers like they are now, but still be reminded that they can search for their problem instead of waiting for someone to help them.

Hopefully after a while they'll see that the can just search for their question or concern and can get the answer a lot quicker

[BBHorrigan]

one the reasons I like this forum so much, its because it always seems like people have close to unlimited patience, and that no matter how many times someone posts something, there are always people who are willing to respond and help even if its been asked 10x. The people I can't stand are the people who respond to the post and just dont add anything productive on diffrent forums.

[David.Burke]

I think you can somewhat judge the level of assistance the person needs by the way they ask the question, and the terminology they use to express it. If the question is awkwardly worded in laymen's terms, they probably need a little more guidance, if it's expressed well and shows a certain level of understanding then research links will likely be greatly appreciated.

I'm certainly a BB neophyte, and I've found following the interactions on this forum to be both an invaluable resource, and a source of amusement. I think there's room for both, and I thank you all!

[Dawg]

it just depends on who's asking and how they ask if I offer assistance or just give them the proverbial you need to search, then supply them with the link to my search

[akosnitzky]

Wirelessly posted (Verizon 8830: BlackBerry8830/4.2.2 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/105 UP.Browser/5.0.3.3 UP.Link/5.1.2.1)

Originally Posted by JSanders

I think posting a link of workable solutions is the way to go.

If a user is indeed in the first few posts (say to 10-15 or so), I wouldn't tell a user to go search without some direction such as a link or which section of the forum or where in the FAQ. As a matter of fact, it has been requested of us NOT to simply tell a user to go search without some direction. Of course, it is also just simple kindness.

You are more than helpful around here Troy. Thank you for all you do.

I know we may not have something else to go by but we cannot always correlate number of posts with experience or skill.

[JSanders]

That is true. But only knowing the user is new to this forum is often all we have to go on. I've users here with a 2005 sign-up date and 1 post. They obviously aren't too new.

[Fled]

Originally Posted by troydbrown

I want your opinions on helping new forum members get answers. I use to always just do the research and post the answer or if it was something quick just do a quick write up and post it.

I have started to do a few things:

1. I do a search using the most basic of search terms, make sure that results give the desired answer and then tell the perosn to search for this term.

2. I do the search and provide a link to the results.

I always try to come across as nice, but if you think it puts people off I wil change how I do it.

Don't get me wrong, I am all about helping out. I remember my first post. I sent it with fear. So what I would like to know is do I spend more time teaching users how to research their own issues or just provide answers?

Thanks for the input.

Troy

Did you try the "search" function for an answer to this question?

(Sorry, I couldn't resist) ;)

[metro12]

Being new to blackberry and to this forum I appreciate being pointed in the correct direction as oppossed to being just "spoon fed." I personally feel I learn more by working through a problem or a question. However, having someone answer in annoyance simply because they have seen the same old dumb question before is neither helpful nor friendly. So I go more for the preverbial "...being taught to fish," which I will now do a search on how to do.

[aiharkness]

Originally Posted by metro12

. . . However, having someone answer in annoyance simply because they have seen the same old dumb question before is neither helpful nor friendly. So I go more for the preverbial "...being taught to fish," which I will now do a search on how to do.

It is fair, I believe, to expect people to realize that they likely aren't the first to encounter a particular problem or question. And yet genius after genius comes to the forum and behaves as if they have. And it often gets to point where people only need to spend a moment reading the new posts and they will find the answer as the same question is being asked over and over on the same day. I have sympathy for the member who's lost his patience, as I have too.

[metro12]

Originally Posted by aiharkness

It is fair, I believe, to expect people to realize that they likely aren't the first to encounter a particular problem or question. And yet genius after genius comes to the forum and behaves as if they have. And it often gets to point where people only need to spend a moment reading the new posts and they will find the answer as the same question is being asked over and over on the same day. I have sympathy for the member who's lost his patience, as I have too.

Point taken.