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Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 6:20 pm
by Chris Corbyn
RTFM!!! :P
Hockey wrote:d11wtq assisted me in regex (i have little interest but a decent understanding) in fact wrote the whole thing for me...and helped me with a problem when I was using preg_ instead of ereg_ or the other way around...the point...his reply didn't belittle, nor did he elaborate to the point of bordem, etc...
Oh ermm... in that case here's something more useful

http://www.altgeek.org/methuselah/rtfm/ (Courtesy of Weirdan's siggy)














OK of course I'm only kidding. Fact is, we're all human and we all have our little narks... you just gotta sit back and flow with it :D Unless someone's being deliberately belittlling of course.

(Why is it so hard to type after too many beers? :?)

Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 6:23 pm
by hawleyjr
d11wtq wrote:RTFM!!! :P

(Why is it so hard to type after too many beers? :?)
As BeerMod (Thanks Burrito) I approve of this message.

Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 7:41 pm
by Roja
Hockey wrote:But when I ask questions...i find some replies be-littling...which is maybe justifed...cuz im sure this site is crawling with newbies...but still...to much detail if not asked for isn't always a good thing...
You bring up two different issues - the too little response, and the too much response.

To respond to both, you need Roja's guide to asking great questions:

1. Try to solve the problem yourself.
2. When stumped, research what is stopping you (Look up error messages, google, forum search, etc)
3. Ask a knowledgable friend
4. If all else fails, prepare to ask the question - list all the steps you've taken to test, fix, and workaround. Go back to #1 if you think of something you didn't try.
5. If you *still* can't find it, then post an open-ended question, with as much detail as possible, listing (at least) the intended behavior, and the actual behavior.
6. Followup on responses by testing their suggestions, and provide feedback to them.

Now, if you follow 1-6, you will virtually guarantee that a too little response isn't possible, because you will have tried most solutions. You will have researched, you will have google'd, and you will have searched the forums (even if manually).

As a wonderful side benefit, you will also neatly cut off smarmy answers that most 'knowledgable' folks would give. You've tried the obvious stuff, and you've obviously researched to find a solution. Whether they happen to know the solution or not - its clear that you didn't miss the obvious, so they can't really lord over you, now can they?

When all is said and done, without being rude, I'd say that over 60% of the questions on these forums do not make it to #4. Another 30% don't make it to #5.

There are times when a link to the correct page in the manual is the correct answer. I really don't care if someone finds that indelicate, or impolite. If the answer is word-for-word the link to that page, thats the end of the discussion. All else is fluff.

However, I do agree that we've all had posts where we could do better. We could spend time walking the user through steps 1-6. We could educate users on more intelligent debugging choices, and on better development methodologies.

There are plenty of people who prefer the one-off, quick answer that is exactly the answer. Teach a man to fish and all that! If we do nothing but "The answer is Blah", the ratio will become worse, not better, and the questioners will become reliant on the forums to learn. Thats not beneficial to anyone.

But most of all, above all else, everyone here - mods, admins, even people with cocky screennames, all of us are human. We have good days, and bad days, snarky days, and playful days. As long as everyone is trying to improve the situation in the longterm, I think its worth visiting, and cutting people some slack.

Not to mention, we should all strive to be more forgiving.

Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2005 12:25 am
by n00b Saibot
Roja wrote:even people with cocky screennames
who me...(shaking head) nah! Shaggy.. (points to Shaggy) :lol:

if you don't get it, think Scooby Doo