n00bs?

We know you have an opinion on how things should be run around here. These are suggestions for the forums, and the website.This forum is not a place to ask for suggestions to your own coding (or otherwise) problems.

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lc
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n00bs?

Post by lc »

First off. I think the change from newbienetwork forum to devnetwork forum is grand and went extremely well.

But I dunno if I am the only one... I think perhaps a newbie area in the programming section might be nice and could make things a little less cluttered in the php bit, cause that really has all sorts in there... and is quite busy.

Just a thought ;)
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Post by fatalcure »

yes, i second that notion :)
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protokol
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Post by protokol »

Good idea .. setup a "Beginner" , "Intermediate" , and "Advanced" forums so that people can use them correctly. I think this would DEFINITELY keep the forums more organized and more effective.
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twigletmac
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Post by twigletmac »

Having seen a recent discussion about doing the same thing at the devshed forums, there are a few problems with this approach. Firstly what I (or you) think is basic might be pretty advanced stuff for other people. Secondly there'll probably be loads of crossposting because people aren't sure which forum to post in and want their question answered. In some ways a sticky post with FAQs (like 'what does this error mean') might get rid of some more 'basic' questions. We could title it 'READ THIS BEFORE YOU POST ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE A NEWBIE' and then self-righteously jump up and down when they don't :) . Seriously though although the idea is nice in principal I think it will be next to impossible to convince some people that their 'advanced' problem is indeed 'basic' and therefore it's likely that the forums will be a mess anyway.

Mac
Last edited by twigletmac on Fri Aug 09, 2002 7:09 am, edited 1 time in total.
jason
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Post by jason »

Having seen this discussion before on other boards and mailing lists, I can tell you basically the same arguments that twig says.

You have several problems beyond those as well:

What happens with newbies start posting in the newbie forum? Will the advanced people just not go their and help?

As twig mentioned, another problem is actual usage. Rarely have I seen a split off into an advanced group actually mean anything.

As well as the advanced questions. What are they? Questions for which the manual doesn't give you the answer? I find that as questions become more advanced, they are asked less and less. This is because most real programmers start to figure things out for themselves. So you have very few questions in these boards, and they are rarely interesting.

Unless you can present some compelling reasons for this, doubt the additional forums will be created.
lc
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Post by lc »

Compelling reason?

Nah it was just a thought that occured to me since I feel I am currently at a level where I'd post most my questions in an advanced forum (no don't know an exact definition) And I could help out some n00bs. Which of course I already try to do.

Matter of fact... you're absolutely right. I hadn't thought of it that deeply yet. ;)
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volka
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Post by volka »

I find that as questions become more advanced, they are asked less and less. This is because most real programmers start to figure things out for themselves.
Sometimes a pitty.
How about a sub-forum "Isn't it amazing?" or "I have discovered a truly remarkable proof which this margin is too small to contain." ? ;)
"array_flip(array_flip()) faster than array_unqiue" is something for such a board.
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llimllib
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Post by llimllib »

or a "I know PHP but I got stuck on X for like 3 days before I figured out that I could..."

I see how such a board would be good ideally, but I think in practice it probly wouldn't work, because people's opinions of themselves and their skills vary widely from their actual skills.
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Post by Coco »

like jason and twig say tho, wherever i have ever seen this sort of idea, none of the advanced members bothered reading the newbie boards so no newbies got any answers so started posting in the busier advanced boards....

maybe it might be possible to add a category to each post to say if its advanced medium beginner etc?? (one that is mod editable :))
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phice
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Post by phice »

The PHP forum will always be crowded. Just thank for my DSL.. ;)
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gotDNS
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Post by gotDNS »

Well, just make a board called 'n00b'...I mean, plenty of people acknowledge the fact that they are newbies and most of them say like, "hey, im a n00b, so go easy"...etc...so jsut make that board...maybe...a though....*hangs head in shame*

later on, -Brian
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Takuma
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Post by Takuma »

Coco wrote:like jason and twig say tho, wherever i have ever seen this sort of idea, none of the advanced members bothered reading the newbie boards so no newbies got any answers so started posting in the busier advanced boards....

maybe it might be possible to add a category to each post to say if its advanced medium beginner etc?? (one that is mod editable :))
Mmmm Quite a good idea. :D

P.S. I'll bother to look at newbies stuff cos I remember when I was a newbie :wink:
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