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Topic: 'Newbies' (Read 8105 times) previous topic - next topic
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'Newbies'

Reply #25 –
I'd like to point out one thing in favour of a newbie forum and not a wiki for new users.

If people aren't going to bother to read existing FAQ / best settings threads, what makes you think that they're going to go through a wiki when its up? That's my opinion...

A newbie forum would probably be a forum that would have guest posting enabled... This would allow most people who simply want to drop in and ask a question to do it without the need to register, and would most probably centralise all the newbies/trolls in one specific place.

On the other hand, a wiki WOULD be a good place to collaborate all the information..

'Newbies'

Reply #26 –
One thing I would say as someone who definitely still a n00b but can do the basics (EAC/LAME/Fb2k etc...), is a front page and wiki would be great. I read faq and the stickies on the mp3 board and learned how to rip cd's. But it was tough because I had to assemble the info from a whole bunch of threads. Only afterwords did I stumble across some step by step guides such as:

http://www.ping.be/satcp/cd2mp3-en.htm
http://www.zeropaid.com/news/articles/auto/10012002d

So 'quick start' guide/wiki page for common tasks like 'tell me how to rip a CD'  would be a good idea. I personally like wiki's because its easier to keep them current.
EAC -> LAME 3.90.3 --alt-preset standard -> album mp3gain
home: PC -> Stereo Link 1200 -> Shure e2c
mobile: iPod -> Koss Portapros

'Newbies'

Reply #27 –
Quote
If people aren't going to bother to read existing FAQ / best settings threads, what makes you think that they're going to go through a wiki when its up? That's my opinion...

This will of course be an issue. But at least it's a lot easier to read a single well written article with accurate information than to sift through a number of threads where the correct and valuable information is scattered amongst more questions and misinformation. If someone starts a thread: "How about adding -ms to alt-preset standard?" you could just point him to one single article that should answer most of his questions. If he has more questions, these can be discussed and the missing information added to the Wiki article. Valuable threads could be linked right from the article, like it is now done in the FAQ.
Quote
A newbie forum would probably be a forum that would have guest posting enabled... This would allow most people who simply want to drop in and ask a question to do it without the need to register, and would most probably centralise all the newbies/trolls in one specific place.

I fear such a forum would be spammed with repetitive questions and all the people who could actually answer these questions would just abandon it so you have newbies among other newbies spreading false information. That wouldn't be helping anybody either. Also, who will actually consider himself a newbie? I assume many just think of themselves as expert enough to be participating in the "real" forum anyway and not bother with the idiots in the newbie, beginner, learner, whatever forum.

'Newbies'

Reply #28 –
Quote
..... I would love to see some actual guides  you could direct people to specifically (ala doom9) - I don't place as much confidence in the FAQ as it is based around threads, which can run off topic or take a page of solid reading to get to the answers you are after.

Damnit, you took those words right out of my mouth. In general, thread-based FAQs contain lots of "side", or off-topic information which might distract and possibly overwhelm a newbie.

Of course, it takes a lot of effort to compile a decent FAQ so having our current thread-based ones are better than none.

As a suggestion, perhaps an intermediate page could be shown when a member clicks on the 'New Topic' button. The page could be something like this:

-----------------------------------------------------------------

<member name>, before you proceed have you done the following things:

1. Check the FAQ <give a link here>

2. Use the search feature <link>


Yes, I have and still cannot find the answer. Now bring me to the actual new post page.

------------------------------------------------------------------

This could be a good reminder tactic. It is already implemented in some sites like the forums at Broadbandreports.com.

'Newbies'

Reply #29 –
Quote
Jan has already done this.  In fact, the wiki is just about ready to go public I believe, I just haven't had time to fix up a few remaining issues with the server optimization I've been doing.

I'm ABSOLUTELY THRILLED to hear that a Wiki for HA is finally being put in place! I've been waiting over a year to see HA set up a good system for hosting FAQ's, tutorials, and articles. I just about fell out of my chair when I read Dibrom's post announcing its completion. When it does go online, I'll put in some time to work on its content, grammar, clarity, and organization. Ooh, I can't wait! (w00t) Edit: well, maybe I spoke too soon. Jan S. said almost a month ago that Dibrom just had to fix a couple things in the Wiki to get it online. So here's to hoping we get a Wiki by the end of summer!

On a more sober note, I like shearerkazaa's suggestion of putting a "friendly reminder" screen up for topic-starters, although this could go away after the user has made 50 or so posts.

'Newbies'

Reply #30 –
Yeah, to still be told to use the search function on my 500th post would be patronizing, it would get to the point where it would be an automatic process "click post click continue" in order to post, so the message would go completely ignored
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