Improving communication

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Improving communication

Reply #25 – 2003-02-04 20:33:18

another good&simple thingy would be the ability to allow others to see the 'notepad' from 'my controls', or even better to have two notepads, where one is always available to the public (like users home page@hydrogenaudio), not sure if the board allows that.

Improving communication

Reply #26 – 2003-02-04 20:52:30

I know I'm still a newbie here, but I frequent a newsgroup that has won awards for it's level of support. (Sadly, I can't remember when or what the award was specifically for.)

One of the best features of that newsgroup (powersoft.public.powerbuilder.general) is the group of volunteers called TeamSybase. (They're similar to Microsoft's MVP.) What is TeamSybase? Here's a quote from their website:

Quote

TeamSybase is a group of highly skilled end-users of Sybase products that support other end-users of Sybase products in Sybase's NNTP newsgroups. Members of TeamSybase are not Sybase employees (though they may keep their membership if they later become Sybase employees). They are chosen by Sybase to become TeamSybase members based on their technical expertise with those products. TeamSybase members must possess strong product knowledge (in the newsgroup they support) and industry awareness. Although as a rule they are not usually Sybase employees, TeamSybase members must still represent the interests of Sybase, its products and the newsgroups in a positive, professional manner.

When a newbie sees a response from someone with the [TeamSybase] moniker, they immediately know that the response will be accurate, knowledgeable, and professional. The TeamSybase presence in the newsgroup is also so influential that most of the others (like me) try to maintain the same level of professionalism. In the end, threads in the NG stay on-topic, and there are surprisingly few flames.

Yes, there are still newbies and they still ask FAQs. In the end, those that know must maintain patience and remember that they, too, were once in the same position. There are times when the most appropriate response to a question is: "This is a FAQ. Read the manual, then search Google."

Just food for thought.

Improving communication

Reply #27 – 2003-02-04 21:07:08

That is a good idea, but isn't it what moderators do ? I mean, don't we just need more moderators ? More moderators mean more dedicated time, and improved covering of the audio "field" contained in HA..

For example, if a WMA question is asked, then the thread starter gets flamed, and none of the moderators know anything about WMA, who should go and try to sort things out in the thread ? You'd at least need one moderator for each specialty, including off-topic threads and such.

For a software product it's simpler.. I mean, when you have a problem, you know exactly which product this is about. Here, it's not the same since the subjects are melted together (even if posted in the right forum at first).

anyway.. just a few cents

Improving communication

Reply #28 – 2003-02-04 23:24:26

Maybe it's just me, but I don't pay that much attention to anything below someone's nick. Maybe if the moderators added [HAE] to their nick (for HydrogenAudio Expert), then it would be more obvious?

Improving communication

Reply #29 – 2003-02-05 11:00:47

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Maybe if the moderators added [HAE] to their nick (for HydrogenAudio Expert), then it would be more obvious?

I don't think that "tag" would help the newbies a lot.

Improving communication

Reply #30 – 2003-02-05 13:41:19

Having "certified experts" is a nice idea, but I think it is difficult to create something similar here, since HA covers a very broad range of information. I also think the moderator's main task is to monitor forum activity so everything stays within the rules. Having proper knowledge helps to end senseless debate and the spread of misinformation, of course. I also don't like the creation of an elite. Who gets in and who doesn't? Having an expert group can build large egos which is contraproductive imho.

Improving communication

Reply #31 – 2003-03-02 05:11:03

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It is frustrating that newbies neglect to use the search function. Most newbies are fully aware that the search function exists, but rather than sift through search results,

<Snip>

IMHO, the best thing to do is tolerate it and use your time wisely in which threads you choose to participate.

As a newbie myself here, may I make a suggestion about what might be fruitful? The first thing I noticed after joining the Hydrogen forums was the number of problems I had immediately with the search engine. A search feature is usually the first thing I head for when trying to look for information when I get to a new website. But though the search engine is highly configurable in many ways, I've had a terrible time getting the search feature to return results in a way that most good search engines are able.

First, the limitation of having to enter terms with less than 3 characters seems a bit ironic, as many of the switches used in the encoders discussed here often only have a couple of characters. Also, from what I can tell, there is no way to search for mulitple strings using parentheses to enclose more than a single group of words, setting each as a single search term. Less significant, it’s also a bit frustrating to enter a term that the search engine can’t locate, and then be presented with a response that doesn’t say so in a manner in a few brief bold words. Instead, the engine will return something like this that I’m sure might be frustrating to many people not familiar with how many things work on the WWW:

-------------------------------------
“Sorry, an error occured. If you are unsure on how to use a feature, or
don't know why you got this error message, try looking through the help
files for more information.

The error returned was:

Sorry, but we did not find any matches to display. Try again and broaden
your search criteria. If you were searching for new posts since your last
visit, it's possible that there are none to show.”
-------------------------------------

I struggled with search results like this for quite a while before I got the hang of things.

And when I enter my own username to search for terms I’ve included in my posts, the error message above is what is returned. Doesn’t the search engine update itself moment to moment? Or as least on a daily basis. I’m not quite sure what might explain searches not finding my own posts. Yes... I know where I posted the few I’ve written. But it’s just another example of problems I’ve had.

Usually when I have problems finding information on a website, I can use Google's advanced search, and enter the URL of the website I'm trying to get information from. But it seems that the forums on http://www.hydrogenaudio.org are blocking Google searchs for some reason that I don't understand.

Hopefully these are all problems I’m having because I’m doing some thing, or things wrong, and maybe someone can point me the way.

Thanx,

Shel

Improving communication

Reply #32 – 2003-03-02 13:12:11

One thing that can be improved is the need of AND between the different words. Typing several words with spaces between them should return the matches containing all words, without the need to add AND between them.

Also, when calling the search engine from a forum, the search is narrowed to this forum by default.

Improving communication

Reply #33 – 2003-03-04 00:11:25

Quote

One thing that can be improved is the need of AND between the different words. Typing several words with spaces between them should return the matches containing all words, without the need to add AND between them.

Still, how would you search for multiple strings?

Quote

Also, when calling the search engine from a forum, the search is narrowed to this forum by default.

Ah... I see this. Also many forums do have a "Search this forum" option at the bottom of the page.

But I still wonder if a few improvements could be made to the search engine. Who has set up the search engine?

Shel

Improving communication

Reply #34 – 2003-03-04 00:59:29

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Still, how would you search for multiple strings?

On yahoo.com, the strings must be quoted, like :

"compact disc"... Only the results containing "compact disc" are returned. Not the ones contaning "compact" somewhee, and "disc" elsewhere.

Improving communication

Reply #35 – 2003-03-04 01:17:19

Quote

Quote
Still, how would you search for multiple strings?

On yahoo.com, the strings must be quoted, like :

"compact disc"... Only the results containing "compact disc" are returned. Not the ones contaning "compact" somewhee, and "disc" elsewhere.

That's exactly my point. You can't enter a string of terms enclosed with parentheses into the Hydrogen search engine. Seach will return the error page I quoted above.

If you type what you just wrote, "strings must be quoted" into the search Hydrogen engine, you'll get that error page.

However if you just search on the one term "strings" without the quotes, and then put your user name "pio2001" without quotes into the "Member Search" search feature, you WILL get a search result.

The search engine rejects any searches for strings put in quotes. So getting back to the discussion about problems with newbie posts, maybe a lot of newbies >are< doing searches before they post, but just can't get results. This because of the fact the Hydrogen search engine is fo finnicky.

Shel

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