How To Better Serve New Members and the LQ Community?

1) I would move the "Welcome to LQ" to the top of the FAQ.
2) In the tips section, I would move "Before posting, have you used the search function to ensure your question hasn't been asked before?" to the top of the list.
3) Perhaps add a reminder to be patient waiting for responses, because the people answering questions are volunteering their spare time, so questions might not be answered immediately?

Originally Posted by Randicus Draco Albus 1) I would move the "Welcome to LQ" to the top of the FAQ.

The FAQ is really unordered and the link goes directly to the entry in question. Out of curiosity, what is your reasoning here?

Originally Posted by Randicus Draco Albus 2) In the tips section, I would move "Before posting, have you used the search function to ensure your question hasn't been asked before?" to the top of the list.

The first two will likely cover the vast majority of the threads linked, so I think it makes sense to have those first.

Originally Posted by Randicus Draco Albus 3) Perhaps add a reminder to be patient waiting for responses, because the people answering questions are volunteering their spare time, so questions might not be answered immediately?

That's fairly outside the scope of what we're trying to address here and is in the rules. This entry should be as concise as possible, so that it actually gets read.

--jeremy

Welcome to LQ! We'd very much like to help, but your current thread makes that difficult. Please visit http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...#faq_lqwelcome for some additional information on how you can help us help you. If you have any questions or need additional clarification, just let us know.

Hi Jeremy...

This sounds great as is.

Regards...

Originally Posted by ardvark71 Hi Jeremy... This sounds great as is. Regards...

I agree that it's a great start. Though I am having trouble coming up with anything to adjust or add. It pretty much covers all the bases.

My only concern is that it is a bit long and this will likely mean that most people will not read it.

Originally Posted by jeremy The FAQ is really unordered and the link goes directly to the entry in question. Out of curiosity, what is your reasoning here?

I am not thinking about the link, but about prominence for new members. To me it makes more sense to put information about searching before posting a question and how to word a question, before information about how to post, mark a thread as solved, etc. (First figure out if you need to post. If so, this is how to do it.) I do not know about other members, but that is the logic my brain follows.

Originally Posted by mralk3 My only concern is that it is a bit long and this will likely mean that most people will not read it.

It could be only one sentence and some people would not read it. Those are not the people the link would be meant for. It would be meant for those willing to read, learn and become contributing members. (By participating. Answering questions is not the only way to contribute.)

Originally Posted by orbea On another note, I would request that you not assume someone simply misunderstands your terrible ideas and that otherwise they are good ideas.

Originally Posted by orbea This is a pretty terrible idea, all this will accomplish is making LQ like the arch forums where most potentially helpful threads play out like this: "Hi, I have a question..." "Read the damn documentation!" *dead link* *lock thread*

No where did I ever imply that was the way to handle such a thread, so yes, you did.

My original post stated that the thread would be potentially locked if the OP did not follow up if it was determined that more information was needed. There are plenty of threads on here where you get a vague question, the OP is asked for further information, and that information is never given. It leads to a dead thread. The suggestion was presented to handle the situation as presented in the original post of this thread, the drive by postings, some of which lead no where. Those posts as Randicus Draco Albus makes mention of.

If the OP doesn't wish to help themselves, you don't need several people asking for more information as stated. One person asking for more information with a follow up request should be sufficient.

TBH it's frustrating to ask for more information to help someone, and not get that information. So, you get more experienced people just not bothering. What's needed is a system that gains perhaps a bit of confidence on both sides.

In addition, I'd like to add perhaps with that follow up "request", the OP gets some sort of automated and periodic notification set by default. Perhaps some just post their question, unaware of the fact they'll never know someone responded. Perhaps, even without such a "follow-up" system, maybe something could be added to the forums that the OP gets periodic notification until they revisit their thread. Set up as default, and separate from the normal notification mechanism that some new posters may not even know exists.

I'm sorry you didn't like my idea, but there was no need for you to declare it as terrible just because you did not like it. Nor did I say was good solely because I suggested it. Like any idea it can always use tweaking or done with as seen fit. That's what this thread is for, after all.

Originally Posted by jeremy What do members think is missing from the current FAQ entry that would help in the situations being discussed in this thread. Once the entry is improved, we can test with a single initial canned response. From there we can see what works and what doesn't, tweak the entry and response and possibly come up with additional responses tailored to specific issues. Initially I'm thinking something along the lines of the following, but I'm very open to feedback. --jeremy

i think having this available as a dropdown to senior members and higher makes the best sense.

maybe another option for wifi/internet related issues; i've been pointing people to this:
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...7/#post5331568

but its still kinda' buggy.

Originally Posted by jeremy What do members think is missing from the current FAQ entry that would help in the situations being discussed in this thread. Once the entry is improved, we can test with a single initial canned response. From there we can see what works and what doesn't, tweak the entry and response and possibly come up with additional responses tailored to specific issues. Initially I'm thinking something along the lines of the following, but I'm very open to feedback. --jeremy

I think it's perfectly fine. In fact just used it about an hour ago because someone said they have a RedHat server underperforming and for people to please send them some test and improvement scripts. That was their first post.

Sorry, but that person may never be interested in anything more than just getting a rapid, easy answer. I'm not going to provide, maybe someone else (inadvisably) will. But a guess is if that thread doesn't get touched, the OP will never do anything further except to re-ask their question in a different forum.

They've been admonished. Now it's up to them to take a next step. But however differently the news is verbalized, if they're not going to "try" anything on their own, then all they'll do is continue to google and maybe post additional questions on the forums similar to what they've already posted.

I think the next step is to get a few volunteers who are willing to patrol new threads, identify ones that fit the model discussed in this thread and have them copy/paste the desired text verbatim with no modifications. From there we can see what works and iterate. If we're happy with the results, we can create a more formal group and add the dropdown functionality. Thoughts? Suggestions? Volunteers?

--jeremy

i usually have an lq-spy tab open during working hours when i am bored (@m-f/09:00-17:00).

Originally Posted by schneidz i usually have an lq-spy tab open during working hours when i am bored (@m-f/09:00-17:00).

Same here, pinned, although lately I have been busier at work than I care to admit.

Originally Posted by schneidz i think having this available as a dropdown to senior members and higher makes the best sense. maybe another option for wifi/internet related issues; i've been pointing people to this: http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...7/#post5331568 but its still kinda' buggy.

Going along with schneidz' suggestion, could we adopt a bunch of such short scripts or code snippets to go along with canned responses, for the common hardware cases? Something like

Hi, we'd be happy to help you, but we need more information. Please run the following in a terminal, and paste it's output: lspci -v | grep Audio

Originally Posted by goumba Going along with schneidz' suggestion, could we adopt a bunch of such short scripts or code snippets to go along with canned responses, for the common hardware cases?

Hi...

Or to simplify it...

lspci -nnk

Regards...

Originally Posted by jeremy I think the next step is to get a few volunteers who are willing to patrol new threads, identify ones that fit the model discussed in this thread and have them copy/paste the desired text verbatim with no modifications. From there we can see what works and iterate. If we're happy with the results, we can create a more formal group and add the dropdown functionality. Thoughts? Suggestions? Volunteers? --jeremy

Be happy to volunteer. Need some guidance on exactly how you'd like that to go so I don't head off in an ill advised direction. Available to do this generally Mon-Fri daytimes or evenings in the US Eastern time zone.

Originally Posted by ardvark71 Hi... Or to simplify it... lspci -nnk

My original thought. The only problem I could see with that, is that you'll have new posters posting the whole output rather than that specific to the problem (if applicable), creating long posts requiring respondents to weed through it, not to mention taking up a ton of storage at jeremy's end.