Posting Guidelines

[timothykaine]

Well, we all know the mods are very strict about following the posting guidelines. Its understandable but also scares people away when they lose their first few posts.

Lets face it, people are lazy, and are going to click the first thing they recognize, being "post" and are going to skip over the fine print like so many people do EULA agreements.

Put the posting guidelines on the very front page of the website. A link or shortened version right between "Welcome to JustLinux.com!" and "Forum Discussions:" where the announcements are.

If we do this I think we will scare away fewer people.

Also, mods, when closing a thread and telling them to read the posting guidelines, you should be sure to include a link to them or post them each time. If youre a mod it also makes sense that it should be manditory to have a link to these rules in your signature along with the help files, etc.

Just to be totally honest it seems JL is losing its friendly image, and people are leaving...

[ions]

I have no problem with the way poor posts are handled.

[je_fro]

That's good food for thought...I'm sure we all try to be understanding for someones <20th post, but I've seen lots of silly threads that should be locked rather than continue.
But I'll add the posting guidelines to my sig because that's a good suggestion.

[cybertron]

Maybe there could be a standard reply to add to posts that are locked? Something with a brief explanation of why posts get locked (bad subject, too many questions, etc.) and a link to the posting guidelines. If it could be an automatic reply that would even save the mods time because they wouldn't have to write a reply every time.

Just a thought.

[JayMan8081]

I agree with timothykaine that it would be good to put the posting guidelines on the front page. That way it would be more obvious to new people when they first come to the site. People would probably see them before even joining the forums and asking their first question. I think that posting the guidelines in the lock message would probably be good in some cases as well, like the people that have >20 posts and still routinely get threads locked but are seeking help.

[timothykaine]

Originally posted by cybertron
Maybe there could be a standard reply to add to posts that are locked? Something with a brief explanation of why posts get locked (bad subject, too many questions, etc.) and a link to the posting guidelines. If it could be an automatic reply that would even save the mods time because they wouldn't have to write a reply every time.

Just a thought.

Thats basically what I was saying about that part. We dont want anyone to take it personally, and we also want it to be more informative so it doesnt happen again. Just saying "thats a bad title" doesnt help anyone, it just frustrates people, because they probably still arent going to read the guidelines unless theyre in their face.

I think the response should be a summary of what rules were broken, then the complete rules or link to them. This is more than reasonable to keep things friendly yet professional.

[BaVinic]

I personally agree that something has to be done, I have had a LOT of the people I send here, just leave and say to hell with it, for that very reason, even though I have told them to follow the posting guidelines.

On the other hand, some of the Mod's have a God complex and think it is their god given right to just jump on a thread and close it because they don't like the content, even though, in a very few cases, the subject was well within JL guidelines, or in a few cases, move threads together because "they" think it is another "hating MS" thread.

this has got to stop, I for one have gotten a LOT of help from JL over the time I have been using JL, but it does get frustrating to have friends treated like idiots when I send them here.

Ok, rant over.... for now.

BaVinic

[timothykaine]

Originally posted by BaVinic
I personally agree that something has to be done, I have had a LOT of the people I send here, just leave and say to hell with it, for that very reason, even though I have told them to follow the posting guidelines.

On the other hand, some of the Mod's have a God complex and think it is there god given right to just jump on a thread and close it because they don't like the content, even though, in a very few cases, the subject was well within JL guidelines, or in a few cases, move threads together because "they" think it is another "hating MS" thread.

this has got to stop, I for one have gotten a LOT of help from JL over the time I have been using JL, but it does get frustrating to have friends treated like idiots when I send them here.

Ok, rant over.... for now.

BaVinic

I know exactly what you mean. JL doesnt come across as very newbie-friendly for these reasons. Nowadays when I send friends that are new converts I have to explain to them that when theyre new to go to linuxquestions.org then when they have the ability to be more specific to come here because theyre more strict.

Almost no people that I have referred here have stayed in the last year.

[infiniphunk]

A link to the posting guidelines on the home-page is an excellent idea!
Its easy to understand the mods' viewpoint as well though; if they were not so strict this truly fantastic forum would rapidly degenerate into a qaugmire of pointless threads that go nowhere. Its true also there have been times when the mods have allowed a rediculous thread to go unchecked (were they just not on the forums at the time?) and rarely an over-zealous mod has un-justly deleted a post or closed a thread...rarely though. I'll be the first one to admit that I've caused S**t here in the past because I was careless and didn't check out the posting guidelines. Even though there is a link to them at the top of every specific topic forum, unless you know this fact they are hard to find.
Generally though, I'd say you mods all do a great job. Thanks!

oh, and BTW, 420th post! Woo hoo!

[BaVinic]

no one is questioning the Mod's ability to do a fine job, and 99.99999999.....% of the time, they are all great, however, and more to the point, some (granted really only a few) have a God-like complex, and I think it needs to be checked. If a question has a "bad" subject line, instead of closing or deleting the question, contact the poster, and give them a chance to rephrase the subject line.

JL is by far the best place for a linux newbie to get help, and granted the rules are not hard to follow, but for a newbie, it may be too complicated to figure out the rules at first, stickies do work, but I agree something on the front page would have more impact.



BaVinic

[cybertron]

As a general rule I don't have a problem with the threads that get locked. The ones I've seen have deserved it. However, I do think that sometimes for the first-time posters a little nudge in the right direction would be very helpful.

[madcompnerd]

I disagree. I'd say there's about a 95% good rate from what I see from the moderators. It seems that appeasing the moderators is almost impossible some days. And I almost never get a thread closed, so this is not vendetta (in fact, I almost never open threads). I'm not gonna compliment the moderators here. You put in a lot of time, but sometimes it just gets rediculous... This is not a professional bugzilla site TMK, it is not a professional support site; and some people do just like to hand out and be stupid here (that's what /dev/random is for isn't it?).

Anyway, that said. This is a great place to find answers if you know how to title your thread. But I've noticed lately, that a lot of posts are getting closed out; and most of the reasons placed for them are canned (some mods seem to just copy paste the same message). Which is fine if it's really that busy, but it is rude to get a canned message to something you have put some time into. Whether rude is necessary or not is a good question (we all have huge time constraints).

Posting guidelines on the create thread page is a good idea as well. Not printed out, just a big link you can't miss with a warning that say "follow these jerk." Let's face it, nobody reads the front page :-p.

[serz]

I've seen some forums that you see the guidelines when you're registering or when you're logging or something like that.. it wouldn't be a bad idea to put an advice in there..

Also, I think it would be a good idea to have a link to the forum Guidelines on the front page.

[soulestream]

Anyway, that said. This is a great place to find answers if you know how to title your thread.

First off I agree with most of these posts, but one of the reasons this is a great place to find answers is you can search the site. If Im new user that wants to now how to mount a cdrom, then I should not have to search threw 1200 posts on

1. horseback riding
2. porn
3. favorite cds
4. what mountains are near your house

thats a little extreme I know,but the guidlines(and moderators) keep the site useable. This is not a professional support site, but thats why I like it here, you CAN find answers

my 3 cents

soule

[JayMan8081]

madcompnerd - I hope you were kidding, I think a lot of people read the front page. Most of the time I don't necessarily go looking through all of the individual forums when I come to the site. I usually just check the front page or my user cp to see what's going on. Only if I have a lot of time do I go to the individual forums themselves. So I think putting the guidelines on the front page would probably increase the chances of them getting read. Plus, before you are even registered you have to visit the front page.