Daniweb 2011 - Page 2

[AndreRet]

:$ I'm sometimes so darth, obviously.

[Dani]

Naa, not your fault. It used to not work. I posted a month or two ago saying I corrected the behaviour :)

[chrishea]

I support the previous posts about trying to get people to use [code] tags. I have three more that I'd like to see:

1. When someone tries to add on to an old post (e.g. more than a year old), force them to open a new topic. If it was really slick, it could automatically add a reference link to the old post.

2. Add an FAQ section / pinned topic for (at least) the most used sections of the site. There are many questions that keep coming back over and over again (especially from newbies) and its a waste of time and space to keep answering them as one-of topics. With a well-written FAQ section, the experienced posters who are answering questions could be encouraged to provide a reference / link to the FAQ rather than start over again. My New Years resolution was to produce my own FAQ for PHP / MySQL and I now reference it in my signature (as you will see below) and I now try to use it in my response to these recurring questions. Having a standard FAQ would be a major step beyond that.

3. A lot of people don't know how to ask questions properly and they don't provide enough supporting information. They also don't check existing sources on Daniweb or the web before asking their question. I'd like to see a questionnaire that would lead people through asking their question. It wouldn't have to be long or tortuous and it could strictly be a list of half a dozen questions that they would be free to ignore if they chose to. Having something like this would take a stab at training people to ask better questions, it would raise the quality of the site (if it is used) and it would make Daniweb that much better than other such sites that haven't done this. I would be inclined to make this mandatory for newbies (maybe the first 10-20 posts) and then optional after that.

[griswolf]

3. A lot of people don't know how to ask questions properly and they don't provide enough supporting information. They also don't check existing sources on Daniweb or the web before asking their question. I'd like to see a questionnaire that would lead people through asking their question. It wouldn't have to be long or tortuous and it could strictly be a list of half a dozen questions that they would be free to ignore if they chose to. Having something like this would take a stab at training people to ask better questions, it would raise the quality of the site (if it is used) and it would make Daniweb that much better than other such sites that haven't done this. I would be inclined to make this mandatory for newbies (maybe the first 10-20 posts) and then optional after that.

Bugzilla acts similarly to what you suggest. When you first arrive, it tells you:

Consider using the Bugzilla Helper instead of this form. Before reporting a bug, make sure you've read our bug writing guidelines and double checked that your bug hasn't already been reported. Consult our list of most frequently reported bugs and search through descriptions of previously reported bugs.

at the top of the form. Following the link takes you to a page that by default shows you the all time most popular open bugs, and drags you step by step through a pretty decent process.

[jordan0420]

I think that it would be pretty cool if there was a section for code snippets one for each of the languages. building up a library would be pretty cool

[Dani]

> I think that it would be pretty cool if there was a section for code snippets one for each of the languages. building up a library would be pretty cool
But there is??

[Dani]

I actually have some very minor but real things on my wish list:

Group one wishlist: Who's reading this thread:

• Easily see who is watching a thread while I'm in 'advanced editor' mode.
• That same information available on any page of a multi-page thread
• That information dynamically updated on the page I'm viewing when it changes on the server. (!)

Group two wishlist: Composition tools

• Put an [I[B][/B]CODE] button on the quick reply form
• A [THREAD] button that would parse the full permalink URL in another post (from my other browser window) and do the right thing to make an internal link.
• As above, but a [POST] button.
• A link easily visible near the reply box that opens a new window showing the available BB codes. And, another thought, maybe an option to open another menu bar with widgits, that like the [CODE] button, insert the tags for you.

That is surely enough of that...

Who's Reading a thread IS currently available on any page of a multi-page thread. As far as it being AJAX (dynamically changing in realtime), unfortunately this just isn't feasable from a server resources perspective. It NEEDS to be cached, and pushing it out every X seconds while people read long threads just isn't doable, I'm afraid.

Regarding who's reading a thread while in 'Advanced Editor' mode ... I will consider adding this if I could see any additional show of hands as to who might want this and find it useful.

More coming soon ...

[AndreRet]

I'd like to see a questionnaire that would lead people through asking their question. It wouldn't have to be long or tortuous and it could strictly be a list of half a dozen questions that they would be free to ignore if they chose to. Having something like this would take a stab at training people to ask better questions, it would raise the quality of the site

I like Chris's idea. Opening a new thread with questions like -

What language, C++, VB.NET, VB4/5/6,PHP etc...
Did you get an error message, if yes, describe error below
Do you have any code on the error? If yes, paste code here.. (add code brackets)
etc...

Regarding who's reading a thread while in 'Advanced Editor' mode ... I will consider adding this if I could see any additional show of hands as to who might want this and find it useful.

My hand is up.

I tend to go back to a thread when I need to confirm some code etc.

[Dani]

Last night, towards the end of my work day, I added some additional information to the New Thread page to hopefully guide people in the right direction towards the best way to post on DaniWeb.

AndreRet:
> I tend to go back to a thread when I need to confirm some code etc.
He was referring to the list of people currently viewing a thread being displayed while in advanced editor mode. Currently, the advanced editor already includes a quick view of all of the posts in the thread, so you shouldn't have to go back to a thread while advanced replying.

[AndreRet]

I added some additional information to the New Thread page to hopefully guide people in the right direction towards the best way to post on DaniWeb

I love the new guidelines -

The thread title should clearly describe the question or discussion topic. General titles such as 'Help Me' or 'Urgent' are not only unuseful, but can be considered a turn off by other community members, and will often result in fewer replies.

Search before you post. Does what you're looking for already exist on DaniWeb? If yes, no need to post.
Are you being lazy? Can you find what you're looking for by doing a quick Google search? If yes, no need to post.
Ensure you are posting within the correct forum. This is the Visual Basic 4 / 5 / 6 Forum.

Awesome stuff. Keep it up. When I started this thread, this is what I had in mind. No more mumbling, only results!;)

He was referring to the list of people currently viewing a thread being displayed

Yet ANOTHER blond moment, what can I say.:)

[chrishea]

It's moving in the right direction however; I think that it is still too subtle. The tiny font makes it too easy to ignore. I'd also include a search box for at least Daniweb right in the instructions. It seems that a lot of people don't know how to create good search terms either. I"d be inclined to at least provide some help on how to search effectively. Helping them to create a search term with 3 - 5 search boxes, one for each term in declining order of importance might help too.

[WASDted]

Dani, I agree the text is a bit small/easy to ignore. My $0.02

[Ancient Dragon]

>>The tiny font makes it too easy to ignore

That was my first impression too. Large, bold text -- slap them in the face with it.

[WASDted]

yes like this...