How can we help newbies?...

[IADad]

Personally, I feel bad for for all the newbies getting told not to post on old threads. I understand the excitement, wanting to jump right in and get posting, finding interesting things people have posted previously and wanting to contribute.

And I understand the rul on old threads and agree with it.

So how can we better communicate it to someone just signing on? I know, I know, it's in the rules (I guess, personally I've never actually read them, as with any forum I've ever joined, I figure, I'm not going to spam or post anything harrassing or rude, so why bother with reading the rules...)

Thoughts?

I just don't want our fresh meat....um, I mean new blood to slink away in embarrassment.

 

[Dadu2004]

I agree we don't want them slinking away. I can put a link to the rules section each time they post a welcome message.... I'm open to suggestions.

 

[Father_0f_7]

I would suggest something like they have to read the rules before the forum will allow them to post anything...but I dont know how that would work.

 

[Xero]

I don't know... good question. Hopefully we think of something, because I feel kind of bad too. The main problem is that we are such a small community and we're not terribly active so even the first page of almost every subforum on the front page has too-old threads on it. A lot of forums are large and busy enough that even the first few pages of a forum subject can be covered in new(ish) threads. You know? I figure that's probably where some people get confused. We could always put a link to the forum rules on the front page with a cheerful request to check them out. lol

 

[16th ave.]

hey put something up at the top of each forum that says the no posting in topics that a certain age.

uh huh, second fo6. but <U>please please please</U>!!! don't make this crazy ole lady read them. i got enough rules dealing with medical parts all day, thanks. lol its been one of those days.

 

[Xero]

&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt; one of the only geeks that has read the rules. LOL!!!

 

[16th ave.]

weellll, i read them enough to get the main rule about posts. but sometimes i forget.

 

[IADad]

thanks for all the input people.

It seems like posting to old threads and linking webpages/blogs are the most common infractions of newbies. Dadu, what would you think about having something like this you could paste into your welcome message, or their activation email, something.....:

"We're glad you're here and hope you feel comfortable jumping right in and posting. Please take a moment to review the rules before posting - and just a couple reminders, the most common mistakes new posters make are posting in threads more than 30 days old and posting links. There's more info on those in the rules. again, Welcome!"

just a thought (and hopefully something like that would cut down on the number of edits and messages you have to write...)

 

[Dadu2004]

Nice thought IADad, I may do that.

 

[Dadu2004]

Also... this is everyone's forum. Not mine, not Fallon's, not the admins. It's ours.... By "ours", I mean those people who care about this place and participate actively. So, if a newbie comes along and site links or posts in old threads (I usually let it slide to 2 months), feel free to GENTLY remind them or alert them to the rules. Key word: GENTLY!

 

[IADad]

Also... this is everyone's forum. Not mine, not Fallon's, not the admins. It's ours.... By "ours", I mean those people who care about this place and participate actively. So, if a newbie comes along and site links or posts in old threads (I usually let it slide to 2 months), feel free to GENTLY remind them or alert them to the rules. Key word: GENTLY!

I thought about that, but I didn't want to step on any toes...

 

[Dadu2004]

My toes are just fine.

 

[Xero]

Its okay he's used to it. I step on them all the time. LOL

 

[Dadu2004]

Only because you're a horrible dancer! I only have 7 toes because of you!

 

[Xero]

What are you talking about! I am a ballerina princess. Thank you very much. D:

 

[Rosa]

I find the navigation easy, but maybe you could send all us new comers a pm with the rules in, I always read forum rules but I know a lot of people just skim past them.

 

[TabascoNatalie]

about old threads... maybe it would be useful to lock them or move them? in other forums that's certainly not an issue, or the topic is interesting enough to continue discussion. i guess that's why so many newbies (including me) have replied to old threads.

 

[Cthru]

I don't understand the rule about older threads really. It does not bother me persay.. but I think it kind of helps us get to know new users if they have an opinion on something that has been discussed a while ago.
I think, unless they are way out of line, going easy on new comers would be a good idea. I've seen a few threads where they are getting hammered right inside the door for the structure or content of their posts. If it were me, and perhaps I didn't word something correctly and I was jumped on, I wouldn't be back.

 

[TabascoNatalie]

i kinda understand old threads rule, when somebody asked for advice on particular issue, and somebody else responds after two years -- that's really a waste of time. but there are some threads, which are general discussion (like "teens and myspace"), so why not to continue it?

in another forum where i participate, newbies are asked to ensure if similar tread wasn't posted alredy before they start a new one. or to keep similar questions in one related thread (like "spanking children").

 

[Xero]

There's no reason to continue an old thread that's full of posts with content in them that I completely forgot about. I will have no idea what I was even talking about in a two year old thread that some new person brought back up, and I'm not about to re-read the whole thing.

Its not a big deal, if somebody sees an old thread and thinks its worth talking about, its as simple as creating a new thread of their own on the same subject. If they really care, they should do that.

The only problem I see is that it isn't clear enough to people the rule on old threads. I think it should be conveyed to them more clearly and maybe sooner after they arrive and start posting, because its true that people don't generally think to immediately read the rules. If it were easier to just have them KNOW what not to do when they got here, that would make sense to me. But the question is how??

I don't however see any reason to allow dead threads to be brought back to life just to be nice. But maybe I'm just mean.