Help Me Help You Help Someone Else And Win a Prize

[Lightgeoduck]

Ok well that shoots my idea down the drain :P
I saw the big book from Daboom but I thought that was too much for newbzz

Honestly I never went directly to the NEW MEMBER"S page ( I just look at todays posts) and did not realize that you made that and it was made into a sticky..

THANK YOU all for PLAYING but we have a WINNER , but feel free to post if you so desire

Can you explain how this is better than the FAQs thread? There really aren't that many "common" questions to sift through there? It could be better organized, though.

I asked for help with that thread - if there are any common questions I missed or better links to answer questions, I asked for those, as well.

It'd be nice to get help completing/improving that first. Then you wouldn't have to search your CP or whatever - just send them to the FAQs thread?

I will be adding this link to my sig thanks again K

[kristin]

Ok well that shoots my idea down the drain :P
I saw the big book from Daboom but I thought that was too much for newbzz

Honestly I never went directly to the NEW MEMBER"S page ( I just look at todays posts) and did not realize that you made that and it was made into a sticky..

THANK YOU all for PLAYING but we have a WINNER , but feel free to post if you so desire


I will be adding this link to my sig thanks again K

Yeah, that's the hard part - getting people to see the stickied thread!

I was hoping it would show up if people searched "FAQs" too.

But, until then, I just keep pointing people to the thread!

[Lightgeoduck]

well we just need to bump it so it shows in todays post search every once in awhile.. and offer it when needed

Yeah, that's the hard part - getting people to see the stickied thread!

I was hoping it would show up if people searched "FAQs" too.

But, until then, I just keep pointing people to the thread!

[Ez Duzit]

Yeah, that's the hard part - getting people to see the stickied thread!

So many forums used the stickies to post their seemingly endless list of "Do's, and don'ts", along with a bunch of disclaimers, that people quickly get tired of that, and just stop reading stickies.
It carries over when they join a new forum. I know I ignored the stickies here, until something I searched for turned up in a sticky. Then I realized they had some good info, and not just a bunch of common sense rules.

[kristin]

Maybe SJ should include a link to the thread in a "welcome" message when they join?

[Ez Duzit]

Maybe SJ should include a link to the thread in a "welcome" message when they join?

I think I mentioned this in another thread. If I didn't mention it, I know that I at least thought about mentioning it.

[Snarkyone]

I think my feelings on this are rather well known, I had a thread on a similar vein...and one of the post in this hit it right on the head when they said the hard part was getting the people to read the info that's in the sticky in the first place. Many of the same questions get asked repeatedly and the noobs could be much better served if they could easily find the information they seek. It's a double edged sword with a forum like this with a new technology. There is a lot of information available to be shared but it's tricky to navigate it correctly.

You have the people that have taken the leap and have become "experts" of a sorts, and you have the people that are looking to take the steps and want to get the answers but they really don't know the right questions to ask unless they do a little research first. The "experts" are more than willing to share their knowledge and when someone ask "What's the best E-Cig for a noob?" they are going to get 100 different answers with tons of information and tips and they won't understand a friggin word of it if they have not done ANY research at all first.

The amount of information that is on here is vast to say the least. It would be nice if we had something like a 510 area and in that area you would have sections for all the common atomizer taste questions, atomizer life questions, atomizer cleaning questions, and on and on. The next area would be dedicated to m401 questions of the same nature or another model. The whole thing would be nice and easy to understand for everyone. I just have not seen ANY forum where it works as easy as that. Anyone who spends any amount of time on this forum can see that these questions get asked on average of about 12 times a hour every day on each model. One of these days I am going to mark down all the questions and keep track so I can give an exact number, lol!

Half of the fun of E-Cigs right now is helping others discover the joys of E-Cigs, find the best deals and of course score some awesome deals for ourselves. It is not only fun but it's a good thing to do that lets us connect with our fellow man and share our little triumphs with complete strangers. On the flip side it can be scary for the noob, nobody wants to spend $40-$100 on a product and get rooked right off the bat. It adds to the stress of spending that money when you take into consideration the fact that for many of us that cash is the only thing that is available to support our addiction so we could well be screwed if we make a poor choice. That's downright scary and this is not a decision to take lightly.

I find myself trying to help as much as possible but it would be easier if there was a well organized FAQ section. That's not the only answer though, the people also have to try and help themselves and not just ask questions like what model they should buy. They need to have a little bit of a grasp on what it is people are telling them, one has to learn what questions to ask and more importantly understand the answers given. A little bit of self education is really a must to understand the answers. That's where the double edge really comes to a head. It will require some work on both sides of the fence but when you think about it the best partnerships and friendships usually do. These are new and in the big scheme of things so is this forum and improvements will be made in both no doubt. Just my ever so humble opinion.

[Kent C]

So many forums used the stickies to post their seemingly endless list of "Do's, and don'ts", along with a bunch of disclaimers, that people quickly get tired of that, and just stop reading stickies.
It carries over when they join a new forum. I know I ignored the stickies here, until something I searched for turned up in a sticky. Then I realized they had some good info, and not just a bunch of common sense rules.

That's the reality of the situation on all forums I've visited. Few read the stickies and there are too many stickies. Even though they are usually quite informative.

Fact is, is that the info in stickies were just culled from regular posts originally (and usually without credit) and things change - opinions change and stickies get old if not updated weekly, they get longer, not read, etc. etc.

I suppose you could have a period of time where a newbie could only access the stickies. I doubt that would work but that is basically what's being advocated here - No posting until you read what we think you should read so you don't ask stupid questions. And right or wrong, that's probably the best way to reduce participation, but you'd have more informed newbies! ...just not so many of them.

[Lightgeoduck]

The bitter sweet of this thread is that new people will read it and it will get that squirrel going and they will check out the sticky to answer their beginning questions... and to others it will just get their pubscratchers flailing away at the keyboard posting their "original" basic question.....

Now don't get me wrong some posters definitely seem overwhelmed with information and need that little nudge.... others are like a three legged cow pissing on a flat rock. Because yeah reaching 20,000 members and a few years and noone even asked once what an atomizer is.

[Kent C]

The bitter sweet of this thread is that new people will read it and it will get that squirrel going and they will check out the sticky to answer their beginning questions....

Had the same idea as I was composing my post ;-) The thing is, this will be on page 3 by 3pm. lol.