"I'm new here, what's a search...?"

[Rusty]

Firstly, I'd like to give a pat on the back to all those who have exercised restraint and diplomacy when answering newbie questions in the past week or so. Obviously I'm not the only one getting a bit fed up with every innocent enquiry being leapt upon and savaged. Remember the one about the only stupid question being the one that goes unasked?

Questions without searches have a value no-one has mentioned- they can expose beginners (like me) to ideas that may not be new, but new to them.
I agree that if you know a bit about both woodwork and forum etiqette then to post a straight forward question without a prior search can be time wasting and a little rude, perhaps. Still, one new members "obvious" question can be a source of enlightenment to another- you can't do a search for something if you are unaware that it exists.

Anyhow, enough of that. I was thinking today (bad habit) that a glossary of terms might be useful. (No, I haven't done a search, but I will in a moment; I don't want to have to type all this again). Basic woodwork stuff would be covered, as well as perhaps terms unique to these forums. An alphabetised list (similar to the members list) could be filled with a basic kit of words; the meanings, and additional terms to be supplied by members at their leisure. Something for those who log on at work to do on a slow day, maybe?

It may end up reading like Professor Branestawm's Dictionary (if we're lucky) or Roger Mellie's Profanisaurus (if we're not:eek, but it might keep a few newbies out of harm's way...

Now, if this has all been done before, I s'pose I'll be back shortly to delete this post and pretend it never happened...

Cheers,
rusty.
(P.S. Apparently this has not been done, yet. In my search, however, I came across my first ever post, where I repeated information supplied by a previous poster; I bet I hadn't even read the whole thread, let alone done a search).

[Sir Stinkalot]

I agree .... new posts to old questions often raise a number of issues that I would never have thought of before ..... let alone done a search for.

Without new members this forum runs the risk of getting stagnent with no new ideas.

[TrevorOwen]

Hi Rusty

I, like you am relatively new to the forum and whilst some posts have expressed a degree of wroth towards those who have asked questions about a subject without carrying out a search, I think in the main the responses are mostly tongue in cheek. I love the forum, you get to "feel" the personalities of members and appreciate a form of mateship that develops across the electronic median. Some members love to give a bit but I think that that is only an expression of their own personality. No matter who it is, members have something to offer others and I find their posts stimulating, enlightening and on many occassions humourous. I very much value what I have already learnt from others and will do my best to contribute back to the forum.

As for conducting a search, it is simply a means of interrogating a database by asking a question. With this data base, I will be corrected if i'm wrong but if for example you clicked on search, then typed the word multitool your search would reveal the threads that that word was found in. I think that if you repeated the search you would find the actual post that contained the word and it would be highlighted as bold red text. I accept any corrections to my post because I have only done it a couple of times myself.

Regards from Adelaide

Trevor

[Rusty]

G'day, Trevor,
I'm not entirely sure about responses being tongue-in-cheek, but I'm prepared to concede I might have taken some too seriously. I don't think a newcomer could be expected to differentiate between black humour and bad manners.

I use the search function once in a while, and my understanding of the way it works seems to concur with yours. I wasn't sugggesting that a glosssary would replace a search of the forums; I perhaps confused things by covering two topics in the same thread.

While I'm at it though, I'd like to add that the search engine doesn't wear foil, make pancakes, or tell MIL jokes, so why would you use it?

Regards,
rus.

[Sturdee]

G'day, Trevor,
I'm not entirely sure about responses being tongue-in-cheek, but I'm prepared to concede I might have taken some too seriously. I don't think a newcomer could be expected to differentiate between black humour and bad manners.

Neither am I Trevor. When I tell someone to do a search it is not tongue-in-cheek , I damm well mean it. :mad: WHY ? Because the information is already on the board. Why should we do the research and then reply when the poster could do it in the first place. :mad:


Ofcourse if, after searching, there are further questions or if I have additional info then I would post it.

When a newcomer joins he is told to read the FAQs. The first item in the FAQs is the details on how to search. If they don't know what the FAQs are then let them do a search. :mad:

So the bad manners are when a newcomer fails or can't be bothered to search first before posting rather then when we point out that the info is already available.

My humble 2 cents worth.


Peter.

[DanP]

Sometimes if you search a common topic you get thousands of unrelated posts. Hence the common topics coming up time and time again. I have done it myself. IMO, let them ask. Then those who know where the answer is at can point them in the right direction. If I am bored with the subject coming up so often, I don't reply. If you are going to get on and tell someone to search, you may as well answer properly, telling them where to search.

Dan

[bitingmidge]

Now speaking as we were of suck-faced goody-two-shoes.... isn't this a perfect example of how to respond???

http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com...98&postcount=2

Neat, concise the merest hint of what may be found!!! For those who inhabit this board as opposed to merely dropping in from time to time, a brief search is a simple thing because some of the terms are etched in our scones.

So wouldn't it be kind and nice and sweet and gentle and ooooohhh so much like us, to at least give a few hints with the response?? Just like Squizz???

ON yer Squizzy !!

Cheers,

P

[BobR]

We also need to recognise that a search does not always give us the results we are looking for. I have searched for information that I know exists - I have read it weeks or months before, without success. However, unless my keywords are the same as contained in the thread my search is unsuccessful. Therefore if I refer to a technique, tool, project, etc. with terminology common to me but not contained in the thread, then bad luck. We can suggest that a search be made without sticking it up someone. There, I feel better now

[outback]

Go and a have a pancake and a good lie down Bob, I think ya stressing about something we don't need to stress about.

[Rusty]

Look, how about the goody-two-shoes-suckhole response for poor, ignorant newbies and the wrath of Sturdee for those who obviously should know better? Taking Mick's woodworking clubhouse analogy a step further, I simply reckon that people shouldn't be yelled at the first time they ask where the dunny is. If they interrupt your conversation to ask yet again (when they're standing beside the door) then let 'em have it, if you're so inclined.

So, if I may leave that topic to it's agonised death-throes for a moment, any thoughts on the glossary idea? Good? Bad? Can't be ar$ed? Whaddaya reckon?

Rusty.

[Coldamus]

I side with Rusty and Dan on this one. Those who are too far up themselves to civilly answer a newbie's question should refrain from answering at all. Pontificating, unhelpful responses are just as wasteful of time and bandwidth.

Even frequently asked questions such as "What's a good table saw?" or "Is the HooFlungDung 350 any good?" deserve fresh responses. New products come on the market, prices change relative to other brands, faults are overcome and others are discovered. An answer that was relevant three months ago may now be totally misleading.

There's no obligation on anyone to reply to a question. If you don't want to or you are too busy, leave it to someone else who has the time, even if they are less experienced.

regards
Coldamus

He who asks is a fool for 5 minutes but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.

[CanFly]

Isn't it amazing how quickly some can lose patience with those who are at the stage they were at not so very long ago?

A polite reply to someone seeking an answer to a question isn't asking the earth of anyone.


CanFly

[Gumby]

I've said it before but I'll say it again.

1. I have no problem with 'newbies' asking a question which has been posted and answered before. (We were all newbies once) Without new members on these forums, we'll eventually die off.

2. I have no problem with the answer being a suggestion to search - it's often the best response and provides said newbie with all the relevant answers which, if they had tp be repeated, would take another day or two to be redone.
As long as the search post is like squizz's (as BM said) it can't be construed as offensive.

[BobR]

Outback, I think you are right on both counts. and the pancakes were great!

[outback]

Outback, I think you are right on both counts. and the pancakes were great!

Glad to hear it, the bill is in the mail.