What about a newbie forum area?

1. 78

   kirstenblogposted 14 years ago

   I have noticed a few questions asked by newbies that have been asked before and so many times it is probably impossible to count. I have noticed comments of annoyance at the same questions being asked yet again. I am sure at some point I will have been here long enough to get every bit as annoyed.
   
   I am neither new nor old here. When I was new I received loads of helpful advice that I really took to heart and think on even today. Now when I see a question posted from a newer member then I that I may be able to answer I jump at the chance. I am eager to give the sort of support and helpful advice I received when I was new and thought a good solution might be a newbie forum area. Slightly older members wanting to give back are likely to be happy to offer that help in a newbie forum and the newbies are likely to appreciate it. For you old timers here you can avoid the newbie forums and hopefully everyone could be happy with that kind of set up?

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      Cagsilposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Well, I guess my answer to this forum post, probably isn't going to go over well. How ever, I'm of the mind that I don't mind newbies or questions of any sort. I like to be helpful, whenever I can. I enjoy answering questions, providing I don't have ignorance of the topic.
      
      I consider myself an above average listener and conversationalist, when necessary. I never think it's out of place, for truth, when asked. It's important to show others, that regardless of their lack of knowledge or ineptitude to follow instructions or direction, we can show respect to them, by being nice, courteous and helpful.
      
      But, that's just my view.

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      1. 73

         cheaptrickposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         I am new to this never having written before.The mechanics of posting and the sometimes ambiguous nature of FAQs makes it difficult to keep up in this fast paced exchange of thoughts.Hubpages is an outlet for me not an income.I wish I could find time to be here more but unfortunately I haven't yet.Bless you for posting this.I'm sure other beginners appreciate your Voice as well...By the way Cagsil,Ive been Insulted by You a number of times so try not to be such a Hypocrite..

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            Cagsilposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            If you find what I have to say insulting, then let's clean the slate between us. I apologize, if I've offended you. I could have done, without actually realizing, because of the fast pace of the forums, especially in the religious and politics thread, for which I'm usually around. Since, it is easier to clean the slate and start from the begin. It is nice to meet you.

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               cheaptrickposted 14 years agoin reply to this

               Apology accepted.To bad we can't seal it with a Beer lol...

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2. 0

   lynnechandlerposted 14 years ago

   Great idea! It could also include a pinned thread of introduction.

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3. 66

   darksideposted 14 years ago

   Being newbs they're likely to post the same question twice in such a sub-forum and also in the Need Help? Ask here sub-forum.
   
   When posting a thread or a reply in the left hand box it actually says "Please check the HubPages FAQ before asking HubPages related questions in the forum."
   
   And don't forget about this pinned thread: Frequently Asked Questions - Read Before Posting!
   
   So there's plenty of support and direction.

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4. 72

   relacheposted 14 years ago

   I have to agree with darkside... It's really obvious that many users don't read or notice all the useful info that's already here.

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5. 72

   sunforgedposted 14 years ago

   I try to pass on whatever ive learned when athread catches my eye, usually in the Knowledge or need help forum.
   
   Im not opposed to anything that will help out new hubbers, but i do have difficulty coming up with anything that sticks out more than
   
   Need Help,Ask here!
   
   So what would be different about this Newbie forum? Could it just be another thread that you start and keep alive, does it need its own category that is different from the first 3 that most help questions land in?

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      Marisa Wrightposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I agree, effectively the Newbie Forum already exists.  And there is a sticky thread for the FAQ's, which many newbies obviously don't read before posting.
      
      I'm sympathetic to newbies asking dumb questions, because often it's hard to find a relevant thread if you don't know the right words to look for.  However, I do get impatient with people who post the same question several times on different threads, and then complain when they don't get a reply in two seconds.

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6. 0

   lynnechandlerposted 14 years ago

   I don't think anyone minds answering questions from the newbies. I for one have had blessed information thrown at me when I have asked. It is more that somewhere something is getting lost in translation.
   
   The site can be intimidating when you are new here and new to writing articles online for money. I had no clue what I was doing but before I posted a hub, I dug into the site to find information and found great help with articles from Sunforged, Darkside, Relache and others not to mention the help section of the site.
   
   A lot of people are not diggers though especially in this day and age of instant gratification. So, somewhere the information is getting lost and the same questions are being repeated time and time again here in the forum when they have been answered in depth.
   
   So maybe instead of a newbie forum start with a place in the hubbers hangout that is pinned where everyone can initially introduce themselves.
   
   Just a suggestion, then when they ask their questions give them directions to similar topics in the forums as we do now.

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   1. 70

      aguasilverposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Diggings very much an 'engineers' option, 'creatives' tend to jump in and only read the instructions when they are lost!
      
      I never have read the instructions on how to do for my software, so it takes me 45 hours of trial and error to find out what (say) Photoshop can do, but when it's understood, you sometimes find things in the system that the manual doesn't even cover.
      
      Obviously newbies would benefit from reading ALL the instructions first (I'm a newbie myself) BUT when I discovered the Hub... all I wanted to do was get writing and get em out there! - so you only read the label when the thing don't work!
      
      But a 'corral' for newbies to live within until certain criterion had been met (whatever that would be, maybe when they had read ALL the instructions given?) would be a good idea, and maybe they could be kept from posting in the forums until they had been seen to read for a while (I'm sure the Hub could monitor that) and could be realistically reckoned to understand how brutal they can be!

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      1. 85

         Marisa Wrightposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         I think part of the problem is the structure of the forums, as sunforged says.  Because the main page is a jumble of the latest posts in all threads, newbies get sucked into the rough-and-tumble of the social threads.  If they ask questions in those forums, they're quite likely to get short shrift.
         
         I rarely pay much attention to them and stick to the Hub-related forums, and I don't often see experienced Hubbers being rude to newbies when they ask questions in those.

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7. 85

   rebekahELLEposted 14 years ago

   hmm, I can't recall what it says when someone joins for the first time, but I think it somehow needs to be emphasized more that new members must read guidelines/rules before participating.  I know, they probably wouldn't, anyway... but if people read the how to's, and read through the NEED HELP forum thread first, even the very first post by Maddie that says, read first before starting a thread...

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      relacheposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Ever hear the saying "you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink?"  How do you suggest people be made to read something?

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8. 72

   sunforgedposted 14 years ago

   In general, Im surprised that the forum system doesnt follow a more traditional and successful vbulletin style.
   
   Ive always assumed <--- that the forums have grown to be more popular than was planned for.
   
   A lot of forums have the introduce yourself here thread as a standard, link posting spam by members is limited by the ability to have forum sig links, alter ego abuse is limited by built in IP tracking, moderators spend more time keeping conversation threads on topic rather than being forced to handle petty bickering...the forum system has been pretty well figured out, for some reason hubs has chosen to try and create its own animal
   
   Post count requirements to access certain areas of the forum, certain privileges extended to long time users etc...its all been figured out already!
   
   Darkside and Relache should have big fat expert stars or superhubber or trusted symbols next to their names..there are lots of things that should be implemented in the forum system here...so many that I have to accept that this is the style and method that hubadmin prefers for their own reasons
   
   Im not a big conversationalist on the forum (although Im quite long winded in my help posts!) so its a non-issue for me

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      Marisa Wrightposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I agree, the forum setup is the one thing i find irritating about HP!

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9. 66

   GeneralHowitzerposted 14 years ago

   Not fair...
   
   Just kidding aside... this is certainly a brilliant idea...
   
   Godluck though...

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10. 0

    seasoningposted 14 years ago

    newbies and slow learners would benefit greatly, hubpages can be someones introduction to a computer, so a newbie channel would be brilliant

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11. 76

    frogdroppingposted 14 years ago

    As Darkside and relache have pointed out - a lot of the 'help me' posts really are because the OP's don't make use of the info on offer.
    
    And that isn't cricket.
    
    However, who wouldn't want to help a genuine call for help? Some stuff really is a fair bit confusing and of course you've got to factor in individual abilities.
    
    It's the plain lazy folks that are the problem, pure and simple.
    
    There's no point in the hubteam creating a space for new hubbers as the info is right there, as you join. It's dotted in plain sight around the site. And let's not forget what happens when you click the 'help' button in the top right of the screen. Absolutely packed with info - useful for old and new folks alike.

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12. 66

    GeneralHowitzerposted 14 years ago

    at four months you consider yerself newbie nyahahaha sorry I asked I am a month older than you and hope I'm still a newbie though so that I can participate when there is forum about newbies in the months ahead
    wakikik

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       prettydarkhorseposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Morning GH

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       1. 66

          GeneralHowitzerposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          Its evening here, but still good am too ...

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13. 85

    rebekahELLEposted 14 years ago

    relache, I know, nobody can make someone read something, especially the way the site is set up and is open to anyone regardless of talent or purpose to be here. some sites are much more selective in who can post in the forums and as sunforged said, moderators keep it focused on the thread content. this forum is more like a giant chat site. but I have learned a lot from these specific help forums.
    
    signing off for thanksgiving, everyone, enjoy your day.

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14. 78

    kirstenblogposted 14 years ago

    I don't remember reading much of the faq stuff really
    I tend to jump into things and just try n figure it out usually, this is how I would play video games without even glancing at the manuel (back when I had that kind of time). For me learning to type was the hardest part of using a computer, it was not hard to work the rest out
    
    I kinda figured that 'start a new hub' button might be the way to start a hub and I wrote something. Got a fan woo hoo! Decided I liked the site and kinda starting clicking buttons. Curiosity got me looking at what each of the forum 'rooms' was all about and certain threads already in action caught my attention but I didn't have questions and was just exploring. Once I had an idea of what the forums were like I started asking questions. Whats all this about keywords? and such. I got told hey read this hub, hey read that hub the authors do a great job explaining keywords (or seo or traffic or whatever). Finally I noticed that search facility and I have started coming to hub pages first when I want to know more about something
    
    I know I have started threads or whatever that must have gotten flagged as being to close to crossing a line for a rule. Thought Uh Oh and moved on. The idea was really so that its a bit easier to avoid repetitious questions in a similar way to avoiding the political forums or the religious forums. I don't trust myself to keep it clean in a political forum so I generally avoid em.

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