New Members ~ Search Function

[Herman Jooste]

Hi Pierre, I might be being a pedantic old fart, but I have noticed that quite a few new members' first post is usually a question for advice on a topic which has been covered quite extensively in another thread.
Is it not possible to include a short tutorial on the forums search function which new members must read during the registration process?
I think that this could possibly reduce the number of thread duplications.

[pieterkriel]

Hi Pierre, I might be being a pedantic old fart, but I have noticed that quite a few new members' first post is usually a question for advice on a topic which has been covered quite extensively in another thread.
Is it not possible to include a short tutorial on the forums search function which new members must read during the registration process?
I think that this could possibly reduce the number of thread duplications.

Now that is a pedantic old fart with a very good idea

[Herman Jooste]

Now that is a pedantic old fart with a very good idea

Yup PK, us ballies have to stick together

[Rendier]

Hi Pierre, I might be being a pedantic old fart, but I have noticed that quite a few new members' first post is usually a question for advice on a topic which has been covered quite extensively in another thread.
Is it not possible to include a short tutorial on the forums search function which new members must read during the registration process?
I think that this could possibly reduce the number of thread duplications.

Another option is to add a new section "Newbies", and add a range of FAQ's in there. www.rodbuildingforum.com has a section Beginner's Corner (http://www.rodbuildingforum.com/index.php?showforum=43) which covers all the basics newbies might ask.

Just a thought...

[Herman Jooste]

Another option is to add a new section "Newbies", and add a range of FAQ's in there. www.rodbuildingforum.com has a section Beginner's Corner (http://www.rodbuildingforum.com/index.php?showforum=43) which covers all the basics newbies might ask.

Just a thought...

A good option Reindeer, I thought that by teaching the newbies how to use the search function it would lead to more of the old threads being read, and possibly re-opened by the newbies if they couldn't find the answer to their query there. Sort of keeping everything in it's place,( hope I'm making some sense. )

[harry]

Please don't streamline things too much. This site has been so quiet as of late that it is exciting to find something to read and shoot your mouth off about. Just another thought.

[nicholas]

Sorry guys i have to disagree, it would make the forum to stiff- any forum is about a communication between people of like minds and or people who are trying to find out more about an activiety or pastime, to exclude newbies from a two way conversation would not serve in the best interest of the website.
I think we have all guided people to the search facility in the past but to direct them there as there first visit to the website i think would be a bit harsh.

cheers

[Byron]

Hi

I’m relatively new to the forum although I have been reading it for a while. I have learnt a helluva lot from scouring all the older articles and threads that I’ve found through the search facility.

On nearly every occasion that I have had a question that I’ve wanted to ask I have found the answer with a simple search and a quick scan of the threads returned.

IMHO I don’t think you should change a thing on the forum, it is one of the better forums that I have seen and I’m a web editor. It really boils down to users and how they go about approaching a forum. We encounter exactly the same issues on the forum that I manage and you are never going to avoid it fully.

Now that I’ve had my say… I have been flyfishing since I could hold a rod but have only become totally hooked on the Vaal in the last couple of years (I’m sorry I never discovered this earlier).

Is anyone heading down to the Vaal this weekend?

Cheers

[nicholas]

Hi

I’m relatively new to the forum although I have been reading it for a while. I have learnt a helluva lot from scouring all the older articles and threads that I’ve found through the search facility.

On nearly every occasion that I have had a question that I’ve wanted to ask I have found the answer with a simple search and a quick scan of the threads returned.

IMHO I don’t think you should change a thing on the forum, it is one of the better forums that I have seen and I’m a web editor. It really boils down to users and how they go about approaching a forum. We encounter exactly the same issues on the forum that I manage and you are never going to avoid it fully.

Now that I’ve had my say… I have been flyfishing since I could hold a rod but have only become totally hooked on the Vaal in the last couple of years (I’m sorry I never discovered this earlier).

Is anyone heading down to the Vaal this weekend?

Cheers

Welcome Byron

If you go to the search box and type Vaal...................

enjoy the forum

[Byron]

yeah spot on...

It does get a bit crazy though as the return rate is pretty high - you can end up trolling through piles of vaal this and vaal that type posts (not a bad thing though).