Justin, > I think this is a good idea, but it looks to be more of a searchable FAQ, > which will highly detailed... I'm really thinking of a medium-length email > introduction to the group (as per my attachment) which hopefulyl cleans up > the group a bit. > > Your resource could be fantastic, and could help with what i'm talking > about, but isn't really the answer *I* had in mind :) > > > Half the problem is that newbies AREN'T searching before asking Q's, or > don't know where to search, or don't know the right question to ask... so > any huge FAQ will not help this problem -- even though it will be a great > asset to the community.
All sounds like a good idea. Your first post was at least half-way there, so why don't you, in true open systems style, take the lead and gather a group of other like-minded and motivated people, and just Nike/do it? Unfortunately the benefits are predicated on two things: 1 the unreasonable: will the newbie/questioner bother to consult any FAQ before putting fingers to keyboard? At the one extreme we have people who don't even notice that there are unsubscribe instructions at the end of every msg, and beg to be released from membership (and please encourage them to go - bless 'em!) Another is the person who is so bound up in his/her work or perhaps naturally self-centered, that (s)he can justify 'breaking' any 'rules' because "I JUST need to know NOW" (those three capitalised words saying it 'all'). I've had three and four-round correspondence with several ratbags where the last contribution from me boils down to "read what I wrote in paragraph-n of my first reply" and from them "Sorry, I've been working continuously for 17hours and can't see straight" (to put it politely - and sometimes they don't feel it necessary to thank/apologise...) 2 the reasonable: the worst problem a newbie faces is working out the terminology/jargon. I'm currently helping someone working in MS-Excel and disappearing deep into the bowels of macros/VBA. His system is German language, and mine English. Often my problem is working out first the 'M$ word' for something by chasing through the KnowledgeBase, and then perhaps working out how to translate it into German-Excel... Anyone who has (also done something bad in a previous life) worked with M$ products is familiar with this problem/feeling. The same applies here: a newbie might talk about a 'logon and a password' without knowing that the online manual's search engine will answer his/her question in a flash if the word "authentication" is used... Yes a bit of thought in the amount of info given (not too little, not too much - quite a tall order when you're seeking an answer to something you don't understand!), and the quality of message titles/subjects, does go a long way towards motivating me (at least) into considering taking the time and trouble to reply, etc, etc. Go for it! =dn -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
