Electronics Tips and Tricks Thread

Thread Starter

Wendy

Joined Mar 24, 2008
23,415
I was just looking at this thread. There is a huge amount of trash there, a lot of it people just saying thank you. IMO this seriously undermines the thread. Am I the only one that thinks this? A thread like this ought to be people posting directly on topic, especially since it is a sticky.

I just flagged some spam someone tried to slip in there too, very stealthy like.
 

Thread Starter

Wendy

Joined Mar 24, 2008
23,415
Can we just delete the surpuferlous posts? Perhaps add a comment like "Posts not directly posting a trick or tip will be deleted" on the first post?

I'm done ranting, I just went through it and noticed an entire page of nothing but "Thank You". Of course this was all before our most excellent system administrator added the "Thanks" click.
 

jpanhalt

Joined Jan 18, 2008
11,087
Index, index, index. No one will bother looking at any thread or forum to read other posts, unless there is an index.

That simple fact is clear on casual review of new threads. How many times is the most direct response, have you searched on the subject? Part of that behavior is understandable because simple searches turn up so much garbage, but part of the reason also seems to be just laziness. This week it is tips, last week it was cookbook circuits, etc.

John
 

Thread Starter

Wendy

Joined Mar 24, 2008
23,415
So what does that have do to with superfluous entries on a sticky thread?

Start your own rant dagnabit! Quite highjacking my thread!

Index, index, index. No one will bother looking at any thread or forum to read other posts, unless there is an index.

That simple fact is clear on casual review of new threads. How many times is the most direct response, have you searched on the subject? Part of that behavior is understandable because simple searches turn up so much garbage, but part of the reason also seems to be just laziness. This week it is tips, last week it was cookbook circuits, etc.

John
Seriously, are you trying to make a personal point? Problem with text is sometimes it is hard to interpret without the extra clues offered by face to face chit chat. Last week I mentioned cookbook circuits to someone, so I can interpret this several ways.
 

jpanhalt

Joined Jan 18, 2008
11,087
Hi Bill,

I was not disagreeing with you on the question of editing the tips thread to remove extraneous materials. I do not think that that action by itself will lead to a noticeable increase in usage. Why is that?

The point I was trying to make and apparently missed the whole target is that while this site has a wealth of useful materials, including your blog, various sticky's, and some really informative threads, OP's seem to rarely refer to them before posting. I believe the lack of an index contributes to that.

As for hijacking,
There is a huge amount of trash there, a lot of it people just saying thank you. IMO this seriously undermines the thread. Am I the only one that thinks this?
Perhaps that was meant only as a rhetorical question. I interpreted it as a request for input on improving the thread. I did not think such input should be limited only to the question of removing trash. Should we also try to define trash in that process?

Do I have some sort of personal agenda? No. I do have experience in writing reference manuals and can state that the usefulness of such materials is directly related to the quality of the index.

John
 
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