Attempt to limit duplicate threads

[GreatPumpkin]

something funky going on with the threads - I didn't double quote in my post above, but it keeps showing up that way even on edit? - (even got kicked off momentarily while trying to edit) and now Summerkid's last post is duplicated.

[GreatPumpkin]

2air - where did you get your invisibility cloak? Is it one of the superpowers that comes with upgraded membership?
(sorry for the hijack, now returning you to your regularly scheduled thread )

[Janet H]

Originally Posted by Fyrzowt

I guess I have some questions.
1. Is a more recent post going to be answered more quickly?
2. Should I have tagged my question onto the 2 year old post?

Some of us newbies may screw up once in a while, but be patient - some of us do want to learn.

1. Yes - a more recent post will be answered more prompty. Most veteran users go directly to the portal page that shows the most recent posts - only.

2. Depends on the question.... If your question has something to do with the title of the thread - then maybe. Otherwise I guess I'd just start a new thread. As a moderator, one of my less fun jobs is to split threads that have veared off the original topic and make a new thread with those off topic posts.


Don't worry about being a newbie! We were all newbies at one time or another. We were all kids at one time as well and.... someone let us live despite our status!

[2airishuman]

well great pumpkin, the kudos thread does merit kudos...here they are!

and have you 4gotn about the rabbit hole for hiding?....

someone (chaplain kent i think) constructed an absolutely hilarious post that was an amalgam of dozens of the most repeated, silly, often unanswerable questions....in one long question....a very funny post!!!

it was so funny...i tried to find the post but searching has let me down!
anyone? where is that post?

there are also examples where one genuinely feels sorry for the poster/question because of grammar spelling or the subject in question...and one hopes those theads fade quietly...but NO someone answers and keeps the agony current....have some mercy folks!


finally there are occasions when adding to a really old thread are useless and funny...like a 3 year old thread with no replies or even posts by the principles in 2 years...then a new post appears asking for more info from the departed member...


beware of this....it is the dreaded zombie thread syndrome!

cheers
2air'

[summerkid]

Originally Posted by GreatPumpkin

something funky going on with the threads - I didn't double quote in my post above, but it keeps showing up that way even on edit? - (even got kicked off momentarily while trying to edit) and now Summerkid's last post is duplicated.

I think it was the "666" thing! I tried to quickly post to get rid of that number but inadvertently mentioned a member named Marina (remember THAT long-gone avatar?) and I think the beastly combination caused a forums fritz.

[Waynon]

As a complete newbie, I have a couple of comments I would like to make

First, for kudos, thanks to all of you who have given me so much information in the past little while. My AS has never had so much attention, and I have saved no telling how much money with all the hints. The threads (once I found out how to use them) have been a valuable source of information about things I earlier wouldn't have even know to ask.

When I first found the forum I was so excited to have found it that I just jumped in and asked questions about things that I wanted to know. The itsy-bitsy-teenie-weenie little search button never caught my eye. When someone finally "harshly" brought another user to task I learned about it and how to use it. That member was the one who really opened up the wealth of info to me.

I think that is what happens with new users, particularly if they have just gotten a new AS and are all excited and eager to learn. Maybe there could be some way to "suggest" right when someone joins that posting is encouraged but searching first might be a better and quicker way to find an answer.

BTW, as helpful as that member's advice turned out to be, since I thought it was a little harsh. I saw the "karma" button and thought it was something like "rate this post" and gave the poor guy bad karma, not having any idea at all that I was affecting his "score" or such. Maybe it might be a good idea to explain that deadly little button right at the sign-up page too. The thread for new users was very helpful, but some of the damage was already done by the time I'd found that.

Thank you all for the excellent advice and info, some of it directly to me in PM's and in threads.

Waynon

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Hi, Leave the forum alone. I like it as is. I never use the search feature, because I'm not searching for anything special. I just read the topics that pop up every day and learn from what has been said from the start of the topic. If you don't want to answer an age old question, then don't. What [ficticious] Joe said three years ago about his refrigerator might not help me with my two year old trailer and what Joe said three years ago may have a better / updated answer today. Maybe once a year, reorganize all the posts and print them in book form and add that book for another $10.00 to the purchase of the AIR decals. I don't always spell everything correctly; If that person asks for help, help them. We are not all college professors. [I think I spelled that wrong] This forum has the power of all the knowledge, experience, and talents of a vast array of people and the ability to teach those not too familiar with certain topics. And a lot of this knowledge has difference of opinion. That's what makes it more interesting.
Enjoy the forum and don't condemn someone because they are less informed than you.

Bob

[summerkid]

Wow.

[Pick]

Well, I don't know about all this other stuff you guys and gals are talking about, but could someone please tell me if it's ok to run my propane fridge while I'm driving down the road.

[GlenCoombe]

Geeze..... I just couldn't resist inserting my 2 cents worth... and why isn't there a cent symbol on the key board?
While I agree with both sides of this issue I also agree with Summerkid and some of his comments.
New and old members of this forum at times do not "read for content" and ask questions that are already posted in the thread they pose their questions to.
This is a human foible we just have to live with.
It is somewhat sad that we've grown to such a size that current day posts go by so fast that we miss them not being on the Portal.
I for one would suggest a longer Portal page to keep up with the times.... Just my humble opinion....(written out for those who don't get the short forms of the intenet)

[ALANSD]

When I first went to buy a used F250 diesel in June, I joined and read a number of forums on these, so I could first learn what to buy and what to look out for, then some basic maintenance issues were sought out. I also used members here for that info.
Well, three months in ,and I am rarely visiting the POwerstroke Forum or the Dieselmann pages. Not to say that I won't go to them again, I do once in awhile, just the need is not as strong.
Once you get your Airstream, buy it with intelligence ( hopefully) , do some work if needed, and get it on the road, you are not as likely to visit here to get info as often, although you might enjoy the banter.
The floor repair, how do I do this and that, running with the fridge on, and such have been and will continue to be answered.
The "sticky" threads appear at the top of the Forum in the category, and hopefully have a title that will draw in those needing that basic answer.
You know as mods we get emails about the how to post a question and how to post a photo, and where is the button to do this and that, and so on all the time to.

[InsideOut]

Originally Posted by GlenCoombe

I for one would suggest a longer Portal page to keep up with the times....

In architecture, a "Portal" is "an entrance", it's intended to give you an idea of what's inside. I think the same is true here...
Use the "New Posts" button, every post since your last visit will pop up.

Shari

[ALANSD]

I also like to check the subscribed threads in quick links, to see who has responded to a thread I posted in.
Its impossible to sit here and read everything posted..you would have no time to do any Airstreamin'

[summerkid]

Originally Posted by Pick

Well, I don't know about all this other stuff you guys and gals are talking about, but could someone please tell me if it's ok to run my propane fridge while I'm driving down the road.

Pick, I say go for it! See what happens! Report back! Be sure to start a new thread!

[JimGolden]

The flip side to this (and I didn't read through all of the postings in this long thread) is that maybe somebody doesn't want to spend three days reading every single posting related to the word "axle" or some other search. Rather, they ask their own specific question. I've no beef with that.

I myself spent weeks wading through the postings about "sag" and "separation" until it finally made sense. Truth is, two paragraphs would completely describe the phenomonen. However, I bet I read at least 200 posts talking about the subject(s) one way or another.

I always do a search on a topic before asking the question. But, it's often difficult and convoluted to get an answer to your specific question. So, I don't hammer the "newbies" too hard. I was one myself just a year ago

[summerkid]

Nope, let's not hammer the newbies. But let's continue to put our heads together on how to make the site as dynamic as possible, for the good of all.

[InsideOut]

We were ALL newbies at one time or another. Why can't today's newbies have as much fun asking questions as we did? They are just as excited about thier discoveries as we all have been...

Sounds like the lifeboat phenomenon if you say newbies can't ask questions until they read everything already posted...just because it was posted "first" doesn't make it better ~

Shari

[summerkid]

I must have expressed myself poorly. If so, would Shari et al please inform me at which point I implied a desire to curtail participation in the forum---by ANYONE? Let the newbies post away!

My concern is FOR the newbies, not BECAUSE of them. ALL I SUGGESTED WAS A PROMINENT SEARCH BUTTON. I can't imagine that it's great fun to post questions while your excitement is at its greatest, only to have no one participate in your thread because they can't bring themselves to regurgitate the same basic issues.

[2airishuman]

hey summer kid,

i don't have a dog in this fight...honest.

but who you are concerned for has changed from post #1 to #38, your words not mine...

the problem i see in this thread progressing is 2 or 3 or 5 fold...

1. we need a tutorial on using the search feature and a couple of simple examples for folks to review.
why not cook this up for us?
sure highlighting the search may make it more obvious, but those that don't know how are gonna go there get frustrated and leave...
also the highlighted features here change from time to time...air stickers, the forum map, air numbers, new members first posts and so on...

2. the search function is not google quality...whatever that is.
improving how search works seems like a big issue...as in software upgrade o my god we loss 90% of the posts i've fallen and can't get up!

3. starting a new thread now is pretty not obvious.
occasionally i get pms from folks asking
'how do i start a thread' or how do i put a picture up, or how do i change my user info,
so lots of smart people struggle with the basic issues...
memberhship IS climbing, but participation beyond just a few posts is still a very small percentage of members...
posting needs to be easier...

did you see this graph b'cup produced? posting REALLY drops off after the first few 100 members...

http://www.airforums.com/forum...6&d=1154132381


4. people do come and go....
once you have said your piece on some issue 2-5 times...
maybe it is best to let someone else take a shot, or find a new issue to post on...

5. blogs, edits and monitors...lots of folks start blogs and stop posting.
many are bothered when their posts get edited
or that witty story they posted 3 years ago vanishes, or threads get locked...and so on.

6. you need to go camping...
how about the northern illinois rally. i am gonna try and go to it!

cheers
2air'

[summerkid]

not surprising; my sex also changed between posts #1 & #30.