forced to search before allowed to post new thread?

[Snarfler]

give a man a fish, feed him for a day.
Teach a man to fish, he'll spend all weekend in a bar talking about the big one that got away.


Try to be patient. for some, this may be their first forum experience and don't know any better. for some, the sheer volume of content may make searching ineffective.

It can be frustrating but if you don't want to help the noobs just skip over their threads. That way, ill be able to answer all the easy repeat questions and jack up my post count.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[excess]

considering ... the suck of forum software search functions....searching (especially on a forum this size) is horrible and anti-user friendly. Imagine for a moment that you are not the founding members of Mensa that your words proclaim you to be. Now imagine that you bought your first blackberry and some blackberry snob says you have to check out crackberry (usually the only useful advice a blackberry snob has). Blah Blah blah yadda yadda ya.
Moral of the story have you tried to search i mean pretend you suck at the internet and type in what seems a logical search. You get 20 pages of 50 page threads full of "use the search" comments instead of answers, daily lame stories by some jester, anti-rim rants by brilliant but geeky man-haters, links to where the blackberry bad boys get banned to and yes eventually the answer to a question you no longer care about.

But this is all forums and not an assault on crackberry just a statement on the price you pay for info......my advice google "(enter search term)site:www.crackberry.com" or Google Toolbar

[SilvioBenussi]

Originally Posted by Snarfler

give a man a fish, feed him for a day.
Teach a man to fish, he'll spend all weekend in a bar talking about the big one that got away.

The analogy I've already posted is an analogy.
I liken searching for solutions similar/akin to knowing to wipe your *** before you get up from the toilet seat, not after.

Originally Posted by Snarfler

Try to be patient. for some, this may be their first forum experience and don't know any better. for some, the sheer volume of content may make searching ineffective.

Communication is KEY.
It is quite disheartening when I see people with
-No Communication
-Zero Initiative
-No Motivation/Drive All under the predisposition: that they don't know any better? This is an illusory false positive.
-If you can truly believe in your mind, body and soul that these people who DO possess the efficacy to properly register to this site (having to enter information via their keyboards) filled with mouse-clickery, YET somehow, they (according to you) don't have the same efficacy to SEARCH before hand.....what does that tell you?
-It tells me it hasn't occurred to them that these questions have NEVER been asked before as if their unique thoughts have never been thought or realised.

Originally Posted by Snarfler

It can be frustrating but if you don't want to help the noobs just skip over their threads. That way, ill be able to answer all the easy repeat questions and jack up my post count.

Blaming people serves no useful purpose.
I'd prefer to convey my feelings another way:
I appreciate the illegal immigrants that are in this country, they are major contributors to this economy, BUT I dislike the way they inhabit this country.
They did it wrong, did not follow protocol...*some* are even stealing from the system and take advantage of its programs, or don't even contribute to it period.
I don't hate them, just what they have done. (The ones who did not follow the rules) It is the same thing here. I don't think newbs here are in the same league as an Illegal immigrant, BUT the parallels are uncanny.

Helping yourself shows integrity, and independence.
Helping (in your eyes is giving the answer)
Helping (in my mind is SHOWING the answer) without giving it away.

IN all actuality, YOU are doing a disservice to those who simply need a nudge in the right direction.

Simply put: GOOGLE.com is a search engine that works.
You don't need to search via Crackberry, because Google.com (as you may have guessed) IS a website.

[Gelaarrenia]

I want to say it is a superb forum, found here many interesting topics, and some answers I looked for since few months and now I found this site and can say, why I didn`t found it earlier ...
Anyway, hope you will not angry on me if I will ask to much. (:

[BerryWriter]

I am annoyed by the posts that ask the same questions over and over again too. Honestly though I really don't think anything will fix the situation because there will always be people who are too lazy to search and want to be spoonfed. It's a problem on every forum it seems and there just doesn't seem to be a solution. When I see the 100th post about the 552 error, BB App World update icon, etc, I get highly irritated but I have learned to grit my teeth and move on to the next thread.

BTW, about the "friendly" PM's from moderators when you post telling someone to search, well I have received two from two different mods. Both were extremely rude and included threats of a ban. After the second one I replied to the mod and was ignored. I also contacted the forum manager and he ignored me too.

I understand moderating is a tough job-I do it for MTV! I also understand that it's not acceptable to be rude to other members. I just think the PM that gets sent when someone replies "do a search" (no matter how politely its said) should be softened. It appears to be a form message but its tone is very offensive, at least it was to me. Yes we members need to be nice to each other, even the noobs but the mods don't have to be rude when issuing warnings.

Oops, sorry to go off track, but it is related!

[312]

The powers that be will never change it. Reason why:

More threads=more pages
More pages=more advertisements
More advertisements=more money

[pjurbina]

that is all this site has come down to: money and the mean police trying to hush the people that have been loyal to this site.

i even complained to the big guy himself KM nothing was done. it's just a money making machine.

[rippedvanwinkle]

What if there was a dropdown box on the new thread page that had keywords, like trackball, screen, email, battery, water, bricked, etc that you would have to click on before you could pose your question? When clicked, it would then say something like "there are 57 trackball threads, would you like to go there?" Y/N. THEN you could pose your question. You would have less repitition, and you may have less titles like, "HELP!!!!!"
"WTF??", or "Desparate!!". Each title would have a keyword before the question. It would be totally congenial with none of this 'saerch it yourself' cr@p. It would be a lot more inviting. Just a thought...

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Kevin Michaluk]

Originally Posted by pjurbina

that is all this site has come down to: money and the mean police trying to hush the people that have been loyal to this site.

i even complained to the big guy himself KM nothing was done. it's just a money making machine.

ouch! that hurts. LOL.. i **wish** it was a money making machine. that would be swell.

Re: Search. We're going to get a plugin installed for this. We recently did a forum upgrade that brought us up to a newer version that allows us to use some better plugins. There's a good one that does a search as you're creating a new thread that shows similar existing threads. You can see it in action already over at precentral.net. try it out! we just have to test out that it doesn't slow down our forums if we implement here (we have a more complicated installation) and then we'll get that live. will help things out.

Re: Site in general. I'm actually in the process of working on re-writing our forum rules and a few policies. I agree that some changes need to be made. Some things are overtly strict that don't need to be (they were put in place a long time ago because they had to be, but I think from experience now we can better deal with things). So stay tuned for that. I think 2010 will be a great year for the site. Our 3 year anniversary is coming up in February. I've learned a lot over the past couple of years of growth. Every day is a bit different, but I think now we can really keep things going smooth and good for everybody. I think all will be happy with the changes.

pjurbina - re-send me your message. want to make sure i read it/got it. i still have a bunch of emails to catch up on (PMs i take forever to get to so always email). wish i could reply/act quicker on every msg i get but i get flooded.

thanks for the patience all.

Kevin

[username0001]

I just saw the new option when I posted a thread. Very nice. I think it will be very helpful to new users when they first come to CB and the information seems overwhelming. Will also be nice for those upgrading to new devices and don't want to ask the same questions for the 100th time

[SilvioBenussi]

I recant my previous position:

The option to choose to search will make the Crackberry experience much more enjoyable for members old and new...

Reposts, while redundant aren't done intentionally...
I hope everyone has a Great New Year and concerning a NY resolution:

I plan to help someone first and foremost if I have the answer, and if not direct them in a way which exemplifies tact and diplomacy!

Cheers/

[Tony Bag O Donuts]

Originally Posted by Kevin Michaluk

ouch! that hurts. LOL.. i **wish** it was a money making machine. that would be swell.

Re: Search. We're going to get a plugin installed for this. We recently did a forum upgrade that brought us up to a newer version that allows us to use some better plugins. There's a good one that does a search as you're creating a new thread that shows similar existing threads. You can see it in action already over at precentral.net. try it out! we just have to test out that it doesn't slow down our forums if we implement here (we have a more complicated installation) and then we'll get that live. will help things out.

Re: Site in general. I'm actually in the process of working on re-writing our forum rules and a few policies. I agree that some changes need to be made. Some things are overtly strict that don't need to be (they were put in place a long time ago because they had to be, but I think from experience now we can better deal with things). So stay tuned for that. I think 2010 will be a great year for the site. Our 3 year anniversary is coming up in February. I've learned a lot over the past couple of years of growth. Every day is a bit different, but I think now we can really keep things going smooth and good for everybody. I think all will be happy with the changes.

pjurbina - re-send me your message. want to make sure i read it/got it. i still have a bunch of emails to catch up on (PMs i take forever to get to so always email). wish i could reply/act quicker on every msg i get but i get flooded.

thanks for the patience all.

Kevin

Keep up the good work. It is appreciated.
Everyone have a safe New Year....
Hope 2010 brings the tour 2 in the first quarter

[Sajo]

ok crackberries it my first post and i dont see a way to post a new (thread).most of the tip and tricks wont work for me like accessing the keyboard in landscape mode i press the bb button and wow no keyboard option. what im i doing wrong. please help

[Snarfler]

Originally Posted by Sajo

ok crackberries it my first post and i dont see a way to post a new (thread).most of the tip and tricks wont work for me like accessing the keyboard in landscape mode i press the bb button and wow no keyboard option. what im i doing wrong. please help

Edit - I replied, you ignored my advice and started a new thread anyway.


It can be frustrating at times