yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III Windows Mobile ROM De] Martincyborg@gmail.com:
reading the answers of the mods, there seems to be a rather helpful and relaxed attitude among the moderators. I like that a lot. However, for those of us, like me who try to spend some time every week answering those questions I can (which is not always much), it gets harder and harder to actually contribute since the threads are getting longer, more clogged with repetitive q's and people have less respect for reading. It would be much easier to contribute for everyone if we imposed some kind of reward/punishment system that jewcookie suggested.
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III Windows Mobile ROM De] Jewcookie:
What i mean by the bad spelling button is people talking in MSN language, not people who don't speak English very well because it's not their main language (like me :P) make small spelling mistakes.

It really irritates me to read a post that you first have to decrypt before understanding what is said.

Like this thread should get rated bad spelling:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=371244

About the Banned people forum.. Yeah, you're right. It sucks :D
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III Windows Mobile ROM De] Martincyborg@gmail.com:
that thread was hilarious. I laughed my panties off! :D
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III Windows Mobile ROM De] :
This thread is redundant. People always complaining. Look come in the site look for what you want to look for and if you see a thread that bothers you ignore it. Use the Search feature so you can avoid looking at "redundant threads" who cares..

It's just like the people who started to complain about video drivers once one person bought it up. I have no complaints with video drivers. Geez get a grip people
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III Windows Mobile ROM De] _Alex_:
This thread was meant as a suggestion thread for what can be changed by the admins/mods.

As for what *WE* can do, I believe P1Tater, Jarek91, Alltheway myself and others have found another way to deal with the other redundant threads, as evident with our last couple of posts. :D

We still will be helpful and disseminate information, but with some playful berating in size 4+ fonts (and other creative ways) at the lazy thread creator's expense. We're still getting used to this idea, so alot of seniors will be contributing unfriendly HAHAHAs, but eventually we'll be keeping our laughter private and just let the thread die like it should have in the first place...

edit2: OH, and by linking these redundant threads back to the parent thread, we're actually HELPING google search results too, since google works on how many pages are LINKED to the original page for search order...
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III Windows Mobile ROM De] mcmexican:
I agree :D
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III Windows Mobile ROM De] jarek91:
Glad to be of service :D

I've tried other ways of getting their attention but so far nothing has worked. I don't really hold out much hope of this working either. Short of writing a program that will telepathically figure out what you want and take you to the answer, then read the answer to you while it performs the necessary steps so all you really have to do is sorta almost kinda think about what you want...this will continue to be an issue to a greater or lesser degree...and trust me, even then you'd have some people griping because they'd have to actually think about what they want to get it. :rolleyes:
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III Windows Mobile ROM De] mcmexican:
I think dutty has that program in his cab repository. :D

-McMex
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III Windows Mobile ROM De] Pops_G:
After seeing that video that is linked in the sticky about forum posting, I got an idea.

I might make a short video (5mins) covering the top 10 Questions/Problems. People are most of the time too lazy to read, but if their is a video they will watch it without hesitation.

I noticed doctajay did this for cooking topics. Perhaps we can expand on this.
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III Windows Mobile ROM De] aes512:
The sub-forums obviously need better structure. Right now it looks like this:

Kaiser

Kaiser upgrading etc.

Kaiser accessories

The 'etc' is the downfall of this forum... there needs to be further organizational effort to prevent clutter in one or another sub-forum.

Heavier moderation is also needed, with a possible 'Idiot's Corner' for those that cannot follow a stricter set of guidelines for posting (i.e. asking a quesion that has been answered 1237613847 times.

Garbage in = garbage out :cool:
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III Windows Mobile ROM De] afavre:
Here is a way to fix the problem.

1) Quit being so arrogant

2) Make it right the first time so it doesn't break people's phones.

3) Spend less time being a jack to new people that are trying to get a starting point and simply link them or point them in the right direction.

I don't expect your software to be perfect as I have NO comptence for creating roms. However, you expect ALL questions and threads to have a perfection and elegance that many of the cooked roms have yet to achieve. Do you see the rub here? I am sure it angered many of you the way I made point 2 above just as your terse response anger many just seeking help.

People spend more time being a-holes and figuring out smart ass ways to not answer questions when they could simply answer the question and get on with the stuff that really interests them.

I will say this again folks - the SEARCH SUCKS! If it worked right, people would quit asking AS MANY dumb questions.

I appreciate everyone that has been tolerant but short with me, that is to be expected. I expect people to be a-holes on gaming sites, but I didn't expect as much of that as I have seen here.

Didn't you all start somewhere? Yes, I quit asking as many dumb questions since I too have read the wikkies and TRIED to search the forums with the built in search and Google. I also asked fewer dumb questions after flashing my first rom.

I may have no right as a junior member, but from a semi-literate and semi-techie outsider looking in, a LOT of energy is wasted being condescending and prickish. If I get banned for the feedback, I guess I will have to lurk.
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III Windows Mobile ROM De] MikeChannon:
Typical Noob thinks he knows it all!!:D (Joke by the way)

A lot of sense in your post. Yes, the Site perhaps has become a little confused as it has evolved. It's beginings were that of skilled developers in a pretty exclusive site seeking ways to get the most from their devices in the absence of support and development taking place elsewhere. Of course now we have several thousand members and the proportion of skilled developers is a small percentage compared with the original near 100%.

So are we a teaching or a development site. The practice is we are both, but we also quite like a rules free atmosphere as much as possible. So as you say there are then problems of data storage systems and retrieval methods. Search is only as good as your knowledge on what to search for as you stated.

It is only one or two fora that really suffer the problems that this Forum does. Others have far fewer regular members and things are consequently much more relaxed. This forum will calm down in later months and threin lies the problem. There is likely a reluctance to radically change things structurally as many of the issues are temporary and often limited to one or two fora only. Psychology has a large part to play as well. If the atmosphere is light and members are enjoying themselves then generally the reception Noobs get will be much more relaxed. The very busy fora, I have noticed tend to have waves of discontent followed by periods of good natured helpfullness.

It might be convenient for the fora to have better structure, tutorials, beginner sections etc. However although we are a popular site we operate with one Admin caring for the day to day running of the site and 30 moderators (and perhaps only 1 / 2 or none are online at any one time. despite that and our moans and groans many folk still say they enjoy being here and clearly the membership figures show we are one of the most popular fora of our kind. (I guess we are doing something correctly)

_Alex_ made some observations earlier that if you see something needing doing, improving the wiki say, or writing a guide for this or that then don't expect some mysterious backroom person to deliver it - go ahead and try doing it yourself. Good advice I say, and it's in keeping with the history of the site as a membership self help site. No-one should therefore expect anything without giving back in some way according to ability. Of course that may well be in the shape of helping a Noob without flaming, name calling or demeaning them. If you feel a noob is very "green" then pointing them to some advanced flashing thread is as shabby a behaviour as giving them an instant dismissal.

I think folk should keep in mind "GotTilt's" points about Noobs and searches. You cannot always search sensibly if you do not have the knowledge of the words/language to search for. We must accept and be happy to accept that there will be repeats of the same question and it's not worth the rise in blood pressure to get worked up about it. Different though if the noob is plainly lazy and demanding.

Mike
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III Windows Mobile ROM De] GotTilt:
On perhaps a more "action item" related note, I've thought of one thing that would really help users like me get up to speed.

How about a glossary?

Nothing fancy -- just the essential definitions. For tech savvy users with no knowledge of cell phones, a glossary would be a godsend. It would provide a quick translation of XDA jargon for those who have the skills, but in other areas. And it should significantly reduce frustrating searches like "cab." Can't remember if the wiki has one -- if so, maybe a sticky that links to the wiki glossary. No need to specify it's the wiki. Just send 'em there. :-)
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III Windows Mobile ROM De] _Alex_:
Instead of thinking positive and contributing manner, you decide to lash out upon the community. If you're going to offer your opinion, never post anything negative, as this is all being provided for FREE. Keep your negativity in your own life and don't spread it to these free-to-use user contributed forums.

If you're going to ask questions, do it in a way that contributes to the whole, not with redundant threads asking the same question as hundreds of others just to satisfy your own selfish needs immediately, when you yourself know the solution can be found by reading.

You should learn from those who contribute, as this entire FORUM is populated with people who have selflessly contributed to the community, whether they are n00bs or not. These are the people that I'd be proud to see continuing to proliferate on this forum.

Anyone else can be banned, flamed or completely ignored.

On a lighter note, I prefer flame-broiled over mesquite BBQ brickets on gas :D
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III Windows Mobile ROM De] MikeChannon:
Perhaps something like this?

http://xdaforums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=265

Mike
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III Windows Mobile ROM De] GotTilt:
Yes, only easier to find. "Encyclopedia" implies a large collection of articles. You wouldn't seek out an encyclopedia just to look up what "contumelious" means.

FWIW, I am trying to be helpful. :-) I'm suggesting the very fact that core users feel they have to repeatedly answer the same questions, by providing links to well-established resources, may point to a more systemic problem than just lazy newbies who need their privileges curtailed.

gt
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III Windows Mobile ROM De] :
I hate when I open a thread some dude asks a questions and some jackass responds with "this has already been covered search for it" I agree with some people here. Provide a link and you'd solve many problems. Yes I know it's redundant to provide a link everytime but face it, it's just as redundant as the jobs we have to do everyday. Same crap different toilet
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III Windows Mobile ROM De] P1Tater:
Those comments wouldn't occur if some would simply do a search. If you don't like the search provided in this forum, then use Google. I have no problem whatsoever searching for anything I am looking for in here. Most people don't realize, it could be their search terms that are causing their problems, not the search function itself. Mikechannon (sorry if I spelled it incorrectly) already solved most of the search issues with

THIS

nifty little thread. If people would use it, most of these "that has already been answered now please search" comments wouldn't even be seen.
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III Windows Mobile ROM De] _Alex_:
Sorry to hear your job is redundant. I have a different opinion on life than you do. As stated earlier in this thread:

edit: As also stated earlier, I find people who start new threads for questions that have been asked to be extremely selfish. Why? Because these people believe that they're entitled to an immediate answer, hence the new thread. They need to understand to read first and ask questions later.

Now let's continue to keep the negativity out of this thread and please offer suggestions that will help the community.
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III Windows Mobile ROM De] tomsenna:
Ouch...

It's clear that much of the discontent is due to the changing expertise of the participants. There is a huge gap between the "developers" and some of the more recent new people. I've noticed a number of people seem like they might be challenged technically to program a VCR (no offense intended and perhaps a slight exaggeration) and others ask for quick results because they're in a panic fearing dire consequences for thier beloved phone. I think it's a bit harsh to paint with such a broad brush and say they are selfish or lazy.

When Alex started this thread I had hopes that this could help make some strides to change some fundamental problems. Maybe next time.
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III Windows Mobile ROM De] Jewcookie:
Of course this thread is going the way again it always go when the topic is on the table.

Instead of talking about a solution: REDUNDANT THREADS - What can we do about it? its going about why people find it anoying that people open these threads and should use the search button. (This is also discussed numerous of times)

I say lets skip this conversation "again" and talk about the solution...
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III Windows Mobile ROM De] unwired4:
I maintain the solution is to avoid 200 page threads! No wonder noobs start their own - even with a superb search function the forum cannot make allowances for the fact that some people call their voicemail notification "the answerphone icon" etc etc

A simple wiki "solutions" page for each device would help. For example:

Kaiser

Problem

sms/email opens at bottom of message

Caused By

Dpad browser navigation enabled

Solution

Disable dpad navigation with kaiser tweak
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III Windows Mobile ROM De] DaveShaw:
Hopefully this has not been covered before (In which case this will be a redundant post) :D.

Has any one else used the MSDN forums. There you can ask questions and people respond as usual. If they answer your question you can mark the post as an "Answer". If the post was helpful then there is an option to mark the post as helpful (even if it isn't the answer).

Here is a simple thread of mine:

http://forums.microsoft.com/MSDN/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=2716451&SiteID=1

I asked and he answered and he was helpful. So I marked the second post as the answer and helpful.

Each user appears to gain recognition points for the number of helpful posts / answers and from that the gain stars.

I am not sure if this is possible within vBulletin. Upto Flar and Peter to look into if desired.
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III Windows Mobile ROM De] stainlesspc:
Sub forums would be a good ides, broken up in to specific areas, 6.0 ROM, 6.1 ROM, Splash, Radio, ect.

True, the search is not perfect and some things are hard to find without the magical combination of search terms.

Hell I have been guilty of searching and searching and then finally postingbecause I could not find what I needed and POP P1Tater (love ya man) blasts in and blows you away with some sarcastic blast and points you in the right direction.

Perhaps a help to this would be better more though out thread titles insted of HELP STUCK or OMG What did I DO.

Also It seems to be a universal truth that someone can post a reply to a thread with a comment and then add a couple of questions.

Then the reply pretty much without fail forgets the second question

A restriction on noobs posting and starting threads is also a good idea

Plus on a sarcastic note, since that is what I do :)

Shouldn't this thread be in just "Kaiser" and not in "Kaiser upgrading etc." ?

But then most of us do not frequent there much as I mostly stay here :)

All this being said I bgree with P1Tater's second option :)

My standard answer at the office is SHOOT someone the rest will fall in line or leave :)
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III Windows Mobile ROM De] DaveShaw:
If we are going to go for the sub-forum idea, may I make a suggestion?

Would it be possible to have a "All Children" view onto all sub-forums. Much like the "New Posts" menu option, but just limited to the Parent and it's children. Call this Kaiser all (or something similar).

This way those in the know (P1, ATW, and to a lesser extent, myself, to name but a few) can view all the new threads / posts easily, and then reply with the answer. (Or flame them to death for not reading the stickies and wiki's). :D:D
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III Windows Mobile ROM De] afavre:
You are correct. I don't want to be negative and will refrain from doing so. However, that being said, the people that "own the boards" ie: the senior members also need to heed your advice to me. Very accurate and spot on, but how often have you been on the receiving end of the "hey stupid, already posted in another thread" comment? I do read, search, etc. but NEITHER search option works well (built in or google).

As a junior member, I am getting less negativity from senior members as I am learning. However, I am learning because some senior members have actually taken the time to "help" as opposed to being an ass to me. However, they are the exception and not the norm.

Once again, I REALLLLLLY appreciate the work here. I was a little abrasive because I wanted to make a point and now I will go back to watching, learning, and, when I am REALLY stuck and can't find it in search, will post my redundant thread and hope I don't get my hind end handed to me by someone who wants to show me how much smarter they are than me when it comes to the mobile phone world.

Thanks for the advice and again, I am learning from some of the more tolerant people such as yourself. :D
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III Windows Mobile ROM De] afavre:
You are right about the working on the search terms a little to get an accurate result out of the search engines. I will tell you, though, I simple topic search such as Opera Browser, Opera CAB, etc., is still very difficult to find what one is looking for using google or built in search.

I am no newb when it comes to searches and this just doesn't work well here. It is BETTER with google and is VERY good if you know the right way to ask the question. However, for the new members, we sometimes don't know the right question to ask. Also, the explanations don't always clear it up as well as you might think. Once one has flashed their phone, has figured out how "in depth" the concepts are on this site (hard spl, not hard spl, unlock the SIM, can the phone be unlocked, etc.), it gets easier and you ask less stupid questions.
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III Windows Mobile ROM De] tomsenna:
Eureka!

How about the three of you have an online meeting (invite a few other key people if you need/wish), make a list of the top "x" issues to address, decide on the solutions that are reasonable given the constraints, get the mods blessing (or whatever), then just do it! If not these brave souls, then pick some others.

Many problems and excellent ideas have been noted, especially

this one

. Talk is good, but action makes progress.
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III Windows Mobile ROM De] P1Tater:
sarcasm always grants your wishes.

I agree, the search needs some work, however, your examples are basic. In those instances a search for opera browser 9.5 beta or opera 9.5 cab might yield a little better results especially when using google to search only xda and not the entire internet. However, I still agree that the search engine needs refining but to be honest I wouldn't know where to begin so I will leave that to XDA for further development. Not afraid to say I don't know how when I don't.
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III Windows Mobile ROM De] tomsenna:
Not!

Sorry if something in my message seemed like sarcasm. There was none in my intent. Just want to get to the solutions. Haven't you ever been with a group of people theat couldn't make up thier collective mind on where to go eat or whatever. Somebody, has to say "this is what we are doing". Once that happens, even if it isn't the final decision, it facilitates the decision. That's the goal.
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III Windows Mobile ROM De] P1Tater:
I apologize then and yes I get that everytime I try to go out to eat with my wife. I get the "I don't care" and then when I make a decision I get the "I don't like that" or "I really don't want that tonight". Damn, never ending battle. LOL. What a pain in the arse.:D
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III Windows Mobile ROM De] _Alex_:
As stated, there is only one admin, so one of the higher priorities is conversion to mediawiki. Anything else beyond that still needs to be considered.

In the meantime, the solution lies in our hands. We got a kind nod from Mike yesterday when I mentioned that we'd start teasing the n00bs so they'd stop posting redundant threads. Hopefully it will start working and we'll have less repeat offenders (like Lil_Omi, with 2 threads in two days, both redundant and soon to have both locked).

Help make the wiki more robust and teach a n00b how to READ (while charbroiling him for creating a redundant thread :D)
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III Windows Mobile ROM De] tomsenna:
How about just one more thing added to the message then?

The person that opens the thread with the question MUST go back and EDIT the original message/question, refine the problem description and add the final solution.

Something like this...

-------------------------- Begin silly example --------------

My sound doesn't seem to work, please help me. I'm using a ROM by HalfBakedHarry.

PROBLEM SOLVED:

Description:

After loading HalfBakedHarry's HTC Version 666, no sounds were working. Other symptoms included, no reception, no BT.

Solution:

Used a compatable HTC radio instead of the AT&T radio that was still in there.

For more information read the following thread(s)

Thread1, thread 2, blah...

-------------------------- End silly example --------------

Just imagine how easy it could be to find an answer.
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III Windows Mobile ROM De] P1Tater:
not a bad idea at all.
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III Windows Mobile ROM De] _Alex_:
It does sound like a great idea to have a problem/solution in each thread, especially in the first post.

Problem is, how do we convince a selfish new thread posting n00b into doing this? More than likely we'll need to do it before asking a mod to close the thread.

Either that, or we start implementing behavior modification software (using high pitched audio sounds, cooked into the ROM of course), but if we could do that, couldn't we just modify their redundant thread posting behavior in the first place? :D
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III Windows Mobile ROM De] XtreMe_G:
dutty has a cab for that
[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III Windows Mobile ROM De] P1Tater:
that in there lies the problem with the idea. I don't really see how we can implement making someone apply the solution to their original post. but it's a good notion nonetheless.