Starting New Threads !
 

I just read a somewhat blunt response to a thread, telling the poster to search rather than post.
I agree that one should search first.
But why is there such antagonism toward new threads?
Is space limited here or something?

Often when I search, I find a lot of info that does not pertain directly to the question in my mind.
What about when you find a thread that is 2 years old and has info no longer relevant?
What about the times when you find a great thread, but it is 8 pages long, and has drifted way off topic?
Should you just bump it up to the begining, putting it back on topic and hoping we will all read the whole thing? Or should you start another thread, precise and to the point?

just wondering what you all think is the best protocol...

I think you need to search before asking this question. Your answers are probably in the archives. :P
-Joe

Part of the answer you may have given in your question...
That is having scores of threads about the same thing....
When one starts a new thread that is added to what must be waded through for future searchers...

If people KNOW that a subject was well thrashed out (AC,oil,cooling) in the past they are not necessarily going to do the typing all over again.. Larry Bible does some of that in the AC answers... but he also brags about typing a 100 words per minute... most are Much slower than that... and get tired of giving the same answers after a certain number of times...

If a person has really tried to search and still has a question I don't know of anyone that objects to trying to clear it up...and , YES, I think bringing up the best old thread which applies is a good idea.. as it attempts to keep the stuff together...

And sometimes a person knows that a particularly good thread can be found with certain words... like " sweet hot pickles" brings up Austin get together thread..

Most websites have to help make money to survive so posting is for information and for entertainment. It has to be fun to attract customers. I am all for fun, but... It is a Lord of the Flies thing. All of the repetitive posts make searching ineffective. It is a shame to see such a valuable resource get watered-down to the point that it is not useful. There is something about reinventing the wheel in there also.

I just have to guess user's names whose advice I would seek on an issue and use their names in the searches. If they have no posts I am out of luck or have to wade through a bunch of useless repetitive muck to maybe find something useful.

Two year old information on a twenty year old car is mostly pretty close and of course there are exceptions.

I generally use the search function before posting a question. I have found that those of you who have properly "titled" the post makes the search process much easier.

IE:
Bad Post Title: "I need help" "What do I do now?" "AC Question"
Good Post Title: "Upper Ball Joint Problem"

This makes searching for upper ball joint issues much easier, you only need to search titles.

Even Better :
"Upper Ball joint problem 1985 SDL "

IMHO, i think the search on here is pretty poor. lots of threads to read, threads get hijacked to senselessness. (is that a word?)
i get the feeling some of the "oldtimers" think every question is directed to them and they think they have to answer.... if you don't want to answer, ignore it, don't rail at someone for not reading 4 hours of material in the search.
IMHO

Yes, its all about 'signal to noise ratio' as we say. 10 threads about one topic results in more noise than 1 thread about the topic. When searching, you are wading through the noise, to find the signal, the useful topic.

I haven't had to start many threads, yet I've found many answers to my questions by searching. When I found my answer already discussed in the past, I not only got what I wanted (an answer) but I made the next person's search easier by not adding an additional bit of noise to wade through.

If I don't find my answer, and need clarification, a search still helps, because it lets me know what already has been discussed, which I can briefly recap in my new thread, perhaps linking to semi-relevant threads, which will make searching easier in the future, meaning the next person who needs the same response can find my thread, and get all their answers, as well as links to related information.

Also, its important to use lots of keywords in your title and post. I usually refer to my car as a 1982 300TD w123, which lets you find it through many different keywords, all relevant.

Don't be offended if you get a 'Use the search' reply to your thread. If you DID give the search an honest try and didn't get a complete answer to your question, then mention in your new thread some relevant info you DID find, which might help people give you an answer, or clarify something. As usual, you'll find that if you say, "I'm too lazy to search" people will be too lazy to help you. ;)

So anyway, hopefully this little thread (which counts as 'noise' btw) will prevent the creation of extra noise, which will lower the overall noise levels, and make the forum a better place for all. :D

Peace,
Sam

But there is no... never mind :)

There are two sure sure things on this forum -

- Newbies will get flack for bringing up topics that have been discussed. With regards to a 79 300D, what hasn't been discussed? You will get shot down for asking without searching, as well as for searching and not finding. Learn to live with it.

- Gray beards are ornery becuase there's nothing new to discuss beyond the creativity that goes into eBay ads. Seriously, a couple of forum members passed on in 2004. How much more mature can a forum be?

It's New Year's eve so a little noise is okay :)

Sixto
95 S420
87 300SDL

"Don't be offended if you get a 'Use the search' reply to your thread."

Very true... what it means is that they remember that that question was discussed/answered well somewhere and is available for you to find.

Lets look at another factor... lets say that everyone decided to answer a question even though it had been answered just fine in the archives...

Even if it took four hours to find it... that might be WEEKS faster than waiting until everyone with good info on that subject logged on... Many people only stop by every few days.... so if it IS in the archives.... that is the place to find it first......

Sixto, UH OH, I was afraid of that... I have said before I only know about 123's...

Bwahahahahaha..... :D

The age old complaint cause someone dared to say "SEARCH you ninny".

Now seriously folks this age old problem exist in EVERY Bulliton board. We have admit it is hard for a newbie to use the search feature to read about a new to them subject cause they dont know the subject well enough to even know what words to search by.

NEWBIES.... dont give up! After a while of doing this you learn to; search, then read thru some noise, looking not for answers but for new words to search by again. Keep doing this to narrow things down further. After using the process to continue narrowing things down you finally end up with a set of search results that is filled with all you ever wanted to know about the subject but twas afraid to ask.

To help with the newbies asking repeated questions a few forums have developed a very good FAQ/DIY thread that is stuck to the top of the forum. This thread is basically a bunch of links to specific searchs about common asked newbie questions.

Here is two FAQ/DIY threads I made. This one is for WVO newbies Here is another I made for Pirate 4x4's Unimog Fourm This one is no longer updated since Im not the moderator there anymore.

When I was super active over here, I would get tired of answering the same questions about every day, and I can only type about 60 words per minute on a good day, so that can somewhat suck, a bad day like today it's only at about 30 words:eek:. I know that it is sometimes hard to find an answer when doing a search, or don't always have the time to do a search, but still...

I like to talk so I don't mind, but I get tired of the same questons. These cars are pretty simple the same stuff always seems to go wrong. However on some stuff like oil is a perfect example you will get better knowledge by searching.

I think if you know the queston was gone through in the past maybe a quick review and tell the poster to search for further info.

We need an index. If I post the index to the service manual would people post links to threads that cover the topics?

Yeah we do this has been gone over many times, who is going to make it up?

Their should just be a few sticky threads at the top, say W123, W124, W126, W210. People could post with links to good threads.