Searching "Do a durbs"

Searching

I have a small gripe to make about searching well not so much searching more people saying do a search (I am guilty of it myself )

The problem is people say do a search without even thinking about the answer .

A lot of the questions asked many people don’t actually know the answer if you don’t know anything about what somebody is asking or don’t have anything useful to add (unless of course it is funny ) then don’t post I can see this turning many newbie’s away.

Or if you think a topic has been discussed before don’t just shout do a search actually do the search (as you know how it works! many newbie’s don’t )
Go find a useful link and direct them to it. (like our good old mr UCOF)

A good example of what I am talking about is the public liability insurance skully did just the right thing .

But if you just take a look at all the links John puts up in the following thread most of it is people just being insulting saying things like

Written by: flid

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this has been discussed about a zillion times.

PLEASE run a search!

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Ok that one was ok but I'm sure a lot of the info on this sight may be out of date so just think before you just shout at people.

Thanks

Well said, you saucy bowl of mints.

Listen to the lad, would you all?

*hipthrust*

oh, sorry, was that not helpful? i think a good hipthurst would help a lot of things, but this thread probably isnt one

on that topic, could you please tell me how to make the links like grand master UCOF does? i never bothered to learn. (alternatively, i could DO A SEARCH!) :P

Copy the address you want to link to. lets say home of poi shop

http://www.homeofpoi.com/shop/listItems.php

click the URL button next to the gremlins

paste in your link. call it what you want

LETS GO SHOPPING.....

hear is the same link with a few spaces in so you can see the code

[ url = http : //www . homeofpoi . com / shop / listItems . php ] LETS GO SHOPPING.....[ /url ]

however, I feel that it is useful sometimes for the new ones to learn to do a search, so that they become aware of the vast resources of the site. So while it may not be useful to just say 'do a durbs', it DOES serve a purpose.

Plus, and I know I am guilty of this, people will say to do a search, because they know the topic has been covered previously, but are too busy, or too lazy to find the old thread, whatever the reason may be.

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Or if you think a topic has been discussed before don’t just shout do a search actually do the search (as you know how it works! many newbie’s don’t )

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It is beneficial to tell a new person to do a search, because this way they become aware of the function, which IMO is a great service to HoP, and which they might otherwise be aware of. Not to mention the bandwith that is cutdown from repetitive threads.

And from what I've seen, its not shouting for newbies to do a search, its more making them aware that the service exists.

I'd add more but I'm sliightly inebriated right now

i often feel that it might scare newbies away as well. and i'm guilty of "do a search". great idea!!!

Oooooooo aren't I an Pfffft yeah right

Only telling a newbie "Do a search!" is not all that helpful. They may not know how to search and lets be honest sometimes it's hard to search for things with the search function as it throws up way too many curve balls. This isn't really a fault in the search function more a failure of us HoPpers to make titles relevant to topics in threads and the fact that we go off topic so much (something nearly all of us are guilty of).

It's much easier to search for information if you already know it's there and where roughly you read it before. Hence it is easier for people that have been here a long time to find the right threads for topics people are looking for.

I'm not trying to excuse new members from searching for topics. I'm just trying to point out that if you know there is already a thread on a topic it's easier for you to find than if you don't.

Written by: FireNice

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Plus, and I know I am guilty of this, people will say to do a search, because they know the topic has been covered previously, but are too busy, or too lazy to find the old thread, whatever the reason may be.

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If that is the case of you being to busy don't post at all. There is no nead for 7 people to go into a thread and say "do a search!"

None of us here are perfect and I'm sure most of us will have typed at one time or other "Do a search" but as Minty has pointed out its really not helpful or very welcoming.

wonders off around the forums trying to remember to stay on topic

i get it, so the [url] is basically the same as

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cheers

good thread

as an extra point when you find a thread that is useful, don't forget to rate it.

the ratings make a huge difference to the effectiveness of common searches


cole. x

edit: are the ratings working for anyone at the moment?
i can't see the threads with high ratings at the top of the search results any more and threads i've rated in the past seem to have reverted to unrated again...

Woohoo for Skully and Mint Sauce...

Enable lazy newbies.

Got it.

I believe the point I was trying to make is, while it is on us as older members of the community who know that such threads exist, it is also the responsibility of new people to learn about the search function.

If you've been to the intro section, you can see how, not many, but often enough, you'll get an intro along the lines of "hi i'm new, i've been spinning poi x months". When the template is stickied to the top of the section, oughtn't they know better? When this happens I see people say, look at the template at the top.

Similarly, when newbies post repeated topics, they should be made aware of the search function.

@OWD I actually meant to write search, but seeing how the thread was titled, I leaned towards durbs

(it would be a terrible loss if that phrase died )

@Skully I actually haven't really seen the shouting that you're talking about. The way I interpret it merely informative, sometimes jokingly, but really not the shouting.

That said, I agree that it is useful to provide links, but I also feel that some of the responsibility must be on the initial poster themselves. Isn't that what the sticky put up by Dom is for?

I just think there are better ways to introduce somebody to our lovely forum.

If you do take a look up top there are lots of link buttons and sticky posts very easy to get confused and if not a little overwhelmed by them all.

For example I just joined a unicycling forum as I wanted a bit more info on giraffe unicycles.

So I signed and it was set out similar to hop so I was a bit familure with it, but it was still confusing and hard to find what I wanted. So I put together a post outlining what I wanted to know.

And low and behold the subject had been disused before but instead of just telling me to do a search they where all very helpful giving me advice and pointing me in the direction of the information I needed.

It was this that made me post about our attitude towards newbie’s we are a bunch of snobs!!!
lately it is very rare we actually help people out unless we know them

We have gotten lazy in our old age lol

Many newbie’s may not have been on any forums before been poing for x months and want a bit more info on moves and fuel and stuff and what better way than ask people who might know. If they wanted to search for it and get random information why didn’t they just use google and pass us by hu hu hu
But no the joined up and asked for our advice and what do we do “GO SEARCH LAZY”
how hard would it be for us to just be a bit more helpful in our replies
Even if it is just saying

“This topic has been talked about before there is a search function hear if you follow the link and type in what you are looking for. It may help if you search the first post only as we have a habit of going of topic a bit hear.”

Even better to find the link for them given time they will find there feet and go search for stuff themselves.

I hope to be further inspired by your example of leadership Mint Sauce

(you do realise you've put yourself in it now, don't you.... ? )

Thank you Mint sauce

Personally I reflected this mornign and realised I haven't spent much time in the tech bits of the board because I don't understand much of what goes on in there anymore.

but I know for sure that I could spend more time helping those trying to find a place in our community or those trying to find info...

thanks for the post

I am glad that people told me about searching when I was a newbie cos it has saved me a lot of time. But I think people do need to be told HOW to search. The obvious 'google' search button right at the top is not helpful for searching forums. (The small 'search' links between .main index. and .my home. or IRC and WHo's online. are the ones to use... thanks whoever told me that!)

I usually give people a link to a useful thread when I 'do a durbs' them but in future will make sure I include instructions on HOW to search...

Maybe that would be a useful thing to have in the sticky top post? At the moment it just says 'do it'

so would it help if at the top of all thread sections there was a "how to search" post from the mods? or maybe even an automatic pm when new people register? i'm sure there are many ways to teach people how to search.

Maybe the search page should be the 1st page that comes up when you press the NEW TOPIC button, with a big title at the top saying "have you searched this topic before you post a new thread?"

OOOOH that's a good one!

i vote for that, onmly an extra 20 secs to make sure and will save so much band width.

good idea skul

I liked the big yellow page. But I'm quite positive I was the only one.

What big yellow page?

You gotta be old school.

Elitist snob!

I've done my best to stop yelling at duplicate threaders unless I'm willing to go dig up the old thread and post the link myself. It's just nicer that way. Why would you ask somebody to do something you're not willing to do yourself? Everybody should be shiney and fluffy, then we'd all get along.

YAY!!!!! i just made my first link for somebody

does durbs even exist?
(rhetorical)

i always wondered what that gust of wind was.................

to add more fuel to a 'dead' fire, i just saw this in chat, do we really want to be breeding this?

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Well do a search for me then. it was only a thought... I never get this bother in the discussions forum...

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thoughts?