** No More "Help!" Threads

[agiftcodotcom]

[soap box]

I have not been here long, but I have been here long enough to know that it's really frustrating when people simply post "HELP!" as a main title and "Someone help me" as a sub title. Half the time I skip these threads because they just don't "peak my interest" enough to open them. I am by far no expert when it comes to helping others out, but I like to try when I can and learn when I can't. It just makes it much easier when the problem is clearly stated from the get-go. Hope I don't sound too needy, it just helps :)

[/soap box]

[nrlatsha]

Agreed!

 

At least post a short description of the problem. At least then I know I have an idea of how to help, or what to help with, or I know I have no idea about XXX contrib or something....

[Guest]

I would agree; however, I'm extreemly new here & I need a lot of help! I'll have to remember not to ask directly for help, just to hide it somewhere in my post!

 

B) :D

[Chris Dunning]

Nothing wrong with asking for help, just be informative about what you need help on! Bad topic:

"pleeze help me!"

Good topic:

"I need help integrating Master Products with UltraPics"

 

#1 I'm likely to ignore, because I suspect it's another newbie who should have read the WIKI or searched the forum...#2 I'm likely to at least read because I have experience with both of those contribs.

[agiftcodotcom]

Maybe I was unclear about my topic :D

 

Help topics are fine, but the titles need to be more clear :blink:

[808smokey]

I'm guilty of the "Help!!!!!!" titles. But I stopped that a couple days ago. i found more people actually will read your thread if you put the problem in the title.

 

Just my .02?

[211655]

agreed!

[241]

Can you help me move this to the general chit chat area where it belongs :lol: :blink:

[Aziz]

Well yes, a more attractive title would be:

 

"$1000 If you can solve this problem" , ofcourse Its a joke (they'll find out when they go in :D

 

I do agree that titles have a great effect on the repondents...

 

Peace,

[Chris Dunning]

Except that will get your post deleted for offering commercial services. :)

[bluepony]

It would also be nice if the original post included any recent alterations to the base code, i.e. contributions. Instead of 10 posts later they mention, "Oh I did install {insert contribution name here} right before this problem started. Does that make a difference?"

[agiftcodotcom]

It would also be nice if the original post included any recent alterations to the base code, i.e. contributions. Instead of 10 posts later they mention, "Oh I did install {insert contribution name here} right before this problem started. Does that make a difference?"

HA!!! :D Very true.

[Guest]

I seldom look at topics with the subject of "Help" or "Please help" etc as I subconsciously assume that anyone who would post a title with so little thought put in to it will most likely not have put a whole lot of thought in to finding a solution to their problem via other means, such as searching the forums or using google or checking php.net, mysql.com etc.

[Aziz]

Except that will get your post deleted for offering commercial services. :)

OK...... I Agreee...

 

Keep in mind the limits:

 

title: 50

desc: 30

[johnk]

Guys I have to disagree with you on this one. I find that most "Help.." threads are answered and very quickly at that. The questions are usually from newbies and often but not always pretty basic. Therefore people who want to contribute but baulk at the tougher questions often answer them. I have no problem with that because it takes the strain off the more knowledgable folk.

 

I have the opposite problem. I always specify exactly what I want, yet nobody ever answers my questions. Here's the headers for my most recent request:

 

"Need a persistent cart for casual visitors"?

"Where do I change the cookie values?"

 

Now this ain't a newbie question, yet dozens of readers know what I mean and know the answer. One regular reader who's name I won't mention is an absolute wiz. He reads newbie posts and says "That's a piece of cake" and "I did that in less than an hour" without qualifying his statements. He could answer any of my questions in less than a minute, but for some reason he would rather get involved answering silly or simple questions. I know this guy knows the answer, but why is it that he and others like him won't respond to questions like mine? They can't use time as an excuse because the answer is as simple as:

 

"Look in xxx.php and set the cookie value in xxx."

 

I've answered 50 of those questions already, the last one less than an hour ago.

 

When people see "help", their curiosity often gets the better of them. Once they open the thread it only takes a minute for them to have their say. On the other hand, if you're too specific like me, people who know the answers just read the heading and move on.

 

This is NOT the only forum with this problem - take my word for it.

[burt]

Perhaps it's because the "wiz" didn't see your question? Why not private message him. You might get a response.

[agiftcodotcom]

****

 

Also please, if someone helps you on a thread, answer with a simple "thanks it worked" or "that did not work, any more thoughts?" or something of that nature. That will do 2 things; it will let those wanting to help know that you are/are not set and do/do not need further assistance - and it will let others with the same problem know that that particular solution did/did not work properly.

 

Just a little more of my $.02 ... almost $.03 at this point :D

[Harald Ponce de Leon]

This is NOT the only forum with this problem - take my word for it.

This isn't for most cases, however there are people who post just to show their presence which probably comes down to ego.

 

I am not pointing fingers or complaining about it - such issues are dealt with by the forum rules for the communitys protection and for the moderators protection, and, as you mention, exists in all online communities.

 

I made this posting last year which describes online personalities in an amusing manner:

 

http://www.oscommerce.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=58748

[J2KGTS6]

i'm new here.. but i've posted up 4 times now and have yet to get a responce from anyone.. its frustrating and i've gone through search after search and can't seem to find what i need help with. <_<

[Chris Dunning]

It seems to me that all of your posts have to do with SaleMaker. I don't think many people on the forum have experience with it - there's another guy who's posted repeatedly about it and hasn't gotten any answers. I think the problem is your particular issue, not the forums in this case. I wish I could help you, but I've never used that contribution myself.

[J2KGTS6]

thanks for the response. It is getting frustrating, it seems a lot of people use salemaker and no ones had this problem.

 

part of the prob is i'm not getting access to our server so i can use kind of a fake made up oscommerce site to reinstall salemaker on and re-test it to see if the installation on our client site was messed up. Its bein a pain in my rear. :(

[Chris Dunning]

You can't just create a new store in a seperate directory? On my store, I have a dev folder that's my play space with a copy of the store's files...I try new stuff there, and if it works I copy it to the regular store. I also keep another folder with a fresh copy of osC so I can make sure things work with a blank setup before trying to merge it into my highly modified version. All you really need is ftp (and possibly a second database) to make that work.

[agiftcodotcom]

Me 2.

 

I have http://www.agiftco.com & http://www.agiftco.com/testsite

 

plus I usually have a fresh copy on my personal machine in case I really mess something up.

[johnk]

I don't want to get off topic or make a fuss about it, but I'll be posting only rarely now because I'm finding it more difficult to access the forums in general. Many times when I post I get either an error message or the post hangs. Also this particular forum program has a number of keys that either post your story before you're ready, or sends you back to the forum page without posting. I really don't know what those keys are but I seem to find them regularly.