Mac Kerr wrote on Sun, 16 May 2010 21:20 |
Rick Stansby wrote on Sun, 16 May 2010 22:08 | I want to get honest answers. I don't see the benefit of telling someone to do a search, without pointing out a specific thread that is relevant. I have noticed that you tend to point people towards answers. I have also seen numerous posts that don't address the topic, in favor of insulting the OP and telling him to do a search. I feel that these posts simply increase the noise to signal ratio on this board. I think it should be implied that anyone who asks a question here has tried to search for the answer and failed. It is quicker to ignore a question than it is to reply with no relevant content.
I am talking about the replies that simply state: "This has been discussed a thousand times, do a search." As opposed to replies that say: "This has been discussed before, I found this thread that is relevant (insert link here)"
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This is not a Wiki. It is a discussion forum, and people who drop in to ask a question and expect someone else to do the work of finding it are likely to not get the answer they want. How about the inverse, where the questioner says "These are the threads I've looked through (with links) and I think my question is actually different, for this reason"? That is no more than they are expecting from someone else to solve their problem.
It is tiresome to see the same question get asked over and over with no effort at all to see if the question has already been answered.
Mac
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I'd recommend a compromise, because I agree with both of you. If I saw someone ask a question I knew could be found on the site, I'd probably just post, "This has been covered. Try doing a search for _______."
That way, if they did try to search, but didn't know to use "rack porn", for instance, now they have a good chance of finding it with their own work. If they didn't search, well, I haven't done their work for them, either.