Thread: General Question and Answer Database Idea

Still the biggest problem is that few read stickies. Even if they are in bold and highlighted with flashing neon arrows everyone thinks their problem is unique and just starts their own thread.

On another board, one about German Shepherds, that my wife administers she actually has a collection of basic information articles saved that she pulls up changes the names then posts, over and over again. These answer the basic questions and she get amazing compliments for her "thoughtful, insightful" posts.

OK i've spoken to joe and i'll put my hand up as a volunteer help make this work. I would like to suggest that seeing as it was the example I used one of the first questions should be 'Why is my new 'shave-ready' razor not shaving me properly?'

If you have any ideas on other regularly asked questions please let me know in this thread or by PM.

Oh and joe, how do I start a sticky thread? And which category would you like it started in?

I see what you mean. not all of the thread, just that one post, so say how sharp should my razor be, and then the best post in the lot is nominated, then once cleaned up by all, moved to the main sticky that contains all these threads. then all one has to do in answering a question is link them to that thread or tell them were to find it.

Phil

Originally Posted by floridaboy

I see what you mean. not all of the thread, just that one post, so say how sharp should my razor be, and then the best post in the lot is nominated, then once cleaned up by all, moved to the main sticky that contains all these threads. then all one has to do in answering a question is link them to that thread or tell them were to find it.

Phil

Yep... that's it! And eventually, when the sticky is bulging with many posts of good info, it would probably get distilled into a FAQ (which might still be posted as a sticky, or could be moved somewhere more obvious).

Originally Posted by Wildtim

Still the biggest problem is that few read stickies.

Wildtim, I hear ya... people just find it easier to ask than to read and search. But I also believe that once a newbie, for example, is pointed to such a sticky, they'll likely read the whole thing and not ask questions that are covered there.

I can tell you that many of our members no longer visit the forums because they refuse to wade through all the repetitive posts. If we don't do something to alleviate that issue, the more senior people will continue to just sorta "disappear".... not because they are no longer using str8s, nor because they've had a tiff with SRP... they stop because they're tired of reading the same things day in and day out. In fact, the Newbie forum was created for two reasons... primarily to provide a place where newbies would feel comfortable asking basic questions and secondarily, to provide a place where newbies could congregate so that more seasoned members could discuss higher level topics without having to contend with a lot of entry level questions. (In fact, at one point there was a proposal to exclude members without a certain number of posts from even having access to the restoration forum... but since number of posts a member has isn't a measure of their competency and knowledge, it was never seriously considered.)

OK Joe, Give a hint were you think these threads would best be started. I think here Would be the best place, or a sub section all it"s own if that is possible. The other thing would be getting the more experienced members to contribute. I now think this would be a good move, you might also need a primary mod, so that it can be controlled, Monitored, and threads moved, but that Mod will need help, as this may be allot of reading.

Phil

I'd guess we'd start out by nominating posts in existing threads in existing forums. That will begat sticky thread(s) in those forums where the approved posts are ultimately transferred. Once that's all working we can attack better organizations and perhaps a more centralized concept.

So, to start off I'd envision someone posting in an existing thread something like "I think so-and-so's post on thus-and-such is pretty good information... it ought to be made a sticky in (for example) the FAQ sticky in this forum (or whatever name/forum is pertinent)".

It's perfectly acceptable for someone to start a new thread with a post of such info and nominate it themselves... either way, discussion will ensue in that thread and the people who participate in the thread will refine the info and decide when they're satisfied that it's sufficiently "approved" to move to the sticky. Sandy will help guide the discussion and formating of the information to be moved and ultimately get it moved.

All right Sandy, With the give away I don't have allot of time, but I'll give you a hand. Start your thing and let me know how I can give you a hand. That is if Lynn doesn't mind.

Phil

there's already a couple stickies in the newbie forum with a lot of good info in them. the problem is the threads weren't locked, so the "crispness" of the information isn't evident due to having to filter though the other posts. One get started approach might be to nominate some/all of the info from one/both of those stickies to form a new sticky called, eg, FAQ (or whatever). That will get the ball rolling and everyone familiar with how it's going to work. We can always modify the process as we go if things aren't working right.

I am what you would call: an informed newbie. In the past few months I've read a vast amount of posts in numerous threads on this forum. The information is indeed all present, most topics are addressed over and over again. Many questions are answered by different people contradicting each other. To produce a "Straight shaving FAQ", that can offer clear answers that won't confuse a newbie will be a very difficult task.
What you guys need, IMHO, to accomplish that task is a "Straight Razor WIKI". A wiki, as most of you know, is a tool for creating content on the WEB, that's being created my multiple authors. Wikipedia is the best known example of course, but it is also possible to create wikis about niche activities like straight razor shaving.

But even with a good wiki, there will be so much conflicting information present, that beginners will need personal guidance. What we newbies in fact need is a tutor-apprentice relationship. We need guidance by someone with a consistent vision and methods that work well together and lead to succesful shaving with a straight razor. Shaving is a craft. It should be passed along by people, not learned out of books, or through internet articles. Not every tutor would pass along the same methods, but that's okay. There always comes a time that an apprentice becomes well versed enough to start figuring out his own individual way. That's when true craftsmanship starts.

I also think that it would be much more rewarding for the experts on this forum to play a tutoring role with a beginning shaver, than witnessing time and time again how your posts wash away in oblivion, as they age rapidly on this forum, and how the valid information that your answer posed to a particular question gets diluted by other equally valid answers in the same thread, made by other experts that have a different opinion on the matter. I have been reading large threads that left me more confused after I read them than before. I've also read numerous old posts that contained answers leading to only more questions. A wiki, nor FAQ, will solve that problem. Only interaction with a real person, a tutor, can fill that gap.

Just my opinion,
Bart.

+3, +1 for each paragraph

I still like the FAQ idea, even though I don't think I'll agree with everything said, even in a FAQ.