anyone else agree?

Lately iv noticed there are a TON of new members joining the forum every day. Alot more than back when I joined. Which I think is great, the more people recycling, the better off the planet will be. But with all the new members, comes the countless threads of questions that have already been answered time and time again. and not to mention some very frustrated veteran members.

I think if at all possible, some sort of tutorial thread or forum etiquette thread should be created to help the new members. Yes I even looked myself before posting this, but didnt find any real useful threads that explain forum etiquette that are easy to find for new members. Just basic scrap help. Not only would such a thread be helpful, it would help to keep many (and I say this with no disrespect intended) unhelpful and otherwise non necessary threads from cluttering up the forum. (I see lots of them..)

I know the new members mean no harm by posting (what us more experienced members may think) very easily found and simple questions. And again I mean no disrespect, nor am I mad, pissed or in any other way angry. I just think something like a tutorial thread would help newbies figure out the ropes alot quicker and ultimately help them be more productive and make more $$$$$ faster! And keep the old farts happy ;) lol I kid.

Thoughts?

It's going to happen no matter what unless there is an actual block on posting. Here's the thread for newcomers:

http://www.scrapmetalforum.com/intro...ease-read.html

It's increasingly difficult to find what I'm looking for even trying to find threads I've started. Growth can be great for everyone but we are growing so fast who could possibly keep up, when I started only a few new threads a day would pop up, I was also the newest member for several days it seemed. Nowadays its easy to get lostin the clutter. When I first started you could search and find what you wanted (I was a lurker for a while)

I and many others agree. When I do my rants about this I'm not really angry. I just sound that way. I am a, straight up front, person. my intention is to maybe, drive people to the mountains valuable info already here in the archives. I know they can be a pain to search. Maybe they could be organized into categories.

As the economy continues to self-distruct more and more people will be coming, some of them were those who thought a scrapper in the same light as a Carnie or a garbage man, both whom I respect for what they go through each day. Like us Both of those profession either learn their craft and learn it well. If they don't, like us they will loose or get themselves and maybe others hurt or worse.

Thanks for the link. Being new to the forum it is handy to be able to search old topics. I have to agree it is a pain when the same topic or question comes up. Being new I am not offended. In the short time I have been a member it is amazing the ideas and ways to recycle.

I don't really think there's anything wrong with the forum. I was a Senior Member on a different forum at one time and we had the same problem there. It's the same on any forum. I found this site in Sept of 2013 and was able to easily find the FAQ's and also found threads on conduct and introducing yourself. Most of the answers are there if you are willing to to spend a few days, weeks or months searching through all of the information. The main problem is that some people are just plain lazy or don't care or both. They come here and the first thing they do is start asking questions. No introduction, no reasearch, no nothing, just questions. I applaud the Moderators and Senior Members here who have the patience to help with all of the questions. You guys are awesome.
Oh BTW, I found a board that has gold all over it. I can't post pics but can you tell me how much it's worth and who I can sell it to?

Also when I do a search for a question I have I find a lot of answers to questions I did not think of!
In other words I learned more searching then just asking and getting one answer.

We all learn differently and at different rates. Most come out of desperation. Some temporary care will stabilize new members as we catch up or catch on. Like really I am computer illiterate . I'm slowly getting better.
I'm no robot. I'm only human. I'm just a man...

It is a sign of the times we live in. So many people turn to scrap metal because they are trying to pay the bills, hopefully this forum can help.

It can be frustrating when we see the same questions over and over again, but we were all there at one time. There are some "other" forums where even asking a simple question will get you banned by a 100 year old jerk with nothing better to do. I would hate to see the environment of the scrap metal forum become such a negative place as that.

I agree with everything that was stated above...especially about the 100 year old guy on another forum;). I think its more about the need for instant gratification. Patience is a tough virtue to acquire for people especially when it involves making money.
I have noticed though that those who don't get the instant answer or are to lazy to search for their answers do not hang around long.

One useful tool that I use is to put in a keyword to get to the related topic. Then browse through and see if your question is similar to what is already been asked. Go to it, read through, and then check at the bottom of the page for a related thread. Most times your answers can be found within 5 mins.

No one here discourages questions or flames anyone. What is asked is that people try to search before asking. I too have seen a lot of questions from new members as their first post. The question gets answered for the most part and then they are requested to make an intro and asked to read as much as they can. I have never nor do I think most here have ever had any piece of scrap that was worth so much that a question about it had to be answered immediately.

I try to share information that might help the other people on the forum.
If I want to know something, I search for it (Be it in the forum or on the web)

I am very much enjoying reading the threads (some quite old). I honestly think I've read over a thousand posts in the last few weeks. I'm trying to fit in, hopefully, by contributing as well as asking. I know you all aren't here to be answer machines. :)

I think an issue here is in the retrieval of information. A lot of the posts aren't titled as specifically as they could be. So, if I look for a thread about capacitors (for example) - yay, there are lots of them! But then if I want to go back and find a particular post...then I need to go back and re-read twelve threads with titles that sound almost exactly the same.

Not complaining. There is amazing information here!

This is a good thread. I as most people that has been scrapping for a long time had too learn on my own. If I had questions the only place I could get answers was from the scrap yard. Every scrapper I tried to talk to about helping me out would just blow me off like I was going to take their business or something. I pledged a long time ago that if ever I could help someone by giving advice I would do so. I'll aways try to give answers to questions even if I have post the answers 1000 times. It is always best to go through the old threads and read as many as you can. might take some time but it will be time well spent. I'll be first to admit not all my answers will be correct so always double check.

Great thread, I have noticed the same trend, and it especially bugs me when the OP comes out of left field, refuses to use punctuation, and then gets upset when they are told to research or get an answer they don't like. Then again, I understand their is a lot of desperate people out there with smart phones and dumb minds, sorry if this sounds crude, but if you need to find out if it's worth to ____________, then either try it, or learn from someone who has!!! That's what we are sharing here, not personal advice.
As far as helping other scrappers or giving them advice, sure! It was obviously their find and not mine, so I make no money either way. I'll take the satisfaction of being helpful.

"refuses to use punctuation" OMG YES!!
Periods & commas are our friends.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by spinroch

"refuses to use punctuation" OMG YES!!
Periods & commas are our friends.

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This, drives, me, INSANE. Im a slooow reader, I mean I can read perfectly fine. Im just SLOW, and a post with no punctuation makes me have to RE READ it probably 3-4 times! God help us if its a long post. Iv seen some doozies... I just give up and move on to the next post.

NEW MEMBERS, PLEASE USE PUNCTUATION... lol

I should find the link with the teen posting in heavily-accented text speak. I don't mean to make fun of the young, but it. Is. Srsly. Impossible2read. I still can't figure half of it out.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jord0690

I think if at all possible, some sort of tutorial thread or forum etiquette thread should be created to help the new members. Yes I even looked myself before posting this, but didnt find any real useful threads that explain forum etiquette that are easy to find for new members. Just basic scrap help. Not only would such a thread be helpful, it would help to keep many (and I say this with no disrespect intended) unhelpful and otherwise non necessary threads from cluttering up the forum. (I see lots of them..)

Thoughts?

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I liked this one

http://www.scrapmetalforum.com/scrap...es-please.html

Natural selection.
I say it's a good thing that people get ridiculed when asking "dumb" questions. Makes people want to find the answer on their own so they don't get yelled at from the veterans here. AND! It scares some newcomers away when they get "attacked" from asking a "dumb" question. So they learn on their own before they come back, or they don't come back at all. And I find it entertaining. Win win, win. So, keep telling it how it is.

I have noticed one or two newbies posting a lot of random strung out words, and when asked to pay mind to punctuation, they either start to or you never hear from them again. I can also understand the clarification of topics, as I had a real hard time figuring out what to do with my circuit breakers, and now that I typed Circuit breakers, this thread will come up for someone searching Circuit Breakers, yet the thread has nothing to do with circuit breakers... Mech and Mick are usually really good for digging up old post links for these newbies to read.
Blah blah blah, anyway, I just wish entire sentences would be posted instead of a bunch of words.