Newbies

[tfreer85]

Alright well I can only imagine what some of those who have been around Hybridz for a long time feel about newbies. I've heard that they are trying to figure out some sort of testing for new members to test their competency. Well I guess this is a poll to see what everyone else thinks should be done. I know that there are some of new members who have provided great information and this isn't directed towards them its towards the "Can you swap a V8 into a Z?" people.

 

Tyson

[Mikelly]

"let them eat cake..."

 

Or

 

Give them enough rope so that they hang themselves or get baned!

 

Mike

[Guest ON3GO]

lol at the test.. thank god im not a newbie cuz i suck at tests.

 

mike

[Dat260]

We should welcome them like most repliers do, answer their questions out of cortesy (sp?) and than explain them the rules of "the house".

Ari

[Guest HBZ81]

that's a tough thing to vote on, given that those are our only choices. But really it's kind of hard to enforce any of those.

Also when it comes to "the test" some people might not take it because they could thing "why do i have to take a test when i can just sign up at another site that doesnt need one." Well it's true they can do that, but that's just another way of driving potentially quality people away.

 

What if a quality newbie comes aboard but cant post anything because of the month and desides to leave, or if someone has an important urgent question to ask...

 

I know a lot of sites get newbies that ask the same questions over and over again "how do i get more power, can i swap this in, how do you change a battery, etc"

 

all we can really do is educate them on the search function and try not to flame to harshly because we dont want to come off as jerks and a**holes to the world

 

would you have wanted to take a test or have a waiting period when you signed up for this site? (i dont mean you as in you tfreer85, but more as a collective WE)

 

and besides, werent we all "stupid newbies" at one time or another...?

[Guest l28et]

I understand where ya'll would be getting mad at the newbies, but the search feature sucks IMO. I looked forever for the thread with the picture of the supra t shirt (dyno graph humor) and still couldn't find it.

 

I always have trouble finding specific threads with it. You really have to work at it.

[auxilary]

If I had to take a test, I'd do it at a restaurant, because the customer is always right

[Michael]

L28et is absolutely correct - the search function suffers from a tremendous gulf between theory and practice. In theory, typing in a few keywords will reveal the sought-for list of posts. In practice, the number of false hits is overwhelming, the number of relevant posts that get missed is also large, and if you're such a newbie that you don't even know what keywords to use, then you're completely out of luck.

 

I keep a folder of what I consider to be the more lucid of my own posts. Whenever I come across a new thread about big blocks, roll cages, aerodynamics and other areas where I feel that I have something worthy to contribute, I open my folder of posts, and cut and paste to quickly write a new post. That obviates the desire to insult the newbie with "go and search, you worthless lazy dweeb", and saves time in composing a new post.

 

We're definitely moving in the right direction with the FAQ. I think that the best solution is to keep expanding the FAQ, and thoroughly warn all new members to first consult the FAQ.

[sab12373]

What's wrong with just ignoring people with stupid questions?

 

Nobody is being forced to answer. Eventually they'll find the search button or just leave.

[DaleMX]

If this was just a chat site that would be fine and dandy, but it is a tech site so a basic knowledge of the search function should be a prerequisite to keep the same questions down to a dull roar.

[JMortensen]

What's wrong with just ignoring people with stupid questions?

 

Nobody is being forced to answer. Eventually they'll find the search button or just leave.

Stupid questions make it harder to search and find answers, because instead of getting relevant info when you search you get 500 stupid questions.

 

I think they should be deleted, and a rule should be added that says "Stupid questions will be immediately deleted" so that people can figure out why their post disappeared.

 

My $.02

[Guest HBZ81]

On this BMW forum I was a member of, I posted a vaild question because I did not know much about BMW and could not find the info I needed because of the overwhelming amount of false hits, and when I finally did post my question it was deleted because "why didnt you search stupid newbie"

 

I DID SEARCH BUT CAME UP WITH CRAP!

 

Really the thing to do is make an FAQ area with car FAQs, not "site info faqs" like i see so many places do

[rudypoochris]

Just tell them they are newbs and to use the search give them a couple terms that work.... we don't want to loose the smart ones to zcar.com

 

 

Newbs will be eaten....

[wheelman]

Loose the smart ones to zcar.com, isn't that a contradiction in itself????

 

The search could use some improvement but I think Mikelly put it best.

Let them Eat cake!!

 

Wheelman

[crazy280]

I don't know if this is possible with the site software, but it would be cool if there was a setup so that whenever a new member tried to post a new thread or question, they would first be re-directed to a page that said "DID YOU USE THE SEARCH FUNCTION FIRST?" or something along those lines. Then they could choose to continue to the search page or the posting page. Then after a certain number of posts, they wouldn't be re-directed anymore and would go straight to the posting page. This would save the older members the stress of having to tell them to search all the time. I don't know if it's possible, but I hope it helps.