Personal Messages #2

[emberry]

I'm replying because I want to send a pm and haven't got 3 posts yet!

[mare]

Welcome sazzy and emberry ...  just one more post should do, so you can reply here again if need be 

  mare

[Rol]

Hi Arranroots,

Thanks for your response.  On the broader issue of the general fog in which new users have to try and learn the site rules and operating procedures:  while a more comprehensive set of Help pages is being written and some FAQ pages are drafted,  could there not (easily and quickly) be some more prominent signposts to the How to Use RootsChat pages?  Perhaps something on the first Help page;  plus a short expansion of the "FAQs coming soon" message,  along the lines:

"While we finish this work,  both new and experienced users will find that the numerous topics covered on our How to Use RootsChat board cover many of the questions that typically arise,  and so form a practical substitute  for the FAQ section,  pending its completion:  follow the link."

On the narrower question of  the initial ban on PMs,  the canny strategies adopted above by sazzy and emberry do further underscore the futility of the whole idea ...

[Berlin-Bob]

Hi Rol,

I appreciate your concerns, and as Arranroots has said, we are working on the problem.

As a general comment to all:
It sounds simple to say "rewrite the help pages" etc, but unfortunately, for various reasons,
it 's taking more time than we thought.

As a temporary measure, I have collected some topic titles here:
Topic: RootsChat Topics: How to use RootsChat / FAQs
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,207046.0.html
so that members can find things a bit faster.  Let me know if I should add to it.

This is a sticky topic on the "How to Use RootsChat" board,
but it seems that even that doesn't get read as often as it could be.

And this is not just a problem for Rootschat.
It's a general "feature" of all forums, that we can write instructions as often as we wish:
some members will read them, but the vast majority don't 

Hoping that we will be able to provide an "all singing, all dancing Eierlegende Wollmilchsau ^*" soon, 
Bob

^* egg-laying woolmilk pig 

[mare]

  ... and on the cup half-full aspect of it on a foggy day, we have another chance to be welcoming and helpful 

[Berlin-Bob]

Following on from Rol's comments (Thanks Rol ) I have included the topic
Topic: RootsChat Topics: How to use RootsChat / FAQs
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,207046.0.html
as a link in the board heading of the "How to use RootsChat" board.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
How to Use RootsChat
If you have questions on how to use RootsChat - then have a look here.
For Frequently Asked Questions, see:
RootsChat Topics: How to use RootsChat / FAQs
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Please see also:
Topic: Personal Messages
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,327529.0.html

[Rol]

Hi Berlin-Bob,

Well done for a rapid and very effective response!  The splash of red paint does wonders to make the FAQ signpost catch the eye.

You make a fair point about the difficulty of fighting the inevitability of  user Dummheit,  whether in website design or any other field of human endeavour -- and I'm sure that I'm at least as guilty of word-blindness as any other new arrival.

I think that in this particular case you were and are fighting website visitors' settled preconceptions about "conventional" page layout -- i.e., that the bulletin boards themselves will only be about the site's speciality subject area,  while all the "how-to-make-our-site-work" stuff will be hived off behind Help and FAQ buttons.  And if there ARE such buttons,  but the material there turns out not to solve their problems,  the first reaction is very likely to be a grumpy one.  To penetrate the preconceptions-barrier and yell "hey,  we really do have most of that info you're hunting -- it's just that for now it's sitting somewhere you're probably not expecting!",  site managers are well advised to use neon-lit signs and megaphones ...

I'm really looking forward to meeting that approaching multi-talented Schwein -- and perhaps even milking and shearing it.  But be very careful about crossbreeding it with a Hund,  let alone with a desert-loving committee-designed Pferd ...  [And consider yourself winked at!]

Yes,  the mist has thinned a bit,  wouldn't you agree,  mare?  (In your case I shall be cautious about any further extension of the animal metaphors ...)


Rol

[kiwihalfpint]

Well done Bob ...... very eye catching

KHP

[LoneyBones]

I second that motion.