To reduce pointless questions...
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Might I suggest that CP look into the following solutions to the mass duplicate and pointless questions that are so frequently posted: 1: Make the Search box bigger and more obvious on the page. Place it, colour it and size it so that even the dumbest user will spot it before spotting the Ask Question link. This should encourage searching before the (as the current trend suggests) posting questions. 2: Make the Ask a Question link less easy to access. Counter intuitive yes but if you simply placed the link on the All Questions page and not in the menu, then people would have to look harder before finding how to ask a question, this would further encourage searching. 3: Implement some form of question analyser such that questions that appear to be duplicate or simply demanding entire applications cannot be posted. A greater minimum question length should be coupled with this too. Hoping to see some changes, Ed :) P.s. I would like to comment that overall CP is a fabulous resource and a great help to me, just some of it's question asking members let it down a little... :^)
To be honest, it probably wouldn't help. Most of them have done all the searching they want to just to find CP in teh first place - now all they want is the full code for their homework and they can get to the bar. Making the search box cover the whole screen wouldn't encourage some of them to use it. LMGTFY.com[^] does though...sometimes! :laugh:
Real men don't use instructions. They are only the manufacturers opinion on how to put the thing together. Manfred R. Bihy: "Looks as if OP is learning resistant."
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To be honest, it probably wouldn't help. Most of them have done all the searching they want to just to find CP in teh first place - now all they want is the full code for their homework and they can get to the bar. Making the search box cover the whole screen wouldn't encourage some of them to use it. LMGTFY.com[^] does though...sometimes! :laugh:
Real men don't use instructions. They are only the manufacturers opinion on how to put the thing together. Manfred R. Bihy: "Looks as if OP is learning resistant."
Yes the website can be a good "encouragement" :P I still think some form of question analyser should be implemented simply to block all the duplicate questions e.g. "Send email in C#" or similar phrasings seems to be a regular.
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Yes the website can be a good "encouragement" :P I still think some form of question analyser should be implemented simply to block all the duplicate questions e.g. "Send email in C#" or similar phrasings seems to be a regular.
The trouble is there are so many regulars! I knocked up a answers database app which stored my "regular" responses to save me typing them in over and over again, and it runs to three pages!
Real men don't use instructions. They are only the manufacturers opinion on how to put the thing together. Manfred R. Bihy: "Looks as if OP is learning resistant."
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The trouble is there are so many regulars! I knocked up a answers database app which stored my "regular" responses to save me typing them in over and over again, and it runs to three pages!
Real men don't use instructions. They are only the manufacturers opinion on how to put the thing together. Manfred R. Bihy: "Looks as if OP is learning resistant."
that many as your "regular" responses!? Wow... but really you wouldn't need some of those if the questions couldn't be asked in the first place :)
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that many as your "regular" responses!? Wow... but really you wouldn't need some of those if the questions couldn't be asked in the first place :)
Some of them are boilerplate:
Use the "Improve question" widget
Never post your email address in any forum
But others go into more detail:
We don't do homework
Do not install SQL Server as part of your installation
And so forth - I don't like to type the same meanings over and over, but it would take some serious neural network to work out what response to give automatically.
Real men don't use instructions. They are only the manufacturers opinion on how to put the thing together. Manfred R. Bihy: "Looks as if OP is learning resistant."
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Some of them are boilerplate:
Use the "Improve question" widget
Never post your email address in any forum
But others go into more detail:
We don't do homework
Do not install SQL Server as part of your installation
And so forth - I don't like to type the same meanings over and over, but it would take some serious neural network to work out what response to give automatically.
Real men don't use instructions. They are only the manufacturers opinion on how to put the thing together. Manfred R. Bihy: "Looks as if OP is learning resistant."
I think you miss understand me, I am not suggesting you attempt to reply in any way to the question a member wishes to ask. I am suggesting merely blocking them asking the question at all, just like if they tried to ask a blank question.
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I think you miss understand me, I am not suggesting you attempt to reply in any way to the question a member wishes to ask. I am suggesting merely blocking them asking the question at all, just like if they tried to ask a blank question.
No, I didn't think you did - but you still need to put some pretty sophisticated intelligence behind the question analysis - or you will p*ss off those newbies who are asking a serious question and get diverted into a simple auto response which is irrelevant to them.
Real men don't use instructions. They are only the manufacturers opinion on how to put the thing together. Manfred R. Bihy: "Looks as if OP is learning resistant."
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No, I didn't think you did - but you still need to put some pretty sophisticated intelligence behind the question analysis - or you will p*ss off those newbies who are asking a serious question and get diverted into a simple auto response which is irrelevant to them.
Real men don't use instructions. They are only the manufacturers opinion on how to put the thing together. Manfred R. Bihy: "Looks as if OP is learning resistant."
OriginalGriff wrote:
put some pretty sophisticated intelligence behind the question analysis
yes this is true...a suitable challenge for CodeProject to work on then? ;P
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Might I suggest that CP look into the following solutions to the mass duplicate and pointless questions that are so frequently posted: 1: Make the Search box bigger and more obvious on the page. Place it, colour it and size it so that even the dumbest user will spot it before spotting the Ask Question link. This should encourage searching before the (as the current trend suggests) posting questions. 2: Make the Ask a Question link less easy to access. Counter intuitive yes but if you simply placed the link on the All Questions page and not in the menu, then people would have to look harder before finding how to ask a question, this would further encourage searching. 3: Implement some form of question analyser such that questions that appear to be duplicate or simply demanding entire applications cannot be posted. A greater minimum question length should be coupled with this too. Hoping to see some changes, Ed :) P.s. I would like to comment that overall CP is a fabulous resource and a great help to me, just some of it's question asking members let it down a little... :^)
Training someone who simply doesn't care won't help. The most valuable thing that the community can do is provide a place where the majority of visible questions are worthy of being an example. 1. If you post a question, phrase it intelligently 2. If you see a poorly question that has value, edit and rephrase 3. If you see a question that shows a disregard for the community, report it to close it
cheers, Chris Maunder The Code Project | Co-founder Microsoft C++ MVP
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Might I suggest that CP look into the following solutions to the mass duplicate and pointless questions that are so frequently posted: 1: Make the Search box bigger and more obvious on the page. Place it, colour it and size it so that even the dumbest user will spot it before spotting the Ask Question link. This should encourage searching before the (as the current trend suggests) posting questions. 2: Make the Ask a Question link less easy to access. Counter intuitive yes but if you simply placed the link on the All Questions page and not in the menu, then people would have to look harder before finding how to ask a question, this would further encourage searching. 3: Implement some form of question analyser such that questions that appear to be duplicate or simply demanding entire applications cannot be posted. A greater minimum question length should be coupled with this too. Hoping to see some changes, Ed :) P.s. I would like to comment that overall CP is a fabulous resource and a great help to me, just some of it's question asking members let it down a little... :^)
It might be worth having the following: As the user types into the question title field a search is automatically performed using the contents of that field as keywords, a box is then displayed directly below the title field saying something along the lines of: "The following questions/articles already exist and might answer your question, please take a look before posting a question that might be a duplicate" That way you are essentially forcing people to do a quick search before posting a question
Pedis ex oris
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It might be worth having the following: As the user types into the question title field a search is automatically performed using the contents of that field as keywords, a box is then displayed directly below the title field saying something along the lines of: "The following questions/articles already exist and might answer your question, please take a look before posting a question that might be a duplicate" That way you are essentially forcing people to do a quick search before posting a question
Pedis ex oris
That's a good compromise! :D
