Listen Up A plea for Clarity in Questions - especially those from NEW members!

[jeallen01]

I felt I needed to make a plea on behalf of the members because of the number of recent (and many not so recent!) questions from (especially, but not always!) NEW members that resulted in a lot of confusion and "wasted time" to answer until we were given a lot more info - and that means it took a lot longer (or was even impossible) for you to find out what you want to know.

Please understand that the forum members are NOT "mind-readers", and many do not have English language as their first language, and so, if we are to help you, then PLEASE give us all the relevant info that you can, and in clear and precise English, such as:

a) your location (& longitude & latitude if you can as that can be a critical factor)

b) the satellites you are receiving &/or want to receive,

c) your level of experience of satellite dish installations &/or using & connecting satellite cables

d) where the dish is/is-to-be located (eg house wall, garden, fence, etc.),

e) your dish or antipated dish & its size,

f) the satellite receiver/ system/piece of equipment that you want advice on getting or "fixing",

g) Any specific issue that you have with an existing system - please describe it in as much detail as possible as others may already have had the same problem and, hopefully, found the solution(s).

AND, if you have no answer to any of the above questions, then just say you don't know, or something like that (we've all "been there" at some time, and so there's no shame in admitting it up front!).

OTOH: Don't ask questions about how to illicitly receive paid for/encrypted channels as this forum does not, and will not, help you with decryption codes and the like!

 

[jeallen01]

PS: If anyone can think of other critical questions that should be considered, then do please add them here to the above list!

If & when the list of questions (and associated comments) is considered to be reasonably "comprehensive", the maybe the Staff/ Admins could think about:

1) making it a sticky in an appropriate part of the forum;

2) Adding that sticky, or a link to it, to the page on which incoming members sign up for forum membership because asking questions is often one of their main reasons for coming to the site - AND then their questions can often be some of the most challenging to try to answer because of the lack of background information that they give!

 

[scopus]

I felt I needed to make a plea on behalf of the members because of the number of recent (and many not so recent!) questions from (especially, but not always!) NEW members that resulted in a lot of confusion and "wasted time" to answer until we were given a lot more info - and that means it took a lot longer (or was even impossible) for you to find out what you want to know.

Please understand that the forum members are NOT "mind-readers", and many do not have English language as their first language, and so, if we are to help you, then PLEASE give us all the relevant info that you can, and in clear and precise English, such as:

a) your location (& longitude & latitude if you can as that can be a critical factor)

b) the satellites you are receiving &/or want to receive,

c) your level of experience of satellite dish installations &/or using & connecting satellite cables

d) where the dish is/is-to-be located (eg house wall, garden, fence, etc.),

e) your dish or antipated dish & its size,

f) the satellite receiver/ system/piece of equipment that you want advice on getting or "fixing",

g) Any specific issue that you have with an existing system - please describe it in as much detail as possible as others may already have had the same problem and, hopefully, found the solution(s).

AND, if you have no answer to any of the above questions, then just say you don't know, or something like that (we've all "been there" at some time, and so there's no shame in admitting it up front!).

OTOH: Don't ask questions about how to illicitly receive paid for/encrypted channels as this forum does not, and will not, help you with decryption codes and the like!

Is not a lot of this already in the existing forum rules section?

 

[jeallen01]

Is not a lot of this already in the existing forum rules section?

Almost certainly the answer is "YES" !

But do those questions 1) ever get read?; & 2) and then do they result in questioners providing the relevant info?

From "experience" I think we can safely answer "Rarely" to both questions.

That's why I think that it's timely to bring the issue up (again!) and to remind "people" what info generally needs to be provided - and also to ask the Staff to make these "requirements" very clear to, especially, new members who want to ask questions.

OTOH, other forum members may disagree - but, if so, one should put oneself in the position of a (new) member who wants to ask a question and remember the adage" You don't know what you don't know" , OR, in this case, "What do I need to tell people for them to tell me what I want/need to know?"

 

[Manikm909]

it would be more productive to have a "dialogue box" at login which forces members to read the rules (a revised set maybe, to include existing members (and new)) - rather than ANOTHER sticky \ rules post, that you yourself acknowledge, people rarely look at and/or adhere to - WHICH they must then scroll through and select - AGREE (before proceeding)

....and then, IF not adhered to, they get booted off.

i think there should also be a warning in those rules that passive aggressive posters or unkind "know it all's" are not welcome on the forum.

what do you think?

 

[jeallen01]

it would be more productive to have a "dialogue box" at login which forces members to read the rules (a revised set maybe, to include existing members (and new)) - rather than ANOTHER sticky \ rules post, that you yourself acknowledge, people rarely look at and/or adhere to - WHICH they must then scroll through and select - AGREE (before proceeding)

....and then, IF not adhered to, they get booted off.

i think there should also be a warning in those rules that passive aggressive posters or unkind "know it all's" are not welcome on the forum.

what do you think?

I think you are likely correct on the first point, and probably correct (or at least pointing in the right direction) on the second - now we would welcome comments and suggestions from the Staff?

 

[PaulR]

Can only agree with the sentiments expressed. It can be a bit like pulling teeth sometimes getting the required information!

 

[jeallen01]

Can only agree with the sentiments expressed. It can be a bit like pulling teeth sometimes getting the required information!

Thank you; and thus please can this subject & questions now be discussed by the Staff "as a whole" to work towards a practical and implimentable solution for questions to be posted on the forum website?

PS: this might also result in Staff members spending less time digging having to intervene to point out specific issues which need to be addressed but have not been, &/or digging into archived material (etc.), &/or taking to task any "miscreants" who fail to follow the rules and guidelines.

 

[jeallen01]

Bumped because, 11 days later, we've heard nothing from the Staff as a whole - and we'd now really to get some sort of constructive response from them!

 

[moonbase]

...and we'd now really to get some sort of constructive response from them!

Are you speaking on behalf of the collective forum or is this a Royal Wee?
I dont need a response from the admin, if someone posts something that needs clarification I either ask them to clarify or ignore their post.

 

[jeallen01]

Oh - you again!

I think I'm speaking for quite a number of the fairly experienced forum members, but possibly not for all of them I agree - you and @scopus being obvious "exceptions"!

 

[moonbase]

Oh - you again!

I think I'm speaking for quite a number of the fairly experienced forum members, but possibly not for all of them I agree - you and @scopus being obvious "exceptions"!

Yes me again, why dont you give it a rest with all this Nanny guff, its a bit tedious.

 

[jeallen01]

Yes me again, why dont you give it a rest with all this Nanny guff, its a bit tedious.

And so is your own behaviour of late - so why don't YOU also "give it a rest"!

 

[moonbase]

And so is your own behaviour of late - so why don't YOU also "give it a rest"!

Stones, mirrors....

 

[moonbase]

And so is your own behaviour of late - so why don't YOU also "give it a rest"!

Exclude me from your collective representation of fairly experienced forum members when planning future crusades.

 

[PaulR]

That's enough guys.

 

[Topper]

Bumped because, 11 days later, we've heard nothing from the Staff as a whole - and we'd now really to get some sort of constructive response from them!

A constructive response.

Most (but not all) staff on here have been dealing with the particular issue you raise, for twenty years and of those staff, most have enough experience to know that 99% of people who register on here do not read, even one word of the rules, hence adding further unread instructions seems futile. Of course staff on here (and a couple in particular) are also dealing with other issues like the thousands per month of registrations by bots, dealing with spammers and dealing with behind the scenes fights by members who wish to abuse the forum or other members for whatever reason. Nobody on here gets paid and nobody expects pay unlike other forums.

I am closing this thread now