You raise a number of interesting points Gavin, however the first thing that should be acknowledge is that this thread was not started because of your messages specificially, these discussions have been going on for quite sometime. Likewise, we were all newbies once and we've all probably asked questions to which the answers already existed at some point in time.
HiRAEdd wrote:I initially used the search link in the main menu which of course finds nothing in the forums.
This unfortunately is due to the software being used to run this website, the content management side and forum functionality are still quite seperate. This should be improved over time.
HiRAEdd wrote:when I started using the forums search link, the results it returns are often pretty lack lustre.
The search function actually works very well, but it can only be as good as the information you enter in and it can only find what exists already in the forum. You should find you'll get a much better response if you use some of the search parameters such as "AND", "OR" and "NOT".
HiRAEdd wrote:I did actually post a few questions to forums other than "General Discussion" and I found I very rarely got any response to them.
This raises another valid point, which is that if a topic has been covered before often people do not respond, or if they do, generally fewer people do or with less information. This can leave the person who originally started the thread with unanswered questions and wondering why no one is responding. This could be avoided if the information was easier to find in the first place or by replying with a link to where the person can find the information either elsewhere on the site or in the forum.
HiRAEdd wrote:Another thing to remember is that information changes.
Not all information changes (e.g. colour codes, fixes for common problems etc.), but yes some does (product and technology changes over time). Perhaps the best way to handle this is to have the information that doesn't change, and which is useful, in a "Common Question" area, and with the other information on the forum, have it archived or deleted every XX months. That way it is easy to find answers to common questions, while information that does get dated gets removed when it is out of date.
HiRAEdd wrote:One of the best features I can think of that would have made a few of my posts totally unnecessary would be a “directory” feature for recommended (or not recommended) companies.
There is a list of recommended places, but it is important to note that these have been choosen because they offer a kick-back to the club not neccessarily because they are the best place. Likewise the concept of a "review" board where people can write of both their positive and negative experiences was raised sometime back and is apparently being worked on. It's not as simple as being another topic in the forum as the messages need to be monitored and companies given the right of reply.
