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Posted by: Brian Chandler Nov 22 2011, 01:38 PM

There are three posts in a row right now with titles along the lines of "I could really do with some help", "Really urgent help really needed". Isn't it about time these were rejected with a lesson on titles.

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, I suppose I have to add: of course this should be done automatically. If any title matching '%help%' (SQL: anything including 'help') were rejected, the lesson could include all the latest bother-subjects, like 'tumblr'. In practice it would be less irritating than the (с) and (г) destruction functions, because I can write around it. Try to find this "hеlp" with a search...

In the next stage, all the tumblr posts could be shifted somewhere (the name would be independent of changes in the bother-subjects, with a lecture about that stuff.

Posted by: Darin McGrew Nov 23 2011, 02:11 AM

I've thought that it could be useful to have a filter that rejects subject lines that are empty once you strip out all the stop words. Of course, on this forum, stop words would include "help" and "html" in addition to more common stop words like "the" and "for".

Posted by: Brian Chandler Nov 23 2011, 02:29 AM

Yes, rejecting empty titles once "stop words" are removed is the generic obvious idea, but would it work:

Could Use Some Help : is 'could' a stop word?
Could you help please : ditto; and 'please'?
HTML Urgent Help : is 'urgent'?

The advantage of my suggestion is that it makes people write titles that *are* meaningful, not merely titles that contain something that might be useful. Another advantage is that it's simpler.

Posted by: Darin McGrew Nov 23 2011, 09:13 AM

Yes, I think "could", "please", and "urgent" would be stop words on this forum.

Posted by: pandy Nov 23 2011, 09:17 AM

Some beginners might not be capable to phrase their question better than "Help with HTML" or similar though. I mean, they know that it's HTML but that's about it.

Posted by: Christian J Nov 23 2011, 10:12 AM

As a reader, why not simply ignore threads with poor subject lines?

In order to help users create meaningful subjects, how about a polite nudge on the New Topic form page? I recall seeing that somewhere before, maybe it was on the old forum.

Posted by: pandy Nov 23 2011, 10:34 AM

Yar, the rules at the old forum were good! I want them back. I'd also like the old forum to be available as an archive, but no such luck I guess.

Posted by: jimlongo Nov 28 2011, 07:30 PM

There are still rules "Read before Posting" at the top of every forum, with these guidelines . . .

but in a society where no one really reads directions what do you expect.

An automated rejection of some sort might work, or it just might deter people from posting questions. If we stopped 50% of the posts, I guess you'd have a lot less problems with the topics posted.

Posted by: Christian J Nov 28 2011, 08:18 PM

That's where they were! I don't even notice that pinned post myself.


In part this might be due to information overload for a new member, while once you've become familiar you've already become blind due to familiarity (like me). We could move the rules to the actual form page, but people may become blind to them there too.

I'm sceptical about automatic rejections, it will probably annoy more innocent users (due to bugs) than stupid subject lines. A subject consisting of "Help" and nothing else might be safe to reject, though.

Posted by: Darin McGrew Nov 29 2011, 02:22 AM

FWIW, I wasn't thinking of completely rejecting the post. I was thinking of some sort of "Are you sure?" response that would require an extra click. If they want to be oblivious, then they can be. But people who are more aware might learn something when encouraged to enter a more informative subject line.

Posted by: pandy Nov 29 2011, 03:27 AM

Ah, that could work.

Posted by: Ephraim F. Moya Dec 12 2011, 12:57 PM

You guys are ALL wrong.

Not everyone can write. Good writing and good html are not related. If they feel a need to ask, do them the courtesy of at least reading their post. Then you can decide to answer or not answer on that basis.

Since I came back a couple of months ago I've been struck by how long the top post stays on top. That means there are no new posts to replace the top one. By top I mean the one that is physically showing on the entry page for this software.

This bbs is moribund.

Posted by: Ephraim F. Moya Dec 12 2011, 02:02 PM

/\
.
.

What does that mean?
The same as this, I'll wager.
.
.
\/

Posted by: pandy Dec 12 2011, 02:14 PM

It means I posted in the wrong thread by mistake. Removed.