Where vB is going wrong

[Hornstar]

I was probably just trying to make the point stick more ^^

[Lottis]

Originally Posted by Andreas

I don't want to sound arrogant, but:

Users who post questions are licensed Jelsoft customers. This means they are forum admins. At least I expect that a forum admin does know the basics of forum software - and searching is a basic function.
Also, I would think that total newbies don't come to vBulletin.org - they go to vBulletin.com.
Theoretically, only "advanced users" who need/want more than the standard functionality of vBulletin would come to vBulletin.org.

This is perhaps very wrong. I am a admin on my place. And i started scratsh, and i couldent nothing. Everyone have to start somewhere. vBulletin has members from all over the world. And some of us speaks very bad english. (writes). Pls bee more pation, dont forget that you gues also have been a newbee.
But i agree that if the aurtor writes, no support. Then it is, no support.
I have asked about the most stupid question during the time i have been a meber here. But luckely, i have got very good help.

[peterska2]

Ok, I know I'm bumping again, but I need to add another $0.02 to this thread (it's starting to get expensive now!!!!)

Now considering this user has his/her homepage set to www.vietvbb.com you'd be expecting them to have an understanding of vB seeing as their site appears to be distributing mods translated into what appears to be Vietanmese (sp?) and is quite heavily modded.

Now look at this thread.........https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthrea...773#post897773

It just baffles belief.

Not only is it a new thread for a hack related question, but the answer to the question is not lost in the middle of the thread, but is on the first page!

* peterska2 starts adding instructions to my new releases saying that difficulties may arise if you cannot read, follow instructions, or work vB


And BTW, I knew offically jack all when I started using vB. I still ask stupid questions every now and then, but I ensure I ask them in the right places and search first. I'm still learning, and still make errors. But then again, as things progress there is new stuff to learn, so I don't think anyone can honestly say that they truely know every single thing about vB, php, mySQL, and HTML

[Clayton]

anyone know where I can get a dry martini and a donkey named Sally, please?

[Clayton]

great I know exactly where that is .. Chruchtown, Mallow in Cork Eire and strangely enogh about 1mile away from where my folks stay :lick:

small world

and it just goes to show how helpful the forums are

[Tyegurl]

i want to say thanks for posting this thread.

i gained a lot of advice and information that i will use to improve my searching tecniques and my vb ettiquette. i have been trying to help others but sometimes i get lost in the forums and get confused on which edits for which hacks/mods. but i do try to help.

i dont know how many times i have read and read a 68-100 page thread trying to find my answer only to realize i either forgot what i was looking for or so many people posted that i still didn't understand what had been posted. i do not claim to be great at understanding the language. i know html roughly...but i follow directions well if posted appropriately. i also learn by trial and error. if something says this is the main forum...i know that either my code paste will go there or somewhere else. i know what to look for in templates when they state paste anywhere. if i don't get it the first time i will try a different spot. but eventually i will get it where i want it or know where i don't want it.


i do believe that most of the coders here are very fair ( at least from the forums i have seen and the hacks i have installed). heck andrewd just came to my forum and fixed a problem for me on his own time. i mean heck that is above and beyond what i expected. i thought for sure i would get the response i did something wrong or put this here and do this and upload that. which i would have been extremely happy with in itself.

i will say that i am not really happy with the fact that someone releases a hack/mod on here in a free forum...then leaves something out and redirects you to their personal forum and wants to charge you in order to finish the install. that i don't see as being fair or right. maybe it is but obviously i haven't or won't install that mod. i just think that is a tease.

but in all honesty... this thread has brought a lot of insight of these forums to me. it has reclarified somethings that i can do personally to help others who may not understand as much or little as i do. i am not always right and i always say oops my bad here is what you were looking for or here is the right thing you need to do. i take responsibility for what i post.

in essence thanks for bringing this to light. i myself will try to help and point things out to others if i can.

Originally Posted by Loco.M

P.S. if your not happy with the search fuction on this site, just go to some larger sites 1,000,000 plus member and try searching for a spasific phrase or item there, after that you may apperciate what you can find here..

i just want to say that i have googled searches and lwt me tell you from my experience...vb.org has the best support even if it is rude at times...eventually you have someone that will be helpful to your post even if it is 3 pages later. i might suggest that people use the thread tools and subscribe to the thread they posted in. i have 17 subscriptions and every time a post goes up i am notified. if i posted a question then i go back and read the recent posts in hopes that someone has given me advice. just a suggestion.

[Clayton]

Originally Posted by Tyegurl

vb.org has the best support even if it is rude at times

agreed ... we just hope it continues

[dazzlin]

Wow, after reading this thread, I'm not sure what to think.

I'm a programmer, but not a php programmer. I can usually figure out the basics of what a php program is doing, and can sometimes modify it a little, but not much beyond that.

I've been a mod at vb boards for a few years, but that still leaves me clueless on actually being the owner/admin of a board.

I bought vb because I'd heard how great it was. Only after the purchase, did I realize that it was VERY complex, and difficult to deal with. Trying to figure out even where a template was located was a huge learning curve (and I'm still in the learning curve).

The title of vbulletin.org says "The Ultimate VBulletin Resource". It doesn't say, "only for hack support".

I was under the impression that this was a place to come to get help with vbulletin of any kind. Apparently, I was mistaken. From the responses here, I should only be here if I want help with a hack, and I should go back to the official site for everything else. If true, perhaps that should be made much more clear.

I'm on forums all the time, and generally, they are there for "free support", with possibly a paid section when needed. The basic premise of most support-type forums is for users to help each other. And yes, that includes many newbies who are either clueless about forum etiquette in general, or clueless about almost anything.

Being a mod for many years, I know it's annoying when people don't ask questions intelligently, or don't search first, etc. But that's just the way it is. It's a fact of forum life.

I've searched many times here, and rarely find the answer I'm looking for. Or if I do, it usually took me an hour or so to do so. In the meantime, I may be panicking because something is broken.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, after reading this thread, I'm not sure how I feel. Part of me feels put off, as though I shouldn't expect much help here. Part of me feels sympathetic to those who offer their help to newbies time and again. Part of me feels put down because I "dared" to become a vbulletin admin without having prior experience.

Don't know what else to say. I'll certainly be very cautious before asking for help here in the future.

[Tyegurl]

don't be cautious lol ask for help when needed and where needed. what's the worst that can happen? you get ignored or you get told off right? no big deal to me! i just shrug it off and continue searching and hoping someone can help me eventually. vb.com has great support also for hack problems if you state it the right way. give them your error instead of telling them what you did and let them sort it out or tell you what the error is. then when you come here and post you know what you are looking for! at least that is what i have done in the past...then again its only dealt with sql errors that i have so maybe i am wrong in saying that.

[pcoskat]

Originally Posted by Rich

I can also say that things have changed. I feel that most of the problems I have seen stem from new users not reading anything. They tend to just post questions wherever they want.

I run a very large forum, and it would be silly of me to blame 'problems' on users who are new to the forum. On large boards, it's often hard to see where certain posts should go.

That's where SITE STAFF come into play. A large board should have mods who regularly and POLITELY police their forums. Ie: Moving threads to more appropriate forums, posting links to threads that will answer a question that has already been asked.

Animosity towards newbies is not only silly, it's a good way to kill a forum. Plus is demonstrates a lack of professionalism, imo.

Originally Posted by Rich

I myself am tired of visiting the site only to see "new releases" that are nothing more than some user posting a question as a release. It completely defeats the purpose of having a forum structure when the new users aren't using it.

Volunteer to be a moderator
Create a post with 'quick links' to frequently asked questions, and ask the current mods to make it a sticky
Stop visiting this site
Create your own community and see if you can do it 'better'

Originally Posted by Rich

Threads being posted in the wrong forums is so frequent now, I decided to just add my response in my signature. Its THAT frequent and THAT annoying.

Not as annoying, as whining posts like ^that^.

While I agree that there are problems here...they aren't the ones you've voiced.

As with any site, as it grows, the site owners need to re-evaluate how the site is navigated, and how to serve it's members - which NOW fall into two subsets: Old Timers and Newbies.

One way around this is 'FAQ Quick link' threads which are stickies at the top of each forum. This solved a LOT of our problems at my board.

When a newbie comes in, and asks a question that has been asked a billion times, a mod can just say: check here (with a link to the quick links)

Another solution is to re-evaluate the board structure

Lastly...a good set of mods who are patient, vigilant, polite, and don't get their panties in a wad over people not using search.

Me? I can deal with all of the 'problems' if I could just get 3 or 4 master coders to call on when I need mods created and installed. Seriously: If you're good, reliable, PM me. I pay fair rates via paypal, and always have a ton of stuff to be done.