How we help new people here....

[Evil Sports]

Guys, I have been an admin, mod , user and lurker on different sports message boards since 1998 and I have watched the "life cycle" of these forums as they progress over time. One of the things I see quite consistently is the older members get tired of the new people asking the same old questions and they start using that crap response of "use the search function", or "the search function is your friend". Personally I hate that response and feel if you can take the time to be a rude POS then why not offer a link to the answer.

As we progress I hope we can lean from the mistakes others have made and not start using that unproductive/rude response. One thing that has made this site such a success is respect. Yeah we get a little brand fan boyisum from time to time but it always ends up cool.
Lets try to post links to help answer questions where ever we can and avoid the dreaded assholic responses like use the search function.

 

[jcyamaharider]

I have seen this on a lot of other message boards but not a lot here. Maybe I am not looking in the right areas? One person may make a suggestion to use the search portion but they also, usually, offer up links to what they did find while using the search feature. One feature that I love on this board is the FAQ that @Julian has created and can be the answer to many questions.

 

[Mainah]

The FAQ section is great to answer future questions as well. Advising new comers that it and search exists while answering their question and giving them a link is what may be the most beneficial for everyone.

Not to toot my own horn but example here:
https://jetboaters.net/threads/throttle-slips-any-idea-how-to-tighten-so-it-holds-position.11044/

 

[bronze_10]

I like everything u said.... the search function is without fail the best on the internet.... of course my search function is tagging @Bruce and asking him where the I formation I am looking for is but still...

 

[Scottintexas]

[USERGROUP=3]@Administrative[/USERGROUP]

considering the majority of people needing help may never post or don't visit often enough to be familiar with the board I wonder if changing the title of the FAQ tab to include "FAQ / DIY" or "FAQ / How to Fix it yourself"
would help draw their attention to a very good part of our board.

If I were on another board and saw FAQ I would probably relate it to administrative/posting issues rather than DIY issues.

After recently joining to lawn mower forums and Toyota nation with little to no response or help and not have the time to sort through their FAQs I think for a new visitor to know where to go or make the path easy for them to maneuver to get an answer may help everyone.

just trying to think outside the box and spitball some ideas,

 

[Bill D]

Agreed, our FAQ is awesome. We should make sure users know about it.

 

[vxooxv]

... and from a new(er) user to the Yamaha Jet Boat and these forums - not to blow smoke but I've been extremely impressed with timely responses even when my posts are sometimes annoying or obvious to others. Heck i've had several folks offer up their personal phone numbers to do video chat and such.

The FAQ has saved my ass and taught me a LOT this summer. Thx

 

[Gym]

[USERGROUP=3]@Administrative[/USERGROUP]

considering the majority of people needing help may never post or don't visit often enough to be familiar with the board I wonder if changing the title of the FAQ tab to include "FAQ / DIY" or "FAQ / How to Fix it yourself"
would help draw their attention to a very good part of our board.

If I were on another board and saw FAQ I would probably relate it to administrative/posting issues rather than DIY issues.

After recently joining to lawn mower forums and Toyota nation with little to no response or help and not have the time to sort through their FAQs I think for a new visitor to know where to go or make the path easy for them to maneuver to get an answer may help everyone.

just trying to think outside the box and spitball some ideas,

Lawnmower forum @Scottintexas? Hope you're not trading your boat for a jet powered lawnmower. I do agree with @Evil Sports. The new members aren't always fully aquainted with the advanced features of this forum and are most likely to just blurt out their issue, sometimes in the wrong sub group. We all started here to get help and advice. I have ocassionally spent over an hour searching for info, including on the other site, in order to answer somebody's queston but I have also given the search response when I was rushed. I will opt out of the search response but will continue to refer people to @Julian's, we'll laid out, FAQ section.

 

[Evil Sports]

Just to be clear I was not calling anyone out, I just know what its like to come to a new site/forum software and find its much easier to ask the question.

 

[Julian]

Great points made here....somewhat swamped right now....but don't want to forget the ideas here....

-It may not be easy to change the FAQ name....will see what we can do!
-Everyone should try and respond with links to the answers...sometimes hard to do when you are on a phone. I do my very best to find the right FAQ for them and link to it. CRTL-F on the FAQ page is your friend....makes searching it much easier. Also the new bookmark feature helps me find those threads we are often asked about.
-Consider adding the FAQ to your signature....the more visibility it gets the better!
-Consider adding links in your signature to the mods you've done, or your favorite FAQs

As you can see in my signature....I try and link to the mod page for everything I can in my signature. And the FAQ is front and center.

 

[Evil Sports]

Julian you do so much here, please dont take this as a list of things you need to do. Just me sharing my too many years of working the forums.
Since we are a pretty responsive group, a new person posting a question can really get in touch with people that can help. Some people just dont want to go it alone by just reading the faq or searching, and we as a group can help so many people solve issues and instal mods that alone they would never do.

 

[Julian]

Julian you do so much here, please dont take this as a list of things you need to do. Just me sharing my too many years of working the forums.
Since we are a pretty responsive group, a new person posting a question can really get in touch with people that can help. Some people just dont want to go it alone by just reading the faq or searching, and we as a group can help so many people solve issues and instal mods that alone they would never do.

Not at all!!! I love ideas like these....and we all try to be as responsive to ideas as we can! Just a little swamped with the new line up work.....2:15 minutes to go!

 

[Evil Sports]

I can feel an additional $25k leaking out of my pocket

 

[2nazt]

I hate that response. If they can type Search then post the link or don't post it. I think we all love these boats and anytime we get to talk about/ share knowledge we do. Hands down the best forum I've been on!

 

[Julian]

I hate that response. If they can type Search then post the link or don't post it. I think we all love these boats and anytime we get to talk about/ share knowledge we do. Hands down the best forum I've been on!

I agree! LOL

But in all seriousness, I think it is such a great forum because we have helpful members, and we do our best to listen to the members and add the features/info that we all need/want. It isn't about selling stuff, or egos....its about OUR collective hobby.

 

[Michael Guzzo]

As a new user myself I would just like to say that everyone here has been so extremely helpful. I have been completely overwhelmed with how knowledgeable everyone is and how willing they are to share that knowledge. Thanks a million!

 

[0627Devildog]

So. . . . You might not be able to tell from my post count. . . But I am not a big fan of Forums for the reasons @Evil Sports mentioned in his opening remarks on this thread.

Case in point, I recently made a new bike purchase and turned to a forum to have a few questions answered. It took DAYS to get a response which seems like weeks when your use to a response in minutes here.

Then I got a bunch of crap for being the FNG and not finding the info on my own via the "Search" (which was not at all intuitive)

Same/similar experience on an AVR Forum I checked out recently. . . .

All of this re-affirming what I already knew.

JETBOATERS.NET is the #1 forum on the net.

 

[jameskeller76]

So. . . . You might not be able to tell from my post count. . . But I am not a big fan of Forums for the reasons @Evil Sports mentioned in his opening remarks on this thread.

Case in point, I recently made a new bike purchase and turned to a forum to have a few questions answered. It took DAYS to get a response which seems like weeks when your used to a response in minutes here.

Then I got a bunch of crap for being the FNG and not finding the info on my own via the "Search" (which was not at all intuitive)

Same/similar experience on an AVR Forum I checked out recently. . . .

All of this re-affirming what I already knew.

JETBOATERS.NET is the #1 forum on the net.

Completely agree. The group of users on this forum is unlike any other. More like a big family helping each other out. If I owned a Yamaha dealership I would point new buyers here right away.

 

[jcyamaharider]

That's how I feel, it is one big family!! And I know of people that are willing to drive, fly across states to visit one another.

 

[Evil Sports]

If I owned a Yamaha dealership I would point new buyers here right away.

Before this site started I had built a forum called Jet Boatfans.com because I saw the need to have a place better than what was out there. Part of my plan was to get dealerships to refer people here to help them avoid unnecessary warranty service calls and help grow the brand. I was not able to connect with the admin here about my idea before they got together to start this. Im glad they did and its turned out the way I woudl have wanted it to