I think it's sad that not a single mod or member has replied to this thread yet!!

I'm probablly going to stop posting here at ATS soon - I think it's a waste of my time and not read by anyone.

Sorry for anyone reading my short story in the short story forum - I can email you a word doc of the ending if your're interested

Any super mods or admins reading this can cancel my account - that's about all I feel like saying right now......

Hey man, take it easy, don't overreact like that. Give it some more time, I'm sure you will have the answers your waiting for. Remember, the staff also have lifes outside of ATS.

I had also noticed the FAQ haven't been updated in a while. It appears all the newbie-guidance rely on the newbie adoption project.

I mean, since when have they removed (or is it "have they ever used?") the regular old ranking system?




[Edited on 14-7-2004 by m0rbid]

Thanks for the reply

That's a great example of a need for an update!! I noticed that myself - to be honest there's hundreds of things out there....I only mentioned that time stamp thing as an example - and like I said - I'm not mad.....just posting a suggestion which has yet to be taken seriously in several threads and also in one suggestion message

All I want is for ATS to become a more user-friednly place, not some Mac-addict zone.....I'd just like people to understand how ATS works by simply looking at the FAQ or tutorials....instead they post consitantly in the questions forum - which is understandable, but also avoidadble, so that the mods can focus on more important things

Banshee - thanks for the reply...

If you like, tomorrow I'll compile a whole list of things that are missing and you can check back on this thread for them.....many things are missing - not to mention my example of the message time post.....I said right of the bat I'm not trying to be insulting or rude, but that's how everyone is taking me so far! Calm down yourselves! I just want ATS to be a place that anyone can join and study up on without having to ask the same questions twice....that's all I'm trying to accompish here.....

Banshee

I must admit I had missed this nice little addition that is the "Website And Message Board Updates". But it's not easy to spot right away. I haven't even saw it yet.

Maybe a link to this section should be added in the FAQ, new users won't probably think to scroll down to the bottom of the main page to find answer to their question.

Originally posted by EnronOutrunHomerun
I just want ATS to be a place that anyone can join and study up on without having to ask the same questions twice....that's all I'm trying to accompish here.....

I understand your sentiment, EOH ... I'm just not sure what exactly is missing from the various "help" tools that have been put together.

Is the base core of your complaint that the FAQ at the top isn't as relevant as it should be? That the Website & Message Board Updates forum should be displayed more prominently?

Help us out here.
Is it just the FAQ linked at the top, or is it more than that?

How exactly is ATS a "Mac Addict Zone"?? That just pissed me off...comparing a great place like ATS to a Mac.

FAQ stands for Frequently Asked Questions...the questions you stated arent really Frequently Asked. The TimeZone one should be addressed when your editing your profile...cuz it threw me off too...but the FAQ and Tutorial are just fine the way they are. The Website & Message Board Updates forum should be a little closer to the top so its easier to see.

He's not attacking or complaining, I think he just wanted to point out that while the FAQ and Tutorials might cover the basics of the basics, ATS haven't stopped growing, and as time pass, there might (or will) be a need to reorganise, regroup and maybe even add new info to the ressources that are there for new members.

All this, of course, is only intented to reduce the questions asked to the staff from the new members. (especially preventing questions from coming back)

I know it's probably not a major problem, as most people seem to find there way around here easily, and there's a lot of people willing to help new comers. But I'm pretty sure the guy just wanted to help.

Originally posted by SimonGray
During the less than 3.5 hours between your first and second posts, there have simply been other things for staff to do.

First off, I'd like to appologize for making this issue seem larger than it really is - it wasn't my intention to belittle the mods or make their time seem wasted by not reading my post, although in hinesight I see that's exactly what I did....This issue has bothered me since day one, and I have been wanting to address it, and I suppose it culiminated in that post.

Originally posted by m0rbid
Banshee

I must admit I had missed this nice little addition that is the "Website And Message Board Updates". But it's not easy to spot right away. I haven't even saw it yet.

Maybe a link to this section should be added in the FAQ, new users won't probably think to scroll down to the bottom of the main page to find answer to their question.

I think this is a great point! It is a bit difficult to find even if you've been here a while.....I didn't know it was there either....

Maybe a couple ideas here would be to do what m0rbid suggests and also, instruct mods that if they see a question that appears in this board to simiply have a cut & paste response that directs them to that page...

Originally posted by Genya
I look forward to reading your definitive list!!

I think it's safe to say that even while I was trying to save some dignity in that post my eyes were a bit larger than my stomach so to speak....but I do think that it is feasable and would be helpful for everyone to put together a list - I don't think just one person is good enough for the job, and while I'm more than happy to contribute, my original post says: "I'd like everyone to maybe list one or two things they think should be added and why - even volunteer yourself to make the additions! I will!"

ATS is a great place....it's free, the members are intelligent and care about the issues they post on.....I think as a member who enjoys ATS, it should be there selective duty to assist in making this a better place - That is my intention in this thread, to make it easy for others to simply glide into ATS as a new member and feel at home without too many questions like "how do I do this?" and "What does this do?" - Most of us have been computer literate all our lives and don't need this outstretched hand - I came onto ATS with few questions, but the ones I did have bugged the heck out of me, and I'd just like those with similiar issues to come forward and post their issues here so that when the time comes, mods can come to this thread to update the FAQ and the tutorial, which as I said earlier has great information, but just not enough for this massive collection of websites

Here are a few question trends I've seen recently that could be addressed:

1. What is that bar under my points for?
   
2. Can I change my username?
   
3. How do I adjust my time stamp?
   
4. Why was my message lost when I hit post reply?
   
5. How do I prevent parenthesis from being displayed when I post in ATSNN?
   
6. What are the effects of using the ignore button? Does it block posts and U2Us?
   
7. Why can't I log in?
   
8. What is the text limit on sigs and titles? Why doesn't punctutation show up?
   
9. How does my member status change to writer, scholar, and/or fighter?
   
10. Why isn't my blog working?
    
11. Why am I blocked from this particular forum?
    

I hope that fleshes out at least some portion fo what I'm getting at here....some of these have yes/no answers and some have a,b,c,d answers, but they all occur with some frequency, are not covered in the FAQ/Tutorial (which I realize is a generic one), and each one may puzzle a new member for quite some time until they can get the answer from another member.....And I know there's probablly more issues out there that some of you reading this can add

Please don't answer these questions I've posted here - if you need an answer to one for now, use the search function

THANK YOU!!!!!

I've been dying for some assistance and member input here - and that's a great idea to centralize the FAQ answers not in the current FAQ! Also some great additional potentially puzzling questions for new(er) members....

I decided today that anytime I see some repeated questions I'll make a case for my belief and post a link to this thread - now I'll also put a link to your thread - maybe in the future this is were the moderators can send these members....or perhaps the FAQ can simply be update by using these databases that will hopefully grow with the more attention they receive....

I hope the mods don't see this as some uprising, but just a way of making ATS better - and seeing as how I've volunteerd to update the FAQ myself, and hopefully others will follow, it is at little extra energy expenditure for a no doubt already over-worked staff - let us step in and help out on some of the things we see need a little tuning-up - we all have backgrounds in many different areas, and our ability as members to tweak ATS, beyond our fruitful postings, are more than adequete to resolve some of the less frequently addressed issues of this site


[edit on 7/19/2004 by EnronOutrunHomerun]

Originally posted by EnronOutrunHomerun

... now I'll also put a link to your thread

Thanks and you're welcome.

I hope the mods don't see this as some uprising

Nah. We just took the initiative and were not doing anything dumb. They probably appreciate it.

I'm confused on how to post videos. I know there was a thread on it but I can't seem to find the darned thing. Some help would much appreciated!