Forum Members, Please, Please ,Please.

[WelshGas]

The Forum is a great place for Members to talk and exchange thoughts on many aspects of California/Campervan life and Ownership.
One of the great sections is on the Technical aspects of the vehicle and camping equipment.
This depends wholly on members pooling their combined knowledge to answer questions posed by members.
This knowledge pool can be greatly improved if Members who ask for advice keep the Forum/Thread upto date on what advice worked and what didn't and how the problem was eventually sorted.
Without that sort of feedback the Forum is less helpful to Members than it could be.

A recent question was regarding a non-functioning Shower connection. Advice was given, the OP carried out some of the checks suggested and reported back that the Shower Connection was blocked, cleared and was now working. Now we know that the Shower Connection should be drained, if not to be used for a while, just like the Kitchen tap to avoid problems.

Other questions have similarly received advice and suggestions and - Nothing. We don't know if it has been resolved or how it was fixed. NOT helpful.

So, Please,Please,Please. If you ask a question and are given advice Please let the Members who helped out know the outcome. Even if the advice didn't help and there was another cause. It all helps to make the Forum Greater in the world of California/Campervans.

Rant over.

 

[ArunAlec]

The Forum is a great place for Members to talk and exchange thoughts on many aspects of California/Campervan life and Ownership.
One of the great sections is on the Technical aspects of the vehicle and camping equipment.
This depends wholly on members pooling their combined knowledge to answer questions posed by members.
This knowledge pool can be greatly improved if Members who ask for advice keep the Forum/Thread upto date on what advice worked and what didn't and how the problem was eventually sorted.
Without that sort of feedback the Forum is less helpful to Members than it could be.

A recent question was regarding a non-functioning Shower connection. Advice was given, the OP carried out some of the checks suggested and reported back that the Shower Connection was blocked, cleared and was now working. Now we know that the Shower Connection should be drained, if not to be used for a while, just like the Kitchen tap to avoid problems.

Other questions have similarly received advice and suggestions and - Nothing. We don't know if it has been resolved or how it was fixed. NOT helpful.

So, Please,Please,Please. If you ask a question and are given advice Please let the Members who helped out know the outcome. Even if the advice didn't help and there was another cause. It all helps to make the Forum Greater in the world of California/Campervans.

Rant over.

I second that rant!
I'd add that to make searching work and attract the attention of potential "helpers" - when posting ensure that the title is descriptive of the issue/topic. Not everyone reads every thread!

 

[Loz]

I would also add that when you ask your question, check your vehicle details are either mentioned in your question or up to date on your profile panel.

Also remember to mention what you might have recently had done or changed as spoon feeding us this information is also very frustrating.

Some of us will not make a suggestion unless we can be sure what vehicle variant you have .

 

[soulstyledevon]

^^^^^
Done

 

[MattBW]

If the titles are ever not very clear, then you can use the report function and the moderators can update it to something more focused. Some members already do this and I think it helps.

 

[Hotel California]

Always nice to hear if/not a tip or any other link has helped in any way .
But as always not many do the effort , sometimes you don't have the time to respond becose having a problem while on a trip is not a thing we like to experience and once solved with a tip from the forum , proceeding the trip is more important.
Letting know the outcome later when home is always good to help others in the first place but giving some credit to the folks helping also !
Doing a seach in older threads in many cases gives a lot of usefull info
And sure giving as much details (verhicle and facts ) as possible will narrow down the list of solutions
Many thanks to all contibuting in any way whatever to the forum , weather your tip or post helped in the end or not does not matter , it's the group feeling that counts .
Helping out anyone , specialy a fellow member/Cali owner is what makes this forum great !

 

[Meoncoast]

CONCUR ++++ 100%

" I am in the middle of xxxxxxxxxxxxxx URGENT help needed NOW my XYX is not working HELP it was working 2 months ago when we last used it HELP". HELP PLEASE .

then the detailed post of help advise checking with one's own van. Then not a dickybird ever again.

I always wait to hear if the remains of a fellow Cali owner family has been found in the middle of nowhere with a corroded wonky roof, broken fridge, flat leisure battery, stuck bed and a non-working tap. Yes, the authorities said they had plenty of water but they could not get it out their tank.

 

[Brian’s Dad]

What about a problems and solution post to summarise the threads - saves trawling to find the end/ solution?

 

[Hotel California]

What about a problems and solution post to summarise the threads - saves trawling to find the end/ solution?

We heve been looking at adding more sections and take note of your tip

The thing is most just post all things in general T5-T6 tecnical and don't bother using the specific sections and moderators need to move posts all the time , shame becose in the specific sections often helpfull existing posts can be found giving direct help .

 

[MattBW]

There was once the plan to have a wiki area but from all accounts previously it was hard to get it populated. Perhaps we will consider it again. My experience however is that most will post a new thread without checking the 50 similar threads that already exist, such is human nature, we like to interact.

 

[GrannyJen]

Getting back to the OP.

postings in wrong sections ..... sometimes frustrating but they can be moved....

Same questions asked over and over again ..... frustrating for some but it is a forum, new people in all the time and other new people learning from old questions being asked again ...

But....

Requests for advice and then no feedback is something that no amount of new sections, no amount of sticky posts, no amount of moderation can ever put right so it really is up to the poster to be loud and clear about what is wrong on what specific variant and then to come back with feedback afterwards.

 

[Loz]

Maybe the "Admin" might consider using something like the ticket system we use at work that looks up similar phrases and presents similar topics to read before committing to a post?

We started with a free system (Freshdesk) but it is a one to one or few to one solution but there may be similar bits of code to do a search and show the results with a "none of these helped post my question anyway" type approach?

Freshdesk does have a standalone FAQ portal where we can post How's etc. have a look at ours for example;
https://mutiny.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/5000009205 (obviously not cali related but it gives a gist of what I was thinking)

when posting my question suggestions pop up on the right;

 

[Brian’s Dad]

We heve been looking at adding more sections and take note of your tip

The thing is most just post all things in general T5-T6 tecnical and don't bother using the specific sections and moderators need to move posts all the time , shame becose in the specific sections often helpfull existing posts can be found giving direct help .

Some forums have a solutions box - where the useful post (solution) is highlighted in another colour / has a big star by it.

Like this: https://community.ee.co.uk/t5/Apple...tgoing-calls-do-not-connect/m-p/712860#M82052

 

[soulstyledevon]

I think some of the old guard need to give newbies a break. The nature of the forum is assistance and people come and go. But for a lot of new people its just that. NEW.

I know its frustrating when you have been here a long time, but its inevitable.

What i would say, the best way to search is via google and type Volkswagen California Forum and then the issue.
But remember, similar threads do not always get to the route cause that the O/P is looking for and can go off topic.

If new threads are not created, even if they are similar to a post from 2012, the forum may start to become very static.

 

[Hotel California]

I think some of the old guard need to give newbies a break. The nature of the forum is assistance and people come and go. But for a lot of new people its just that. NEW.

I know its frustrating when you have been here a long time, but its inevitable.

What i would say, the best way to search is via google and type Volkswagen California Forum and then the issue.
But remember, similar threads do not always get to the route cause that the O/P is looking for and can go off topic.

If new threads are not created, even if they are similar to a post from 2012, the forum may start to become very static.

Not only refering to newbies

 

[Hotel California]

Maybe the "Admin" might consider using something like the ticket system we use at work that looks up similar phrases and presents similar topics to read before committing to a post?

We started with a free system (Freshdesk) but it is a one to one or few to one solution but there may be similar bits of code to do a search and show the results with a "none of these helped post my question anyway" type approach?

Freshdesk does have a standalone FAQ portal where we can post How's etc. have a look at ours for example;
https://mutiny.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/5000009205 (obviously not cali related but it gives a gist of what I was thinking)

when posting my question suggestions pop up on the right;
View attachment 36870

Those things i would love on the forum !
But is it something this forum can afford ?
Only @Martin can judge this...

Leading people "away " from the forum to other sites is not a good thing imo.

 

[Martin]

I have just installed an add-on that will look for similar threads when you create a new post, it would be good to get feedback on this.

Please use this topic to give feedback
https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/thread...-on-feature-when-creating-a-new-thread.26535/

 

[Martin]

If anyone wants to test this feature, create a new thread in General Chat the mods or myself can then go in and delete it afterwards

 

[MattBW]

Even bofore you click post, the thread gives a lot of suggestions as soon you type a title, looks very good Nice feature Martin.

 

[Loz]

Works well,

@Martin can you pm me with that mod name...

 

[Crell]

Going back to one of the requests above, the ability to mark a post as "Fixed" with a Link to the post that resolved the question can really help with navigation and sorting through less valuable posts.

 

[Martin]

Just looking at something at the moment, basically it just adds a line of text to the thread which is changed by moderators

 

[Hotel California]

It might be solved for the OP but however others can use the topic...
If it flags "now solved" or other , other people might think the thread is a dead end.

 

[sidepod]

It’s tricky. Often I read posts by people who clearly have zero practical knowledge and even less intention of rolling their sleeves up and having a go.

They know deep down they’re just going to take the van to a dealer.
Fine and good they seek out intel but people wasting time with how to fix explanations seems pointless.

Perhaps responders should ask if the OP intends to update/have a go before wasting their valuable time?

Is that harsh?

Just an obvs.

 

[WelshGas]

It’s tricky. Often I read posts by people who clearly have zero practical knowledge and even less intention of rolling their sleeves up and having a go.

They know deep down they’re just going to take the van to a dealer.
Fine and good they seek out intel but people wasting time with how to fix explanations seems pointless.

Perhaps responders should ask if the OP intends to update/have a go before wasting their valuable time?

Is that harsh?

Just an obvs.

Even if they do go to a Dealer after getting advice/information etc: I think it is still discourteous not to post what the Dealer/expert did to solve the problem. At least the Forum would then know for the future.