Repeated questions.

[Calicliff]

Asking a question that has been asked before is not a bad thing and should be encouraged. It serves as a reminder as well as informing new owners of an issue they may encounter. It also refreshes the fix with the latest information that may not have been understood at the time.
We have had a few less than helpful comments of late which is sad because a repeated question by a new Cali owner should be met with a welcome and advice.
Back in 2007 when I bought my first Cali we made sure to push the joy of owning a Cali and shared all the helpful tips we could, the people I met then are now my best friends and we still try to meet up through the year. I have a great deal to thank my Cali for.

 

[calikev]

I agree cliff not everybody is computer savvy including me and some haven't
Got time to spend hours searching for answers. When we set this forum up it was our aim to reply to any questions as quickly as we could. The last thing you want is for say your seat to get stuck on a campsite and have to wait days for a reply on a solution. So members please feel free to ask any questions at all.
Regards kev

 

[GrannyJen]

We were all new once. We all once upon a time must have asked questions that others were sick of hearing.

This forum opened a door for me to a lifestyle that has left me with a big silly grin on my face for the last two and a bit years so please ask away.

If nothing else it introduces new people to the forum, reminds me of everything I have gained and gives me a chance to be chatty with some new people long after the "old" people have got fed up with me twittering on.

 

[Meoncoast]

If members just say "use the search function" the forum would just dry up and there would be new posts. I am on other forums where the "thread Police" prevent me from doing more than just looking.
+1 for ---if you have a question ask it

 

[MattBW]

Its a part of the nature of forums. I've experienced it many times and it comes with time, this has the lowest incidence of it I've ever seen. The new similar thread funciton is awesome and should reduce it too.

As time goes by the problem usually presents itself on any forum. On the club 80-90 forums you will find a core few who are very rude indeed if you post a thread that is already answered in the wiki or other threads. In fact the rules of that forum are search before you post. No-one does though of course. It has a poor atmosphere and feels unwelcoming sadly now.

Users that have been around a long time can get frustrated when the same questions get posted again and again especially if the answers are already available and in some cases many times. I agree though that unhelpful or blunt comments aren't good at keeping the place as friendly as it is and put people off asking questions.

Best approach in my opinion (and not saying this as a moderator) is if a user finds it frustrating is simply best to not reply to those threads or encourage them to use the search function as many of us do. They will often then reply to the existing thread re-initiating the conversation There will always be others who will happily re-share or re-answer the question either way.

 

[andyinluton]

Whilst I agree with the sentiment, there are a lot of the the same questions being asked over and over again with it being left to the same people to answer it every time.

Please don't take this the wrong way, Cliff - you started the thread, you've got 8 years of california ownership yet only 33 posts to your name how about leading by example and answering some of the Newbies repeat questions?

 

[briwy]

Perhaps if there were more "stickies" it would help.
An example is the fitting of solar panels. This seems to come up fairly regularly as more members get Calis and join the forum. If helpful threads and "how tos" could be gathered together under relevant headings it would save a lot of searching and time. Perhaps the Downloads section could be expanded a bit more.

 

[Spotlight Kid]

We were all new once.

Goodness me, it's been a long time since I was new!

 

[Hotel California]

I feel this is pointing a bit in my direction , i often reply saying did you use or try to search ....
This ofthen gives some answers if not " the" answer.
That way the searcher gets some feedback and if he still got no answer he can reply on a tread or start a new....
Wonder why this new feature is brought to life
https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/similar-threads-forum-feature.13080/

So if any are offenced by my reply's , my excuses .

Few days ago one asked a Q by quoting someone , in an existing tread ,while actually the answer to that Q was a few posts above...
So i , helpful as i am , wrote :
Euh ...try to look three posts up

Seems he did not liked my reply , but i did give him the anwer to his Q , simple as that!
It is a forum , charing things each in his own way .

 

[Raggedroy]

Asking a question that has been asked before is not a bad thing and should be encouraged. It serves as a reminder as well as informing new owners of an issue they may encounter. It also refreshes the fix with the latest information that may not have been understood at the time.
We have had a few less than helpful comments of late which is sad because a repeated question by a new Cali owner should be met with a welcome and advice.
Back in 2007 when I bought my first Cali we made sure to push the joy of owning a Cali and shared all the helpful tips we could, the people I met then are now my best friends and we still try to meet up through the year. I have a great deal to thank my Cali for.

Very well put, I have been contemplating posting something similar, however I can be a little too direct so I restrained myself.

 

[briwy]

Sorry to be a bit thick but how do you access the "Similar Threads" from a thread you are looking at? I've not seen any more buttons anywhere.

 

[AlisonF]

Members from this forum are from all over and not all 'exceedingly polite Brits'. If we want their contribution (and I for one think it would be a poorer forum without) then we also need to accept that English is not a first language for many, and there are significant cultural differences between ourselves and some of our nearest neighbours across the channel.

Sometimes rather than shooting from the hip, we all need to take 5 mins, make a cuppa have a sip of beer / wine and ask ourselves, if I was face to face with this person how would I speak to them?

 

[AlisonF]

Briwy, I see it the similar threads when scrolling down in the current thread. Hope that helps
(Practising my own tactic)

 

[WelshGas]

Sorry to be a bit thick but how do you access the "Similar Threads" from a thread you are looking at? I've not seen any more buttons anywhere.

If you scroll down to the bottom of the tread you see the "Similar Thread Titles", and just click on the red type. Or is that not what you mean?

 

[BerndRos]

Members from this forum are from all over and not all 'exceedingly polite Brits'. If we want their contribution (and I for one think it would be a poorer forum without) then we also need to accept that English is not a first language for many, and there are significant cultural differences between ourselves and some of our nearest neighbours across the channel.

Sometimes rather than shooting from the hip, we all need to take 5 mins, make a cuppa have a sip of beer / wine and ask ourselves, if I was face to face with this person how would I speak to them?

I agree 100% with the above.

HotelCalifornia makes excellent contributions here on the forum, often says sorry for his sometimes broken English, but he tries, and golly he can express himself in English far better than I suspect most of us can in his language...

 

[GrannyJen]

I feel this is pointing a bit in my direction , i often reply saying did you use or try to search ....
This ofthen gives some answers if not " the" answer.
That way the searcher gets some feedback and if he still got no answer he can reply on a tread or start a new....
Wonder why this new feature is brought to life
https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/similar-threads-forum-feature.13080/

So if any are offenced by my reply's , my excuses .

Few days ago one asked a Q by quoting someone , in an existing tread ,while actually the answer to that Q was a few posts above...
So i , helpful as i am , wrote :
Euh ...try to look three posts up

Seems he did not liked my reply , but i did give him the anwer to his Q , simple as that!
It is a forum , charing things each in his own way .

Wim

I do not see it as pointing in your direction as it is not only you pointing others to historic threads.

I do it as well but it is a nature of any forum that after a while someone will have been asked everything, tried to answer everything and will get irritated when asked again.

Equally it can get irritating when someone does reply and it spirals into the same old arguments and differences that cropped up 6 months ago, a year ago .... etc.

It's a forum, a mixture of people with a mixture of experiences and from my point of view I think your contributions are useful, valuable informative and sometimes as welcome as a nice box of leonidas Chocolate from Ypres

 

[Hotel California]

@GrannyJen , i will try rember the last seven words of your post.....

 

[AlisonF]

BerndRos
I didn't mention HC in my thread...
The 'rudest' reply I've had so far came from a Brit...

 

[Hotel California]

BerndRos
I didn't mention HC in my thread...
The 'rudest' reply I've had so far came from a Brit...

.....i could be Brittisch ....
but am not ....do like thee !

 

[briwy]

OK thanks, senior moment, again

 

[Geezso]

I'm new and overall very impressed so far. I do search and look for similar threads on any forum, but sometimes you just need to ask. I was already pointed in the direction of a specific section in a post, which to be fair was almost valid but how tos and specific info guides are great to stickie and keep updated. But sometimes its good for opinions, as these can change daily or from incidents I.e. Insurance queries or immediate HELPS if your not too computer savvy.
Also depending on how you access the forum its shown differently.

 

[Hotel California]

Think Geezso is pointing out the very thrut ....
....depending on how you acces the forum it shown differently....
It is not all "plug and play" , sometimes it takes an effort to reach things.

 

[calikev]

It is also difficult to judge the written word. some friendly post's appear not so
That's why I use a lot of smilies in my posts especially if I am joking lol

 

[Yorkdubshire]

I feel this is pointing a bit in my direction , i often reply saying did you use or try to search ....
This ofthen gives some answers if not " the" answer.
That way the searcher gets some feedback and if he still got no answer he can reply on a tread or start a new....
Wonder why this new feature is brought to life
https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/similar-threads-forum-feature.13080/

So if any are offenced by my reply's , my excuses .

Few days ago one asked a Q by quoting someone , in an existing tread ,while actually the answer to that Q was a few posts above...
So i , helpful as i am , wrote :
Euh ...try to look three posts up

Seems he did not liked my reply , but i did give him the anwer to his Q , simple as that!
It is a forum , charing things each in his own way .

Hi Hotel California, not to blow too much smoke up your bum but as I said in another post recently without people like yourself (and the other regulars) there would be no forum or certainly not the brilliantly informative one that this is. It would just be new owners asking questions and lurkers not answering them. New owners sometimes need advice and come here for people to help, which is the way it should be. If someone asks a question that has been asked before, don't sweat it if someone directs you to an existing thread, you are still getting some answers and you can continue and add to the thread?! If not shout up and someone will try and help like, HC! Of all the forums I have used this is the best. I think some times people need to be a bit thicker skinned when it comes down to it! Like has been said it is not easy to interpret the nature of which the written word was intended but in the first instance (on here) take it that someone is trying to help and not being a rotten sod!

 

[Yorkdubshire]

Sometimes rather than shooting from the hip, we all need to take 5 mins, make a cuppa have a sip of beer / wine and ask ourselves, if I was face to face with this person how would I speak to them?

Do you have these drinks one after another, like a line of shots?