Every time I pull up Statalist I see questions that are hard to answer because the user has not provided enough detail or failed to do other things suggested in the FAQ such as using code delimiters or dataex. Often, but not always, someone responds by pointing the questioner to question 12 of the FAQ and/or giving specific advice. I've done this numerous times, but it gets tedious and I often skip over the query hoping that someone else will do the job.
Although one might think that first-time users of this list would click on the "Advice on Posting" link and read through the FAQ as a teacher I learned a long time ago that if you ask 100 students to follow a set of instructions and 50 of them do not the problem may be with the instructions rather than the recipients. I think that is the case here. The FAQ, well written, useful and informative as it is, may be a bit formidable, particularly to less sophisticated users. If you are eager to get an answer to your question, are you going to read through the 18 items in the FAQ? And are you going to realize that question 12 is probably the very thing you need?
I wonder if there might be a way to program the list so that the first time someone posts a query they automatically get back a message that points them, with a link, to FAQ 12? The message could be gently worded to say something like,
There might also be a second link that leads to a fictional exchange showing the use of code delimiters and other tools such as dataex. Of course, ideally, people should get this message before posting and one can imagine a barrier to posting until the user certifies that she or he has read the FAQ but I don't think we would want to do that.
I know, I know, who has time to do all this? But who has time to repeatedly tell new users of this list how to use it most effectively?
Although one might think that first-time users of this list would click on the "Advice on Posting" link and read through the FAQ as a teacher I learned a long time ago that if you ask 100 students to follow a set of instructions and 50 of them do not the problem may be with the instructions rather than the recipients. I think that is the case here. The FAQ, well written, useful and informative as it is, may be a bit formidable, particularly to less sophisticated users. If you are eager to get an answer to your question, are you going to read through the 18 items in the FAQ? And are you going to realize that question 12 is probably the very thing you need?
I wonder if there might be a way to program the list so that the first time someone posts a query they automatically get back a message that points them, with a link, to FAQ 12? The message could be gently worded to say something like,
We are happy to see that you have joined Statalist. Although you may already be aware of it, we would like to direct you to our FAQ, particularly question 12, which provides suggestions and examples of how you might make your query more understandable and more likely to be answered.
I know, I know, who has time to do all this? But who has time to repeatedly tell new users of this list how to use it most effectively?
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