Practically writing a project for people...

[Jon von der Heyden]

I don't make a living in anyway from VBA/Excel (I'm a planner for a flooring manufacturers) so how do you guys that do make a living from it, feel about this?

Do you mean you are wondering if you can make a living from it? If so, I don't want to turn you off, but do want you to know the reality.

1) There is less VBA work available today than there was say 5 years ago (personal experience / observation). I think possibly due to tools such as Power BI, but also possibly because smaller pieces of work go to upwork / fivrr and such, and then to the lowest bidder (I cannot compete with the e.g. Indian rates)

2) The demand for Excel and VBA specialists usually requires further specialism (e.g. accounting).

3) The requirement is often to work with other systems / technology (e.g. SQL, BI, even other programming e.g. C#.NET).

Good luck.

 

[thes4s67]

However, there are a few people in the forums that just give you the situation and expect you to write the fully tested code for them.

I feel the same way. I first started on this forum totally oblivious to VBA but I was able to learn asking questions (sometimes even with no code provided because I haven't got a clue to begin). Now about a year later, I can say my VBA/Excel skills have improved a lot.

I now post solutions to problems that I know even if the user doesn't provide any code while for some I explicitly ask "What have you tried so far". However it really bugs me when some users: expect you to read their minds on how the outcome should be, do not even bother to format their code to be readable on the forum, or dont even say thank you. Overall, I contribute to learn and because I like to give back to the forum which has helped me a lot.

 

[shg]

A few years ago I got a PM thanking me profusely for help, and offering ... pictures of herself. "Whatever you want."

I followed the party line and suggested she make her offer to Bill.

 

[FDibbins]

lol shg, and you didn't share?

For what it's worth, my view on this type of thing is that probable the vast majority of people who post asking for help, do so from some form of business/work need, a few may need help for charities/sports clubs, while a VERY few actually want help for their own/domestic needs.

With that in mind, I take the approach that my help (and everyone else's) is offered free, and I am free to just walk away if I feel the need to. Nobody forces anyone to provide answers, and if you get offended/uncomfy/whatever, about a thread/question/comment, walk away and leave it for some1 else.

I enjoy problem solving (pretty much exclusively with formulas), and get a kick out of working out solutions. Sometimes you get a thanks, and sometimes you don't even get a reply saying it worked. I don't do this for the thanks, but they are always appreciated, all I would like is some feedback on whether my suggestions helped

 

[gallen]

A few years ago I got a PM thanking me profusely for help, and offering ... pictures of herself. "Whatever you want."

I followed the party line and suggested she make her offer to Bill.

Superb. Currency comes in many forms!

 

[BobbyDrus]

I came here for help because I had been going to stackoverflow and I did a poorly worded question and was just ripped apart with negative votes that I was restricted to being able to do very little. I felt I needed to find some place that would not punish me for poorly worded questions.

I am a manager and have a bunch of poorly created excel tools to use that I am constantly refining, it isn't within my job requirements but I like the challenge. This form through my questions and the many posts I just lurk through has made me much better in a short time. There are a few posters I'd love to offer to buy a drink for, but don't make the offer due to form rules. I just hope one day to be able to give back to the next guy as I've been taking so much help.

 

[XL-Dennis]

Hi there,

Let me give You some input from a wider perspective, i.e based on my vagabond life through many public Q&A forums through the years.

You will always meet two sort of members, those who want to learn and do the work by themselves and those who want You to do the work for them.

The approach I recommend is simple to evaluate op's first post. If You get suspicious about the post check his profile. It will probably shows that the op recently signed on as a member. Only the required information is supplied. Probably it's the first post the op does. If You feel that the op only wants You to do the job then move on to the next thread.

When it come to student (on all level) they tend also to want You do the work for them. However, usually they are aware of it but want to try a short cut to the solution as they usually a) have little time and b) lack basic knowledge. In this case I suggest that You post a message stating "We don't do others home work. Show us what You have done Yourself and we may consider to help You.".

The worse subgroup is the ones that make cross-post. Today I have no details about it but it existed in the old days. They should be ignored and in the end be black listed by the moderators.

Keep up the good work and good luck,
Dennis

 

[AliGW]

I enjoy trying to find solutions to help people. One can't expect people, especially novices, to be able to state all of their requirements precisely in an opening post all of the time, but the ones that I find the most galling are those where the requirements change completely over the course of the thread, with each message from the OP being along the lines of, "Almost there - now just need to add this facility", or those where you eventually establish that the real dataset bears no resemblance whatsoever to the sample data provided. Nonetheless, when one finally manages to provide a solution, it's very rewarding.

 

[Jon von der Heyden]

It wonderful to see you here again xl-Dennis! I hope you are well!

The worse subgroup is the ones that make cross-post. Today I have no details about it but it existed in the old days. They should be ignored and in the end be black listed by the moderators.

Cross-posting is definitely still quite a regular occurrence, unfortunately. We (i.e. the mods) took a middle-ground position on this. We don't forbid it, but we do insist that the OP make clear that their question is cross-posted, and that he/she provide hyperlink references to the other posts. This way members can decide for themselves whether or not they want to address the question.

 

[Joe4]

They should be ignored and in the end be black listed by the moderators.

Yes, we are not quite so heavy-handed. Many Cross-Posters are noobs to internet help forums who don't fully understand/appreciate forum netiquette. So we first try to educate them rather than punish them.
Repeat offenders, however, risk banishment from the board.