how to make this forum better

[monkeynuts]

do you think this can be made better if only good excelers reply to questions? or have two forums - one specialy fro mvps?

Is it good if anyone sais a reply even if its is no help?

I think I upset people the other day but only saying that answers need to be the right answers. i didnt mean to be not kind. but i think i said fair.

But is it like when you phone help line? you need the right help right?

 

[Norie]

The help proviced here is free. There can sometimes be more than 1 answer to a question.

If somebody posts something that you consider to be 'wrong' then don't use it.

Many people on this board started out as novices and learned from what others posted - both 'right' and 'wrong' answers.

 

[Cbrine]

Is it good if anyone sais a reply even if its is no help?

The other thing to remember, is that clairity explaining the problem, is also half of the equation. If you can't explain the problem clearly, you are not going to get a good answer. GIGO. There is no end to talent on this board, and I've learn a great deal from user's here. MVP's and regular users.

Cal[/quote]

 

[monkeynuts]

ok, But if the answers are not good, why n ot fair for me to say so? I mean, if this is a true forum for knowledge - and someone is not a help, i can show that is so, right? Also, if theres difficult in speaking english then its not fair to blame bad "clairity explaining the problem".

I did not want to start arguments, but thought i was not answered fair when i needed help. Thats why I say best left to mvps - but its good to hear your opinion - perhaps i made mistakes.

 

[Cbrine]

Monkeynuts,
As you stated, I'm not trying to be insulting. I'm trying to explain that it takes two to tango. Both parts of the communication are important. If's there's any lack of clairity, you get the wrong solution(I'm not saying there was). As far as telling somebody they are wrong, then go ahead and tell them they didn't give you the solution you were looking for, and try explaining more clearly, what the end result should be. Remember, we are all doing this on our own time. If you think it might be a language barrier issue, try posting to the international forum, and see if anyone can help you there.

HTH
Cal

 

[Von Pookie]

ok, But if the answers are not good, why n ot fair for me to say so?

Posting a reply explaning why what someone posted isn't helping you is fair and perfectly normal. However, you don't have to be rude about it. Replying to someone who gave you a completely polite, helpful answer and telling them to "go away" and then arguing about it is not the way to get help.

There will most likely be quite a few instances where someone may tell you to look at something in the Excel help files. It is still help. That person knows the answer you want is located there, and is trying to help you learn on your own instead of having it done for you.

 

[Richie(UK)]

Hi,

1. If only MVPs were allowed to answer questions then there would be a lot of unanswered questions! There simply aren't enough MVPs to answer all the questions asked.

2. There are a great many talented Excel users that frequent this board - not all of them are MVPs.

3. People don't deliberately post wrong answers. If somebody does post an answer that is clearly wrong then it should be pointed out to them (tactfully) - this will enable them to learn from the post as well.

4. Who determines whether people are 'good' at Excel? You? What if somebody that you don't class as 'good' happens to have resolved the problem that you are now facing - will you ignore their advice?

5. And finally - this is a FREE forum. If you feel that you have not received a satisfactory response then:

a) Consider whether you have clearly specified the nature of your problem.
b) Ask for a refund!

 

[The Tamer]

Hello Monkeynuts,

The presence of an answer from myself to your post is not meant to antagonize you, but I thought I’d let you know what I do for a living:

I train Microsoft Excel in a building of around 2,500 staff. Though this may come as a surprise to you and others on this forum, it is nevertheless true. I do not have the same level of knowledge as many of the contributors to this board, and this is something I freely acknowledge. But I have enough know-how to train people to a standard that our business considers necessary.

So I guess that what a person considers “good” is subjective. There will certainly be some people who have been helped by my posts, and others who won’t have. But as has been said, it is then up to you to try out what has been suggested and use the most effective solution.

As a Development Trainer, my experience is that the method of getting a person to work for an answer is actually very effective. Firstly because you will be more likely to retain what you’ve learned, and, secondly, you will get used to using the very resourceful help files for yourself.

Having said that, there are times when you just don’t have time to research – and so this forum is an excellent source of help. So enjoy!

 

[adaytay]

Just my additional 2 cents:

Every single member here works (I assume) for an employer, and additionally spends time here as a volunteer. This is free advice you're getting. I appreciate you may be having a bad day but I would be offended if you'd spoken to me like that.

(And if you'd done that on my board, I'd have banned you immediately)

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[PaddyD]

My 2 cents, given that the point hasn't been made.

Insisting on only "correct" solutions (something that strikes me as a logically impossible condition - how do you know they're right until they're posted up & assessed?) would seriously limit the usefulness of the board to you by removing opportunities for serendipitous discovery. The answer may be 'wrong' for your current need but exactly what you want for another problem; maybe this "wrong" answer hasn't been posted before, but is nevertheless a solution to a problem that someone else has; maybe it's not a total solution to your problem, but the new approach it takes gets you thinking of more effective solutions to other problems.

In summary, the suggestion is undesirable and, more importantly, impossible to enforce.