Incredible! Clever "Search Before Posting New Thread"-menu

Hi all,

Thank you GTP leaders, for bringing up-to-date thinking into 2006, the year of more spam than ever. Forums are flooded with new topics, people asking the same thing. Amazing how many users finding themselves with bad GT4 discs, and make a new thread instead of searching a bit.
There's a reason why the "Search"-button on Honda-Tech.com is red, do not ignore this button. Most forums either use ZeroForums (EvolutionForums.com, VWVortex.com, Honda-Tech.com) or VBullitin/-based softwares. The search button is clearly marked, but still, no one seems to find them.
So what to do? We could of course whine about it, as almost all forums do. "Use the search button", or "See the search, n00b?". But no, it's frustrating whining in every topic. New topics should be meaningfull, clever and thought-out.
Therefore, GTP has come up with a "Search Before Posting New Thread"-menu (I will call it the SBPNT-menu for the rest of the post, for simplecy) when creating a new topic (at least in \GTP Forums\Gran Turismo\Gran Turismo 4). Simple, yet effective and clever. GT Planet once again leads the way! Initiatives like these should be well rewarded, and I'm sure your 90.000+ members enjoy the forums.

The SBPNT-menu might not be very new, I'm sorry if it has existed for a long time already, but I just found it some days ago.

With this, I want to give a special thanks to Jordan and the rest of the staff of GTP, for making clean, effective and simple forums, but I also want to reach out to the newcomers (newbs and noobs are two very different things, do not use n00b when talking to newcomers). Please, do use the search function before posting, and please, do not skip the Search Before Posting New Threads-menu without reading it!
It's essential that this highly functional tool is being used correctl. I just read a couple of new posts in the \GTP Forums\Gran Turismo\Gran Turismo 4 forum, and it is clear that the creator has skipped the SBPNT-menu, even if it takes up the whole screen and is read in 1 minute.

Posting in forums requires as much intelligence as talking in real life. No one will ever pick at you when you only post thought-out material, they will just be pleased.
And remember, newcomers can be as talented, if not even more, than veterans to GTP (I am a moderator on another forum, still, on Honda-Tech I have a large sign written n00b all over it, not very funny).

So to sum it up, big thanks to the staff for making this incredible device, and a bigger thanks to all the users for using it correctly.


Eirik

YUP, I think that's for new members and junior members. After that, you know what to do before making a new thread.



Ciao!

You see it when you have less than 100 posts. In other words a newbie and a junior member. After that, you don't see it anymore because it is understood that you are going to search before posting.



Ciao!

Ozzy.

You see it when you have less than 100 posts. In other words a newbie and a junior member. After that, you don't see it anymore because it is understood that you are going to search before posting.



Ciao!

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Even more incredible!
I think I shall bring this further to some of the forums I am on. It's a good way to remind newcomers that they are newcomers to the forums, without having n00bs written all over them.
I'm active here, and I love these forums, but I am also on a car forum where people with 2000 posts forget to search. So that can happen to anyone.
Oh, by the way, 100 posts? Are you sure? I rarely check how many posts I have, I just don't care for the number of posts, it's the content of the post that matters. However, I just checked and I have 165 posts. Maybe the limit on the menu comes off after 200 posts?


Eirik

Ozzy.

You see it when you have less than 100 posts. In other words a newbie and a junior member. After that, you don't see it anymore because it is understood that you are going to search before posting.



Ciao!

Click to expand...

No that's not right, I've just clicked the new thread button and I see the search first box, I don't think there is anything that disables it when you reach xxxxx ammount of posts. I think it's limited to the GT4 forum though, I don't see it in the rumble strip or the GT5 forums and I'm not up for checking every forum and sub forum on the site. But I think they've put it where it's needed most, and when GT5 comes out or perhaps nears release they may put in the GT5 forum. Forums like the Movies and TV forums, Sport forums and such don't really have a problem with repeat threads, the GT4 forum on the other hand has seen more repeat threads than probably the rest of the sire combined.

I believe you're right live4speed... it's just on the most popular forum - the GT4 forum, but as you say, it may well also be used on other parts of the site in future.

I agree with the original poster in that I believe that it's a very useful function, especially since newcomers to the site are sometimes not aware that a search function even exists.

Yes, the search before posting feature was enacted for the GT4 forum. Due to the many repeat threads. That feature is easily enactable on any vBulletin based forum.

Thanks for the kudos on how we run the shop. Glad to hear you like it.

live4speed

No that's not right, I've just clicked the new thread button and I see the search first box, I don't think there is anything that disables it when you reach xxxxx ammount of posts. I think it's limited to the GT4 forum though, I don't see it in the rumble strip or the GT5 forums and I'm not up for checking every forum and sub forum on the site. But I think they've put it where it's needed most, and when GT5 comes out or perhaps nears release they may put in the GT5 forum. Forums like the Movies and TV forums, Sport forums and such don't really have a problem with repeat threads, the GT4 forum on the other hand has seen more repeat threads than probably the rest of the sire combined.

Click to expand...

Its true, I see it in the GT4 forum, but I have a vague memory of one time that I tried to make a new thread in the "Casrs in General" forum, the menu appeared, by that time I was a junior member if I can recall. Then I thought, "this is very useful for new members"...but again It's a vague memory, I might be mistaken.




Ciao!

Thanks for the kind words, eiriksmil. It is true that I incorporated the feature you mentioned when GT4 was nearing release. As you would expect, things get far beyond crazy around here when new games come out, and that little feature has probably saved us from who-knows-how-many threads, while also quickly bringing information to the users who requested it. It is actually not a "standard feature" of vBulletin, and is one which I incorporated myself. I do have the option, of course, to make use of it any forum, although the GT4 board is the only place I have actually implemented it so far.