Help page - FAQ (Moved from 'Try It')

[Alwassia]

Hi,
I am not to familiar with all the new feature & functions avialable in the new forum. I am not always sure what i have to do to check the posts i am interested in.
I went most time back to the home page to start over again just ot make sure i do not miss a post.

Ok i am not a upto date with technoilogies, so could we have an "Idiot" guide for setting up accounts and how to find the messages.

I for one could not figure out how to subscribe to threads, what ever that means. I would like an "Idiot Guide to the BSAC Forum" PDF or a very large Button on the front page which brings me to asuch an guide.
The FAQ area is much to technical for me - Sorry Keith.

Sorry but pressure has reduced my brain capacity for electronic things.

[Adrian Kelland]

Hi,
I am not to familiar with all the new feature & functions avialable in the new forum. I am not always sure what i have to do to check the posts i am interested in.
I went most time back to the home page to start over again just ot make sure i do not miss a post.

Ok i am not a upto date with technoilogies, so could we have an "Idiot" guide for setting up accounts and how to find the messages.

I for one could not figure out how to subscribe to threads, what ever that means. I would like an "Idiot Guide to the BSAC Forum" PDF or a very large Button on the front page which brings me to asuch an guide.
The FAQ area is much to technical for me - Sorry Keith.

Sorry but pressure has reduced my brain capacity for electronic things.
Hi Alwassia,

You can subscribe to a thread using the thread tools menu at the top of each thread.

There are some FAQs that come with the software, buut they are by no means complete. As you may have found.

Perhaps as you become a suitably educated 'Idiot', you could write such Idiots Guides, at least in an outline form. That way nothing is assumed. Those of us who a much more familiar with computers etc. tend to take too much for granted when it comes to what users know.

Adrian

[Alwassia]

Hi Alwassia,

You can subscribe to a thread using the thread tools menu at the top of each thread.

There are some FAQs that come with the software, buut they are by no means complete. As you may have found.

Perhaps as you become a suitably educated 'Idiot', you could write such Idiots Guides, at least in an outline form. That way nothing is assumed. Those of us who a much more familiar with computers etc. tend to take too much for granted when it comes to what users know.

Adrian

Adrian,
thank for the tip, i did not see the thread menu, to much things to look at i guess.
If i get the "proper" use of the forum sorted out then i have no probs to come up with an outline for an Idiot guide, but i think i will need some time for that despite that fact that i am daily on the BSAC forum.

I understand the creaping up of the "experts" language, happens to me when the car talk starts - everytime without fail, just ask my wife.

[Adrian Kelland]

Adrian,
thank for the tip, i did not see the thread menu, to much things to look at i guess.
If i get the "proper" use of the forum sorted out then i have no probs to come up with an outline for an Idiot guide, but i think i will need some time for that despite that fact that i am daily on the BSAC forum.

There is a LOT more to the software this forum is using. Thus there is a lot for both new users and the administrators to get used to.

Adrian

[MattS]

User guides are always a problem. It's not so much about providing the information as providing it in a way the individual understands it - hence the advice read the flippin manual (RTFM). User guides definitely should not be written by techies. Otherwise you end up with a manual which is only understandable by the people that do not need it.

We might want to consider a 'Getting started' or 'How do I...' self help forum. Let users help each other and make the best responses sticky.

What dya think?

[Keith Lawrence]

There is always the built-in FAQ system, link should be on your nav bar. In there is the default vBulletin FAQ which does have some reasonable documentation in it. But as Adrian has pointed out there's one hell of a lot in this forum software including a FAQ manager.

I think we need to work on the 'Help/Feedback' section, any suggestions? I like the idea of Sticky's for good hints and tips, if somebody wants to have a crack at building those into a permenant FAQ system (I was thinking of a "BSAC FAQ" anyway) then I'll probably let you :)

That's what I like about this software, it is so flexible and we're only scratching the surface. My longer term aim is to get several people helping out with the forums with the bits they are good at and to have different moderators for the different forums. That's why I say we're only just getting going, I would like to think that the forums and their usage/management can evolve as our needs change. Gone are the days when it was a total PITA setting up a simple thing like a new forum, the new 'Buddies' forum took me all of 5 minutes to set up!