With all the new people coming into the forum, maybe you post something at the top of the forums page inviting them to use the search function before posting. It might read something like this:

If you're new here, try using the search function before posting a new thread. Click "search" in the upper right corner, enter your topic in the "Search by Keyword" box, then press "Perform Search".

Whadya think?

[Edited by y2kse on 01-12-2001 at 02:12 PM]

That's a good idea!

Here's another idea..


for the first 10 times they click on "post a new thread," make it send them directly to the MaxFAQs or the search page.

Good thinking amigo!

I also like that idea, Matt. My only suggestion is that newbies need to be told why they're being sent to the search page. Otherwise they may not make the connection.

state bold in the user agreement

That might work. But I rarely read user agreements and I suspect I'm not alone in that.

Somewhere along the line newbies need to be instructed on how to use the search engine. I know the instructions are contained in the FAQs, but they're not going to know how to use the FAQs either. And forcing newbies to go to the FAQ page or the search engine will only confuse them. They'll have no idea how or why they got there.

many people will register strictly to post a single question but still view threads off and on. not everyone fits your definition of a newbie. try my idea. it's direct and easily implementable [b]

[I]Who reads user agreements? Its usually the same old legal BS. I don't read it for forums or for software. Being a "newsgroup" regular for over 6 years of various topics, there are general rules/suggestions that most adhere too. One of the very first is to "watch and listen" for a little while before jumping in headfirst. Kinda like not walking into a party where you know no-one and start demanding attention. Might be in for a rude awakening.

If it could be located on a page in the registration process that doesn't have a lot of text, (people quit reading after a few), it might get noticed, but you know, many miss the sign on the door that you just walked into. I know the general rule of searching thru archives first, found answers to a couple of my questions and some not, which I'll just take to shop to figure out but for those that don't search, they would probably still post w/o searching even if clearly stated anywhere.

I so "rudely" just jumped in because of my excitement about the car I just bought and I didn't think I'd find anyone wanting a comparison of the specific two cars I was looking at. So forgive my impudence.

Regardless of where the suggestion is located, it will continue...but hey..as long as it's not a list that every post is emailed to you, your browser doesn't automatically open every single post. It's our choice what we read and what we don't. :-)

It's short, it's sweet, it's simple, it provides all the necessary instructions, and it's to the point.