Please Please Please HELP

[tgm1024]

...me to encourage people to post with subject lines that actually reflect the subject matter. (yes this is self-referential hooey)

On the serious side, I've seen no end of un- or lightly- answered posts whose subject lines tell no one who should answer it.

 

[El Presidente]

I understand your frustrations, and whilst a decent subject on all posts would be nice, it's not essential.

There's no rule which states your subject line should give an exact description of the fault, as long as the post contains a good description of the issue, that's ok. If it doesn't, we just politely ask for the info we need.

 

[tgm1024]

I understand your frustrations, and whilst a decent subject on all posts would be nice, it's not essential.

There's no rule which states your subject line should give an exact description of the fault, as long as the post contains a good description of the issue, that's ok. If it doesn't, we just politely ask for the info we need.

Oh of course there's no rule. But I completely disagree: It *is* essential to maximize the number of people who respond, and to gather the right people.

BTW, It doesn't frustrate me....there's no skin off my back on this. Just as with posts asking questions without doing any research: totally ok----forums are discussion vehicles and discussions require no prior research.

From our point of view, we're free to ignore whatever we like.

The entire point however is to help people get the help they're seeking. Doesn't occur to many people that "Help!" by itself doesn't better attract the right folks: the folks that actually have the answer to the question they have.

 

[annebrooks64]

I would also like folks to state which country they are posting from as there is often nothing anywhere that tells people that. Devices have different features in other countries and also vary between carriers, I'm sure they may get more specific answers this way. It would also help those who wish to answer them.

 

[Digital Controller]

Setting these guidelines is asking too much of other people posting. When someone posts we do not want to respond to them with a, "sorry your formatting isn't correct for this forum"

We can happily respond with a, "could you please provide us with this information".

It allows for new members to be a little less...angry, if a new member gets confronted with that line they will not return most likely as they will be upset with being corrected on their first post. The way we have the forums set up right now is perfectly capable of answering all the questions asked by someone, even if it takes a little poking and prodding to get it

 

[tgm1024]

Setting these guidelines is asking too much of other people posting. When someone posts we do not want to respond to them with a, "sorry your formatting isn't correct for this forum"

That's not something anyone would think is sensible. No one is suggesting a requirement. Criminey, I hope that's not what others want.

Besides, "encouragement" aren't "guidelines" aren't "official guidelines" aren't "enforcement". Pointing out in a friendly way that they'll get better results if they supply a targeting subject will help them quite a bit. If not this time, then next.

 

[Digital Controller]

That's not something anyone would think is sensible. No one is suggesting a requirement. Criminey, I hope that's not what others want.

Besides, "encouragement" aren't "guidelines" aren't "official guidelines" aren't "enforcement". Pointing out in a friendly way that they'll get better results if they supply a targeting subject will help them quite a bit. If not this time, then next.

People already know this because in the FAQ's we have an entire list of how to's for this forum, like How to post, how to start a thread, how to get help...People already know, it's just some people don't always read before they post.

It is why i put certain things in my signature...we would all love there to be a message right when you sign up for this forum telling people in bold print: "This is how to get proper help:"

I understand the point you are making and i didn't mean for it to come off as demanding the members to say those things, sorry, but there is really no efficient way to get users to support/follow these guidelines, other than reading the FAQ's which we have already linked around the forum like crazy.

Example: http://androidforums.com/faqs/618192-how-get-help-your-device.html

EDIT: If you, yourself are looking to better encourage others why not stick a tag line in your signature, along the lines of: Want some faster help...Put your device information in the Subject line of your post!

INFACT....my siggy in a minute

 

[EarlyMon]

People who know how to find our FAQ know those things, those are usually the ones without the problem.

I like better titles myself.

For one thing, it reduces clutter in crowded forums. I've often merged countless "please help" threads because they all asked about configuring wifi.

And tidy titles help others when they're looking for threads, or even when they're trying to start new ones.

If you see any that have terrible titles, please report them, as stated in our rules, we'll be happy to help. We'll take those on and decide on a case by case basis.

That said, please don't go back and help by finding every thread that's wrong, we can't handle that work load.

And it's ok to suggest to OPs that they can change their own titles by editing their posts and then clicking that handy "Advanced" button at the bottom of the edit window.

You can even do it in Tapatalk by scrolling up when editing - not many people seem to know that.

I'll bet if you make it as a friendly suggestion (newcomers tend to be shy), they'll be happy to oblige.

Maybe say something like -

Friendly tip to get you better answers - change your thread title by clicking Edit, then Advanced. Maybe something like "XYZ" will get you more hits.

 

[tgm1024]

EDIT: If you, yourself are looking to better encourage others why not stick a tag line in your signature, along the lines of: Want some faster help...Put your device information in the Subject line of your post!

My way of handling it is to once in a while post directly as a reply why you want a directed subject.

As for in my sig, it doesn't do any harm but it's certainly not going to reach someone before they post unless they also read my post.

Some are reading this post of mine as some sort of plea for policy change, which it just never was. In any case, it's already talked to death.

 

[Stuntman]

I may mouse over the subject heading to see what the post is about. If I'm not on a PC with a browser that supports mouse overs, then the person is usually out of luck as sometimes I cannot be bothered to load the thread just to see what it is about.

I would also like folks to state which country they are posting from as there is often nothing anywhere that tells people that. Devices have different features in other countries and also vary between carriers, I'm sure they may get more specific answers this way. It would also help those who wish to answer them.

Good idea. I generally list my location, but most new members won't go through the trouble. Still, if it is an issue with a device, more information is usually better.