Thanks for the replys BUU & jbrugger,
Yes, I used super search to see if there had already been lots of discussions about fixing/improving the Q&A area. From the strings I searched on, it looked like there were no discussions about improving this area. And yes, I understand that what you were actually suggesting was that super search is a valid and perhaps adequate vehicle into the Q&A areas.
Granted, my recomendation is vague at this point, but I did point out what I thought was a better model. So, BUU, you are essentially saying that you have no suggestions, and that there are no monks that have any thoughts on how it might be possible to improve the Q&A area? I must say, I am surprised there aren't more comments about this post, and none that are positive, but the original post's reputation at this time is still in the positive numbers. Could it be you've frightened those that might have good comments off?
I've seen various comments/complaints about how the newby's never search for answers before posting etc. I'm not saying that this is a problem that is easily fixable, I don't think it's fixable at all. But, if the areas that do answer frequent questions were better accessable, perhaps some of the repeat stuff would diminish.
I find it hard to belive that with all the intelligent people frequenting this site, that someone wouldn't know of a better suggestion for the interface for the Q&A area. As I said originally I think the model for the tutorials is better than the existing Q&A area. There might be a better option, I'm looking to spark a positive discussion toward that goal.
-Scott
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I'd keep the current sections but add a Tutorials-like table of contents for a significant subset of the questions. But someone has got to regularly update such a thing. Are you volunteering? (Just asking, and not pointedly.)
There are tons of things that need to be done to CatQ+A to make it work well as a FAQ repository. Several times I've seen one or more of these changes get started but they have never really kept traction. Too much maintenance work is required for most of them.
In some ways, no matter how well-done CatQ+A becomes, there will always be new guests who don't make use of it and post questions that are well-answered there. And in some ways, CatQ+A is just not close enough to the focus of PerlMonks.
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Well, i'd like to add something to the community, so if something has to be done, i'm willing to help. I'm not sure if i can promise it on a daily base though (work and family to take care of), but at least weekly or twice a week.
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Yes, I would also be willing to help. Provided there were tools, or it were possible to create and use tools to help create and update a table of contents or index. Manually editing by hand, continuously? Yuck.
OTOH, how busy is the Q&A area? Manual might not be that bad for now... But if it became a more frequently visited area, it might become busy...
So, knowing very little (nothing?) about the back end of PM, is tool creation possible? Easy? Other?
-Scott
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