Khalid, great advice, and it was not long ago that I was a newbie here (some people might think my level of knowledge still makes me a newbie... I think I agree).
However, 2 things.
First, the search facility limiting the words to four characters or more sometimes makes it unworkable. For example, if I'm a newbie, and I'm trying to search for something on XML, I can't. No-one's going to write "extensible markup language" (even if they knew what XML was or how to spell it) in their post, so searching on it isn't going to help. They're going to write XML, but we can't search on that, because it only has 3 characters. It's the same with css, xsl et al.
Does someone control that setting and if so, I would suggest reducing the minimum to 3.
Second, and I am talking from personal experience... sometimes people just need help. They don't exactly know what help they need, they're just frustrated, probably tired, and really looking for a helping hand. I understand what everyone here has said about the "why doesn't this work?" type headings and I agree, but sometimes a lack of knowledge or experience means they don't actually know what question they should be asking.
By the way... to everyone who helps... THANKS! This site has taught me more about javascript, xml, html xhtml and all of the other things I am trying to absorb than any of the tutorial sites ever could. You guys rock!
Chestertb, concerning your first problem, I'd suggest using the asterisk wildcard to search for 3-letter words: xml* or *xml for example. As for your second problem, I agree with you, sometimes people do not know what the real question should be, but the guidelines are to prevent common "help me" posts. (Correct me if I'm wrong, Khalid. )
[J]ona
Visit Slightly Remarkable to see my portfolio, resumé, and consulting rates.
Great tip with the "*". Much appreciate that, and am somewhat disappointed in myself for not working that out... though there's a little part of me that says it again demonstrates the whole "don't know until you know" thing.
As for the thrust of the thread, as I said, I totally agree, and useless "help me" headlines don't assist other users when they're trying to find previous posts that might help solve a problem. But in raising the issue, I just wanted to provide voice for the needs of the few (newbies).
I'm sorry - I was away for quite a while...
And think of the irony - a thread on "message posting guidelines" and I've been posting stuff off-topic
It won't happen again...
IxxI
just in case anyone still reads these, THERE IS NO WAY TO DISABLE THE VIEW SOURCE CODE. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE .
thank you.
Yes, I'm a supermoderator. I'm not an administrator, but I like to pretend that I am. I have my own little administrator cape that I like to wear while I browse the forums.
)
What have you lot been doing to him while I was away??
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