--- In [email protected], Dennis Brown <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>When I first started, I did not know what to call things, >so most of my searches failed. Ha! I can relate to that! Sometimes people may find it easier to dash off a quick question to the list than to troll deeply through the several possible references available. I always try to keep in mind that, in general, if the person knew where to find the answer, they would go right to it. But, until a more thorough acclimation takes place, newbies don't know where to look. IMO, it's not realistic to expect every poster to have spent a few months getting deeply familiar with the reference material. Even those who have spent significant time with the reference material may still need a bit of "extra" or "different" explanation/example before the light comes on for any particular topic. A quick question may deserve a quick answer: "Try reading this page or topic and see if that helps." And what is wrong with that? (nothing, IMO) If a person more experienced with the product and the docs can direct someone to where the answer exists, it only takes a moment, and that moment could substitute for hours of (fruitless?) searching on the questioner's part. Clearly some people form an opinion along the lines of: "Oh come on, that's so obvious, and it's RIGHT THERE IN THE DOCS" Well, maybe (and perhaps definitely!). OK, so just don't answer that poster. Don't let it get to you! Either someone else will answer (question posed, question answered, no nick on you!), or the poster will email support or figure it out themselves eventually. Civility (or refraining from incivility) helps the list, lack of civility hurts it (IMO). Posing a simple or "obvious" question is not "lack of civility" (IMO). BTW, "It's in the docs" is not a very helpful answer (to the questioner or the list). "I think what you are looking for is in the docs, HERE" is a very helpful answer, and if more people who are capable of this answer would step up to it then TJ would not have to!
