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Unable to post questions under "TCL FAQ"

Old posts that have not been replied to for several years.
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z_one
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Unable to post questions under "TCL FAQ"

Post by z_one »

I tried posting a question under the "TCL FAQ" section and I got this msg.

Sorry but only moderators can reply to posts in this forum.
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ppslim
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Post by ppslim »

This is currently due to the permissions set on the forum group.

There are for and against points for this.

FOR: Allows to post replied, in order to gain specific knoldge on other commands (IE, what other list commands are effected, or I get other strange output).

AGAINST: It's just another place for people that don't read, to get there script coded for them.

For now, you could just send the message to the Tcl forum, with the subject from the FAQ, with RE: pre-prended.
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slennox
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Post by slennox »

I think the FAQ section should be read-only to give some order to it, otherwise it would just split the Tcl Scripts forum into two. My idea of it was that new posts could be created there (as stdragon has already done) and completed threads in the Tcl Scripts forum dealing with FAQs could be moved there.

I've added read-only to the descriptoin and given stdragon moderator status in the Tcl Scripts forum (I think this is required for him to move threads to the FAQ).

It could be that we're going about this the wrong way -- many forums simply use a few sticky posts at the top of each individual forum, and they seem to work well. Perhaps a sticky FAQ at the top of the Tcl Scripts forum that stdragon and yourself could update every so often might be more appropriate, or simply making sticky a few existing threads that deal with issues that are raised very frequently.
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Post by ppslim »

I too have seem forums that use that style, however, I find them overly complicated to navigate.

Take, for example, ADSLguide.org.uk.

There forum, deals with broadband issues, both with providers, hardware, software, telecomms and anything else you can think of related to the use, setup and complaints of broadband.

While they have a forum for each broadband ISP in the UK (the list is long, and complicated in itself), this is required, to seperate threads, to there correct location, and as such, is justified.

However, when it comes to FAQ's, they have produced 2 or 3 sticky threads on the top, of the assosited forum.

If you ever read these, they are rather awkward to navigate, take a while to locate the details within the thread and look a complete mess (most of the mess is due to the creator, but even so, a tidy up would still prove hard to navigate).

Looking at another forum, for the EMPEG in-car MP3 player (proud owner of) here.

They have a seperate forum (like here) dedicated to FAQ's.

It all depends of the size of the subject, how it should it navigated and the naming process.

Using a seperate forum for it, you are able to place the error message as the subject, and discuss the issue within the thread.

While this is simple enough for threads that have been moved from the Tcl forum, it's just not sane for some topics.

IE, a thread may go too far into the discusion or off-topic. It may also be too scattered to recgonise the answer.

Taking this, the first post in the thread should be updated, to reflect any issues regarding the answer provided, rather than scattering it over 6 posts, where a reader has to get into the conversation themselves to locate the answer.

There may be a time, where it is shown that a reply to a FAQ, is ralted to the original FAQ, but is too deeply related to a specific scenario. Under this condition, the first post int he thread, should cover the main FAQ at hand, but replies to cover the times of deep scenarios.

IE.

Deeply nested lists (list, within list, wihtin list, without list, within list (cheesy, but understandable)).

Socket errors. What other reasons bar the actual code could be causing the problems.

If there is no way, that a topic has a need to be replied to (IE, a discusion on why puthelp should be used in place of putserv), then these threads can be locked by a moderator.

In all, this provides a easy (maybe a compromise) way to navigate FAQ's, with the ability to get feeback and cover the topic in more depth, with the advantage of not having the topic being cross posted to the Tcl forum, for replies.
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Post by caesar »

I admire the ideea of the Tcl FAQ, and if it's possible I would like to sugest something. Put something about: string match, string length, string tolower, etc., then with split. Great ideea, keep it goin` :)
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Post by caesar »

Oh, and btw, drop the "If you need more explanation, please post questions below." :) cos we, the simple ones, can't post and reply there :P :)

Put the most common used tricks like I've sugested in the previous reply. :)

I would like to sugest to the new people to read all the posts, replys that are on this great forum, like I did at the begining, and they will learn very fast and easy (worked for me) some stuff thet they can do themself without ask for a tcl or something like this :)

Btw, put something about the bind for raw, like for an whois and other stuff like this, then .. humm.. for exec to if it's possible. :)

Thanks for your time and support guys! :) Without you I've never learned the things I know now and I will now in the future. Long live www.egghelp.org and it's great forum and members :)
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Post by stdragon »

What I was thinking of was something like at php.net. (e.g. http://www.php.net/manual/en/ref.array.php) They have these help pages about certain functions, and then users can discuss them, add their own tips, etc, at the bottom of the page. This way it becomes a "living faq" rather than a static document. It's also easy to see when changes have been made, via the standard forum interface, whereas in a normal faq you have to re-read it.

About the threads getting messy, I figured that's why we have moderators :) If people post good questions, we can leave them until they've been answered (then maybe delete them). If people post script requests or questions that have already been answered, we delete them. Note this only applies to existing threads, they shouldn't be able to create new ones.
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Post by caesar »

I agree wit tha last part :) Where an asnwer is made an the user dosen't have something more to comment/ask .. etc. about he posted that mey be deleted or moved to and Recycle Bin :)
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Post by slennox »

What I don't want to happen is people being unsure about whether to post to to Tcl Scripts forum or Tcl FAQ, without there being a clear distiction. If both were fully open forums, I wouldn't know myself which one to put my question in. This would result in an unruly split with some people preferring one forum above the other even though the topic is the same.

I've modified the permissions so that registered users can reply to topics in the FAQ, but can't start new ones. I think that is a good compromise.
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Post by ppslim »

That is more what I wanted.

All topics should start in the main forums
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Post by caesar »

I got to admit that I love Tcl Scripts Forum :) I prefer it most :)

I think to that is a good compromise. Keep it goin!
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Post by caesar »

Well? Have you droped the or Tcl FAQ? :)
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Post by ppslim »

Looks there to me, in rather plain sight.

The idea behind it, is not a simple one.

Posts will have to looked at, reviewed, edited to get the right point accross and generic.

IE, it's a long winded process, on non specific topics (not ON JOINS and so on).
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Post by caesar »

Oh, I see. My mistake, sorry then. I've proposed some things to be talked about down there. I personaly needed and still need them in the tcl's that I made for me or for friends/public. Oh well.. then I'll wait like the rest of the people, calm and relaxed :)
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Post by ppslim »

Proposals are of no harm, and should be discussed.

While it will be limited, in who can create the posts, we don't want it to be held back, and limited to what we feel should be posted.

That is the nature of FAQ's. They are based on comon questions, with clear precise answers.

With a forum, it's a quick fix, where any1 can simply include information, the answer does not allways come back in a meaningful way and it does not allways relate to the original questions.

Taking these 2 together, you come up with clear precise answers, with the ability for comments and/or other questions, related to the topic, with maybe the aim of clearning up a minor detail within the answer, asking for information tailored to one specific point as the answer that was not cleared up, all the way to pointing our a large mistake on our part.

There are some points to remember, when it comes to asking questions. These will help you get a quicker answer, and possibly allow it quicker entry to the FAQ.

1: Allways give full, meaningful questions. While you do not have to go as far as stating why it should do somthing, it should state in more detail, how it should go about doing it.

IE.
Simply stating you want a on-join, for certain users. EG depending on flags, depending on ISP. You could give information like, what ISP, what flags. Is there any specifi location you wnat the message going too.

2: If there is a error message assosiated, give it's full output, and what caused it (if known). Many people simply says "this BLAH script gives an error, when I type BLAH". Yes we know what you did to cause it, but not what part of the script caused it.

3: If there are any specific resources required within the script, then give information about them, and there format.

IE
Some people like to parse HTML, from a site, and display certain parts of it. However, most of the time, they simply say "I want the user stats from URL, to be displayed on the channel.

They could have said, what format they wanted it printing in, what causes it to be displayed and where it should be displayed.

These are only a few points.

If you do have any sugestions, there are a few ways to go about posting them.

1: Directly to myself, or stdragon in a PM.
2: Post it to the Tcl forum. Though make sure it's in question form, including as much info as possible.
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